Author: James

This past Saturday Carolyn had her birthday party…

There were endless New Orlean crawfish being served, which Karen and I finally learned the proper technique for eating them, thanks to April…  All you need to do is break their neck, detach the head, and sip the body!

The party was Hawaiian themed, so there were a plethora of leis for everyone, including Lia!

Some of Carolyn’s other friends were also here, such as Jujube…

Then there was the candle blowing…

And the bubble blowing…

Then we went inside to answer 20 questions about Carolyn, where the winner gets Hawaiian T-shirts! The winners were Karen and Phoebe, but they ended up with Chocolate Truffles instead… since when did Jun join marketing?

After a couple more games, Lia’s drowsy eyes turned into teary eyes, so we had to leave the party, but not before we wished Carolyn a first birthday!

From James, Karen, and Lia!

Summers in Seattle are fun. When the sun is out, it’s nice to walk outside, go to the park, and soak in the rays that is scarce most of the year when the city is veiled by the curtain of rain. After the nice day of jogging around Greenlake, you return home to find yourself in a blazing furnace, aka your home.

Sound familiar? Ever since we had to euthanize the White Pine in our backyard, we’ve had find tricks to deal with the heat of the day. Here are of those tricks:

1. Cool the house at night, then seal the coldness in by closing the windows in the morning. A well-insulated house should be able to hold the temperature until the afternoon. A relative actually thought we had A/C in the house! Be strategic in which windows you open or you’ll let in more than just the cool air… e.g. burglar.
2. Install A/C and take the $200 energy bill loss. I tried a portable AC once and it took an hour to lower the temperature by 1 degree. That said, without the AC it probably would have increased by 5.
3. Defy the conventional wisdom of blowing fans in your face by facing the fans outward, not inward. Fans draw air from surrounding, so by facing inward you may just be recycling the heat along with any heat from the bowl of chili you had for lunch. Face it outward and you can help draw the fresh, cool air in.
4. Plant trees around the house. Yes, we still miss the White Pine and are still search for viable replacements. Warning: Blackberries do not make for good house-shading.
5. Limit heat-generating activities for night time, such as dishwashing. Instead of that heat-generating Hot Pot, try eating cold Soba Noodles and salad.
6. Install skylights. Heat rises, so the skylight really helps vent out the hot air. Make sure you install the kind that opens, or you’ll end up letting more sun in and trapping more heat. 
7. If you have windows with insufficient roof or tree cover, try installing awnings. I haven’t tried this myself, but sounds like a good idea as long as you don’t choose the variety that were used in the era of your great-grandparents. Then again, maybe that’s a good thing.

If you have some tips on what works and what does not work on cooling down your home, leave a comment as I’d like to know about them!

If you’re a fan of Korean food and live in Seattle, most likely you know the restaurant Hosoonyi. It was the baseline of all Korean restaurants. To line up for a seat around dinner time, one would literally be standing outside in the parking lot waiting to be seated for up to an hour or more. Once inside, there was no waving down the unresponsive waitresses who only show up to deliver the food, which was another long wait, and purposely ignore any hand gestures or cries for service. The poor service, however, didn’t stop customers from coming because the food was unparalleled in Seattle.

Unfortunately, that was before Lia was born. Karen and I haven’t been to the restaurant until recently, when we arrived around dinner time surprised to see the parking lot devoid of hungry customers. At first we feared that the restaurant suffered a dreadful demise, but the dim illumination of the neon sign that outlined “open” seemed to indicate otherwise. As we entered, there was no mistaking the renovation that had taken place to the room. Even the hot tea which used to come in a plastic, slow-release toxic cup, is now contained in a high-quality ceramic cup. The waiter was courteous and attentive, which gave a chilling sensation as it seemed like we have entered the Bizarro world of Hosoonyi. The menu used to be presented in a bland, korean/english format, so when we saw the new menu opens up in full color with four different languages, we knew we were headed for disaster.

Typically we order three items as our benchmark for Korean food–the Seafood Pancake, the Tofu soup (soon doo boo), and the BBQ Beef (Bugolgi).  Unfortunately we were disappointed on all three fronts.  The Seafood Pancake was served in a smaller plate and now has a much thicker breading, reducing the seafood taste. The BBQ Beef is no longer thinly sliced like Chinese Hot Pot, but is now as thick as chopped liver. Lastly, the Tofu Soup was the most disappointing of all with some additional sour vegetable ingredient which completely defiled the delicate balance of the soup. The soup went from Excellent to Below Average, which is quite a drop.

Finally the waiter confirmed that the ownership did change slightly over a year ago.  From my quick survey of the racial profile of the customers, the number of Koreans dining at that moment had been drastically reduced. In fact, there were more empty seats than people during prime dinner hour, which is quite telling for this restaurant. This is very unfortunate, as the number one Korean restaurant in Seattle has fallen. The benchmark of all Korean restaurants had fallen.

If anyone has suggestions for a new Korean Restaurant benchmark in Seattle, please let us know!