Tag Archives: jihang

Around The Table

“It’s about what happens when we come together, slow down, open our homes, look into one another’s faces, listen to one another’s faces, listen to one another’s stories. It happens when we leave the office and get a sitter and skip our workouts every so often to celebrate a birthday or an accomplishment or a wedding or a birth, when we break out of the normal clockwork of daily life and pop the champagne on a cold, gray Wednesday for no other reason than the fact that the faces we love are gathered around our table. It happens when we enter the joy and the sorrow of the people we love, and we join together at the table to feed one another and be fed, and while it’s not strictly about food, it doesn’t happen without it. Food is the starting point, the common ground, the thing to hold and handle, the currency we offer to one another.” ~ Bread & Wine, by Shauna Niequist

F o o d. F o o d is four little letters that make up a word, that is sometimes overrated but often underrated. Think about it, no matter what language you speak, where you come from, or how far you go, food is made as an offering, an extension. Its used when words cannot be expressed due to sadness, or in times of celebration and happiness, or even as simple as when there is a language barrier. Ah food.

I turned my friends down earlier in the week when invited out for dinner because I was just to sad, upset, and feeling guilty to even fathom enjoying fun or enjoy food. I cashed in my rain check this evening and tonight I met around the table with a few good friends. We of course dined and enjoyed Saengsun jun (Korean pan-fried fish). After a really hard week, it was nice to just sit back relax, share memories, chat, and dine together in one anthers company at this dinner table. The older I get (I can say that now with another birthday under my belt as of August 14th) the more I realize how much I love to gather around the table with my family and good friends.

I even took along my camera to capture the moment and share with you all. Enjoy!

Backpackbees

Things That Make You Go Hmm…

Sometimes you can’t help but go hmm… when getting out and about in South Korea.

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Today, I had the chance to get out of the office for lunch with a darling girlfriend of mine.

We decided to give a place called New Chinese Kitchen a try.

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The atmosphere was cozy and fun!

Plus, we made it in after the lunch rush so we had the entire place to ourselves. (Perfect for plenty of our girly giggles, and goofy pictures!)

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The views of New City – Jihang’s tucked away streets aren’t too shabby either!

The owner’s sweet wife waited on us and was practicing her English skills. We asked what the best dish was and she was super excited to tell us various things about the menu and her husband the chef.

We perused the menu…

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and a few things just made us sit there and go hmm…

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After helping the owners review a text message she was composing to her son’s English teacher, we ordered our lunch.

We opted for Set A. Not entirely knowing what Set included…Hmm…however, we knew it included some green people and that in itself is pretty exciting, right?! When you travel around South Korea you will quickly learn that sometimes when things are translated from Korean to English they just don’t quite make sense.

Our lunch came out hot and prompt. We were totally digging this place for a meal switch up.

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Hot loose leaf jasmine tea

A sweet cabbage

Shredded kimchi with a bit of a spicy kick

Crab meat soup

Sweet and sour beef

Noodles topped with seafood black bean sauce

Spring rolls

Green people with beef noodles

Desert -sliced up fruit

I know I sparked your interest with the green people dish and now want to know what exactly it is. Well, first we must say that the dish was rather tasty. It was green peppers and beef noodles with a side of two steamed buns.

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After lunch we decided to swing by Dunkin Doughnuts for a sweet treat.

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Hmm…decisions…decisions…Chewisty or a cheese pizza Special D (that had ham and cheese on it?)…What exactly is a chewisty? It turns out like the green people dish, it’s rather tasty too. A Chewisty is 8 small rice flour donuts bonded together into a ring.

If you ever find yourself strolling around the Dongducheon area with a hankering for some Chinese food, I’ve included the New Chinese Kitchen Menu just for you. The restaurant is located on the second floor above 7 Gram Coffee Cafe. Enjoy!

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