Diary of a Romance Part 2

Saturday 30th January

Miho came to meet me as planned yesterday. We met inside McDonalds again, its a convenient meeting point as its near my flat. As we had already planned to cook something together, we went to a Korean supermarket to buy some ingredients for our lunch. I explained to Miho that I already had the basics like rice and vegetables but I didn’t have any meat or anything special. Miho selected some ready sliced pork ribs and I got some tofu too. We also bought some tokkbokki (Korean rice cakes) and some spicy sauce to go with them. The total amount for this food came to 6 pounds.

That shows that you don’t need to spend much to enjoy a good meal. It helps if you know how to cook.

We went back to mine and I checked that the Kitchen was empty. then I made sure that all the surfaces were wiped and ready for cooking. Its important to have clean surfaces if you are going to cook something. I showed Miho some pans that she could use and we got started. We boiled water for the tokkboki and in  another pan I fired the pieces of pork in oil. While we waited for it to cook I opened a bag of shimp which Miho had selected earlier in the store.

We needed rice so I asked Miho to prepare a serving which she did very ably. normally  whenever I cook rice It turns out either to soggy or too light but Miho made sure it was light and fluffy. We were nearly ready to eat when my flatmate came down to use the Kitchen. I was a little apprehensive about this and I was worried that he would get in the way. In the end, Miho gave him all of the tokkbokki to eat, inspite of the fact that it was supposed to be an appetiser for ourselves before the rest of our food.

Luckily he didn’t stick around to eat it but took it upstairs to his room. we got sat down to eat at last. The pork rib soup that I had made tasted delicious and iho really enjoyed it. We were joined by antother flatmate who came down to make something.

I wasn’t actually annoyed by this and it was a pleasant diversion too. By the time we finished eating I was ready to move on with the plans. I told Miho that we would watch a film together and I that I had chosen an old one. father of the Bride is a 1948 black and white comedy directed by Vincent Minelli. the humour stands up pretty well despite its age and Spencer Tracy is really funny in it.

When the movie was over we started kissing again and things got very hot and heavy. Although i wanted to have sex with Miho, a part of me wanted to wait a little longer. It was hard to communicate this feeling. However, we ended up going upstairs and we did have sex. I left the light on and I saw Miho’s naked body for the first time. She has lovely brown skin and dark brown nipples. Her hips jut out and her arms are very slender.

as usually happens after sex I felt very tired so we slumbered in bed together. I don’t heat the room very often so it felt very cold. Miho wrapped herself around me and I felt very warm. This was about 7pm. Eventually we fell asleep.

Sunday morning

I have a routine every Sunday that I always try and stick to. I make breakfast and coffee and then watch the Andrew Marr tv show at 9am. Then I go swimming in the local pool for up to an hour. Of course, it was different with Miho there. I got out of bed and made some coffee.

I think its nice to have something special prepared when you are making someone breakfast. I didn’t have time to make anything from scratch. Luckily, I had made some pancakes the previous Sunday and I froze them. I took them out of the freexr and fried up several of them,  serving them with maple syrup. I think breakfast should ideally be something warm and sweet (in this respect, pancakes are perfect, especially if you have a sweet tooth). I also cut some avocado and toasted some wholemeal bread. When it was finished Miho asked if I was going swimming. I hadn’t thought about it but Miho said it would be ok. So whilst I went swimming Moho washed the dishes and washed tv. It was a great situation for me. I normally forget about my washing up and annoy my flatmates but Miho made sure this wasn’t a problem. So I got to have my swim anyway.

Sunday afternoon

We took the train up to London Waterloo en route to the Tate Modern. We missed one train so waited 10 minutes for the next one. We had some time to kill at the station so we browsed through some recipe books in Foyles together. Then we walked over to the Gallery. Its 15 minutes from the station. but instead of rushing like I normally do I purposely walked slowly and pointed out some sights along the way, like Shakespeare’s Globe and the Oxo Tower.

We met my Dad and walked to the Calder exhibition. I don’t find meeting my Dad particularly comfortable but Miho took the heat off the situation just by being there and answering some of the questions that would normally be directed towards me.

we walked to lunch in Borough High Street. There’s a Turkish restaurant called Tas that my father goes to whenever he is London. It’s not my taste but to be honest I knew that there was no point trying to suggest anywhere different, my Dad already had his mind made up. So it was Tas that we went to. I had actually suggested another restaurant in the area that I wanted to go to, alas, my Dad told me that it was closed. I have since checked online and the restaurant was actually open. This is proof that my Dad doesn’t know what he is talking about.

There is nothing particularly bad about Tas but nothing outstanding either. You usually order sharing plates rather than main courses. This means that you get several plates of things you aren’t really keen on and then one or two dishes that you like, but you can’t have much of them because you are sharing. We ate several of these plates and ordered some coffee. It was time to go home. I had a typical Sunday feeling as we waited for the train. I thought I would be saying goodbye to Miho that day and that I wouldn’t be seeing her for a while.

So to banish these gloomy feelings I asked Miho to come back with me. We had started watching a Japanese film called the Girl Who Leapt Through Time, so we finished watching that. When the film was over I kissed Miho, but I didn’t  take her upstairs straightaway. Instead I poured some wine and we sat and drank it together.

girl

For some reason, I am drinking a lot of Italian red wine at the moment, so whenever I am with Miho we drink it. I put the radio on in the backgroynd. Miho talked freely and easily and I listened. Then I asked Miho to come upstairs and she did so. It was some good sex. I didn’t want Miho to fall asleep, so I turned the light back on and asked her to gave me a massage. It went very well as Miho is a trained masseuse. She spent half an hour massing my shoulders, back and legs. I have very tight hamstrings so Miho paid particular attention to them. I felt completely renewed afterwards, better than I had felt in a long time.

It was time for Miho to catch the bus to go home. I expected to feel sad to say goodbye but I felt very hopeful an happy. It had been a wonderful weekend and I knew that we would be seeing each other again very soon.

Diary of a romance

I first saw Miho at about 4 o’clock in the afternoon inside a Starbucks cafe. She was sitting alone on one of the high tables reading on a kindle. I glanced over at the text and I noticed that it was in Japanese. I asked her if she was Japanese and she replied that she was. We spoke a bit about various things and I found it very easy to talk to her and I felt that she was a very warm person.

A half hour later I asked if she would like to have a drink with me. I was expecting her to say no but she agreed to go somewhere there and then. I bought her two glasses of cider and we sat down across each other at a table. After more talking I felt that I already liked her so I asked if she would like to eat something. We went to a restaurant a few doors down. The restaurant was called Lime and Thyme. Milo ordered Margherita pizza which impressed me because its my favourite pizza topping too. I ordered two glasses of wine, making sure not to order the cheapest but to get wine that might actually taste of something.

I also ordered tiramusu which we shared, and two double espressos which we drank black. Miho excused herself to use the bathroom, at which point I asked the waiter for the bill. Normally I don’t like paying the cheque all by myself but I was so happy to be spending time with Miho that I didn’t mind. I also wanted to make things as easy as possible.

I took Miho’s number down in my phone when we were outside the restaurant because I knew that I wanted to see her again. We texted each other the same night and I had a good feeling about things. Throughout the week we texted each other almost daily. I made a plan for Miho to come to my flat to watch some Korean soap operas, which Miho had already told me she was keen on.

Miho met me on Friday just after 8, just after I finished work. I met her in McDonalds where she was sitting at a table, reading the same text on her Kindle. We went to a Korean supermarket because I was hungry. Miho paid for the ramen and a pack of choco-pies.

Miho cooked the ramen and I watched her as she carefully cooked the long thin strands of noodles and dissolved the spice powder. Miho’s long hair was tied back and she was wearing black jeans and a denim shirt. I opened a bottle of Italian wine and gave her a glass. We watched two back to back episodes of The Heirs, a Korean soap about sons of rich families living in America. I enjoyed sitting close to Miho and I casually touched her arm occasionally.

I felt quite tired around 1o pm so I suggested we finsih for the evening. Miho walked with me to the station but there was a 20 minute wait for a train. So in the end we had a drink and Miho took the bus home. I was actually a little disappointed that we hadn’t kissed at this stage. I asked if she wanted to meet again on Saturday and she agreed. This time, rather than staying in, we would watch a film at the cinema.

Saturday 22 January

I met Miho outside a Starbucks cafe but we didn’t drink in. It was very noisy and there was nowhere to sit.. I was feeling a bit nervous as we waited for the film to start. I was thinking a lot about kissing Miho. I was thinking about how I would kiss her and where it would happen. We watched the film and held hands throughout but no more. I had actually had a minor crisis earlier in deciding which film to watch. The choice was between Hateful 8 and an indie film called Room. In the end, I went with Room, because it was about a child and I knew that Miho, as a Nursery school teacher, would find it interesting.

Even though the film was depressing and not super exciting, Miho enjoyed it. I took Miho to one of my favourite restaurants in my town. I’ve been there several times, but often on my own. It was great to go there with Miho. We ordered three dishesand shared them together. Miho ordered chewy chilli noodles which were super tasty.

Miho came back to my flat again. We watched episode 18 of the Heirs. I poured her more wine. Half way through the episode I felt a sudden urge to take hold of Miho and kiss her. I pulled her towards me and kissed her on the lips but no tongues. I waited until the programme had ended. This time Miho kissed me back and it was full on kissing. My body relaxed and I felt intense feelings of relief and happiness spread over me. Miho kissed me for a long time as we sat silently on the sofa. She actually seemed to be pulling me closer and her mouth felt very hot. Miho kissed my neck and caressed me.

I didn’t want to say goodbye to Miho because I knew I would be sad to see her go. Instead I asked her if she would like to stay over and go back to her flat in the morning. Miho agreed and I led her to my bedroom, which was semi clean, although not as much as I would have liked. Miho kept her clothes on in bed but we continued kissing as passionately as before. Miho was wearing a soft long sleeve t-shirt, dark green. I shifted it with my hand and felt the indentations of her delicate rib cage.

We didn’t sleep too well because we could hear the traffic moving outside. Miho kissed me more and I pulled her close to me. I could make out her face in the dark  and her lovely silky hair; she looked different than how she looked in the daylight, more erotic and sensual.

I realised that I had misjudged Miho when I first saw her.  I thought she was very shy and conservative, not the kind of girl to kiss this way. Miho is actually a much better kisser than most of the more overtly sexy girls I have been with.

I got up early to make Miho breakfast and so that she could continue aleeping. By the time i had it all ready, Miho was sitting on the bed, fully dressed and combing her hair. We drank green tea and avocado on toast which I had managed to stretch out from half an avocado! I had some plans that day, as it had been my nephew’s birthday in the week. So I had to say goodbye to Miho after we had taken the bus together to Raynes Park.

Miho showed me where she lived.  I said goodbye and went to the train station.

That day, I thought a lot about Miho a lot. She appeared in my mind several times as though I was thinking about her without really trying to thinking about her. My sister asked me what I had done that morning and I replied (truthfully for once) that I had spent the morning with Miho and had just said goodbye to her in the morning. My sister asked wherever Miho was my girlfriend and I replied possibly, meaning that she wasn’t at that moment, but I hoped that one day she would be.

Monday 25/01/16

I spoke to Miho several times on various matters, such as her work, what she had been doing and so on. Miho asked me about my day in turn and what I had been doing, whether my day had been hard or not.

Wednesday 27th

I discussed the possibility of Miho coming over to my flat to cook something with me. This would give us an opportunity to relax and share the enjoyment of cooking together. I have cooked for girls on some occasions, but not actually cooked a while meal with a woman. The idea appeals a lot to me. Miho has agreed to come over!

Thursday 28th

I  have asked my father if Miho would be able to come with us to the Tate Modern on Sunday for an exhibition. Although I had planned on meeting my Dad alone, I thought it would be good idea for my dad to meet Miho on this occasion, since it would give my Dad time to get to know her. To this date, my dad had only met with one of my girlfriends. I Mention it to Miho, specifically pointing out that my Dad would be there too, but would she like to come with me? I did feel slightly unsure about the whole parent thing at this stage but Miho said she would like to come and that she liked the Tate Modern.

I reminded her that the plan for Saturday was still on the table so to speak. I didn’t want her to feel that it had been overturned. I also explained that I would be too tired for karaoke on Friday (we had made a tentative plan earlier on in the week to go to Karaoke, even though I hate Karaoke).

Friday 29th

I wanted to talk about Miho so I brought her up with one of the part time teachers at work. I didn’t feel in any way comfortable talking to any of the female staff. It felt good to talk about her and I explained briefly how we had met each other.

Friday 29th evening

I texted Miho to find out what time she would be able to meet me on Saturday. Miho teaches Japanese school on Saturdays. Miho told me that she had the day off so I texted her to ask her what time she would be able to meet me.  I didn’t want to feel I was pressuring her to commit to a particular time. I actually regretted sending the text, it probably would have been easier to have asked her in the morning what time she would be able to meet me. Casual is always the best way. I’m a very organised person so timings and structure are important to me. I like to know exactly when things are going to happen so I can prepare properly.

I thought about which foods to cook with Miho. I thought about fish, because she is Japanese. It has the advantage of being easy to cook and very cook, but then again it can dry out quickly. We mentioned Shabu Shabu, which I’ve never tried before.. Its actually very easy to cook but I’vec never made it before. So maybe we will make that together. There’s a Korean supermarket next to my house which sells it ready sliced. If its Shabu Shabu that we are making I will need to have everything ready in advance.

Friday 29th evening (update)

Miho has texted saying she has plans in the morning but she is free after that. I shouldn’t put questions in a text. It makes me feel nervous waiting for an answer and when I don’t get one straight away I assume that something has gone wrong. Stupid I know, however this is how most people think. Although I hate the uncertainty of waiting for a text response, I frequently make other people wait.

We are now meeting at 1 o’clock (in New Malden). It’s good for me. We will go shopping for the ingredients together. I have the essentials at home but not enough for a particularly elaborate meal.

On a side note, I haven’t heard from my father anything about whether he mindsif Miho comes along. He’s very slow at responding to any of my texts.

I’ve arranged for one of my friends to come over to see me tomorrow as well. He must have some questions in his head and I know that a meeting with Miho is going to put them to rest. Plus, I do enjoy seeing others see me with her and I want to see them seeing her with me (if that makes sense).

Saturday

 

Some nice Korean snacks

Here are some tasty Korean snacks I have tried recently. Most are made by the giant conglomerate Lotte, one of Korea’s biggest companies. It was named after the heroine of Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther.

Choco-Pie

choco

Kind of like a Wagon Wheel, the Choco-Pie has a chocolate coating with a marshmallow and biscuit middle. These have are so famous that they have been featured in films such as Joint Security Area, where North Koreans reconsider their allegiance after tasting one of these delicious cookies.

Pepero

pepero

These long sticks are so popular that there is even a special day for them on November 11th. according to wikipedia, they are involved in a controversy with Japanese snack Pocky.

Margaret cake

KOREA-Snack-Lotte-confectionery-Margaret-Biscuit-228

These taste slightly sweet, with a nutty filling. A little bit like a peanut butter cookie, they are very soft in the middle.

Strawberry Pie

strawberry pie

Eating one of these is like being transported to the streets of Paris. Well, not exactly. The flaky pastry broke off everywhere and the strawberry jam tasted a bit unnatural. I also got annoyed by the effort to unwrap each tiny piece of pastry and the amount of plastic is very wasteful. Still, the novelty of these is fun.

 

 

 

 

 

Those ‘crazy’ North Koreans?

Here much of the press haven’t been sure how to respond to the recent news that North Korea has detonated another hydrogen bomb. On the one hand, the view that North Korea is a failed state, with a leader with a ridiculous hairstyle has been very successful and seems to be related to making as much fun of him as possible. Yet in actual fact, the President seems to have played his hand very well recently and its becoming harder and harder to see him as someone ill-prepared for leadership.

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The reports coming from the country show a people very different to the that depicted of them as oppressed and unable to show any independent views. According to a recent New York Times op-ed page, we don’t take them seriously enough. Far from being cocooned in the hermit kingdom and cut off from the outside world, many North Koreans are well-versed in global politics. They are well aware of of their national interests and are dedicated to safeguarding them, a dedication that is based on a keen understanding of the outside world.

For example, a North Korean official asked the journalist about Hilary Clinton’s book “It takes a Village,” which the journalist had not read.

The press seems unsure over whether North Korea has even got a bomb, however, according to Wit’s article, North Koreans are in this for the long haul. They feel that their country and their government’s survival is at stake.

It shouldn’t be surprising that North Koreans are realists. for decades, Americans saw Mao Zedong as an unstable realist, yet he was prepared to talk with President Nixon and Henry Kissinger after his relationships with Moscow deteriorated. Whilst no member of America’s current administration under President Obama has visited Mr Kim, its not unthinkable that the regime will look to building some relationship  with the US if they don’t get what they want from China.

The trouble with men

Recently I went out drinking to celebrate Christmas Eve.

It was a scene most of you will be all too familiar with. However, just in case any of you are unfamiliar with the delights of the British pub, I will describe what I saw.

Groups of men, mostly young, were standing around, drinking heavily. At the bar, there was a queue of people about four deep. Most were standing, and it looked like they had been waiting a while.  There was the odd woman amongst them, but men were very much in the majority. If you are a women in these places lucky enough to have a drink bought and paid for by somebody else, you miss out on the annoyance of queuing.

Still, the men waiting to be served didn’t seem to mind. As soon as it came to be their time to be served, they would shout out their order to the server and wait to receive their drinks.

Suddenly it became clear what a funny situation I was observing. Most of these men were clearly  out to enjoy themselves. They had made some effort to dress well, yet it was hard to see who they might have attracted. Most were slowly getting drunk or already drunk.

Now I enjoy drinking and I have done a fair amount of it. But drinking in a pub with no female company seems to be missing the point.

If you’re one of the few sober people in these places, you’re going to have to make yourself separate from all the pissed up boozers. Most women don’t actually mind being approached by men in these places, but no one likes being leered at by a dirty old man.

What I’m slowly coming to realise is that its not the women who make it hard to meet girls, but other men. In other words, if all the idiots stayed at home, their would be enough nice guys (the kind women complain that they never meet) to go around. Just a thought.

How learning Korean saved my life

A few years ago I felt as though my life was stuck in a rut, that nothing was exciting to me any more. I had had this feeling for a long time.

I was in a pattern of repetiveness. you could say that I was feeling bored with life and it didn’t give me any excitement. It didn’t matter what I did, things were the same. My life was the equivalent of broken record.

Things got steadily worse but they began to improve when I moved away from living in the centre of London to the suburbs.

By this point things were getting better again. I had started studying law and my life felt like it had a sense of purpose again.

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Korean flag

More interestingly, I was realising that where I was living was home to a large Korean population and that it would be a good idea to think about learning a few phrases to use in some of the Korean-run bars and restaurants.

new malden
New Malden , where I moved in 2013. You don’t get a sense of the Korean community from this photo.

I can trace my interest in Korean culture to 2005, which was the year when I started to watch Korean films such as Bad Guy, Spring Summer, Autumn Winter and Spring and the like.

spring
Where it all began.
3iron
3Iron was another Korean film I watched and loved.

I could feel a whole new world opening up to me. Although I felt this interest keenly, it didn’t go any where at the time. It lay dormant. I knew very little about Korea. I knew about the war and the DMZ of course. I was aware of the stereotypes that Korean people eat dogs. One unfavourable phrase in the James Bond book Goldfinger said that they were ‘the most violent people on earth.’ Perhaps I wasn’t quite ready to fall in love completely with Korea.

In 2006 my father went to Korea to work. Not being able to go out with him, I sent hime with a list of DVDs which I hoped that he would be able to buy while he was out there.  I was still only interested in the films until two years ago when it became clear that I liked Korean food and music too. In fact, I like nearly everything about Korea.

In some ways I prefer Korean things and ways of doing things to English ways. I never felt particularly proud about being English and I have never strongly identified myself as such. At school we were led to believe that England was great. However, it’s hard to like your country when you can see so much that is wrong with it. But I have had to face up to the realisation that the things I dislike about my country (the weather, the deterioration of culture and civilised values, the people).

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Korean flag

The best thing about learning this language has been the fact that it’s given me opportunities that I simply wouldn’t have had otherwise. I can have conversations with Korean native speakers that I wouldn’t have been able to do if I only spoke English.

Learning someone’s language is an excellent way to get to know someone and I’d like to think that learning Korean has made me lots of new friends and acquaintances.

I’ve always wanted to learn a second language but the ones they taught us at school were no good –   you don’t need to learn European languages because most Europeans already speak English.

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I think that Korean girls are the best in the world. Not only are they very funny and intelligent, but they are really cute too, in a way that English girls aren’t. This is another great reason for learning Korean.

So; my conclusion would be that everyone needs a passion, a strong interest in something separate from their own culture. It’s easy to be interested in things you can see around you, but at the same time it’s very easy to become bored by the everyday things. 

We all need something new in our lives to keep us interested and curious. Learning another country’s culture is a great way of doing this.  My ‘thing’ is learning Korean. What’s yours?