The Year of the Rat is now upon us. Officially, Lunar New Year's Day is this coming Saturday, January 25. My office is, happily, getting a five-day weekend, partly because we had to come in and work on January 1, i.e., the solar New Year's Day. Starting tomorrow (Friday), then, we're off through next Tuesday. I had thought about taking a long, ambitious walk out to Incheon or Yangpyeong, but I'm a bit sick right now, and I'm honestly not sure I want to put my feet through a super-long walk at this juncture. Maybe in February. You'll recall that I did my crazy 60-kilometer walk out to Yangpyeong last February. I might also want to get bigger shoes before I do any more serious distance walking.
I'll still be walking every day, of course, but the walks probably won't be longer than 30-some thousand steps. Most of them will likely be in the 15K-step range—just a way to keep burning calories. Aside from the walks, I'll be cooking up keto gumbo and keto pancakes to keep my big ass fed for the next two or three weeks. I made two kinds of sausage last night: American breakfast and andouille. The andouille is still raw; I wanted to freeze it first before cutting it into discs. The American breakfast sausage is cooked but also frozen. For the gumbo, I'll have to go on the hunt for some okra; the foreign-food mart in Itaewon has bags of frozen okra for sale, so that shouldn't be a problem. The rest of the ingredients can be found locally, and I have a lovely stock of filé powder and other spices and seasonings in my cabinets.
So vacation will be a real vacation, i.e., rest and relaxation, not frenetic sightseeing. I'll also be quietly working on my book project, and if I'm industrious, I can get a lot done over this break.
What plans, if any, do you have for the lunar new year?
Okra. Haven't had any of that good stuff since my Singapore days.
ReplyDeleteI'll be chilling with a couple of my favourite longevity supplements, washed down with some purified H2O. (pretty sure the tap water would be just as good but that's a story for another day)
Definitely need to fit in a few 15K plus walks myself.
I talk a bit about okra in this gumbo post.
ReplyDeleteHow does okra get used in Singapore?
Typically stir fried with some type of seafoodand sambal chili.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ellenaguan.com/2014/05/2-recipes-stir-fry-okra-with-anchovies.html?m=1
No particular plans as of now, but odds are high that whatever I do will involve beer. And walking. Not at the same time of course!
ReplyDelete