Asia Tour Day 6: CJK - "Curry, Japanese-style, in Korea"

Apologies about the dorky "CJK" reference in my blog title--my colleagues will know that it's a reference to how we refer to the three major countries within the APAC region (China/Japan/Korea) when we talk about localizing our products, hence this work trip. Nevertheless, CJK is the name of the game, and tomorrow we hit China, the last leg of the trip.

Today I finally got my fix of curry katsudon (thanks to Sasank for rubbing in the fact that he had good Japanese curry in Mountain View when I'm the one who spent four days in Tokyo without any curry). It was served on a sizzling hot plate with udon and rice on the side. And just to make sure we had the proper Korean touch, there was a tiny dish of kimchee on the side, of course.

I think I'm coming down with something, which is really helpful since the air quality of Beijing isn't exactly stellar. It was freezing last night in Seoul and I think my body must be battling the yuckiness that often comes with drastic weather changes and excessive traveling. (Wow, did I just use "excessive" and "traveling" in one sentence? I really must be sick.)

Tonight, our Korean colleagues took us out for some good old fashioned Korean BBQ. We were also introduced to the "Korean car bomb" (okay, it's not called that but that's what I'm calling it), which essentially is a shot of soju that you put in a shot glass which you then drop into the glass of Korean beer of your choice. (Sounds like an Irish car bomb, right? Yah, see?) Nothing but beef, beer, beef, and more beer all around. (see pic below)


It was great to see many of my co-workers half-drunk by 8pm and stumble their way to the karaoke place. A couple hours of what I like to call "white-people karaoking" (ie. when they yell into microphones in groups and don't even attempt to be in tune) ensued, and good times were had by all. I can still see Richard singing "In da Club" and pretty much knowing all the words--this is funny because Richard is a self-proclaimed "the whitest black man you'll ever meet".

In about 4 hours we're headed to the airport for Beijing. (Yes, that means it's 2:30 am here and I have neither packed nor slept.) I'm a little sad that I didn't get to see Seoul, but I guess I've been here before and it's okay. Tomorrow is a new adventure...annyoung, Seoul!