Shabu Shabu

The other day a colleague treated us to dinner. I had never tasted this Japanese dish earlier and I was quite willing to try it out. I won’t talk about what’s it all about and if you wanted to know more about it, its best that you try out Mr. Google. I can tell you that I liberally gorged on the soft meat as long as the going was good.

Interestingly, I started off writing this piece with nothing I wanted to share in particularl, but then bohemian rambling I am told is a good way of relaxation. So while I relax, I am in turn trying to confuse you with my gibber gabber.

I subscribe to this newsletter published by the Seoul Municipal Corporation, and on a weekly basis I get updated on the different events scheduled that may or may not be of interest. But all the same, I like receiving it, since I am up to date on what’s happening around me. For similar reasons I do visit the KNTO site too once in a while. Now, I know the full schedule of cherries blossoming all over Korea with precise dates and I marvel at the rapid development of science and agricultural forecasting. The weather forecasts too awe me quite a bit, though sometimes the exceptions occur (to prove the rule I guess) when you might land up taking the umbrella only to use it for some sun protection rather than the rain!!

In case you find all this just a waste of time I would request you to give me the benefit of doubt and still read on. After all, if anything interesting up your alley occurs in the paragraphs to follow, you would be the loser if you quit straight away. Hope is what makes you and me going you see!

The other day I was traveling from Bupyeong to Singil in a fast train and there was this hawker trying to sell a pack of needles and also some spindles of threads. There would have been about 15-20 needles of different lengths along with some threads of different colours.. All this at about 1000 won or say 1 US Dollar. The Chinese have really overtaken anybody else in terms of manufacturing ‘what have you’. Its rare to find stuff these days that are not Chinese. I don’t want to get into a session of economics, since you could be reading enough about this in the newspapers.

Talking about more local stuff, I was impressed when the South Korean Prime Minister resigned from office when he was alleged to have been playing Golf in B(P)usan during the recent Korail strike. Though sometimes I do foster leftist ideas in my head, I was equally impressed with the Government’s firm handling of the strike. Without getting into ideological discussions, what occurred to me was that the Government had a sense of purpose.

The other day I happened to see some advertisements for recruitment of English Teachers. While I thought I could readily qualify for the job, provided I leave my current occupation, any hope of doing so vanished when I figured out that Indians wouldn’t qualify in the first place. The British Colonial Past would not really come to my rescue no matter what my background was. Well, I was not really serious about this or was I?

I have been reading up quite a few blogs of unknown strangers and some of them are quite enthralling. I also happened to chance upon a few haikus and poems and found them quite invigorating. I am planning to pen some limericks (I am supposedly good at this) and I will post them at the appropriate time.

By the way, did you check up Shabu Shabu on the net. I suggest that you visit a Japanese restaurant and try it out. You’ll like it!! My Indian Friends – You would do well to stay away!!! Sphere: Related Content