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Published: February 15th 2007
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It a Valentine's Day Feast!
April, Dave, Susan, Sen, Erin, Darcy, Marsha, me, and Dan
(picture compliments of Sen) I've never been a big fan of Valentine's Day, and no, not because of some horrible Valentine's breakup that left me bitter or because of depressing memories of being alone and single on that day. I just don't like the idea that someone should be more romantic on one day of the year than on any other. Is it romantic when a guy gives you flowers and chocolates on February 14th? No - it's Valentine's Day! It's been all over the TV, newspaper, radio, and billboards for weeks! You'd have to be dead not to remember! (I'm not totally cold-hearted. Sen did give me chocolates and I do appreciate them - in fact I'm enjoying them as I type this entry. However, he also buys me chocolates when it
isn't Valentine's Day, and that's my point.)
So, I was very happy to spend this Valentine's Day together with Sen
and a bunch of our friends here in Shenzhen. There's no better feeling than the love around a big dinner table of your dearest friends. And no better place for a Valentine's Day Feast than a Korean restaurant! Marsha planned out an entire "Korean Evening" for us - dinner at her
Yum - Korean Sushi!
Delicious - at least, that's what the non-vegetarians told me.
(picture compliments of Sen) favorite Korean restaurant followed by a Korean film at Mike & Dave's apartment (the only apartment big enough to fit all of us comfortably).
The food was delicious, but for some reason the wait-staff kept forgetting to bring our food to us. The up-side was we got to spend a lot of quality time around the table. The down-side was we were starving. Most Korean food has meat or seafood in it, so I was eagerly awaiting the arrival of the vegetarian Bi-bim-bap (a rice dish with vegetables, egg, and hot sauce). I never remember the name of this dish, and so my friend Dave has to remind me. The conversation goes something like this:
Marsh: "Dawn, what do you want?"
Me: "Oh, that rice dish! Dave, what's the name of that rice dish. You know, the one I always want but can't remember the name?"
Dave: "Bi-bim-bap."
Me: "Are you sure? That's the one I like?"
Dave: "Yes, Dawn. It's Bi-bim-bap. That's the dish I've ordered on your behalf every time we've ever eaten at a Korean restaurant. Repeat after me...Bi-bim-bap. Now, use it in a sentence so you'll remember it, because I might not be with
Korean BBQ
Marsha was party-planner, hostess, and cook! Here's some of her handiwork.
(picture compliments of Sen) you next time you eat at a Korean restaurant."
What I don't remind him of is this: With the marvels of modern technology, he's just an auto-dial away and therefore, I'll never be able to function in a Korean restaurant without his help.
As if the food wasn't slow enough, the bi-bim-bap came with meat on it, so we had to send it back. When it was returned to us suspiciously quickly, I examined it closely and saw little bits of meat on top of the rice, under the egg. It was a dead give-away that they had not made a new meatless version, but had just scraped the meat off the top of what we had sent back. Normally I would just let it go, but we were already a bit cranky from the slow service, so we showed the waitress and told her to go back and bring us a fresh one. Dave even stirred it up a bit so that they couldn't send the same one back. The third bowl of bi-bim-bap had only a few bits of meat hidden under the egg and I was too hungry to fight anymore. It really doesn't bother
Dan, Darcy, and Erin
Dan's so funny he cracks himself up!
(picture compliments of Sen) me when this happens in China, but most restaurants do a better job making it appear that they gave me a fresh dish untouched by meat.
Dinner also included several bottles of sujo (Korean rice wine) which arrived much more quickly than the food - which made for a slightly tipsy celebration of Cupid's day.
After dinner we went to Mike & Dave's apartment and watched a Korean film that I don't know the name of. It was pretty terrible - but in a fun, "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" kind of way. In fact, I can't think of a better film to watch on Valentine's Day than one about a mutant river monster (caused by Americans dumping chemicals into the river) that terrorizes a city until a family tracks it down to save their little girl (who was eaten by the monster but was regurgitated in its lair because it wasn't hungry yet) who called her dad from a dying cell phone (which is how they knew she was alive) while the Americans release a cloud of "Agent Yellow" (against the protests of the Korean population) over the city in an attempt to kill the monster (who
Susan, Marsha, April, & Dave
It's a tough crowd. Even Marsha (Dan's wife) can't be cajoled into cracking a smile.
(picture compliments of Sen) doesn't die from "Agent Yellow," but from a flaming arrow shot by the aunt of the little girl).
Truly, the perfect movie to watch with your loved ones!
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Sen
non-member comment
Movie's name is "The Host" and hey, chocolate is only a small part of my valentine present pack, you never mention the cool stuff I give ya (like 3 pairs of 200 dollar jeans) :P