Cranking wood and pink balls

Still whacked out from jet lag today, but I stayed lucid enough to unpack some Korea loot. There wasn't any time to see the sights and wander and explore. So I visited the 24 hr Target equivalent across the street from the hotel. Random cheap goodies ensue.

At the Home Plus, I found things such as Crunky ball chocolate (Nestle Crunch in centimeter cube form) and Milk Ball candy. I just love saying "Crunky." And who can resist a cow holding a giant strawberry on a pink spotted milk can?

And I found the most awesome super #1 tie. White and grey and pink. With sequins! Pink is the new Black in Korea. All the boys were sporting pink shirts and pink hats and pink phones. The girls, not so much pink. Pink is the manly color of the moment. Wear it. Own it. Love it. Did I mention SEQUINS? Hawt!

And someday, I will be wearing a panda eye mask and a panda face mask. Panda branded cigarettes will hook naive impressionable me into a lifetime addiction to nicotine. But I will look stylish smoking cigarettes through a hole in my panda face mask. Bonus points for irony.

And in the hardware department, I found a hand crank coffee grinder, wooden spoons, no-underage minors signage, and wood panel shelf paper. Yes, I schlepped Korean vinyl shelf paper halfway across the globe and through customs.

Plane crazy

The airport "limousine" is optimistically named. Sigh. Less than 3 days on the ground, and I'm heading back to California already. I'll just have to squeeze all my restaurant hopping in the limited time I have at the airport. 

Korean draft beer is good.

So-so bulgogi. I guess most airport food is of similarly overpriced quality all over the world.

I found a gelato stand in Korea! Black sesame and yogurt flavoured gelato. Surprisingly good. And the yogurt gelato texture was spot on. I got two spoons so I can share with myself.

Black bean tea tastes like dirt. The dirt that the beans grew in. Blech.

Colonel Sanders looks Asian. I'm not sure this will go over well in Kentucky.

And one last fiery seafood tofu stew pot. Then onto the airplane for the 12 hour flight back to LA! Aie! (And yes Meg, I did eat all that.)

Miso nerdy

Miso mustard glazed salmon. With sesame seeds. I used the blow torch to crisp up the exterior.

Attempting to make pig candy. Miso maple candied bacon, Top Chef style. Something went screwy in the execution I think. I will try a higher temperature next time. These came out too salty and rubbery instead of crispy yielding to chewy.

Wintermelon tea. Dong-gua cha! These are awesome because rather than kool-aid type powders, the wintermelon tea comes in hermetically sealed rectangular blocks with perfectly flat sides and 90 degree corners. My OCD loves flatness and 90 degree corners. Just dissolve in water, chill, and imbibe. Makes gallons on the cheap. Wintermelon tea would probably be awesome churned into sorbet, but I usually drink it all before I remember to chill the ice cream machine insert.