everyday i'm hustlin

Took a long bus ride to Costa Rica and visited a local zoo that worked primarily in rehab and reproduction. They have had many problems of people taking wildlife, and then later trying to drop it off at the zoo when they either felt bad or didn't want them anymore. This objectification of animal life, which is not uncommon in the US, angers me so much. The two most often questions I get asked when I tell people I am in vet school: 1. You really like animals huh? 2. What do you think of Michael Vick? But this is neither the time nor place for a rant.

We got a behind the scenes tour and got to handle some animals. I love my field!

Their friendly guard dog.

A baby sloth

Afterwards, we stopped by a nearby restaurant for lunch. I forget what the dish was called, but you had your basic beans, rice, beef, that mashed stuff was potatoes, but it had a coffee taste to it, and a fried plantain. The beef was overcooked and dry, but I did enjoy the sides.

Got to wander the streets of San Jose for a bit. Came across some beautiful masks there...one of my favorites.

Another night in Heredia, we went out to a restaurant near our stay. I got the traditional Aztec Soup (whether or not this is what they actually ate remains a mystery to me). It was a tomato/vegetable broth with pieces of avocado, cheese, and tortilla bits that was a bit on the bland side. Still, given the rainy and cold weather up here, I'd have another bowl of that right now.

School has been relentless, but I still love it. And it's little things like this that make my day. I found this in my class mailbox for vday (some other classmates got one too, but who did it still remains a mystery) that's just too good not to share. Warning: unsuitable for kids.

new toys and some beef

Hello from Davis! Things have been busy with moving into my new place and orientation and such, so I'm glad to have this holiday weekend to writeup a quick post!

I went on a little splurge and, with a lot of help from CAB, I bought some new knives for my place, a Shun 4" paring knife and a Global 7" Santoku.

So far, I'm quite happy with my purchase although I am a little scared when I use them because they are quite sharp.

I've been trying to save money and eating at home, and my meals have been simple for the most part. Here is a bunch of stuff I got at the farmer's market (post to come in the future). The tortilla type thing is a potato Bolani, an afghan bread thingermabob. It's pretty darn good, a bit thin but the potatoes make it pretty filling.

What I've been missing in my diet though is meat, and after a few days, I couldn't take it anymore, so I tried making boeuf bourguignon (don't ask me to pronounce it), inspired by Paestry's lovely post. The recipe seemed simple enough and reminded me of the Stone Soup story, and I was excited to see how a few ingredients would mix together to make a tasty stew.

I know nothing about wine and just ended up getting the cheapest one. Until yesterday, I don't think I've ever had a Pinot Noir, but man it was good and so gentle on the tongue!

Down the bottle went into the pot.

After a few hours with some added mushrooms, tomato paste, and flour+butter.

I ate it with a big hunk of french bread. I made a bunch to eat for the next couple days. Overall, I was happy with the product, but next time I am going to add some herbs and see how it turns out.

In other news, I got a new roommate/my first cat! His previous owners couldn't keep him because he didn't get along with their other cat, and when they got him from the shelter, he was named "Tizer." I've been wanting to rename him, but can't think of anything good at the moment although I'm sure it'll come. Hope everyone's enjoyin their holiday!

gyungjoo and sulaksan

took a bus from busan to gyungjoo and picked up a snack at a rest stop.

hodo gwaja (walnut "cookie")

filled with sweetened red bean and bits of walnuts, these things were delicious to eat fresh and probably one of my favorite snacks to get whenever i could.

as well as these hodduk, a thick somewhat oily hotcake filled with honey and bits of peanuts. this guy manned his station like a pro.

we visited the chunmachong (heavenly horse tomb) and other tumuluses, which were a bunch of grassy mounds over a tomb where royalty were buried. the h.h. tomb, named because of a painting of a pegasus (which regretfully went extinct last year) was found in the tomb, was estimated to be around the 5th or 6th century.

lots of rowdy school kids, awaiting in line to go inside the tumulus.

in case you were wondering why some people were sitting on the hills. maintenance!

boolguksa, one of the many temples we visited.

outside, a halmunee (grandma) was doing her thing on the streets and i bought a cup of ginko nuts from her.

check out that building with a pagoda cut into the whole structure.

spotted some young soldiers. korea has a mandatory military service for males.

another pit stop, but this one selling both dried and preserved fish and other seafood like squid.

do you see the grill in the back?

some fish were thrown on and cooked on it, shoot was shot, and cups of home brewed makguhlli were poured and passed all around. makguhlii is a type of fermented rice wine that was originally drunk (as a previous writing tutor, i think the correct form is drank, but when i say it aloud it doesn't sound right). it seems like it's having a popular resurgence in korea (and consequently, the us) as of late, but when i had it bottled here, i found it to be watery, bubbly, and overall bland. although the drink isn't very strong, the stuff i had here was thicker, darker in color, and sweet, overall, a delight to drink.

nearby, a lady hauled her cart filled with yut, a korean malt taffy. you know i had to get some of that sweet that chewy stuff.

the next day, we went up to the sulak mountain.

a long way up via cable cars.

from there it was a short walk to the top. it was hard to see how high we really were since it was so foggy.

there were a bunch of rocks, stacked on top of each other. it's said if you put a rock on top of one of these towers, you can make a wish. i believe this is a Buddhist practice and saw these things all over korea.

you have to do a bit of rock climbing to get to the top, but it was fun and even old ladies were doing it. on a side note, the korea/uruguay and usa/ghana games this past weekend were heartbreakers.

once at the bottom, i picked up some bbundehgee(silk worm larvae) and some little snail like things ( i have no idea what these are called). the larvae smelled and looked horrible. i never had it before nor did i ever really want it although they do sell these things canned in the US. but i decided to give it a shot and found it to pretty good if you can get past the smell. it had a very nutty flavor to it.

there was also an enormous Buddha statue on the grounds. growing up in cali, 99% of the koreans i know are either protestant or catholic. but seeing temples all around korea, i was reminded that at another time, korea was once largely buddhist. it made me reflect on the effects of westernization and its missionaries. on a bigger scale (and by this i mean how it relates to me because i am the world), i thought about my own korean heritage and what it all meant as we took a long bus ride to seoul.

food for thought

when i first started cooking and things didn't turn out how I imagined it to be, I chalked it up to the fact that there must be some special or exotic ingredient that I was missing. Of course now I realize it's just because I was/am a shitty cook.

I've realized something though (south park ending moment). Simple is good. Take for instance, some locally grown strawberries with fresh honey whipped cream. Kudos to whoever came up with this idea. Same to you mr or mrs. apple w/ brie cheese, and the many other simple yet delicious combos that work.

Then again, I'm sure you could also say that I'm just saying this simply cuz beyond the baby steps I'm hopeless xD

I've been making it rain on this biatch (and by biatch, I mean my blog) lately. it was a mad attempt to catch up and clean up shop because I'm going to korea this weekend. I've only been there once a long time ago, so I'm looking forward to it, so much in fact that I've been doing the master cleanse to prepare for some good eats and drinkin. cyall laters kids!

we fly high...no lie...you know this...MULIN!

takin a quick break from food to talk about a few bottles of pop. while i don't have the elegance or beautiful pictures like A Menu in Progress' Sazerac Cocktail (one of my favorite posts although I have yet to try this), I hope you enjoy. a few months ago, i was introduced to the power of the moscow mule, and have since converted to the church of all things mule. for those that don't know: wiki is truth.

there are variations of course(i've enjoyed it also w/ rum and i hear mixing with jameson is tasty as well), but that's the gist of it. A funny dramatized manga take about the drink...no idea if it's true or not, but never thought I'd read a comic centered around a bartender. so i got my fat ass over to bevmo to get ginger beer. what's ginger beer? a stronger (nonalcoholic usually I think) version of ginger ale.

-cock 'n bull....the og gb used when this magical drink was created. if you like ginger, you'll really like this(take some notes canada dry). it packs a huge punch that initially seems to sizzle on your tongue and then leaves a spicy ginger karate kick that lingers in your mouth.

-Bundaberg. this was a much sweeter version that hailed from Australia. Overall, although you could still taste the ginger in this one, it was a much more mellow compared to cock n bull. both used strictly sugar as their sweetener, and you could definitely taste it more in this one. they also boast that their drink is naturally brewed, which I think means that instead of artificially adding carbonation, the bubbly is created naturally through fermentation. i'm not sure if cock 'n bull does this too, but bundaberg's wasn't very bubbly at all.

i also really love root beer (virgil's is one of my fave's) and decided to check one out from Sioux City as Bev Mo has not just a wonderful alcohol/beer selection, but sodas too. this was ok at best, but it really didn't taste that much different from your main line root beers.

their sarsaparilla/"the grandaddy of root beer" was definitely better, and both were quite sweet. i'm sure that you have your own sweetener preference for pop. depending on how i'm feeling, i'll opt for one or the other, but i have to admit, i have a weakness for American HFCS coca cola, and let me tell ya, when mc donald's had that 64oz soda for under a buck, i did not hold back. i love that sizzurp!

in case you were wondering what's up with the dog, it's my attempt to "spruce up" my poorly taken pictures. it was given to me before one of my school interviews, and i squeezed the living bejeebus out of that thing as i waited my turn to be grilled.

incomplete trifecta or the eye of the tiger

we walked off the food coma and pretty soon, we could see downtown (not sure if that's what it really was). you see, we needed to burn off some calories for the grueling challenge ahead.

first stop was village whiskey, which specialized in...take a wild guess. i'm not a big whiskey drinker nor am I much of a drinker in general although I try to hold my own...which isn't much. we were here to check out some of their food though.

duck fat french fries with sly fox cheddar sauce. this is america baby...we don't hold back on nuthin! i have no doubt in my mind that this dish was specifically made to spite vegetarians and vegans. i didn't think too much of these though...they were good, but nowhere near the orgasmic taste i thought i would experience.

their beautiful village burger, weighing in at 8 0z and accompanied by boston bibb, tomato, and house made thousand island dressing on a sesame roll. a while ago, there's been a rise of places serving gourmet hamburgers...i guess it's not just california. it was a good, perfectly cooked burger ( i liked that it came out piping hot), but it was underseasoned (it could have used more salt imo). if we had added cheese, this would have been better. regardless, all this was just a warmup for the main event/the only reason why we had bothered to come all the way out to philly : the cheesesteaks (kidding cousin J haha =p )

when you see flashing lights and people shotgunning beers in their party buses, all of which are reminiscent of vegas, you know you have arrived at Geno's. The menu is pretty simple. I can remember several years back my cousin patiently coached me on the linguistics of ordering a cheesesteak as I nervously stood in line at Pat's, afraid I'd blow it and be booted to the back of the long line as the Philly locals would jeer and sneer at "this damn California kid tourist." But today was a different day. I had my lucky rocketpants underwear on and nothing was gonna get between me and my steak. I approached the window with swagger and confidently said "cheesesteak with wiz" (cheesesteak with onions and cheese whiz).

The thought of some canned cheese goop wasn't appetizing in the least, but I found that this was actually pretty tasty. Thinly sliced rib eye steak, grilled onions and cheese along with the chewiness of that bread...so good. Despite the long lines, I think we waited less than 20 minutes before ordering.

We decided to skip Pat's this time, the local contender down the street, and check out Jim's. This size and wait of the line rivaled that of Disneyland's Space Mountain but at least we got to stare at the food being prepared.

But patience is a virtue little child, and we were soon rewarded. I got the cheesesteak with sweet peppers, onions, and provolone. The biggest difference between the two places was that Jim's chops up their steak, so on your first bite, you initially get a burst of the steak's juices, then as you chew, it gets kinda dry.

Luckily, I had this to solve the drought. Drink local! lol...(damn someone please shoot me for using that word)

If we had gotten Pat's, we would have completed the holy trinity (although like any religion, this is highly debatable) and have been awarded three wishes by the gods themselves. Unfortunately, this did not happen. What did happen was that our bellies burst from the pure unadulterated gluttony that took place that evening as we arrived home moaning and feigning disgust when in actuality what we really felt was a deep rooted pride that we were mother******* champions!

Needless to say, after almost a week of eating heavy food to the point of wanting to vomit, I had my only healthy meal for the trip the next morning and probably the only time I had fresh fruit. Thanks J for making the salad and your hospitality and thanks J 2 for driving us around! OC taco crawl next time you two come to cali.