Annalog

My family has told me that not too long ago Kangnam was nothing but farmland. Having worked in Daechi-dong for a while, it was hard for me to imagine Kangnam pre-hagwons and Pascucci. Today Cousin N showed me some photos featured on Yahoo Korea -- photos of Kangnam in the...

Read more

I meant to post at least once a week, but I got caught up in all sorts of projects, particularly a podcast for preschoolers. (Aren't you curious?)I'm so happy to finally have a chance to share my pho findings.After a number of disappointing visits to various Pho chains around...

Read more

Elle Magazine puts out a publication called Elle à Seoul that profiles trends, eateries, and shopping destinations throughout Seoul. It's one of those magazines that I would never pay money for, but can't wait to read for free at a cafe or salon. I love looking at all the glossy...

Read more

I woke up this morning to see a massive blanket of snow across the whole 'hood. Apart from Tahoe, I've never seen so much snow in my life! It snowed a few times last winter, but I don't recall ever seeing this much snow in Seoul. Needless to say, I'm...

Read more

What the what? It's 2010! Where did the year ago? I'm currently blogging from the eye doctor's office. That's right. I'm finally getting the Lasik surgery. I chickened out last year, but now I'm ready. The next time I blog, I shall have 20/20 vision, or so they tell me....

Read more

United State of Pop 2009 (Blame It on the Pop)...

Read more

I promise. I'll be back to blogging soonish. My term at the Elementary School is winding down, so I will have more time to dedicate to unpaid work. In the mean time, check out my opening act: The Chipettes...

Read more

I was at Tom N Tom's today, perusing Asiana's in-flight magazine, and learned that a small Indonesia tribe in the city of Bau-Bau (Bauer-Bauer) have adopted hangul as their written alphabet. Though the tribe has their own oral language called Cia-Cia, they have not been successful in maintaing an official...

Read more

My cousin VP likes to take an occasional gander through the work 'n' play forums, and somehow she always manages to find jems like this posting:hello, i'm a goose father who sent my family to chicago 3 yrs ago. so i live alone in mok-dong.(we call it 'goose father' hahaha)...

Read more

I've been meaning to blog about Nonghyup's Hanaro Club for some time now because I've never seen a mart quite like it. Resembling a large warehouse, the Hanaro Club in Yangjae-dong is sometimes described as the "Korean Costco." Membership is not required, nor do you have to buy in bulk,...

Read more

With H1N1 running rampant throughout Seoul, I decided that there was no better way to challenge my now 27-year-old immune system than a trip to a Korean water park.Thanks to Summer's foresight and Cyndi's hotness, we were able to wrangle a ride from our ultra-friendly real estate agent. Thank goodness...

Read more

We prepared a feast in celebration of my birthday last weekend. Unofficially, the theme was "Dishes from the Fifties." Officially, the theme was "Dishes That Are Bad for Anna's chejil." So what if I'll have indigestion and clogged pores the next morning. It's my birthday, and I'll eat cheese...

Read more

Seong and I have spent the past two weeks helping seniors with their college application essays. I know that we're both getting paid for our services, but sometimes I feel like I'm doing volunteer work. Both Seong and I are committed to maintaining some standard of integrity: We might prompt...

Read more

I like the Ssamzie Insadong Market in Insadong. It's always full of quirky little surprises. On our most recent trip, we came across a delightful little cart at the front of the market boldly selling 똥빵, poo-shaped bread filled with a sweet bean paste.As far as sweet red...

Read more

This song has grown on me. Despite the seemingly random string of English words (or maybe because of) I think I'm going make this my new song for the norae-bangs.Lala. Lala. Lala....

Read more

My dongsaeng, Doogal and her NP were looking to get a couple's portrait while they were visiting in Seoul last month. While strolling through Insadong we stumbled upon the Hwang Jiny Photo Cafe. I'm not sure why it's called a cafe when they don't serve coffee, but it turned out...

Read more

Cyndi and Cousin VP are teaching English at a small private school in Seoul. They've both raved about the school lunch, so I've been dying to join them for lunch. I finally got a chance to join them for lunch a couple of weeks.Can I just say that I love...

Read more

My sister sent me a link to a recent commercial for the "Starburst Contradictions" Campaign. All I can say in response is, "D'oh!" The ad features a young Scottish-Korean man, which apparently, like the new solid, yet juicy Starbursts, is a "contradiction." Scottish-Korean makes for an interesting combo, but...

Read more

I had intended to post at least a couple of times a week, but it turns out that when you're living life and gathering fodder for your blog, you have less time to actually blog about it :)I especially wanted to post about my experience with the whole chejil thing....

Read more

My cousin, VP told me about this recent public service announcement produced by Kobaco. Essentially, the PSA encourages "Korea" to be warmer and more thoughtful -- to be "KoreaN." I'm guessing that the 'n' in KoreaN stands for "New Korea."This PSA is pretty awesome. It captures a number of my...

Read more

I just got back from a quick trip to Seattle, where I attended my sister's college graduation. (Congrats, Doogal!) That was my second trip to and from the Homeland, over a span of two months. Of course, I had the great fortune to travel during the HINI pandemonium, I mean,...

Read more

I don't know if you're tired of hearing about my chejil, but I swear, it's kind of taken over my life.So, y'all are probably wondering, what is this chejil (체질)? Here's what I've learned through my Cousin N, our hanuisa, and some cursory searches through Google. For a long while,...

Read more

Seong, Cyndi, and I went back to see the hanuisa (Doctor of Oriental Medicine), and after a final screening, the doctor identified our respective 체질 (chejil).I'm going to have to dedicate another post on this whole chejil concept, but here's the gist of it: all humans maybe be classified as...

Read more

I had no idea that Lady GaGa could sing. I thought she was just about hair and spandex....

Read more

Just when I was getting tired of Super Junior's "Sorry, Sorry", Allkpop posted a few videos of Navi, a Korean pop ballad singer, covering the popular single as well as another personal favorite, 2PM's "Again & Again." Navi puts a nice jazzy spin on the two "hook norae."Here she is...

Read more