First Trip to London

Posted on August 15, 2021 by vanbraman

This evening I ran across some pictures from my first trip to London.

The trip was about 20 years ago and I was using an old Sony digital camera that saved the pictures on floppy disks. You can tell that the resolution of the pictures is not very high.

As I scanned through the pictures some of them caught my eye and these are the ones I am going to share.

london, 2000, first trip to london, old digital picturesThis picture caught my eye for two reasons. One is the very old City of London bollard. The other is the sign for 1-hour Service for picture processing.

The bollard is still there in a more recent picture I found on the internet, but the 1-hour film processing is no longer.

london, 2000, first trip to london, old digital picturesMy colleague and I were on a tour bus that made a big loop around the city. We could hop off and explore and then hop back on again.

One of the places we stopped to see was Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately, the day we were there did not have a changing of the guard ceremony. However, I did get a picture of a guard.

london, 2000, first trip to london, old digital picturesOne of the places I wanted to stop at was the British Museum. However, we did not have time as we had many places we wanted to see. I did make it to the British Museum on a later trip to London, and would like to visit it again someday.

london, 2000, first trip to london, old digital picturesI did some work at St. Thomas’ Hospital during the trip. It was at this hospital where the first intraocular lens was implanted after a cataract had been removed from a patient’s eye.

london, 2000, first trip to london, old digital picturesFinally, a picture of the hotel room where I stayed in London. It was even smaller than some of the Japanese hotel rooms I have stayed in. I don’t remember the exact room rate, but remember it being very high.

I am now thinking of finding the pictures from my visit to the British Museum. I need to see if I took pictures of certain items.

Steven

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Food in Korean Dramas

Posted on August 14, 2021 by vanbraman

One of the types of shows I like to watch on NetFlix are Korean Dramas.

I really like the historical dramas with period costumes and settings. I learn a lot about the history of China and Japan while watching these.

I also like the contemporary dramas as they help me learn about the culture of Asia.

One common theme in Asian dramas is food. There are some that are heavily based on food and revolve around a restaurant, culinary school or chef. Others just show a lot more food than you see in US dramas.

The first Korean drama that I watched was called Pasta and it was based in a restaurant.

Seoul, South Korea, Old and Modern, Palace, Skyscrapers Another Korean drama that I watched early on was Late Night Restaurant. Every time that I would start an episode it would bring back memories of trips to Seoul.

See: Korean Drama Title Sequence

The show that I am watching now has many outdoor scenes that bring back memories of places I have visited in Korea.

Korean Cuisine, Thanksgiving Meal, Australia, Bibimbap, Spicy PorkIn the dramas I like seeing the food that has been prepared and it often brings back memories of having similar food during visits to Korea.

Korean BBQ - Small Dishes - meal finished - Korean Food - Remains of the MealI am watching a drama now where the main character is a dietician in a company cafeteria. It is interesting to see the different types of food that she prepares.

Korean BBQ - Charcoal Grill - Meat on Grill - Korean FoodAnother thing that I like about Korean cuisine and culture is BBQ. Having to cook the meat yourself can be interesting in a group setting. Who will do the cooking, how is it cooked, who gets the best cuts, who gets served first? These are interesting questions especially in a business dinner.

Dak Galbi - Korean Food - Spicy Stir-Fried Chicken - Lunch in SeoulSome types of meals are cooked at the table by the restaurant staff like this Dak Galbi. When I had this in Seoul it reminded me of eating at a Japanese Steak House in the US.

I also like the Korean dramas as they usually have a more intricate plot than most US dramas. You have to watch all the previous episodes in order to really know what is going on. Some of them get off to a slow start as they develop the setting and characters, but if you stick through them you get hooked 🙂

Another major difference is that most dramas are only one season long. You don’t find many dramas that have been running for multiple seasons. I guess it is a lot more like reading a book that is not a part of a series. When the season comes to an end the story is over. No cliff hangers to end a season.

Steven

– My mind wandered a bit as I wrote this tonight, hopefully not too much and it makes sense 🙂

Posted in Culture, Food, Korea, Travel | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments