Tales of an American moveable family
From the category archives:
Yes, you read that right.
Apparently, the administrators at Seoul Grand Park think it’s one of the facility’s key selling points. Visit the English-language version of the park’s website, click on ‘Recommended Courses’ and this is the first thing you see:
Giraffe Observatory – Beautiful toilet of Seoul Grand Park.
‘Hmmm,’ I think, the voice of Inigo Montoya echoing in my mind, ‘I do not think that word means what they think it means.’
But, no, what it says is exactly what they mean. Read on:
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I found this sketch of the history of Seoul just now while doing a Google search for Yongma Park. It’s a good overview of the city, with lots of interesting information. (Did you know that Seoul had more than 100,000 residents by the year 1498?)
This Invest Korea Journal site also turned up, about the remaining old city fortress walls and gates.
Tags: Seoul
Susana’s teeth aren’t even in yet and already I am feeling their edge.
Not literally, but figuratively.
I can just see her top two front teeth beginning to emerge. What is sharp, though, is how much these little things are disrupting her sleep. You can’t feel them at her gum line, but you can see the white nubs working their way down.
The past three nights she’s been up almost continuously between 1 and 3 a.m. with either a low-grade fever (gone, now, thankfully) or just discomfort.
Last night, she was crying, half-asleep, almost continuously from about 2:30 until just after four. She would stir and cry. I would go in and pat her back until she fell back asleep, only to have her wake back up again. (Or, I guess, half wake up, would be more accurate. Her eyes stay closed the entire time.)
I am totally wiped. So, the trip back down to Star Chef will have to wait.
Early evening wasn’t much better. National Assembly elections are next Wednesday and the candidates are out in force. In addition to canvassing in person, they send around these medium-size trucks with huge video screens on the back that blare campaign ads, songs, and speeches. Most of the time, I’ve seen these trucks roaming the neighborhood in the middle of the day.
Last night, we had one drive around the perimeter of the complex stopping at each building. Then, a guy with a bullhorn got out and started shouting his speech in our direction. Our building is on the perimeter of the complex, near one of the corners. So, we heard his spiel at least three times. Once in the distance, once just below our living room, and once just outside Susana’s room.
This took place just after 9 p.m. All the better to spare my daughter that pesky REM sleep.
Strange days indeed.
Saturday David and I went out to dinner with our friends Jennifer and KC to this awesome little bistro in Gangnam near Maebong Station.*
Star Chef serves a mix of Western dishes and fusion Western/pan Asian cuisine.
From what we could tell, it’s all tasty. But, I have to say that it’s only a slight exaggeration to say that the fried whole fish is so good you’ll think you’ve seen God.
Unfortunately, D and I were so stunned by the opportunity to actually go *out to dinner* that we forgot to bring the camera. And, since we did spent a good chunk of dinner passing the baby back and forth (and across, thanks Jen!) we probably wouldn’t have taken very many decent shots anyway.
Also, shoveling food with one hand and bouncing baby with the other does not lend itself to taking detailed notes. So, basically I’m just blogging about it to remind myself of what I need to do next time—which will be Friday, when we go check out the lunch specials and report back.
*No, this is not a April Fool’s post. I don’t have the functioning brain cells for that.
