New Discoveries about Yorkshire with an Emphasis on Barnsley

Ok let's start off the back with some positives. I have to admit that coming back to Barnsley, or Yorkshire, there has been some considerable changes from the eight years prior. 

I do have to admit that Barnsley, or Yorkshire, still needs to some work to be done, but again, let's think of the positive.

Now that I'm older it is easy to admit that Yorkshire is beautiful. Despite being such a densely packed country there is a lot of foliage. Going up north, you really see the beauty of the land.

One day dad and I went to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and had a hike around the park. I took a couple of photos to show how pretty the land was.  

the land was owned by the Wentworths

A well on the land

Wait a minute...

This place was a big thing to me and it displayed a unique quality of Yorkshire. Instead of the traditional historical museum, or fun park, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park is an oddly amazing art center centralized in West Bretton in Wakefeild. Well, I don't really know if it is centralized in West Bretton because I don't really understand addresses in England, but it is in West Bretton.

The Yorkshire Sculpture Park is on Bretton Hall. Bretton Hall was an 18th-century estate that later transformed into a college in the mid 20th-century. Established in 1977, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park
became well known for its installations from famous artists like Ai Weiwei, James Turell, Andy Goldsworthy, and Nigel Hall.

My dad had talked on and on about this place for the last couple of years and like any normal child I tuned him out. Only until I hiked its path last month was I able to understand how cool it was. 

The whole area contains a beautiful juxtaposition of nature and art which was occasionally hidden from the naked eye. As you meander through this "other world" you would always turn a corner to see a beautiful statue looking down at you. This park was something unique. Something that should definitely be seen.

I think a lot of the artists were inspired by the concept of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. The area seems quite in tune with the layout of nature. When you're walking around you never really feel like anything is out of place, instead you feel a sense of calmness and wonder on how such a large amount of land could possibly be a haven for art and artistic interests a like.

I had previously mentioned that there has been some major improvements of Yorkshire and Barnsley and the Yorkshire Sculpture Art Park is a grand example of that. While I had previously seen Yorkshire as an wasteland of what was once profitable in the 1970s, now it seems to be a growing vibrant entity evolving into a area of art and beauty.

Inspired by Scandinavian
nature goddess 

I'll write more soon...

My Trip to Massachusetts

The previous week I went to Massachusetts. Yep, I went to Massachusetts. I wanted to what it had to offer, and if I could still be a vegan.

I did, and I could.

This is what happened.

Massachusetts is one of our oldest states. Growing from a land connected strongly with the harbor, Massachusetts seems to be evolving into a state that is a cross hybrid of two extremes. A relatively democratic state it seems to be a clusterfuck of extremely new aged liberal interests mixed in with 'Merica stereotypes.

My first meal was something I made myself however I think it demonstrates how being vegan is quite easy in the bay state. It was a vegan bagel sandwich. With a mixture of hummus, avocado, kale, and tomatoes I managed to enjoy my day with a healthy vegan meal. 

I had previously bought these items at the store quite easily. There wasn't any trouble buying organic, nor were any of the items scarce. What makes the states so unbelievably easy being a vegan is the powerful magnitude of American supermarkets. While you might not be able to get vegan only products (except in this case you can) you are easily able to devise a happy healthy meal. 

Cous cous salad with a side salad

Salad mixture from Whole Foods

Vegan shortbread with organic strawberries

While I did go to two restaurants, I found them both to be quite bland. I went to a thai restaurant in Plimouth and had the standard Pad Thai, and I went to a Indian Restaurant in Cambridge that was, in kinder words, mediocre. Both had labels that promoted their vegan knowledge about their meals, but both were not as good compared to my own cooking.

However traveling as a vegan in Massachusetts would be simple. If buying food at the supermarkets are impossible, going around to different restaurants would be easy. The new age thinking of vegan liberal thought seems to be quite possible here, and to step away from the American stereotype of obesity allows a lot natives to ask for the impossible, making it possible for you. 

While there seems to be a shift towards a more liberal thought, Massachusetts is also contains the stench of conservative 'Mericanism. 

I am proud to be an American. It is where I was born and it is my automated response of what my nationality is. (To those that didn't know, I am American and English. I have dual nationalities.) However my American nature was raised in a freakish environment compared to everyone else. I come from the land of misfits and rejects. My moral compass leans more on the side of liberalism, and overall I cringe seeing conservative aggression. 

Massachusetts, despite being new aged, still contains a strong conservative prejudice. In Massachusetts, people go "huntin'", people project their views on pro life wherever you go, and people saying "that's so gay" and the "N word" seems to be ok to them. 

But this state is friendly. Which is why this becomes a complex series of emotions for me. How do I judge a group of people who at one hand completely disgust me, and on the other, win over my heart? What seems to be the issue for MA is that you have to come here open, and you have to refresh yourself every day. Don't allow yourself to latch on the immoral aggression of the area, it is their thought, not yours. This is also the state that killed a bunch of people who they thought were witches. So it seems quite difficult to assume they are just like you.

Massachusetts is archaic and young. It shows you how this country came to be, but also where it is going. Coming to Massachusetts as a vegan is easy so don't worry. Just sit back and enjoy yourself, and experience the weirdness that is the bay state.  

Vegan Miscellaneous Things

So before my massive post on Cambodia I was looking at smaller things to talk about. I found three things to discuss. One was Coexistence Vegan Cafe in Dapsimni. 

Coexistence Vegan Cafe is basically what it is in the title; it is a cafe that offers vegan goodies. It is very close to where I live and I absolutely love it! The ladies are nice and the food is decent. They have a simple menu so they could focus more on quality over quantity, and they seem to portray a love for animals and a love for vegan culture. I think restaurants like these offer a bit of humanity to the lesser known and less popular parts of Korea. Dapsimni isn't like itaewon or hongdae, so there isn't a large foreigner base or even a liberal viewpoint. Having Coexistence Vegan Cafe in Dapsimni is like finding a designer bag at a discounted store, or finding a great book at the library. Coexistence Vegan Cafe is a great place and I highly recommend it. Go out of exit four and walk down the street. Turn left at the fruit seller guy and go straight for about four blocks. Coexistence Vegan Cafe will be on your left. It is a fun bright yellow building. Also there is an animal rescue right next door so you should check it out.

Cafe Sukkra is a jazzy little cafe in Hongdae, and proves the point that Hongdae is actually good. While there might be a huge uproar on this confession, i feel like to should make it, I personally did not like Hongdae. I always figured it was an area for wannabe hipsters and huge fraternity assholes. However there is a calmer side to the district. Going left, from exit nine you can see a more relaxed setting. Cafe Sukkra exemplifies that feeling. It offers a healthier meal set, with large vegan options to make you feel comfortable and less processed. The better thing is that Whole*istic provides their cooking there. So you can experience the deliciousness of raw vegan food. There is even vegan hot chocolate which is rich and delicious all at the same time.

For some strange reason I forgot that there is very few vegan or even healthy items in South Korea and convinced myself at the notion that I can cook totally gourmet vegan meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I have become a lot wiser to that foolish thought but beforehand I managed to scrounger up a chia seed pudding for one of my breakfasts. The chia seed pudding is very easy to make. Basically all you need is....

1/2 cup of chia seeds

a smidge of maple syrup

a smidge of cinnamon 

1 cup of soy milk

Mix that shit all together, keep it in the fridge for about 12 hours, and there you have it.

I'll try to throw up some more posts soon!

Miscellaneous vegan experiences in South Korea

Ok this post is going to be random. It is comprised of a series of one of two photos chronologizing (is that a word?) events that happened in a series of three weeks or so. They all are centrally located around veganism, so I think it is appropriate to put them into one post.

Whenever one of my students has a birthday, their parents are required to bring a cake and other essential goodies for the students as well as the staff. I usually don't eat anything, because I can't, but recently I was given a little somethin' somethin' by one of the parents for their child's birthday.

Tomato cake

Tomatoes are treated like a fruit in South Korea. Yes, I know they ARE a fruit, but in South Korea, they are TREATED like one. So I was very fortunate enough to get a bag full of tomatoes. I wish I could get free vegetables fruits every day.

Last week I went to a thai restaurant. It is called Buddha's Belly and it's in Itaewon. Honestly I have nothing really good to say about this just that they manage to accommodate for me by taking out the eggs and making it vegan. I got the pad see ew but it was more like the boring dull ew. No real flavor, and no exciting moments occurred while eating this meal. Basically when I was done, I was 13,000 won poorer. It actually made me quite homesick because there is a FABULOUS vegan thai place in Los Angeles, and basically I wanted to go there instead. I will eventually, but it is going to take nine months and one week.

It even looks boring in the picture

That same week I went to Buddha's Belly, I also made it to a awesome vegan potluck that congregates once of month. It was really exciting to find my own kind, like hearted souls that care for animals and eating well, so I had a good time. Like an idiot I forgot to take any pictures of the food that was made by my fellow comrades, but I managed to get a aftermath shot of what I ate. Someone, some beautiful brilliant someone, made vegan cupcakes which I ate like five of. Another person made delicious pepper tofu, and another person made focaccia bread that made me think of the good food back in Los Angeles. All in all, it was a great experience, and it made me so happy and comfortable for the first time in a long time.

The aftermath, no one survived

 I've also been doing something special for myself once a month. Every month, I have been buying a package worth of vegan goodies from iherb.com. Even though I keep getting chastised by some of my coworkers, I find iherb purchases to be really beneficial and comforting. I find that recently I have been feeling a bit lost and bored. Having a bunch of american goodies have made me feel a lot better. It is hard having to deal with the same annoying stuff day after day, so having a fancy peanut butter now and then makes it all worth it.

Delicious scottish oatmeal

Vegan iherb package

four boxes of hemp cereal brudda...

I have also had a idea for the blog that I thought might be kind of fun. I thoroughly enjoy writing about all the cooking posts I have made so I thought it might be interesting if I write about every meal I have during lunch. I might work at a hagwon, but I make my own meals every day. This day I had green tea with a tomato, green pepper, and walnut, salad, pistachios, and dried mango. What do you think about me writing about every meal I make? Would you like that?

I wish I could only eat 24/7

So what do you think about all the stuff I did?

Another Fantastic Art Show

A long time ago I was very fortunate to visit Eva Armisén's art show. Eva Armisén creates whimsical pieces that reflect the exact feeling of happiness. In all of her lovely works, Eva Armisén brings a childlike beauty that also contains a mixture of elegance and fun. With her small incorporation of Spanish words, the viewer sees the european personality that everyone wants to emulate. 

I managed to make it to the opening. Even though they were about to close, I got to see a couple of her pieces. The show was at the Seoul Auction House Horim Art Center. The gallery is in Sinsa so the whole area looks classy and nice. It was pretty much perfect for the show.

Sorry for the bad photo

Lovely

Eva Armisén has earned some fame because she was chosen to be the art designer for some of the Skin Food cosmetic line.

The Elephant is my favorite

I want one!

What I wore

After the art show I was a bit peckish so I bought some TTeokbokki snack chips. They're a bit strange but I like them. They has a sugary charge at first followed by a kick of spicy. You can get them from the 7-11 convenience store or the g-25 connivence store.

One serious barcode

It is pretty weird/good

I had a great experience. I loved it a lot.

 What picture did you like?

More Of My Crazy Vegan Cooking

So, I am so far keeping up with my promise. I have another entry. 

It's full of food, cause that's all I care about now.

It's the only thing I care about.

#1

Another delicious stir fry

Honestly I think I mastered the stir fry, but it's probably considered the easiest thing to make. Whatever, I'm damn proud of myself. I made this a while ago so I might be a tad off my recipe...

• 1/3 of a pumpkin 
• 1/3 of a onion
• 4 garlics
• 3 bok choy bulbs
• 1/4 of enoki mushrooms
• 1/4 of a tofu block
• oil
• nutritional yeast
• braggs liquid amino

I basically do what I usually do with all my stir fries. I put the oil in a saucepan with some chopped up garlic and onion, and I wait for all of it to heat up and get nice and soft. After that I throw a dash of nutritional yeast to get it crispy and so I can have my B12 vitamins. Then I put in the mushrooms, pumpkins, and bok choy in that order. I top it up with a sprig of braggs and some diced up tofu, and I'm done!

#2 

A soufflé! jk it's another stir fry 

I know I shouldn't write about every stir fry I make, but seriously I am super proud of what I make.

• 1/3 of a pumpkin 
• 1/3 of a onion
• 5 or 6 of those little bouquets of broccoli
• 4 garlics
• 3 bok choy bulbs
• 1/4 of enoki mushrooms
• 1/4 of a tofu block
• oil
• nutritional yeast
• braggs liquid amino

Basically it is the same instructions as #1 but this incorporates broccoli. Try putting the broccoli in after the mushrooms so it can be a bit soft but still crispy.

#3

The god warrior salad

This was a special treat. It contains one thing I can't find in South Korea, and one thing that is hard to find in South Korea. Quinoa is as foreign to South Koreans as peeing standing up is to me, and avocado is only found in the English owned giant supermarket HomePlus, which is taxicab drive away. Basically I combined the two to make one of my favorite dishes I always made in California. I'm going to call it the god warrior salad because that is what I felt like when I was eating it; I felt like a god warrior.

• nutritional yeast
• 1/4 of a cup of quinoa
• 1/2 of a avocado
• pinch of salt
• 3 or 4 red lettuce leaves chopped and diced

Boil the quinoa or cook the quinoa in a pot. Mash the 1/2 of the avocado and add a pinch of nutritional yeast and the salt. Once you have a great mashed consistency, mix it with the quinoa. Once that is done, throw it on the bed of lettuce and then bob's your uncle. Well, actually, I don't know much about your family.

Are they nice?