Archive for the ‘Destinations’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »
2 comments

Bulgogi Pizza


2010
07.27

Posted in Food, Korea | 2 Comments »

I enjoy Korean food, especially the spicy stuff.  But there’s not as much variety in the food as I’d like.  So I went out to dinner one night determined not to eat Korean food.  I only half succeeded.

I came across a pizza shop that looked pretty good.  I went in thinking I’d get something Italian traditional, but couldn’t resist trying something new.  Bulgogi is one of my favorite meals in Korea.  It’s a meal of marinated beef cooked on the table in front of you along with mushrooms and some other miscellaneous veggies.  They say is “barbecued”, but being a BBQ snob from the south I have to mention that this is not really BBQ.  Real BBQ is smoked.  Bulgogi is cooked in a pan over an open flame, but honestly it’s even more braised than grilled, since they cook it with so much marinade in the pan.  But I digress…   So I’m a big fan of bulgogi, and I see that they have a bulgogi pizza.  I wasn’t going to eat Korean food, but this sounds too good to pass-up.

As soon as I ordered, they brought out some appetizers.  There was a basket with two types of bread, a mustard & oil dip, oil & balsamic vinegar dip, and the ever present pickles.

bread & pickles

The pizza arrived looking rather delicious!  It was topped with bulgogi and potato wedges with a white sauce including mushrooms and onions.  It was very different, and that’s what I told the waitress when she asked if I liked it.  She seemed hurt and said “Oh, you don’t like it!”  No….no…it’s good, just different.  My favorite pizza is Neapolitan style.  A thin crispy crust, with minimal toppings.  With the meat, potatoes, and cream sauce…this was a very hearty pizza, but I really enjoyed it.  Hopefully the empty serving plate made that clear to the waitress.

I’m already looking forward to going back and trying some of their other non-traditional pizzas!

bulgogi pizza

1 Comment

Hot Pot Lunch In Beijing


2010
07.20

Posted in China, Food | 1 Comment »

I was treated to a delicious lunch today after morning meetings!  “Hot pot” is a pretty generic term for a group of Asian meal styles.  Wikipedia has more info for you.  The one common component is a pot of boiling liquid at the table, but the composition of the liquid varies widely.  Today we had  Beijing-style hot pot, which has two different broths for cooking.  The one on the left was a beef broth, made by boiling beef bones for many hours.  The right side is filled with a vegetable broth.  Both were very mild.  Notice that both sides have two ladles: one slotted, and one solid.

two-sided hot pot

(more…)

No Comments

Where Am I?


2010
07.20

Posted in Asia, Planes | No Comments »

I got to the airport quite a bit early for my flight today from Beijing to Seoul, and didn’t yet have a boarding pass.  I stopped at the ticket counter to check-in and the guy asked me where I was going.   I answered “Beijing” and he looked at me like I had three heads!  After a short pause I said “Sorry, that was yesterday.  How about Seoul?”  LOL   I’m looking forward to staying in the same place for three whole nights!

5 comments

Lunch in Wuhan


2010
07.18

Posted in China, Food | 5 Comments »

After my long/late trip to get here, I didn’t roll out of bed till about 10:00 on Sunday morning.  I pulled down photos of the trip, made a blog post, called my family, etc.  By the time I left the room it was time for a late lunch.  There’s a restaurant here at the hotel, but where’s the adventure in that?!?!  So off I went in search of food and fun.  Thankfully, I found both!

The restaurant that I chose didn’t have an English menu or even a menu with pictures.  The ordering process was one of the funniest things I’ve ever experienced!!!  But I’ll have to write more on that in another post, since I’ve got to get out the door.

I’m trying out a new photo gallery, rather than putting all the photos in-line.  There are descriptions of the photos below each picture, after you click on a thumbnail.  Please let me know if you like this, or prefer the images embedded in the post.

PS  I had some family ask about the cost of my lunch.   Food in China is very cheap!  The fish was $4.32 , beans were $1.79, and beer was $0.89 for 16.5 oz bottle.  CHEAP!  The fish and beans could easily serve 3 people, so call it $2/each.  The beer was drinkable.  Not good, but worth 89 cents on a hot summer day.   So for under $3/each, you got a delicious meal.  Beats the pants of a $2.99 burger value meal!!!  :)

No Comments

Wuhan, China


2010
07.17

Posted in China | No Comments »

After 28 hours of travel, I arrived at my hotel on Saturday night just after midnight local time.  This is my first trip to central China, and I’m really excited about experiencing the cultural differences here.

Unusual for Google, the street map and satellite views don’t line-up here; the satellite view is right.  The Lake View Garden Hotel is the red building to the west of the park on the south edge of Swan Lake (seriously!). It’s a nice hotel.  The grounds are very well maintained, with lots of beautiful garden areas.  The room is well worn, but fine, and it has a great view of the lake and city in the distance.

I’m going to get cleaned-up and head out to see what I can find.  I’ll grab some lunch and wander around for the afternoon.  I’ll meet my colleague for dinner, then start our meetings in the morning.

This is the view from my room at the Lake View Garden Hotel

2 comments

Asia Trip – July 2010


2010
07.14

Posted in China, Korea, Planes | 2 Comments »

I’m getting ready for a very hectic week in Asia, and have decided that I need a day at the start to recover a bit from jet lag before adding sleep deprivation.  So on Friday I’ll fly from Atlanta to Wuhan, China, via Detroit and Shanghai.  I’ll get to the hotel late on Saturday evening and will have Sunday to explore Wuhan.  I’ve never been there before, so that should be fun.  Wuhan is the largest city in central China (10M+ people).  It’s also known as one of the “Three Ovens” of China, so it’ll be nice and toasty in late July!

I’ll have meetings in Wuhan on Monday, then fly out to Beijing that evening.  After meetings in Beijing on Tuesday, I’ll fly out to Seoul that evening.  Finally after two days of meetings in Seoul, I’ll fly home on Friday, via Portland.  That’s 7 flights in 8 days, covering 16,861 miles.  Please put your seat back and tray table in their fully upright and locked positions.  And remember, smoking is…not allowed…on any Delta flight.

ATL-DTW-PVG-WUH, WUH-PEK, PEK-ICN, ICN-PDX-ATL

1 Comment

Salsa Picante


2010
06.28

Posted in CA, Restaurant Reviews | 1 Comment »

I was in Fremont, CA, recently and needed a quick lunch.  I drove past this taqueria that looked like the real deal.  I chose three tacos (two beef and one chicken), with chips & salsa included.  There’s seating for about 16 inside, and probably another 20 outside.   I enjoyed sitting inside, where I could watch them cooking.  The tacos looked a bit small for $1.50, but the quality was excellent.  Well worth the cash.  The chips were obviously fresh, but cut a bit ticker than I prefer.  The red salsa was GREAT, and the green was fine.

Lunch = 3 tacos + chips & salsa + Coke

I was glad to see chicken that was carefully pulled, and the beef was chopped rather than ground.  Somehow I think this translates to higher quality.  The tacos are served with only cilantro and onions.  No lettuce or cheese, like you get at Taco Bell.  :)  I’m a big fan of cheese, but tacos are great this way.  The tacos were made of two soft corn tortillas, which I prefer to the standard flour tortillas.

chicken and beef

I had long heard rumors that Coke in Mexico is still made with real sugar, like Coke used to be in America…before the New Coke debacle and subsequent Coca-Cola Classic.  I’m in the camp that says the DISGUSTING “New Coke” was just a ploy to flush the shelves of the original Coke and start using high fructose corn syrup in a “classic” product.  Regardless, this Coke was great.  It tastes a bit less sweet than the Coke you normally get here.  It was $1.95 for a 12 oz bottle, which seemed steep to me…but it was good nonetheless.  I thought it was interesting that the bottle didn’t have nutrition information (sic) on it, so in order to sell the bottle here they had to stick on this label.

Mexican Coke

If you find yourself hungry in Fremont, I highly recommend Salsa Picante!

No Comments

Ze Plane! Ze Plane!


2010
06.03

Tags: ,
Posted in Israel, Planes | No Comments »

Good timing!  This is the plane I’d be flying out on later in the evening; Delta 152, ATL-TLV.  The photo was taken at 17:30, as I was waling along the beach finishing-up my adventure for the day.  I had watched dozens of planes landing that afternoon, but had never anticipated seeing MY plane!

Ze Plane! Ze Plane!!!

1 Comment

Tel Aviv and Old Jaffa


2010
05.30

Posted in Food, Israel, Sight Seeing | 1 Comment »

I worked from the hotel business lounge on Wednesday morning, because they wanted to charge $6+/hr for internet access in the guest rooms.  I was on my own for lunch, so I took a stroll after eating The Jerusalem Humus.

The beach was pretty quiet on a weekday at lunch.

(more…)

No Comments

9 Beach Café


2010
05.06

Posted in Food, Israel | No Comments »

There’s a great cafe on the beach in Hertzilya, Israel.  It’s called 9 Beach (don’t know why), and it’s just a great place to hang-out.  There are quotes on the walls from Led Zeplin, Oasis, Linkin Park, Alanis Moriset, Sex Pistols, etc. and great rock-n-roll playing.  Every table has a view of the beach, and the entire wall facing west is made of glass panels that they slide open to allow the sea breeze to roll in.  The food is pretty much what you’d expect at a bar, but not bad.  The beer selection was rather modest.   But what really makes this place a winner is the location.  I went here every day after work to wind down a bit.  Highly recommended!

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »
Premium Wordpress Plugin