Our schedules are very different this semester, but we have made the promise that we are going to try have home-cooked dinners together as much as possible.  We started this week by cooking steak on our portable grill.  I broke out some leftover soju, and we had a nice impromptu Korean meal.

Our favorite restaurant in Korea serves a side dish that consists of raw onions with a dark sauce poured over them.  I would go to that particular restaurant just to eat the onions, and hate that I didn’t ask them how to make the sauce.   We have been struggling to replicate this sauce ever since we got back to America.  The main ingredient has to be soy sauce, but it also contains wasabi and other spices/oils.  You can see our attempt in the photograph in the bottom left corner above, and although our attempt was not terrible, there was something missing, but I just don’t know what it was.  Thankfully, everything else turned out great.

We left the casino and made our way to Felix’s Oyster Bar.  This has turned in to our go-to place for seafood.  We ordered our favorite beer and a dozen char-grilled oysters.  We also ordered a couple of shrimp-oyster Po-boys and were enjoying our dinner when suddenly we kept overhearing a group of customers speaking Korean.  The hostess had sat a group of four a few tables behind us, and it was fairly obviously that they really didn’t know what to order.  Since I have been embarrassed before by trying to help a bilingual speaker navigate in English, neither JJ or I got up.  After listening to them struggle for a few minutes, I finally walked over, greeted them in Korean, and asked if I could help.  They were happy with the assistance and my help consisted of getting JJ to translate for them.  They ordered a few different dishes and seemed to like the jambalaya, and they all claimed that it reminded them of bokumbap.  Both the Koreans and the waiter seemed relieved that JJ was their to help translate.  It brought back memories of my first visit to Kimbap Cheonguk, and the nice older lady who spoke enough English to come to my rescue and help me order. At that time, this looked like nothing but a bunch of gibberish.  I can only imagine what the menu at Felix’s looked like to the group of Koreans.

We said goodbye to the grateful Koreans and headed down to Bourbon Street for fun.  We tried to break up our usual New Orleans agenda and try a couple different venues.  We hit Tropical Isle to see if my buddy’s band was playing, and unfortunately, they were scheduled for Saturday afternoon so we missed seeing them.  We did stick around and have a Hand Grenade and listen to the band, The Hangovers.  They were pretty good, but we only caught the last 30 minutes of their last set so we left and moved down to Pazzo’s to listen to their band.  For a Thursday night, the bars were very empty, but we still had a great time.  I was shocked that the bars were so empty since there are two big football games coming up.  The Saints play the Lions in an NFL playoff game on Saturday, and the BCS championship game is on Monday night.  We saw members of both Alabama’s and LSU’s football team enjoying the Quarter and the casino, and ran into a few players hustling back to their hotel to meet their 12 am curfew.  I guess most fans were going to arrive on Friday.  Which was kind of nice since we had the place almost to ourselves.

Potent, but Tasty Hand Grenade

We stayed at Pazzoo’s for awhile even though I wasn’t real happy about paying $27 for two drinks, but the band was good so we stayed for about an hour.  We ended the night at Pat O’ Briens piano bar as usual.  We had one drink, requested a few songs, and then decided to crash out for the night.  It was a nice break from Hattiesburg, and it was great trying a few different establishments.  I actually have a list of other restaurants and bars that I want to visit, but those will have to wait for our next break from school.  We will be back in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, but there is no way we will be able to visit any of the more popular restaurants/bars since the city is so crowded.

We woke up late, checked out, and made our way to the Korean grocery store across town.  We had lunch at the Vietnamese restaurant next door, made a few purchases at the grocery, and headed back to Hattiesburg.  We have a little more than a week before our final semester starts, and JJ and I are both excited about getting this last semester behind us.

Yeah, I know. I am a beast!

Check Out His Form

JJ got in on the Ping-Pong Action

Compare My Form with the Photos in the Background. Oh Yeah!

FIL in Action

Who Won?

244.8

We spent a day at the Jeju Stone Park and Museum, and although the weather was crap for photography, we had a nice time. We got rained on a few times, but were able to visit the museum when the rain really came down. There were a few trails throughout the park, and I believe that we walked most of them. The park was was nearly vacant; I don’t believe that we passed anyone while walking on the short trails.

This photo doesn't do justice to their size.

Our Group

Reservoir Dogsish

My MIL posing.

Picnic Time

Korean Picnic Food

Final stop for a bit of rest

I am a big fan of Korea food and have been looking forward to my mother-in-law’s food since we left Korea almost two years ago.  I even did fine with the Korean style breakfast that we were served.  I am not a big breakfast eater, and have always had trouble with eating soup and fish for breakfast in Korea, but I think that I missed Korean food so much that it was not a problem. The only issue I had was trying to explain that I was full and could not have seconds or thirds.  If you have ever tried to tell a Korean mother that you are full, then you know exactly what I am talking about it.  My claims that I was full were always met with more offers of extra food.  I pretty much spent the whole time in Jeju stuffed from being fed great meals that were always followed by some kind of fruit.

I need this at my house.

옥돔 or Okdom is probably one of my favorite Jeju meals.  The fish is caught near an island about 10 km away from Jeju.  My MIL always serves this at breakfast, and usually for dinner as well.

Okdom (옥돔) every morning for breakfast

Homemade Kongguksu (콩국수)

JJ making Bipimbap

Galbi JJim

Seaweed soup

Go-Stop is a very popular Korean card game, and it has played an important part in building a relationship with my mother-in-law. When my wife told her parents that she was in a serious relationship with a non-Korean in 2007, I was invited down to Jeju for a visit over the Chuesok holiday.  My MIL was impressed that I could eat her Korean food, but I also think that she was really impressed that I knew how to play Go-Stop and would actually take her money. (Actually, it was usually her taking my money).  Whenever we talk on the phone, MIL and I always joke about playing Go-Stop.  After two years, it was great to sit down, play a few hands, and give her all my money.  I am not the fastest player and am always reminded to hurry up and “eat” my cards.  JJ and I forgot to buy a few sets of the cards before we left two years ago so I picked up a few decks so that we can start playing more often.

Mother-in-law shuffling after taking my money

JJ with her Mom

Kids all over the world are the same.  Give them a writing instrument, and the wall is the first thing they turn to.  My niece decided to do a little redecorating on her last trip to Jeju.  My niece, whose last name is 박, must have recently learned how to write her name. Unfortunately, she and her mother live in Dajeon, and JJ and I were unable to visit them.

Glad to see that in my absence I have not been be removed from the fridge.

The bad weather actually worked out pretty well.  It gave us a chance to spend some great quality time with JJ’s parents, and there was not worrying about feeling guilty about not getting outside, but after spending a couple days cooped up inside, we were ready to get out.  More photos to come later today.

Computer station for couples

The touch screen allowed you to control all the lights, the TV, the DVD player, order room service, have the valet bring out your car, control the two other PC’s, set your wake-up calls, and control the air conditioning.

Super Computer that controlled everything

The window to the sleeping area from the bath was interesting.

The hallways and decor must have been designed in the 70's