January 2020 Doodle Calendar – The Changing Seasons

We’re in the twenties! It’s officially much easier to refer to the next ten years. “What were the twenties like, grandma?” “Well my dear, that was the time we finally turned things around and stopped destroying our planet.” (One can hope!)

Koreans eat dduk-guk (rice cake soup) on new year’s, traditionally on the lunar new year but I think most families eat it on January 1 as well. I was home for the holidays on the first so I got to have my mom’s dduk-guk as part of this very fusion meal. (I opted for guacamole over kimchi.)

I love going to the grocery store in whatever country I’m in, and the country where I grew up is no exception. This trip I was amazed by the oreo aisle at the supermarket. “Back in my day we only had regular and double stuffed.” Now they’ve got pistachio and mint and thins… 20% reduced fat and 22% added fat and whatnot.

My family’s favorite restaurant is this vegetarian Indian buffet. It’s only ten dollars for the weekday lunch buffet, and it is divine. This photo doesn’t do it justice. We go about once a week and I eat enough dosas to last me for the season.

At my friend’s new year’s eve dinner, my friend’s friend recommended this farm to table restaurant, so we checked it out. It was really nice and I got to satisfy my craving for biscuits and gravy.

A few days after I returned to Korea I got right back on a plane to meet up with my besties in Osaka and Kyoto. They’ve lived in Japan for almost as long as I’ve been in Korea so we’ve tried to do yearly trips together, but they’re moving back to the US now so this was our last Asia adventure. This was just the appetizer of this whole tofu-themed course meal that was amazeballs.

“Excuse me, what all is in the coriander salad?” Literally a salad of coriander, with pico de gallo and some cheese. Luckily I love cilantro so it was good.

Warm and lovely curry another night.

We also stopped by the onsen after a day of walking and it was everything. I love love love soaking in a warm mountain spring bath outdoors. There are public saunas (jjimjilbang post on my favorite one) in Korea, but not these outdoor pools. Afterwards we relaxed in the lounge and I had a strawberry milk. Apparently having a fruity milk post-onsen is a very Japanese thing to do.

The last morning we had a bite at matcha themed cafe where I tried the nitro matcha brew. It was kind of bubbly? kind of foamy? I think. But the wee chocolates were reallllly good. Also this month I started drawing many (not all) of the things I ate in this notebook, which I will share later.

Back in Korea, back to the same ol same ol. I had this rice with spring onions, laver, fish roe and egg the other day near my house.

And that’s that. In January I ate a variety of cuisines from a variety of countries. And the rest of the things (creative projects and travels) I will try to write up in separate blog posts later. Not to be all new years resolutiony, but I DO really want to spend more time on my blog this year. So stay tuned for posts on my “Today I ate” sketchbook, Kyoto and Osaka stationery stores, and my dabbles (and failures) with sculpey. OH! And i’ve started doodling semi- daily comics, so that too!

Thank you to Su at Zimmerbitch for hosting The Changing Seasons blog challenge. If it wasn’t for these monthly prompts my blog would be much more neglected. I have loved getting to know other bloggers through the Changing Seasons community, so definitely check it out!

See doodle calendars from 2019: April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December (They’re not all food-themed)