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Or as we spell it in the USA, Ramen. Actually, I think what we ordinarily buy in the states as Ramen is a Japanese product. The Korean product, Ramyun, is basically the same food modified to suit Korean tastes. For all I know the Chinese have the same dish as well. I was watching some Olympic coverage tonight from home, and decided to prepare some Ramyun. As I've posted before, my Korean friends have repeatedly warned me just how bad a food Ramyun is, and not to eat it often. While all of it is probably not the best food, I think they are particularly concerned about the "instant" style that is sold in all the convenience stores (usually in a styrofoam or thick cardboard package). I've heeded the warning about Ramyon so well, the small 5-pack I have in the kitchen is past the expiration date by 4 months! Given that there's nothing really to go bad in the package, I ate it anyway.

I had been planning to make SPAM Ramyun (thus making it even more unhealthy), and decided to make another variety in addition - cheese Ramyun. Here are the simple steps to making a delicious fusion Cheese-SPAM-Ramyun dish.

Boil the water, get out the Ramyon package:


Prepare the extra ingredients. You're supposed to use green onions, but all I had was regular onion (tasted pretty good to me). You're supposed to only use 1 egg, but I used 3. I didn't have cheddar cheese, so I used some pepper-cheese instead.


Put the noodles and spice packets into the boiling water:


When it's all boiled for 4 minutes,


Add the extra and boil a couple more minutes.


Serve and eat:


This could serve two people, or three thin people. Even The (Large) Stumbler couldn't eat all this, and had some left over for breakfast.

EDIT: Nothing goes better after a Ramyun dinner than a chilled Choco-Pie (see earlier post here).

Our friend from a few years ago, SC, had moved to Busan a few years ago, opening a successful Curry Restaurant. SC used to work with us, and served as a part-time travel guide during a family visit back in 2005. He came to Seoul this month to visit, so we all got together Friday night for dinner and to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics at a sports bar.



(You will notice SC is wearing a Curry-colored shirt, which we teased him about all night). Another reason for our gathering that night was another friend JI was departing for a week long vacation in Italy. JI is the fuzzy guy on the right (these photos were taken with the cell phone camera, which doesn't have the best quality optics)



The opening ceremonies were really great. I ended up seeing the whole program in about three sittings. We watched most of the entertainment portion Friday night live. Then Saturday morning, I was able to see the parade of countries portion on NBC using my Slingbox. Then Saturday night I caught a repeat of the entertainment portion on local Korean broadcast. At the sports bar, you couldn't hear any audio, so I got a little bit more out of it the second time around.

Sunday is my wash day, but today was special. After some confusion at the store, I finally found an 8 meter long clothesline which I can temporarily stretch across my apartment. So today I washed my blankets (Korean-style sheets), and now my place looks like a tent.

Choco Pies, a Korean favorite snack food. For folks back home, think Moon Pie. Chocolate Moon Pie.



So tell me readers, which is more pathetic.... (a) that one of the local networks produced a 30 minute program devoted to the history and development of the Choco Pie? or (b) that The Stumbler actually WATCHED a 30 minute program devoted to the history and development of the Choco Pie?

Speaking of Choco Pies, I found this interesting (but 3 years old) article on the Arirang website while searching (unsuccessfully) for a link to the above-mentioned show:

Korean Confectionary Firm Produces a Choco-Pie Index to Gauge Consumer Prices

You may have heard the terms like "the Big Mac index" and the Starbuck's Tall Latte index. By tracking the prices of those popular foods around the world industry watchers compare exchange rates and prices in different countries.

Well most recently Korea's confectionary manufacturer Orion came up with an index of its own based on the prices of its all-time favorite product Choco-Pie a chocolate-covered snack. The company says as with the Big Mac the Choco-Pie is a standardized product selling well around the world. The regular box of 12 pies costs 1 U.S. dollar and 99 cents in Korea. New Zealand had the highest Choco-Pie index of 3-point-34 dollars. China, Vietnam and Russia were the three countries where the product was the cheapest costing as little as a dollar 39 cents for a box.

MAY 04, 2005

I had no luck finding a chart of the Choco Pie index behavior over the past three years, but then again, I am not familiar with financial data websites.

At the office, I have repeatedly forgotten to bring my key. If CH was out at a meeting, I would have to go back home and get it. This week our colleague WT decided on his own to install an electronic door lock (CH and I were out all day at the factory). It's great! It is the same style that I've had on the apartments here.





A few years ago, Mrs. Stumbler bought a similar electronic lock for the front door. She installed it on her own, but I remember helping at some point aligning the lock's bolt with the hole in the door frame. What I like about this lock that WT bought is that it looks much easier to install. Since it's bolted to the outside of the door, I think the latch and bolt would be much easier to align than were it mounted inside the door. So, unless one of us forgets and locks the door the old style with the key, I don't need to worry about forgetting my office key in the future.

The Stumbling Mom reported that she had found a Korean "pure corn silk" tea, which was said to be delicious. I was suspicious, and asked my Korean teacher about this. After a few problems trying to translate "corn silk", it turns out that indeed there is such a tea. In fact, I've seen it advertised often, and just didn't know it. It is popular as a bottled drink, though they might sell tea bags. In the grocery store, I see all kinds of various teas. I only know how to find the brand of green tea that I like, and of course I can find regular english tea (they call it "black tea").

Here is a photo of a bottle of corn silk tea I bought to give The Stumbling Mom...

UPDATE: The procedure went very well yesterday. Everything was very familiar to me - that is, the Korean dentist's tools and techniques seemed the same to me as my dentist back home. Only one difference - they have cable TV at this place. During a couple of short breaks while the technician was working on the temporary crown, I was allowed to watch the Discovery Channel! Of course, the part I was most afraid of, pulling the old tooth's root, was not done until the very end of the appointment, thus building up my anticipation (and fear). It didn't really hurt at all, but it was a real strange feeling. Especially the sound - I guess because all this is connected to my jaw bones, it seemed that I could hear even the smallest sound as the tooth was being pulled. With the tooth out, he put in a couple stitches and then the technician cemented in the temporary crown. I'm supposed to go back in this morning for a few minutes - for what, I'm not sure. But it isn't a problem - this dentist is located in my office building, so it's very close. Let me conclude by saying this procedure went much better than I was anticipating. They did a good job and I was far more comfortable than I imagined. If anyone want's a dentist recommendation here in Seoul, let me know.



I was out for dinner and some light drinking with JI on Tuesday night, and ended up breaking off one of teeth almost completely! I wish I could report an exciting story, say, I was in a big street fight defending the reputation of American beef. Or at least I tripped on my own feet (don't laugh, it's happened even when no drinking was inolved) and stumbled down two flights of stairs. Alas, the truth is so dull. I was simply eating from a small bowl of peanuts, when one particular peanut happened to snap off the tooth! Fortunately, the tooth didn't hurt, although I've had a strong, dull headache since then.

In hindsight, the tooth had been repaired a long time back, I think it was in the 1980's with a root canal. It was already weakened, and the peanut just happened to press on it the wrong way. After visiting the dentist, and confering with my USA dentist, I'm going to have a crown installed. I had a mold made yesterday, and today they will extract the remaining root and install a temporary crown. After two months, they will install a permanent crown. Even though I don't normally enjoy dental work, surprisingly I'm able to tolerate most procedures pretty well. But I remember having my wisdom teeth pulled many years ago, and it wan't too pleasant. Hopefully this will be better.