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mongo

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Posts posted by mongo

    Annoying German tourists

    in New York

    Posted

    wait, you're probably already there.

     

    we're about to leave seoul (been here 5 weeks--and i was in india for 7 more before that) for a week in hokkaido before heading back to minnesota.

    Ted Turner

    in Goodbye

    Posted

    cnn (in the beginning), tcm, tnt/tbs (for the nba), the cartoon network: much to be thankful for--which is more than i can say for most billionaires.

    japan, again: hokkaido?

    in Asia

    Posted

    current thinking, option 1

    day 1: arrive sapporo midday'ish from seoul, explore city in the afternoon, evening

    day 2: sapporo

    day 3: leave most of the luggage in sapporo station and head to yoichi and otaru; overnight in otaru

    day 4: next morning pick up rental car and drive to and around the shakotan peninsula; return the car in otaru and head to jozankei in the evening; or return the car in jozankei if possible

    day 5: onsen day in jozankei

    day 6: jozankei-sapporo-hakodate

    day 7: hakodate

    day 8: hakodate (possibly rent car to check out environs)

    day 9: return to haneda to connect to flight to msp

    there's a good chance though that we will have to subtract one day depending on the students' exit plans from seoul. if our logistics partner cannot guarantee someone there to deal with travel emergencies then i won't feel comfortable leaving seoul till they're all gone. in that case, will subtract the jozankei day.

     

    current thinking, option 2

    day 1: arrive sapporo midday'ish from seoul, explore city in the afternoon, evening

    day 2: sapporo

    day 3: day trip to yoichi and otaru; return to sapporo in the evening

    day 4: sapporo to asahikawa; moderate asahidake hike (if weather permits)

    day 5: rent car in asahikawa, drop off in furano if possible

    day 6: furano-hakodate

    day 7: hakodate

    day 8: hakodate (possibly rent car to check out environs)

    day 9: return to haneda to connect to flight to msp

    this might be a harder itinerary to massage if a day needs to be subtracted. also not sure how far up asahidake we could get in mid-june. reports on reddit and hiking sites suggest there's likely to be snow higher up and that it's not safe under those conditions unless fully kitted out.

    either way, we'd do an onsen hotel in hakodate at the end.

    the pain in the ass is that because i'll have been in bombay and seoul for 12 weeks prior (and the family in seoul with me for the last 5), we'll have a fair bit of luggage. probably two large suitcases and two carry-ons. in version 2 we'd have to be able to rent a car large enough to hold everything. between that and the asahidake feasibility uncertainty, i'm leaning towards option 1.

    japan, again: hokkaido?

    in Asia

    Posted · Edited by mongo

    increasingly thinking that a full week in hokkaido is what we might do. after some desultory googling, this is the general schema i am considering: start out in sapporo (fly in from seoul) and end up in hakodate (fly out to haneda for connection to msp). 2 days in sapporo? 2 days at the end in hakodate at a hotel with onsen. the question is where should we go in between? car necessary for the middle bits?

     

    japan, again: hokkaido?

    in Asia

    Posted

    i am leading my mumbai-seoul off-campus program again this year, though this time in the spring. i will be in bombay with students for five weeks and then we will move to seoul, where the rest of the family will join us. the program will end in early june. after the students leave we are planning to return to minnesota via japan. it'll be another quick visit: just a week. we're thinking we'll go back to tokyo for a bit and also somewhere new (i.e not kyoto). as tokyo will be wet and hot, we're thinking a few days in hokkaido would be nice. so maybe three days in tokyo plus four in hokkaido or the other way around. any feedback on whether 3-4 days will allow us to go very far afield from sapporo, and if so, suggestions to where, would be very welcome. or should we just go to sapporo/hokkaido for the entire week?

    i'm thinking we'll fly from seoul to tokyo. stay there for a few days and then fly from tokyo to sapporo (more flight options from tokyo). then return from sapporo to haneda and a few hours later catch our flight back to minnesota.

    maine uni

    in At the shops

    Posted

    intriguing. the price is not that much higher.

    but evelyn, in your experience has it always arrived looking like it does in the product pic? because in the reviews there are descriptions and pictures of very mushy uni.

    maine uni

    in At the shops

    Posted · Edited by mongo

    it's not maine uni per se i have questions about--i've had it before as well. i'm just not sure about the likely quality at places showing me ads on facebook.

    for example.

    the priya krishna/melissa clark thread

    in New York

    Posted · Edited by mongo

    what more evidence does anyone need that success and ability have no necessary correlation under late capitalism? the mind boggles at the thought that enough people (whether viewers/readers or ny times food dept. higher ups) evidently find her charming enough to compensate.

    Foul Witch

    in New York

    Posted

    i guess our eating there in october was the last straw.

    i did wonder given how easy it was to get seats and how very not full the restaurant was that sunday evening. still, it was a good meal and i'm glad we had a chance to eat there.

    foxface natural

    in New York

    Posted

    there's something very sweet about the dude who is fine with continuing to feed her for free if she comes back. who knows, maybe it's not sweetness but a hope of getting some insta recognition (she must have a large following--i have not checked).

    Thanksgiving 2025

    in General food and drink discussion

    Posted

    2 hours ago, MitchW said:

    Nothing I've ever heard of  - a distant cousin of the Singapore Sling, perhaps?  Oh wait - AI tells me theres something called *Green Isaac's Special, another distant cousin.

     

     

    the green isaac's special looks related for sure. apparently originates in one of hemingway's books.

    • Like 1

    Thanksgiving 2025

    in General food and drink discussion

    Posted

    a smaller gathering of our friends this year as several are out of town. still, with kids at various stages of grown, we are a party of 11. the group prefers if in most years i don't deviate from the standard offering:

    upper midwestern cheese, cured meats and freshly-baked bread will be laid out to accompany cocktails*

    for the main event:

    1. roasted squash soup with ginger, coconut milk and lime leaf
    2. roast turkey (spatchcocked and dry-brined with salt, pepper and cracked coriander seed; mashed garlic will be massaged under the skin before it goes in the oven)
    3. herbed oyster stuffing--an old favourite from the old epicurious
    4. the almighty indiana soofle x 2 (to be safe)
    5. mashed potatoes
    6. giblet gravy
    7. cranberry chutney

    to this our friends will add some vegetable and grain-based sides, pies and home-made ice cream

    *i am going to be serving a choice of two

    1. "manhattans" made with an oaky/sweet/spicy american malt whiskey and tapped maple syrup infused with bittercube's cherry bark vanilla bitters
    2. something i'm calling "the outcast of the islands": gin, grenadine, lime, coconut water, angostura bitters (cocktail mavens: please let me know if this is already a thing)

    in my annual burst of lunatic optimism, i have suggested wines for our friends to bring to go with the main meal. in their annual disregard of my desires, they will bring whatever plonk they have lying around their homes.

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