31 July 2012 ~ Korean Food

Listening to: Johnny Cash ~ In My Life (The Beatles): Contributing Artist - American IV (The Man Comes Around)


Happy Birthday!

I didn't have the opportunity to eat a lot of Korean food. In fact, I only went out for one real meal - lunch - with my coworkers.

We all tried something different.

Danhobakbap: Pumpkin with rice.

Ssam Bap - Wrapped Rice

BBQ Pork with Mushrooms, Broccoli and Greens - served with Kimchi and Dongchimi (Water Kimchi)

Then we needed a dessert fix.

Can anyone guess what these are?

They are the featured menu item at Dunkin Donuts known as Monkey Bananas. They come in various flavors, for example, from left to right: Green Apple, Strawberry and Chocolate.

I did not have the courage to try them, although they come in value packs of 5 or 10. Instead I opted for a glazed donut. Dunkin Donuts are not in Hong Kong. In fact, it's extremely difficult to find any donut here, although you can find muffins and cookies (I smell Mrs. Fields every day I take the train home from the office but I have not ever stopped.)

The other item I found interesting was the Red Bean Green Tea Frappuccino at Starbucks, the one in the picture on the left. I saw several people enjoying them, but again, I was too skeptical to try, especially at KRW 6800 (or about $6.50 US).

One night dinner consisted soley of Cold Stone Creamery. I had mint chocolate chip. (We don't have these in HK either).

When I got back to my hotel room I had turn down service snacks of Ginsing Jelly, Sesame Rolls and Dried Fruit.

30 July 2012 ~ Seoul, South Korea

Listening to: Allman Brothers ~ Wasted Words (Dreams)
I had no original interest in going to Seoul, South Korea, but I am really glad the work opportunity presented itself. I wish had longer to stay and explore.

The flight got in late and it's an hour long bus ride from the airport to the hotel. Since I didn't get into my room until after 10pm I didn't want to order a full, heavy room service meal, so in typical fashion I sampled the local beers.

I had a good view of part of the city from hotel room in the morning. It's a huge, sprawling city (233.7 square miles), with a population of over 10 million.

Additionally I had a view of the customer office I had a meeting in that afternoon.

But the morning meeting was going to be held across town, a 50 minute taxi ride. The roads are congested, despite it being an 8 lane highway through the city proper.

The first building I noticed was the Cowon building.

As some of you may know, Cowon is the brand of music player I use, because it is one of the few on the market that plays .flac files. I now own 2 different players (a D2 and a C3), because right before I left for Chicago my original one wouldn't play, so I had a new one express delivered. But miraculously, the original works again. I think I will devote one to Grateful Dead music exclusively and the other can be my juke box.

We had the address of the office in Korean, but the taxi driver didn't seem to know where we were going, despite gps. When we got nearby, he sort of shoo-ed us out of the taxi, waving his hand "over there". So my co-worker and I get out, but the buildings don't have any building numbers and we couldn't read the street signs.

We asked the first building security guard we could find, but he didn't know. My co-worker tried to call our contact, but his phone wouldn't let the call go through.

So we walked around a bit, and then asked another security guard. He had a map and told us we had to walk to blocks ahead and the building would be on our left.

We did that, but the building didn't look like an office space, so we checked out the street map. Then a nice local man came up to help us, turned us around, and pointed that it was right behind us!

We were so happy to make it (and we weren't even late for the meeting!). Here is my happy co-worker that we found the office.

26 July 2012 ~ Wrigleyville

Listening to:  Natural Child ~ B$G P$MP$N (Hard In Heaven)

A trip to Chicago would not be complete without a visit to Wrigleyville.

It was too hot to go to the game, so we decided on a late lunch at Wheel House.

Even the burgers are branded.

Enjoyable afternoon.

24 July 2012 ~ Typhoon Vicente

Listening to: Humdrum ~ All We Need


I survived Typhoon Vicente...because I was in Seoul, South Korea.

My flight was delayed getting home today. We had to circle several times then before landing and wait 40 minutes once on the ground because there were no gates to park at.

This was a Typhoon category 10, which is equivalent to a Atlantic Ocean Hurricane 4.

It was the most severe typhoon in Hong Kong in 13 years.

No damage to my balcony...and everything appears normal in my neighborhood.

Here are some great cloud pictures I took from the plane during some turbulence as we neared Hong Kong for landing. (This is about 15 hours after Vicente passed over.)

22 July 2012 ~ Taste of Chicago

Listening to: Grateful Dead ~ China Cat > I Know You Rider (4/30/1981 Greensboro, NC)


We ventured out to Taste of Chicago despite the rain as we walked there from the hotel. It was well worth it, as once we arrived the sun came out.

Met up with the Bowe family at the Bud Light Stage and listened to A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald.

Then we headed to the Bondi DJ Dance Tent. We all got into the action.

Alice and Fionna got "Electric".

http://youtu.be/1HIzhv-MZ5o

It's twirl time.

Taking a break.

Stayin' Alive....

http://youtu.be/9ZILmfZCI8Y


Meeting the man himself, famous Chicago DJ Dick Biondi.

The gang's (almost) all here.

21 July 2012 ~ Middleton to Chicago

Listening to: The Jezebels ~ Rosebud (Prisoners)


It was really great to be able to see and catch up with friends.

Had a nice family dinner at the Chiaro's in the backyard. My how Lilly and Lucy have grown.

After dinner we went to Madison to the Barrymore to hear Billy Bragg's tribute to Woody Guthrie's 100th birthday. Fun times!

When I finally got to Chicago (I was scheduled on Amtrak but I had to take a bus from Columbus to Milwaukee and then a commuter train to Chicago) I met up with Haleh. We sat on the riverfront outside the hotel.

And were treated to a rainbow.

Work surprised us with a boat booze cruise on Lake Michigan. It was great to see co-workers I haven't seen in a long time. And the views were spectacular.

19 July 2012 ~ Horicon Marsh

Listening to: Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band ~ Oh The Wind And The Rain


One afternoon some family members embarked on a scenic drive and we went through Horicon Marsh.

Presently, the marsh is 32,000 acres in area, most of it open water and cattail marsh.

The refuges are known for their many species of birds, especially ducks, great blue herons, and Canadian geese, as well as fish, frogs, snakes, turtles, mammals, insects and plants.

I remember coming to the Marsh on school trips and either hiking along trails or on a canoe trip.

On this afternoon we took a walk on the Egret Trail and Floating Boardwalk.

The water levels are extremely low due to the excessive heat and lack of rain in the region.

I saw some birds, but mostly swallows and red winged black birds and a few egrets. I've never seen a muskrat...

What I saw the most of was FROGS!! Really this time. Not only do I have a picture of them, but my sister was there as a witness.

Here is the famous Leopard Frog.

After the daytrip we all went out for dinner.

18 July 2012 ~ Washers Tournament

Listening to:  Phil Lesh & Friends ~ Ripple (5-16-2008, Warfield, SF)

No "Neumann" family get together would be complete without a round (or ten) of Washers.

Washers is a game, similar to horseshoes, that involves two teams of two players that take turns tossing metal washers (usually around 2 inches in diameter) towards the washer box. In order to score, one must place a washer into the box, into the pvc pipe that is within the box, or within one beer can length of the box.

The boxes are 10 paces distance from each other.

It was guys (my brothers Newt and "V") against the girls (Zip & LuLu). We ended up playing best of 5. It was only the darkness and fact we ran out of beer that prevented us from continuing to play.

The guys won the first 2 rounds, so they got the "thumbs up" picture.

One bonus is that if anyone gets a washer in the pvc hole a member of the other team must slam a beer or do a shot, which happened a few times. The shots we chose to do were Raspberry-Chocolate Wine and at one point everyone did a round.

That did the gals some good and we won the next 2 rounds. They were close games. At one point brother V says to me when they were about to win: "Just throw down your washers LuLu. You cannot make 2 in the box to stop us from winning." With a flip of my hair, and sheer determination, I refused to succumb to his trash talk, and put both of my washers in the box. Zip then won the match for us on the next throw!

Thanks to Jennie for taking the action and team photos.

Researching the game tonight, I found out there is a version played right here in Hong Kong!

In the Sai Kung area a variant of the game known as Hong Kong "Holeyboard" has become popular amongst local expatriates.  It is usually played on the roof terrace of a participant's home and a unique set of rules (and boxes) have evolved over the years. Each player, or team must stand on a three holed "Holeyboard" placed ten feet apart. Each player is given three washers each. The closest hole is one point, the middle hole three and the furthest hole five, with three landing on the board scoring one. The game is to also to 21. If a player's washer bounces back and is within the player's grasp, the player may attempt to reach the washer while standing on the board. If the player successfully picks up the washer, he gets to throw it again. A "cycle" is the highest accolade in Holeyboard, it is when a player manages to hit each of the three holes with their three washers. This results in an instant win and is rewarded by the player being able to sign his name on the back of the Holeyboard. (But I suspect drinking is involved somehow as well.)

So, now I might need to have a Workday Washer event on my terrace. How fun!

17 July 2012 ~ "My" Family Reunion - Wisconsin Style

Listening to:  Odetta ~ Maybe She Go (At The Gate of Horn)
Had a blast in WI and Chicago with family, friends and co-workers.
Arrived back in HK last night.
Skye is fine...despite the 2 dreams she escaped into the wild.

After getting my fill of polka tunes, held an open house for family to visit.

Lots of cousins, aunts, siblings, in-laws, nieces and nephews.

Of course we grilled brats, ate sweet corn, cabbage salads, jello salads, and schaum torte with raspberries from my sister's garden.


And don't forget the WI beer...here is just one sample.