If you are a frequent visitor to this blog, don’t panic, you didn’t just accidentally launch your iTunes…it’s my new theme.
After having stared at the same theme for 2 years, it was time for a change. And when I stumbled upon this Apple-inspired iTheme2, I knew it was going to be the one. Then it was just a matter of picking out some favorite posts for the nifty post slider bar and mocking up a custom header….and here we are!
RIP, Greyzed…we had a good run:
Finally got around to downloading the pictures from our recent China trip. Between the frigid cold weather and the little accident that almost claimed the life of our trusty Olympus PEN, there weren’t that many pictures…nevertheless, here they are:
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此次回国最大的收获无疑是我在天津淘到的紫砂壶与茶具。作为一位爱茶者，总算是有了我的第一套家当。 当然了， 紫砂壶是需精心呵护的。抛开养壶不说，首先要做的是开壶。咨询了各方茶网之后， 昨日午后我开始了我的开壶工作。
先介绍一下这把壶：
在天津紫砂会馆觅壶时，原本是在寻另一种款式的，但在看到此壶时，顿感颇有眼缘，爱不释手。当机立断，收下了她。据介绍，此壶为“小西施”，虽非出自名家之手，但泥质上佳，品相端正。更重要的是，有缘。。。言归正传，讲讲开壶：
1. 首先，用文火煮壶约90分钟 — 目的为热胀冷缩，让壶身的气孔释放出所含的土味及杂质
2. 其次，以壶与豆腐一起煮约90分钟 – 目的为去火（制壶时高温煅烧带来的火气）
3. 接下本应用甘蔗煮壶，无奈“没蔗”，只好用糖水煮约90分钟 — 目的为滋润壶身
4. 最后，用茶煮壶 — 此为“定壶”。因此壶将为铁观音专泡用，即选取上好铁观音与壶同煮约90分钟
此时已满屋茶香，颇受享受。将壶捞出后，用茶叶轻擦壶身。最后，以温水洗净，擦干
近8小时后，开壶完毕。与之前相比，此时的壶身光泽更佳，手感更是细腻。终于沏上第一壶铁观音：
A picture is worth a thousand words…which is why I love this Picture Korea series by WSJ’s Korea Realtime blog:
I’m not big on new year resolutions, in fact, I can’t remember the last time I actually made or tried to keep one…but when I awoke to 2012, I suddenly felt the urge to partake in this ritual that millions embark on each year. Why? I don’t know…but I’ve learned to follow my instincts and not ask too many questions, and my instincts told me these were going to be my new year resolutions:
Yep, that’s right. Quit Facebook.
Why? Well, I’ve come to the realization that I spend entirely too much time on Facebook everyday. In the morning, I’d wake up and check what my FB friends on the other side of the Pacific have been up to; during the day, I keep FB on a tab and check in whenever I’m bored; after dinner, I’d fire up the app frequently as we watch TV… aren’t there better things I can do with my time? Sure, it’s a good way to stay in touch and share ones life with friends, but who really needs/wants to know what I had for dinner on my vacation anyway? And with all the time saved from facebooking everyday, I could be doing something more constructive, like…study Korean! Truth to be told, after 9 months in Korea, I’m embarrased to say my Korean has not improved much since I took the FSI test. In fact, it’s safe to say it’s gotten worse if you don’t count the vocabulary related to food and drinks. Even if I just learned one word a day, this time next year, I’d have 365 more words…
11 days into the new year, it’s going well — I haven’t facebooked once and studied Korean everyday(granted, I set the bar pretty low). Only 354 days to go! 화이팅!!!
Eariler, while watching clips of Kim Jong Il’s funeral, something caught the attention of this car geek:
Is that a 1975 Linclon Continental Mark V carrying the dear leader’s coffin?
And…could that possbily be the same Lincoln that carried his father, Kim Il Sung’s coffin in 1994???
A quick Google search confirmed my suspicion:
2 generations of Kim’s being carried away in the same Lincoln Continental, and better yet, the same 70′s American-built Lincoln outlasted both Kim’s. You can’t make this stuff up.
Today, North Korea announced that Kim Jong Il had passed away over the weekend. While most people I talked to today were undoubtedly surprised by this sudden turn of events, nobody really displayed much emotion…yes, one person was genuinely concerned with how the markets are reacting, but most people’s reaction were more or less “Yay, he’s dead. It’s about time…”
However, in North Korea, as you can imagine, the mood could not be more different:
And a quick Google search turns up an eerily similar scene 17 years ago when his father, Kim Il Sung died:
And going back another 18 years, on the other side of the Yalu river, you have the mass hysteria from Mao’s death:
Yes, history repeats itself.
After a few great days in Kuala Lumpur, we flew off to the resort island Langkawi. This was the part of the trip I really looked forward to — lazy afternoons on the beach, Corona’s, swimming in the Andaman Sea, kayaking, hiking in the rain forest, beach-side massages…just what the doctor ordered. And best of all, Ting Ting gets to have fun all day in the hotel’s kids club while we get to spend some time in peace and quiet.
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It was all pretty much perfect until I forgot to reapply sunscreen and fell asleep under the shade and woke up to a paintful sunburn…note to self: Wear Sunscreen.
Novemeber 11th is an important day in both the U.S. and Korea. In the U.S., of course, it’s Veteran’s Day. In Korea, it’s known as “Pepero Day“, the Korean equivalent of Valentines Day. This year, we celebrated both in style by attending the Marine Ball — a celebration of the 236th birthday of the U.S. Marine Corp. It was our first Marine Ball and it certainly did not disappoint — great food, moving presentations, and even spontaneous line dances…but for me, perhaps the most interesting event of the night was when a couple approached our table, identified themselves as someone whom I recently issued visas to and then promptly asked to have a photo taken with me. Small world.
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Few years ago when we first caught onto Hallyu (Korean Wave), Dae Jang Geum was one of the dramas we watched almost religiously. So when I heard the news that Dae Jang Geum Theme Park will be closing permanently at the end of this year, we decided to pay it a visit:
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