Those last two entries nearly wiped me out.

I got home around 8pm on Friday. I was late for dinner with Dave and Mr. Kim, who were both waiting, hungry. We went to the neighborhood soojaebee place and chowed down. It was nice to see Mr. Kim again after so long. He has put on a few pounds - 10 kilos, he said. When we first met him, he had been very ill from alcohol induced stomach problems. He is my age. He lost tons of weight and had to lay off the booze. Now, 2 years later, his appetite is back and so is his penchant for liquor. He didn’t drink with us, but told us about how he went to work - get this - hung over from "a little" drinking one day and one of his students gave him a traditional sort of elixir made from the ashes of a burnt pine tree that supposedly helps protect the stomach from such masochistic behavior. He carries a little drip bottle of it now in his pocket, squeezing a few drops into all of his beverages. He invited me to try some and I said sure. It made my water taste bbq’d and I couldn’t help giggling at how ordinary water could taste grilled.

When Mr. Kim was skinny, he had these cool wire-rimmed glasses that were red and rectangular shaped. These days, his cheeks are puffier and he’s got these funky glasses with no rim that sit too far out from his nose. I always have the urge to reach across and push them into his face. I think his mom must have picked them out for him. I wonder what happened to the cool frames? I want to ask, but I don’t want to insult his new look.

Over dinner he told us that there was a traditional vegetable restaurant in our neighborhood that was recently featured on TV. We were shocked. I mean, we've been hauling tail all over town to vegetarian restaurants and all this time there was one right up the block. We asked, "You knew about this along and didn’t tell us?" He laughed. I don’t think he had really made the connection before, being the carnivore that he is. Probably, he would never go there.

Saturday Dave and I couldn’t decide what to do. We ended up carting a picture I want to have re-framed to Insa-dong. The picture hangs above the red Chinese chest and it just doesn’t go with it. So, I figure a new frame will fix the problem. Then I looked around for tea utensils and paraffin for the oil lamp I bought at Mr. Shin’s house. I wasn’t in the mood to spend a lot because of the day before, so I just bought a few little things and a 2-liter bottle of the paraffin stuff, which looked just like water. We hopped a bus to Puffin café where we ate lunch. I had the veggie panini sammo and a mammoth hot chocolate with whipped cream. (I know, I know. I said I was laying off the milk.) Dave had a scone and two double espressos, which he said didn’t do anything to him. The owner talked with us awhile. I guess we’re becoming regulars. He just got a bean roasting machine that is collecting dust until he can find someone in this country who will set it up according to the manufacturer’s regulations. Everyone he’s tried so far wants to do it half-assed, and he said they just don’t understand that the roaster, if set up improperly, will burn down his whole joint. He said, "This is the land of almost ready."

Saturday night we tried out Sanchae, the vegetable restaurant Mr. Kim told us about. You know what? It was good! (I think - you’ll see why I doubt below). It was slightly different than the other vegetable places we frequent, even if the decor was the same. It’s cheaper too. We were happy.

Today we stayed home. I caught up on all the emails crowding the inbox. No one emailed earlier in the week when I was sitting around dying for something to read. When Friday came and I got busy, everyone decided to write. Feh.

And Dave got sick. He’s still sick, curled up in bed groaning occasionally. We think it could be food poisoning, but can’t figure out what it was, since I’ve eaten the same stuff he has in the last 24 hours. EXCEPT! He did have more of a certain water kimchee last night than I did. I only had one teeny spoonful when I decided it tasted too salty. It took him several more slurps to reach the same conclusion. Soooo, maybe. But maybe it’s just a freak stomach flu. Anyway, he’s been nauseous since this morning and doesn’t want to eat anything. Although, just two minutes ago he asked me to go retrieve some plain crackers for him. I guess I better wrap this up then and head out to the store.