photos from the past few days

My buddy Mike is leaving tomorrow. Here are some photos from the past few days of his stay.

Finally—a pic of my keto breakfast, which Mike seemed to enjoy.

a wider shot

Michael and Michael—(L to R) my boss and my best buddy

a blurry shot of Thursday night's dinner: filet mignon, prawns, asparagus, keto gnocchi

Dinner was a mid-level ambitious project that actually required me to recruit Mike to help me finish the prep. Mike prepped the asparagus, heated the mashed potatoes, reheated the Alfredo sauce for the keto gnocchi (which would've been bland without sauce), and made a wine-reduction pan sauce that, despite the hasty preparation (I didn't give Mike much warning that he'd be making the sauce), turned out to be excellent.

a clearer shot of my plate, with the gnocchi now sauced

I sous-vided and seared the filet, created the Alfredo sauce and the keto gnocchi, prepped mashed potatoes for Mike (who also sampled the gnocchi), and cooked up the huge prawns that I'd bought at Shinsegae Food Market.

Mike's plate (mashed potatoes not pictured, alas)

the cross-section view of the sous-vided steak

The steak was over-salted, but Mike didn't complain... or maybe he'll reserve his complaints for when he gets back! Overall, it was a good dinner. The filet was tender; the shrimp were nicely done; the pan sauce and asparagus were memorable, and the keto gnocchi made sense with the Alfredo sauce. A little less salt for the steak next time, and we'll be golden.

Something I thought I'd never see: Mike in my humble studio.

I'm taking the day off from work tomorrow to escort Mike back to the airport. I'm thankful that he came; it was good to see him after all these years and despite his own medical difficulties. Mike also had the chance to visit parts of Seoul while he was here: he saw a temple, went to the National Museum, visited two palaces as well as Lotte World Mall (including the aquarium), and he familiarized himself with the subway system, T-Money farecards, Airbnb, and Home Plus. He got to meet my #3 Ajumma as well as her son (my cousin), his wife, and their own son (Ajumma's grandson). My cousin now speaks English! He's also quite fluent in German; I need to catch up. He lives in Stuttgart, where he works for Porsche. His son is bilingual, German and Korean; my cousin speaks to him only in Korean while his wife speaks to the boy only in German—the only parents I've met who are doing it right. (If you want your kid to learn two languages fast, make him associate one language with one parent and the other language with the other parent.)

Mike now goes back to his family in the Fredericksburg, Virginia area. He was here for only a week, so he never had a chance to get used to the change in time zones, and this messed with his circadian rhythm. I'm happy that he'll now go back and resettle into the Virginia rhythm of living. Mike and I lead radically different lives, but we remain great friends. We've known each other since third grade, brothers from different mothers.

Thus ends this phase of my existence—the "let's watch over Kevin until he's self-sufficient" phase. My thanks to my brothers, my brother Sean's husband Jeff, my buddy Mike, and my buddy Charles, who was good enough to come over with a homemade dinner for me and David (Charles ate with us, too). Mike finally had the chance to meet my boss Thursday afternoon, but he didn't get to meet Charles. Maybe next time.