Uncle Tom kicks it with Menudo and Ricky Martin is nowhere to be found!

GREETINGS EVERYONE! I know what you are all thinking and yup your Uncle Tom is back and readying to blog some more. So, after a brief hiatus to Hell's Waiting room (or Texas as the rest of the world calls it) I'm back in Korea. My recent trip to the motherland was great. It felt good to be back in the states and I was able to spend time with the Keoki and his family and Sugarduck flew in to see me after 2 months of not being in each others company. The picture that you see above was taken at a little hole in the wall restaurant called Taqueria Guadalajara. I had a small bowl of menudo and a plate of Carne Guisada (Beef tips in Gravy!). Sugarduck ordered some Bistec Tampiquena. Our order is below:


The beef tips were so good but my love of gravy can make me biased on some things. Now that I am back, my happy readers, I hope to be writing some more. I still have to post about my current room and also I will be going downtown to sample some more goods. One of the recent foods that I've tried is Jellyfish which to be perfectly honest isn't so good (surprise surprise). I want to offer you a preview of what I hope is my next post. Behold ladies and gentlemen, the shower that I wash in:



I know that if the Keoki were here, his head would probably explode or he would be speaking in tongues saying crazy stuff like "Coke and Pepsi taste the same" On a serious note, if you are ever in the area, feel free to stay the night, just be sure to bring some shower shoes!

UNCLE TOM OUT!!!

Digestion + A Slide = a great blog opportunity for your Uncle Tom!

Good Day everyone! Uncle Tom here with a quick follow up about the trip to the War Memorial. It seems that in order to entertain the local children and perhaps even in a effort to education them about Shighella the Memorial has an exhibit dedicated to health issues. The image above is (and your Uncle Tom would never lie to you) a picture of a slide!!! Yes folks that's a slide that is part of a health exhibit/fun house for the kiddies over here. What better way to teach our future than to have them slide out a gigantic butt! What's even better is that surrounding the enormous backside is this:

You guessed it my faithful readers, the target is nothing put a huge pile of... well you fill in the blank. Also, if you look closely enough you can see random piles of the mess that can be thrown and tossed and laughed at!?!?! I'm all for education in the form of fun, and I love learning about new cultures. It's just that if my kid were to go down that slide and them someone calls him a turd. Well what am I as a father supposed to do then? How am I to explain to Uncle Tom Junior that no, you're not a turd, you just happened to slide out a backside. Anyway, I am dedicating todays post to my friend RC666, as this post is pretty much up his alley and dude I wish that you were there with me to see this. I would have paid the extra Won (that's Korean money) to have sent you down that slide. Take care folks, I will be stateside shortly and will be able to see The Keoki and his family, all of whom I miss dearly. Best of all, Sugarduck and I will be reunited as well. I can't wait to see you sweetie! I will try my best to post again before I head out but if I don't, take care and...........

Uncle Tom OUT!

Uncle Tom, O Uncle Tom, Where for Art Thou Uncle Tom

Yoboseyo happy readers (That's how to say hello when answering a telephone) Greetings everyone!! Now I know that your Uncle Tom has been away for awhile and I do apologize for that but I've been really busy with work and to be quite honest, your Uncle Tom gets tired and wants to relax so cut me some slack!! But here's a quick update.... I've been to the Korean Memorial and Kyongbok Palace in Seoul which I will post about in a minute. I've also tested and earned my yellow belt, please hold the applause. The best part is that I didn't have to fight Johnny for it in a Tri-county tournament (thank God but again where is Elizabeth Shue?) although to get my green belt it gets a little scary. I also went to a Korean orphanage which is a whole different post that I will try to get to at a later date and sadly don't have any pictures for that trip. Most recently on the 4th (I hope you all had a wonderful and safe Independence Day because your Uncle Tom missed you) I traveled again to Seoul and toured the beautiful Seoul Tower, 63 Building, and did a boat tour of the Han River. I will have to post about those trips at another time as well (I told all of you my 5 readers that this was a quick recap) Now that you are caught up let's go back to the memorial and palace trip. The first stop was the memorial. There were many display areas that showed Korean life throughout the ages and also throughout all the wars that the culture has participated in. The picture that I want all of you to check out is this:

aaaannnndddd this:

What you are seeing in these pictures is as follows. The room is a huge cylinder; at the top there is a hole that catches sunlight and reflects in a single beam of sunlight that reaches the fountain in the center of the room that you can see in picture number 2. The caption for the monument reads as follows:
"The fountain symbolizes the convergence of sun light and water at the t'aeguk (the ultimate cosmic entity) on the hemisphere. This represents 'the Creation of the Cosmos' generating new life force."
To be completely honest happy readers, of all the exhibits there, this was probably the best one. I know some of you may saying to yourselves "Uncle Tom, what about the actual memorials to those who have fought and died for freedom and injustice?" Well I say to you my unhappy reader, what better way to celebrate death than to celebrate life? Yes folks that is going to be the most profound thought that you will ever read on the blog, if you want profound please read Milfie's sight, her words are so much more than the excrement that you find at this site....
Okay let's get back to business shall we. After the memorial, sadly we went to Yongsan Army Base for lunch, which means fast food but I was able to eat at one of the most incredible hotels I've ever been to. If you don't believe me, check it out. GO ARMY!!! . The lunch was all right it was just chicken and rice. No Pics but deal with it folks you've all seen chicken and rice. We then went to the Kyongbok Palace. A really neat area that was huge. We walked around the whole thing and we were told that the royal family lived in houses that were apart. The queen lived in one area and the king in another. The king also had residences for his "other women". This was because rulers had to be male and if the Queen was unable to produce a son then other actions had to be taken (ummmm now may not be the time, but Sugarduck I've always wanted a son....) The whole palace was beautiful and if you click on the link above you will be able to see some more pictures and read a little more history than what I can provide. Here is the last picture that I will leave you with, it's me with an awesome tour guide!


In the background is where the King and Queen would enjoy going to have tea. It's actually really neat and reminded of my trip to the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco with my beautiful wife.... Well, I hope that you all enjoyed this one my happy readers. I promise that soon, I will add some more content to this. Your Uncle Tom hopes you are all well and he dedicates this post to his wife. Sugarduck, I can't wait until this travel page isn't just about my travels but it's about ours.....

Uncle Tom was kung fu fighting.....

Hey there happy readers! Otdoshimnika? (How are you?) Well it's Thursday night here, I am currently relaxing and resting from last night's punishment at the hands of Master Kim my Tae Kwon Do instructor. Allow me to paint a picture for you my loyal readers. Imagine yourselves lying on a mat in an already humid gym. A 72 year old 9th degree Tae Kwon Do instructor telling you to do 50 three count flutter kicks. Not too bad right? Well follow that up by 100 (yes that's 100) bicycle exercises, next it's lying on your back with your legs over head being opened and closed(another 50) then its push-ups but with your feet spread as far apart as they can go without making yourself unable to procreate. After those excerises, it's 100 punches followed by another 100 cross over lunges. Ahhh how the first 45 minutes of our instruction can sometimes be the cruelist. After our "stretching" we get to partner up to perform some basic movements. I was lucky to 1. be a white belt so I need a little more instruction and 2. I was placed with a black belt!!! Are you kidding me?!??! Seriously though he was actually really helpful and did some one on one tutoring that will benefit me in the long run. We next went through side kick exercises, followed by roundhouse kicks and then front kicks. Those were about 4 or 5 one way up the room and the same back. So the first hour is up. Water Break for 10 min and then comes the sparing. This time I was with another white belt so that's cool. It was honestly a great time. It's my 4th class so far and I plan on going at least 3 times a week. However let me offer some insight into this.....

Now, when I started this whole martial arts thing I was expecting a couple of things which I shall name and then compare with what really happens.

1. An old Asian male instructor would hopefully impart some wisdom from time to time, become my best friend and then on my birthday give me the keys to a kick ass classic car.
Reality- Old guy, check. Wisdom, sometimes but at a painful cost. Best friend, that remains to be seen. Classic car, well my birthday is in a couple of months.....

2. "Cruel Summer" would somehow become my new anthem as I would have to prove myself against the mean "in-crowd" either on a beach, the soccer field, a dojo, or the final tournament.
Reality- No Beach, soccer field or final tournament. Although the dojo will be interesting......

3. Elisabeth Shue and I have this quircky on again off again relationship because I come from the wrong side of the tracks.
Reality- Ummmmm do I really have to explain this

4. I was going to have to compete against some dude named Johnny whose friends keep telling that I should be put in a body bag.
Reality- No Johnny but the Black Belt dude sure was intimidating and at least I didnt' get beat up by a bunch of skeletons

5. At the final battle, my legs would be swept and I would have some jacked up ribs but my wise old Asian friend would massage me to good health.
Reality- No final battle yet. I just started come on now happy readers, what do you expect you can't learn that crap in under 2 months.

Well lastly folks:

At least if my life leads to a sequel I can look forward to having "Glory of Love" be a part of my soundtrack. Sugarduck, I would always be the man who will fight for your honor and glory and I am really depending on Canowine or The Keoki to post some kick ass Peter Cetera songs right now!!!!



Uncle Tom, Sore and OUT!

Uncle Tom, what the PHO is going on?!?!?!?

It's your Uncle Tom again folks with another fine dining review. Today's post is dedicated to our good friend Canowine. He was the first person to introduce me to the amazing cuisine from his country of Vietnam (yes it's his) and for that I am indebted to him. Yes folks, Pho is a serious dining experience and one that should be shared with all your friends and I think that RC666 knows what I'm talking about. So here you go folks, tonight's dinner was courtesy of the following restaurant that was located in a back alley:

Tonight was all about have some good soup and some great spring rolls. We ordered some fried spring rolls, some fresh summer rolls along with the "small" bowls of the Pho. After about 5 minutes from the time of the order, the waitress brought to the table, a heaping bowl of bean sprouts that were to go into the soup, she also brought the two types of rolls and also a side dish of pickled radish (a kimchee that's really good). I was able to take a picture of everything at once I hope that all of my 5 readers can make out what's what.....

As you can all see, there is a lot of food, also here is what a SMALL bowl of soup looks like.

So... yeah tons of food right? Now for those who aren't familiar with the religion of eating Pho, first you have to add the bean sprouts, next comes some tasty bean paste and then some SIRACHA which is some hot stuff. Now I like to add some chilis to my soup. Everyone else I know thinks that I am crazy including my stomach. But the kick that they add to the beef is awesome. Once stirred the once brown liquid turns to a dark red color and as the noodles absorb the sauce, they too take on the spicy liquid flavor. My personal favorite type is with all the meats, tendon, and tripe and without the onion and ciliantro (same as RC666 and my younger brother although Canowine is more hardcore and gets it all). They don't offer that here, just brisket, flank and tendon. Whenever Sugarduck and I would share a bowl, she would also let/force me eat the tendon and tripe although one day I am sure that I can convince her to try it! The soup tonight was tasty although the siracha was a bit "fake". It wasn't the real stuff, I don't know what it was since it was in a ketchup server but it didn't have the familiar flavor that I know so well. The fried spring rolls were horrible, they literally looked like they were the ones bought in the freezer section. The sauce that it came with was actually a Korean soy sauce and not the tasty Nouc Mon (spelling?) that I enjoy so much. But then again, I miss the spring rolls from Tahn Tahn (is that the correct spelling?). The fresh rolls weren't too bad except the peanut dipping sauce was actually peanut butter, heck it might have been Jiffy! At least I had the Pho and honestly that's all I wanted. It brought me back to a time where a bunch of good friends would go out to have some hot soup on a cold day and just have a good lunch (I'm all man baby!!). It also reminded me of my wife whom I miss dearly. I would have loved to have shared this bowl with her and I know that she knows that too.... Take Care folks, tomorrow night, no food because I am going to get my ass kicked at TaeKwonDo. Ahhhhh Good Times, Good Times. Uncle Tom Out!

Steamed Uncle Tom

Greetings Everyone! Uncle Tom here with some more food pics and another restaurant review. As you can tell from the above picture they like their Ramen STEAMING HOT in Korea. RC666, I could only think of you man while I had dinner. But this ramen was AWESOME. It was a spicy broth that had clams and bits of squid in it, much better than that crap that you used to eat in the office. The first part of the meal that came out was the kimchee as all meals do here. Their were 3 dishes of the kimchee, one was just the cabbage, one was cucumbers (super cool) and the other was pickled radish. Here you can get an idea as to what the look like:

Right after the kimchee came out the waiter brought out the Fried Mandu. It's sort of like a fried dumbling that you dip in a spicy soy sauce. It is one of my favorite dishes from here:

Pretty much all the meals here in Korea are served quickly. Dinners and appetizers are supposed to be shared among everyone so they bring out everything pretty much at once. I was able to have dinner with another one of my co-workers. She ordered a dish that I had tried last week when I was at the same restaurant. It was honestly the spiciest dish that I have ever had. When I had it by myself, I almost didn't finish it (Sorry Canowine and Keoki but I'm still all man baby). It was a Spicy Ramen with Fish and a Hard Boiled Egg. Check out how red and mean food can look:

My dish, well you can see from the first pic that Uncle Tom is happy. I will have to post another blog with a pic from my bowl. The food here is good so for that I am thankful. As soon as I know what trip I am taking this weeked, I will be sure to let you my loyal readers know. Have a wonderful day and Your Uncle Tom Loves You!

Lumpia and a really big OB

Good Day everyone! Uncle Tom here with an all new restaurant review. Yesterday I was able to take in a filipiniana restaurant downtown with a couple of chicks that I work with. We were the only 3 people in the place so our service was really quick which is always a good thing. The first item that I ordered when we sat down was a huge mug of another beer native to Asia called OB (which stand for Oriental Beer hee hee).

We all ordered a plate of the lumpia but because one of the girls that I went with had actually eaten lunch at the same place earlier in the day, our waitress gave us a free plate of chicken fried rice which I though was really cool. The lumpia was awesome!! I took a picture of it so here you go:

The best part about being the only 3 customers in the place was that we had free reign over the music selection. All the bars in downtown Songtan (the city outside the gate) have their music stored on computers and the customers are able to pick and choose songs to their liking and the bars/restaurants don't mind. Again since we were the only ones we were able to pick our playlists. The first musician that we listened to was R.Kelly.... There is nothing better than enjoy a nice cold draft, eating some great lumpia while the music of a weirdo is being played at an obnoxious level. But after about 6 or 7 R. Kelly songs we were able to move onto some Mary J. and then unto some Lil' Jon, and Nelly and even someone named T.I. Finally we listened to some Marvin Gaye where the discussion revolved around what song/album of his is the best (What's Goin On!! Right? Keoki and Canowine). I did get to listen to Needle and the Damage Done by Neil Young... that was a great 30 seconds until it was changed to Borderline by Madonna where I was able to watch a sing along by my co-workers. Let me tell you, beer never tasted so good. All in all it was a good night because I was able to take some pictures, I will let you all know about my day on Sunday where I just basically relaxed, played the guitar and did some cleaning around the room. Oh wait I think I just ruined that post...... My next post will be about my room/living conditions. I will also have to attach a picture of the waitress from last night on my next post.

Take Care everyone.

Uncle Tom Out!

One Month

Well, it's been a long month and your Uncle Tom is finally settled in a dorm room!! Yup 30 yrs old and back in a dorm setting (good times, good times). So, what mysteries will I unravel here you ask? Well, hopefully nothing too scandalous. Although they do enjoy drinking Soju and coke, and Soju Kettles, and Ammo Bowls here (don't ask)!! I actually have just recently moved into a dorm room so I am quite happy that I am no longer living out of a suitcase. The picture that you see above is one from a trip that I took to Sokumo Island and Bomun Temple. The picture at the bottom of the link is a carving of Buddha that is a the top of many many steps. A Monk is stationed in the center in a small wooden box from where he can worship the image of Buddha. I didn't take any photos up at the top or inside the temples because there were people worshiping, I asked a native to Korea if it would be okay to take pictures next time and they assured me that it wouldn't be a problem. So the next temple that I go to I will post some pics of that as well. I have been able to go Deep Sea Fishing already and I took in a baseball game in Seoul. I will post those pics next as well as pics of some food that I've been able to eat. I look forward to adding to this and I hope that you can enjoy my travels through these pictures.

-Uncle Tom