Something New and Nutritious?

I'm now a few days into my Asia tour. I visited our partner's manufacturing facility today to discuss some of the issues they are encountering. The plant is way out in the middle of nowhere. As a result we eat at the plant's on site cafeteria. Today there was a special treat for lunch... this. It is a type of seaweed soup with oysters. If you click on the picture it enlarges here. The dish I had was very similar to this except there were no large chunks of green. Only the very fine pieces were in the soup I had.

Taste and consistency were very bad, slimy fishy nastiness.The smell was not good either. I don't think very many people would say that oysters smell good. I didn't eat more than a couple spoons full of it. That was all I could take. At least I tried it and didn't toss my cookies in the process. Before I ate it the dish was explained to be very nutritious and good for the body. I guess that is only if you can overcome the gag reflex when eating it.

I also think the cooks knew I was coming for lunch. They made French fries and chicken fried steak - the same thing they made during my last visit. These dishes are good but not necessary. I can eat the normal food, and I can use chopsticks...

One side note, the heating systems here are slightly different for Korea versus the USA. For instance, I know in the USA at my company some people (mainly hourly) take excessively long restroom breaks so they can sit and read the paper, or sleep... I am sure that is not a problem in Korea. The bathroom here smells very bad and also the windows are open to the outside. The high temperature yesterday was close to 22°F and the bathroom, while not that cold, was definitely a a bit chilly. If our bathrooms in the USA were kept at 35-40°F I bet there would be no napping... it is also a bit of a challenge to use the urinal. There are the two competing forces: trying to remove it versus the force of shrinkage. Sometimes the force of shrinkage wins and you end up peeing all over yourself, luckily that is rare.

Thursday night we went to the seafood buffet. There were a lot of different kinds of seafood: sushi, steamed crab legs and claws, steamed snails, mussels, oysters, and various salads. The things that I did not expect to find in a sea food restaurant include: sweet and sour pork, Hawaiian pizza, chicken wings, and French fries. Really? Chicken wings on a seafood buffet.

Tonight we are going to the semi-famous "tubes" restaurant. I guess it is only famous within our company. What are tubes you might ask? Tubes are pork intestines and stomachs. I don't think I have ever eaten pig stomach but I have eaten pig intestine before. As long as it is cleaned very, very well it will likely be good. Probably a little chewy.

The plans for the weekend are still up for debate. I will run first thing on Saturday morning but Saturday afternoon is still up for debate. Some of the options are: skiing, a Korean musical, a Korean comedy show (I think this is similar to Stomp or Blue Man Group), or a movie. I have not skied in nearly 20 years (since high school). Another of our colleagues says he cannot stand up on skis, another says she cannot stop at the bottom of the hill, and another can't start. From a purely entertainment value, skiing might be the best option as long as we all stay in a group.

During a past trip to Korea I had the misfortune of trying this product. It is a sports drink that is supposed to replenish electrolytes lost when sweating.

I don't know who the Pocari guy is but his perspiration is being collected and put into drink cans.

And finally one last thing, when driving today I found this:

Let's all storm the building!!

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