Valentine's Day

V Day is not one of those holidays I truly miss being out of the country along with Christmas. Christmas because tourists seem to think Christmastime in NYC is the best, which maybe true unless you are an actual New Yorker and know that this time brings an influx of annoying tourists standing in the middle of the sidewalk. Bah humbug.

Valentine's day sucks because of the cheesiness of otherwise fine restaurants, people wearing red (my least favorite color, further proof I am not Chinese), all that love crap, etc etc.

But because I love post secret. Here is their valentine's secret video.

My favorite is:

Be Mine.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.



Also the NYTimes had a great article about how some couples opt out of the whole gift giving thing on Valentines day. It featured a couple who has been married for 70 years!! Sooo cute, I can't even fathom.

I remember a few years ago I gave Peter hell for giving me one rose, not the required dozen, on Valentine's day after I had actually cooked a 3 course meal for him. On the other hand, Peter often gives me gifts on random days because he is a sweet, sweet man. So what's Valentine's Day, nothing really.

NY Times Seoul in 36 Hours

I did my list and found that NYTimes just posted a to do list of Seoul in 36 hours.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/travel/14seoul-hours.html?src=dayp

The Tea Tree Hotel at the end of the article always looks cute and I have always wanted to stay there. Couldn't find a website though and alas the link that the NY Times posted is broken too :-T

My Endless New York

Article in Times

"We are experiencing the decline of the American age. But how does national or imperial decay influence the lifecycle of a world city? Modern-day Berlin is a cultural metropolis on the make, despite being the capital of a medium-sized and rather self-absorbed nation. Meanwhile, Paris retained its allure for nearly two centuries after the onset of French national decline.

New York — a city more at home in the world than in its home country — may do better still. As a European, I feel more myself in New York than in the European Union’s semi-detached British satellite, and I have Brazilian and Arab friends here who share the sentiment.

To be sure, we all have our complaints. And while there is no other city where I could imagine living, there are many places that, for different purposes, I would rather be. But this too is a very New York sentiment. Chance made me an American, but I chose to be a New Yorker. I probably always was."

NY Times Kimchi shortage article

The NY Times says there is a kimchi shortage in Korea due to the high price of cabbage this season. While I do not disagree that the price has gone up, there has been no dearth of Kimchi here.

"Kimchi has become so expensive that some restaurants in the capital no longer offer it free as a banchan, or side dish, a situation akin to having an American burger joint charge for ketchup, although decidedly more calamitous here."

Blatant lie, this doesn't happen here. I go to the cheap cheap places also and I have never NOT had kimchi as a banchan. The NY Times is really cashing in on the Korean readership. Blowing this whole kimchi thing out of proportion.

The article was totally worth it though just for that woman's face alone. Have never seen such joy expressed over a head of cabbage.

Article Here

So cute

Story about a Korean grandma who failed the driver's test 960 times. When I started reading, I thought "Ha! validation that Koreans really do suck at driving as I suspected" but then it turns out to be a really cute story and I was wrong.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/04/world/asia/04driver.html?pagewanted=1&ref=homepage&src=me

Also, NYTimes loves Koreans. They had a Korean bbq chicken recipe, an article on Asian American designers with a mention of Richard Chai and this article (all in the Sunday Times).