My grandmother and mother picked me up at Incheon International Airport, from where we headed to Gangnam for my urgently-needed haircut. When we arrived, we were greeted by refreshing glasses of iced maesil (Asian plum) tea. The stylist then removed what felt like five pounds of hair.
Afterwards, we drove a few minutes to 부산 아구찜 (Busan Agujjim) in Sinsa-dong for dinner. As its name suggests, the restaurant is well-known for its agujjim, a blazingly spicy fish (blackmouth angler) stew originally from the southeastern province of Gyeongsang. The stew was accompanied by two contrasting soups—hot crab meat and roe soup and dongchimi, a chilled, palate-clearing radish soup. We also ordered rice cakes, steamed cabbage, and fresh peppers (as if my eyes weren't watering enough already).
On the way home, we stopped by Tous Les Jours, a French-Asian bakery chain popular for its innovative recipes. (Incidentally, they've recently been expanding in the U.S.; there's a location in the H-Mart on I-10 in West Houston.) I selected a few slices of sweet potato-cream bread, which I enjoyed while catching up on the news (completely uncensored for the first time in two months).
5 - 5 = 0
