After my first class today, Ras met me near campus for lunch. I wanted to try out a nearby “pho” place on Broadway and College Street - Pho Thanh-Long. I wondered how it would compare to Pho Van, which is a favorite for my family. We used to drive all the way out to 82nd in Portland, but we’re now lucky enough to have one close by. Upon opening the menu at Phot T-L, my response was a disappointed “oh” when I saw that they served chicken, as well as shrimp pho. I’ve never had chicken in my pho before. It’s called “beef noodle soup” for a reason, isn’t it? Plus, there wasn’t any option for tripe or tendon! Come one, if you can’t have the option of having thinly sliced pieces of cow stomach in your soup, can you really call it “pho”? I actually don’t order pho with tripe because it has no taste, but I do like me some tendon, and fatty beef brisket on top of that. After the dissapointment, I didn’t even look to see if they had my obligatory avocado shake that I usually order with my #1 large pho.
We then took a nice stroll towards the heart of downtown. Passing a travel agency, I suggested checking on prices to Korea because we’ll both be doing a winter camp. A one-way ticket to Korea in the first week of December was only $400! That’s a steal. I remember buying a round-trip ticket last year for $1100.
Passing Pioneer Courthouse Square, the “Holiday” tree was in the process of being erected.
We then went to Pioneer Square (a shopping mall) to get Ras’ new iPod shuffle.
Thanksgiving isn’t even here yet, but Christmas decorations are up all over town. The retailers are trying to milk the holidays for all it’s worth.
I hadn’t seen the iPod shuffle before, and was amazed at how small the thing was. Seriously, the thing is tiny! Ras thought about getting the iPod Nano because he’s got the Nike shoes where you can put a microchip in the sole and it will send information to the Nano about how far you’ve walked, calories burned, etc. He’ll only be using it while commuting on the MAX and working out with it, so I voted for the shuffle.
November 17th, 2006 at November 17, 2006 - 5:39 pm
I LOVE IT>>>LALALALALALALA-LOVE IT!
November 17th, 2006 at November 17, 2006 - 7:00 pm
The only thing Ras complained about, is that it has no equalizer. Now he’s considering going back and getting the Nano instead. We’ll see…
November 18th, 2006 at November 18, 2006 - 4:08 pm
true…lose a bit of the bass…but for the price and size…it’s nice.
November 19th, 2006 at November 19, 2006 - 8:55 am
Ooooh, the new shuffle is so cute. But I would recommend the Nano if he has the Nike shoes and running software–I’ve only heard good things about the program on the Runners World forums.
My own Nano malfunctioned once, but since then it’s been a sweet, cotton candy-colored dream. (I probably just jinxed myself.)
Anyway, this clip-on Shuffle was a brilliant idea for Apple.
November 19th, 2006 at November 19, 2006 - 2:40 pm
Well, he returned the Shuffle - said there were no “highs” and “lows”… the music sounded flat. Picked up an 8GB RED Nano instead. So far, he seems to like.
November 19th, 2006 at November 19, 2006 - 4:46 pm
These days, I usally eats “pho” after the big drink.
(that is one of my best cares for the hang over problem^^;)
But, in Korea, “pho”place is really expensive to go regullarly.( It’s about a 7$ for a one person)
So I find the substitute for that.
It is callled “pho-dle meon” from Nong-sim(I think you’ll know the name of company ^^)
Surely, It needs to be cooked by myself. But It costs only 1$ and you can adds any ingredients you want.
Anyway, when you have chace to get that noodle.
Try it. It’s worth to try. ^_^ bye.
November 19th, 2006 at November 19, 2006 - 7:38 pm
The pho here is around $6.50, but you’d get twice the amount of noodles and soup as you would in Korea.
Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll try that Nong-sim pho when I get back to Korea, which should be at the end of December (for a winter camp).
November 26th, 2006 at November 26, 2006 - 3:52 pm
Hi sabidee, I’m considering my first oversees job located in Penang Malaysia. Any advice?? Have you ever been there? Could you recommend any good sites for expat info on packages or what to negotiate?
I grew up in Oregon and have lived in Seattle for 10+ yrs.
Thanks cob jie
November 27th, 2006 at November 27, 2006 - 11:20 am
In regard to different teaching contracts, each country is different. I’d recommend checking out http://www.eslcafe.com. It has a lot of information about Korea, but there’s information for other parts of the world too. It’s a good starting point.