kanebo

We took a trip to Khon Kaen today to hit HomePro (the local mega home center) for various items and made a stop by our favorite mall, Fairy Plaza, on the way back for some double cheeseburger eats, and for Nam to buy some foundation. The girls at the counter insisted on doing Nam’s make up since she’s a card-carrying Kanebo loyalist. It was amazing; just like a car being painted. They stripped off the existing layers of pigment, laid down a solid primer coat followed by 2 main coats and sealant – it was even metallic pearl, yo.
As I sat and watched, I wondered how to say, “Stop painting on my pregnant wife! Only cheap harlots paint their faces with ground fish scales!”, in Thai, but I guess that level of nuance is still a few years off.

katsu kare night

I totally made a huge pot of Japanese curry and deep fried some fresh tonkatsu as well. The occasion? Today is the midpoint between Nam’s birthday (Nov. 9) and her little sister Noon’s (Nov. 6), so we celebrated them together as they have done since they were little. The food was so good, none of the nine people at the table spoke much until the meal was done. I was very proud of stuffing everyone full of so much garlic and curry goodness, and forgot to take photos.
For some reason, I never actually made tonkatsu myself before tonight, but it was easy and turned out very well.

Swamped

Just a quick heads up – I’ve been on various missions and adventures (aka school seminars) the past week and didn’t have net access. Now I’m back and have no net connection at home and no time, so I’ll try and bounce back to get something up here on the weekend.

Korean Hostage Crisis as Seen by Overseas Korean Volunteers

Yesterday, I asked a group of four young Koreans who have come to teach our students computer skills the following questions:

  1. Were the Koreans who were taken hostage missionaries, or what? Is it important to make the distinction between missionaries and volunteer workers?
  2. Are average people in Korea blaming the US for what happened?
  3. Are you hopeful about a diplomatic solution?

Their answers were:

  1. Yes, and YES(!).
  2. No.
  3. ….

So there you go. The news says that progress is being made and the Taliban is promising release today or tomorrow. That would be nice. The Taliban ain’t exactly nice guys, though. I hope everything works out, but let me say this: If you aren’t prepared to sacrifice for your beliefs, why hold to them at all?

heine

Nam and I went out for steaks; it was the first t-bone I’ve had since god knows when. I drank a few or more beers and ended up back at home taking a shower in the rain. Nam even brought me a bar of soap, because it was pissing down. Taking a shower in the rain… I cannot recommend this highly enough.
Happy Hiroshima day!