Kimchi Mamas

Midlife?

Hi there Kimchi Mamas!!! How are things going?

Things are going alright here in the Choi family. I turned 40 this year and I kind of am really liking the older me. I feel so mature! Can you tell?

 

 

So mature! Right? =)

In all seriousness, I actually do feel like I am just barely starting to get this thing called life. And by "get" I don't mean that I have figured it out and have the solution to all of life's problems and have unlocked the secret to happiness. No. I do not have any keys to happiness here. And yet, I do feel a smidgen of self confidence and maybe a sprinkle of faith and a sliver of hope, that no matter what happens, that I will be ok.

And I know shit happens.

Another Day, Another Adorable Yerin Video

Yerin of YouTube fame perfectly demonstrates how we feel every morning.  Hope the rest of your day went better, Yerin-ah!

--Julie

 

Happy Omma's Daze!

Just a little Mother's Day fun from our K-boy, Mike Song, and his ever-faithful and good humoured Omma, Laura.

Thanks to iamkoream.com for the head's up . . .




--Angie in Texas is now planning a dubstep inspired dance.

A Culinary Tour of Koreatown with Anthony Bourdain and a Couple Bros

Episode Two of "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown," a new show on CNN that promises to "take you to exotic global destinations through Bourdain's unique lens," featured Los Angeles' Koreatown last week:

 

Anthony hung out with two famous Korean American "bad boys": Roy Choi of Kogi foodtruck fame and David Choe, street artist and newly-minted multimillionaire.  Roy and David took Anthony on a culinary tour of K-town, including surprising stops at Sizzler and Jollibee, as well as profiling their families' compelling stories.  Roy even gave an excellent breakdown of the 1992 LA Riots from the Korean community's point of view, a viewpoint that is not often explained so poignantly on mainstream media.

I really enjoyed the show, being a fan of all three gentlemen, and feeling more and more proud as they introduced Anthony to each new beloved haunt: the glories of Beverly Soon Tofu, the rohsu gui at Dong Il Jang, and this amazing-looking dumpling place called Myung In Dumplings which I now have made my life's goal to find and set up camp in.  The Koreatown they showed him was sexy, delicious, laid-back, and rife with gorgeous examples of the ever-fabled melting pot.  

One stick in my craw was the lack of a strong female Korean American voice.  David Choe's mom was featured quite heavily, which I appreciated, but if he's looking for "bad Koreans," he would have benefitted from getting to know some Korean renegade riot girls too!  I personally would have loved to have taken Anthony around Galleria market, fed him gamja tang, haemul jungol, and soondae, and drink him under the table at the noraebang!  Maybe next time, bro!

--Julie

Shakespeare, Gangnam Style

I was spending my lunch hour watching "Gangnam Style" for the hundredth time, and PSY's lyrics, in their brevity and cleverness, really reminded me of the Bard himself.  

So...since there is every other sort of "Gangnam Style" mash-up out there, why not "Gangnam Style in the form of a Shakespearean Sonnet"?

By day, a girl whose warmth and care inspire,
Whilst holding coffee cup, relaxing grace,
When night, it cometh, feels her heart a-fire,
This contradict'ry woman, I will chase.

Tho virile male, I'm no fortune's fool.
My warmth, it matcheth yours during the day.
My coffee, chuggeth all before it cools,
My heart, it bursts, when night her charms display.

Your love'ble beauty earneth fair remark,
Oh you, yes you, doth make this life worthwhile;
Together, 'til the bitter end, and hark!
Hey Sexy Lady, Oppa's Gangnam Style.

Above the runners soar the men who fly.
A man who knows a thing or two, am I.

Exeunt Julie, PSY, and Billy Shakespeare.

Gangnam Style by Psy

 

So... this video has gone viral. I even saw a short clip of it being talked about on CNN. CNN!!! Anyway, I'm not a huge fan of Psy or anything but I think the video is hilarious. I laughed out loud when the camera zooped out to reveal him sitting on a toilet. What is it with Koreans and the toilet? I remember the guy in the Wonder Girls video of Nobody being on a toilet too. On a side note, my boys are 3 and 5 and talk about poop non stop. They think it's the most hiLARious thing. I guess I'll have many more years of that?

Anyway, if you haven't seen it yet, enjoy!

- Mary

Korean Celeb Face Match

Have you ever wondered which celebrity you resembled the most?  Now you can with a free iPhone app called "Korean Celeb Face Match" (also available for Android here)!  My mom actually introduced this app to me, can you believe it?  How times have changed!  

It's fun and simple: you can take a photo using the app itself, or upload an existing one from your photo stream, confirm where your face is, then they guess your age and give you your result.

Here are my results using the same picture, so that tells you something about the scientific precision of it all, but it's great fun nonetheless, even with non-Asian faces.  (Note: the writing is in Korean because my mom had the Korean version installed, the one we are linking to is in English.)

 

Julie vs. Moon Hee Jun

 

Julie vs. Kim Hyun Ah

 

I'm a little mortified at the Moon Hee Jun comparison, because he was hands-down my little sister's favorite member of H.O.T., and I used to make fun of him and his eyebrows all the time (I mean come on, how could anyone look past Kang Ta?  Amirite, ladies???).  Now I look at him, and I think he looks like Jack White.  Does that mean I look like Jack White???

And I have no idea who Kim Hyun Ah is, but I appreciate being compared to a 21-year-old female vs. a 35-year-old male the second time around!

Try this out and let me know what your results are!  Have fun!

--Julie 

Hump Day Links

Kristen Chase over at Motherhood Uncensored gives some perspective to the perception of Dads and our roles as Moms. (Did you know she's a Kimchi Mama? Probably explains her HAWTNESS.)

 

Speaking of sexy: I guess women of colour aren't sexy anymore? According to VS we're not . . . When I grow up I want to be Jen and Diane at Disgraisan.

 

Is the kid in this video Kimchi? Someone help me out here.

I *heart* this video because:

1. I love Green Day - don't care what you say, takes me back to high school and college

2. I love that this kids gets to play on stage with the band

3. I wish I had muscical skillz...

 

--Angie in Texas is going to practice her trumpet now. (Because trying to learn a new instrument at 30-something is FUN and not TOTALLY FRUSTRATING, okay?!

 

 

 

Happy Asian Pacific American History Month!

The charming men of the National Film Society recently gathered together a group of notable Asian Americans (including Kimchi brethren Phil Yu of Angry Asian Man, Randall Park, and Joy Osmanski), dubbed them "The Asian Avengers," and dished about the the cornucopia (or the lack thereof) of Asian role models they had when they were young:

You can see more of their work at their YouTube channel.

Kim and the World Bank . . . What a "Thriller"!

Jim Yong Kim was named the new President of the World Bank today. . . and that is COOL!

But Kim will always have a place in my heart for THIS performance (around the 1:26 mark) while President of Dartmouth College.

Congratulations President Kim!!

I'm sure you've made your own Kimchi Mama proud!!

 

--Angie in Texas *hearts* MJ no matter what!