KTX back to Seoul

Daegu - For brunch we had the Korean pancake, dumpling and oysters noodle which YJ and I shared.  After a hearty meal - we catched out high speed train back to Seoul.   I managed to do some work on the train though the internet access is slow - my notebook shut down automatically as the power was so low.  I did not manage to charge it over night because I did not bring the adapter to Daegu.

I decided to buy some Kim Chi, fresh gingseng and seaweed for my family - so we walked to Lotte Supermarket which is next to the KTX station.   This supermarket have this refrigerator that stores organically grown vegetables growing inside.

Checked into Renaissance Seoul again and only had 30 minutes of free time before catching up with Young Jin to head for our next meeting.   For dinner, we had Eel and is my favourite food here in Seoul.

Eel bones deep fried as apetitisers

Eel Gall liquor

A Happy Kevin Chae

Congratulations to Kevin for his son passing the entrance Exam to enter Seoul National University.

Eel Liver - an apetitiser



Grilled Eel - the main course

We had 3 Gilled Eels on our first course and then another 2 grilled eels.   After which we are served an Eel brooth.

YJ stiring the Eel broth

It is so deliciously cooked that all 3 of us finished the Eel broth.

Yeongdeok Renewable Energy - Wind Farm

Yeongdeok - After our lunch of Snow crabs - Mr Kim drove us along the East of Korea to Yeongdeok.   Yeongdeok is famous for their Snow Crabs and held a festival every year - Yeongdeok Snow Crab Festival.

We decided to go to Uljin instead of Yeongdeok as it's less crowded but the crabs are just as good.

The scenary with the flowing mountains and sea hitting against the cliffs is so beautiful.  The temperature is very cold around 3 degree celcius.  

We arrived at Yeongdeok New and Renewable Energy Center - this is Korea's first private Wind energy power plant complex. 

I have read National Geographic about Wind Farm and it was surreal to see it first hand.  It was a marvelous sight to behold.  I got up close to one of the Wind Turbine generator - it is massive.  We had to climb up a small hill to reach the base of one of the Wind Turbine.

This is what it looks like looking up from the base of the Wind powered Generator.

The Yeongdeok Wind Farm is also a tourist area with nice broadwalk and wooden chairs for couples and family.  Furthermore, it overlooks the beautiful sea.

From we drove back 2 and half hours to Daegu - it was to be a tiring trip back with Mr Hoe and Young Jin falling asleep.  I kept awake and intermittently asked questions so as it can be tough drving whilst everyone else is asleep.   Whilst the car was driven at 140km/hr, I used Young Jin's iPad with unlimited 3G plan to updated this blog but manage to only complete half as the bandwidth is very narrow and slow for uploading.

We reach Daegu and checked in to Y'S Hotel for an overnight stay.  The Hotel is clean unfortunately the rooms are all smoking rooms and you can still smell the previous occupant lingering smoke in the room.

For Dinner we had BBQ pig large intestine - in Korean it's called Makchang - this is Daegu favourite dish.  We met Mr Doo who is the GM for dinner.    He is the cook for this dish and that's his hand turning over the meat to ensure all the sides are cooked.

Going to Uljin for Snow Crabs

Seoul - Woke up at 8am to get ready for the KTX (high speed train) to Daegu city.   YJ met me at the Hotel and we travel via taxi to KTX station and booked the 10:30am train. It cost 51,900won per person as we chose 1st class seating.  It is much comfortable, free internet and also you can do much work on the train.  The coach train is too cramp without much leg room to do anything so your 2 hrs train ride is idle time.  I am typing this and updating the blog whilst on the train. 

I had Bibimbap for breakfast and chose hot because the weather is freezing cold.  Young Jin likes the cold dish of Bibimbap.  Bibimbap means 'mixed meal'. 

Cold Bibimbap

My Hot Bibimbap

The KTX train left on time and immediately took out my notebook to get on line.  The Internet access is free but very slow as everyone is using the same narrow 2G bandwidth pipe.  The train ride is smooth and looking out of the window, the trees are shades of brown as it is still winter.

I have to shut down my notebook as it will be 6 minutes left before we reach our Daegu station.

@ Daegu

YJ and I waited along the road for our channel partner to turn up. Moments later they arrive and decided to move to Uljin, which is 2 and half hours by car. This is the season of the Snow Crab.  The scenary was beautiful dotted with many mountains. I think it would look much lovelier in spring when the leaves and flowers are in full bloom.

It was a long and tiring journey and I dozed off for a few minutes on the way to Uljin.

I found out about Snow Crab by accident when I entered what's happening in Korea in the month of March - and out popped 'Snow Crab Festival'.  So, here we are...
Crab Nutrition Facts

As a member of the crustacean family, any variety of edible crab is known for its high nutrient content.
Crab, a shellfish, used to have a bad reputation for having a high cholesterol content. As more and more research has been done into this subject, however, this myth has been proven invalid. Shellfish, overall, are known to have higher cholesterol content than most fish. However, if you eat it in moderate quantities – as is recommended – you will find crab and other shellfish to be extremely good for you. This includes king crab legs, snow crab legs, and all types of crab.

Crab is known to be very low in fat and a heart-healthy food. Crab is also an excellent source of protein, and, to top it off, contains few calories. Crab is a good source of chromium, which is known to help lower the levels of “good” cholesterol in our bodies. In turn, this lowers the risk of both heart and circulatory disease. Chromium also helps diabetes by stabilizing glucose levels. In addition, crab contains selenium, which is known to aid in the prevention of cancer.

Crab meat contains vital amounts of essential fatty acids, iron, zinc, potassium, magnesium, calcium and phosphorous. These nutrients are all important for a well-balanced nutritional diet. The conclusion? Crab is a nutrient-rich powerhouse.

Snow crab festival 2011

A row of restaurant selling Snow Crabs

Red colour Snow Crab

Blue-green Snow Crab

When we arrive Uljin, we were very excited because we will be having snow crabs for lunch and we were so hungry.  The best season to eat Snow Crab is in the month of March. 

Cook catching our Snow Crab meal

Into the basket

We ordered 6 crabs (4 large and 2 small) plus 3 types of raw fishes. The raw fishes and sea squirt came soon and we chowed into itimmediately.

So delicious Sashimi

The lady is preparing our Snow Crab



The lady waiter cuts up the legs and body of the Snow Crab



So delicious Snow Crab legs

When you eat the Snow Crab legs it's so delicious and sweet.  The Blue-green Snow crab taste much better than the red crab.  Of course, the price is different too.  The Blue-green Snow crab is larger and cost Won20,000 and Red Snow Crab cost half the price.

More Snow crab legs

Fried rice in the Snow Crab Shell

and more food - spicy Kim Chi soup

@ Uljin Harbour

Numerous fishing nets

Fishing boats

Uljin Harbour

 What are you looking at??

Rush to Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur - Yesterday, I got a call from my customer to come to KL for an urgent meeting and started to book my flight.  Fortunately, there were plenty of seats still available.  I think with the opening up of the Singapore/KL air, more carriers were able to ply this route.  New carriers to this route are SilkAir, TigerAir, JetStar and many more.  So, I flew SQ as there are still seats available.  It will be a busy and long day as I will be flying back the next day.

The Limo taxi drove like a Ferari to my Hotel in PJ Hilton @ 140km/hr - it was fast but the ride was smooth.  I normally take the KLIA express but time constraint decided to take the taxi as it's a direct route to the Hotel.  

I had pizza (Seafood + Pizza) lunch with my customer and it was not tasty.  The crust tasted like hard biscuit and the ingredients were cold.  I asked the waiter for parmeasan cheese and it was a long wait - by which time, we had already finish half of both the pizzas.  What a disappointment....

After 2 further meetings, I met Donny and Edward for dinner at Jaya 2 for Thai food.  The food is good but the portions were small.  It was a long night with more discussion that followed.   We later adjourned to Big Foot for a 1hr foot and shoulder massage.   The masseur is usually male - the massage is painful at time but after that you will much refresh and you can feel the muscle knots untangled.

English Breakfast tea

Singapore - After reading about tea, I wondered what is English breakfast tea.  Doing some research, English Breakfast tea is actually black tea but the English likes to drink their tea with milk and sugar.   I love to drink without either - that is the way tea is to be drunk.

There is the Earl Grey Tea - is a tea blend with a distinctive flavour and aroma derived from the addition of oil extracted from the rind of the bergamot orange, a fragrant citrus fruit.

My favourite drink - Tea

Singapore - Tea is recognized as the 2nd most consumed beverage behind water.  Tea was first discovered by the Chinese in 2737 BC and has always been recognised for its purifying and fortifying qualities.  It also clears the mind.   I try to drink this everyday and everytime a request is made 'what would you like to drink?' - it will always be tea. 

Strangely though there are many types of tea, it is basically the drying and processing of only ONE species of plant called camellia sinensis.  Herbal teas or herbal infusions are not really tea, but simply dried leaves and flowers of various other plants and herbs.

Even though all teas come from only one species, there are 3 major variety: 
The China (small leaves and generally thrives at higher altitudes);
the India or Assam (small leaves and generally thrives at lower altitudes) and
the Hybrid (in-between the Chinese and Indian).

Tea making is an art - the processing of camellia's leaves into tea.  It is where many of the subtleties in taste, body, and overall character are created.  In its most basic form, it is taking the raw green leaves and deciding whether or not, and how much oxidation (or fermentation) should take place before drying them out.  Tea leaves have enzymes in their veins.  When the leaf is broken, bruised or crushed, the enzymes are exposed to the air resulting in oxidation.  The amount of oxidation depends upon how much of the enzymes are exposed and for how long.

There are four methods of processing and each produces a different type of tea.  These are White tea, Green Tea, Black Tea and Oolong Tea.

White Tea is nothing more than the leaves of the camellia sinensis that have been processed a certain way.  It is the least common of the four types of teas.  White teas are the least processed of any tea and therefore taste the most like fresh leaves or grass.  They also have the lowest amount of caffeine and most likely the highest antioxidant properties.

Green Tea, like white tea is closer to tasting like fresh leaves or grass hand the black or oolong.  They are also lower in caffeine and have higher antioxidant properties.  The processing of green tea is similiar to white tea in that it does not oxidize.  After the leaves are plucked, they are laid out to wither for about 8-24 hrs.  This lets most of the water evaporates.  Then to neutralize the enxymes thus preventing oxidation, the leaves are steamed or pan fried.  Next, the leaves are rolled up in various ways and a final drying takes place.  Since no oxidation took place, the tea has more of a green appearance.

Black Tea, are the most consumed of the  4 types of teas.  They are the highest in caffeine but still have antioxidant properties, the lowest of the four.  After the tea leaves are laid out to wither for about 8-24 hrs,  this lets most of the water evaporate.  Then, the difference is that the leaves are rolled in order to cracked up the surface so that oxygen will react with the enzymes and begin the oxidation process.  The leaves are left to completely oxidize, thus turning the leaves to a deep black colour.  After that, a final drying takes place.

Oolong Teas are the most difficult of the 4 types to process.  The best way to describe oolong tea is that they are somewhere in between green and black tea.  This is because they are only partially oxidized during the processing.  The processing of oolong tea requires only a partial oxidation of the leaves.  After the leaves are plucked, they are laid out to wither for about 8 to 24 hrs.  This lets most of the water evaporate.  Then the leaves are tossed in baskets in order to bruise the edges of the leaves.  This bruising only cause the leaves to partially oxidize because only a portion of the enzymes are exposed to air.  Next, the leaves are steamed in order to neutralize the enzymes and stop any oxidization.   After that, a final drying takes place and then to to be sorted, graded and packaged.

Beware of your location...

Singapore - Whenever I travel, my iphone has been a blessing - snaping photos of places unique and interesting.   This is until I read an article that taking photos on iPhone can divulge more information that I really want to.

According to CNet, pictures taken with the newer generation of cell phones can reveal your exact location through a technology known as geotagging.  The geographical location of where photos were taken - in the form of latitutude and longitude coordinates - is encoded, and anyone who has a copy of the photos can access this information.

When posted on the social networking website or blogs, the photos - with the geographical coordinates analysed - can reveal such information as where you live, who you live with, who you go out with and your commuting patterns.

The location information is encoded in the Exif metadata of photos.  Metadata is a term for the description information embedded inside an image or another type of file.  The metadata capture by your camera is call Exif data, which stands for Exchangeable Image File Format.  Most digital photo software can display Exif information to users, but it is usually not editable.

iPhone offer the option to disable geotagging of photos.   Check this website for more information on geotagging - http://www.icanstalku.com/