Day 282: The Unhappy Mr. Tummy

Today was a particularly relaxing day. Michael and I met up with Claire who is actually Eric's sister. She's sweet and fun and doesn't speak much English but she's cute as a button. (Which, if you think about, is a rather strange English idiom. I mean, really, have you EVER gone up to someone and like looked at their coat and said "wow, that's a really cute button!" Hmmm....didn't think so!)

We went for a Subway lunch and then over to a board game bang that us three boys used to go to often to play Risk. It's been such a long time since I played this game (well, since summer) and it was cool to play it again. Poor Claire didn't stand a chance though. She was ripped to shreads in no time at all and then Michael and I duked it out with our waves upon waves of massive armies. In the end he won but hell I had both Americas, Europe, *and* half of Africa for a while! Pshaw!

We went to Yongsan Electronics Market for a bit after that so Michael could buy some DVD's. Half of the English movies there I've never even heard of and it reconfirmed the fact that yes, indeed, I have been removed from North America for quite some time already. It's sad but it's true - life back on the home continent does go on without me.

We went out for dinner after that to a place that serves "fire chicken." Fire Chicken is a new trendy food that is taking the Korean peninsula by storm, particularly among the young and hip 20-something crowds. It's chicken (in various forms: skewers, in pieces, drumsticks, etc.) that is cooked is this RIDICULOUSLY SPICY sauce that would most definitely not be approved by the FDA back home. This sauce is so freaking spicy it's a wonder it's medically possible for anyone to consume it. But, the Koreans do love their spicy food and so when in Rome...

I really wasn't in the mood for spicy food but I went along anyway. It was actually quite tasty (although eating it involved me fanning my mouth quite a bit and drinking enough water to replenish a Great Lake) but it did not agree with my stomach. I had some major rumblings going on in the Stomach and Below Organs area that indicated that Mr. Tummy was not all that impressed with my culinary choices. Tiny earthquakes were riveting my innards by the time I had to head back to Ilsan and lets just say I was happy to have access to a toilet when I got home. It was dejavu of that bad chicken I had a month and a half ago but not quite as volatile luckily.

It's weird - I've had no problem with spicy food for the last 8 months and now all of a sudden my body decides that it doesn't want to deal with it anymore. It's like it's gone on strike against the spicy stuff. Well that's too damn bad cause now I actually like the spicy stuff so Mr. Tummy is just gonna have to deal with it. And hey I've got Mr. Pepto-Bismol to help combat the pernickety Mr. Tummy and coerce him into submission. Now that *that*, cranky tummy! ;-)