Two weekends ago, Jo, Erika, Joey, and I went to Anmyeon-do on a day trip to the west coast of Korea. It was great. It took a while to get there, but it was quite nice. We checked out the seafood market they had, and ate live oysters on the beach. There was an old lady gathering them by hand. We ate them with soju and red chili sauce. It was great. Then, later, we went for supper where we had more grilled clams, scallops, oysters, and GIANT prawns than you could shake a fork at... I mean, a pair of chopsticks. The prawns were so incredibly delicious. You have no idea. They were steamed in salt water, which made them nice and salty. After we were finished, we roasted the prawn heads and ate them too. Well, I had one. They were too um... cartilagenous for me (although admittedly tasty). Erika loves the heads. Anyway, pictured here are two rocky monoliths that are nicknamed "Grandpa" (on the left) and "Grandma" (on the right)... in Korean of course (Haraboji and Halmoni). The tide was low and we walked out to check it out. I forgot my camera that day, so Jo was resourceful enough to take these pictures with her cell phone's camera (hence the lower resolution). Pretty good pictures though, if I may say so! Also, because Jo was taking pictures, alot of them are of me. Not-so-photogenic Me. *sigh* Enjoy!

I'm looking happy, aren't I? 

Myself, Joey, and Monkey-Girl... er... I mean Erika. (Sorry Erika, I couldn't resist).

Low tide... 

Shuckin' clam shuckers.  

Me an' Grandpa.  

There were tiny crabs that would crawl out of holes in the ground if you stood still for long enough. Then, they would gather sand together with their claws and spit on it to make these tiny sand balls. It was weird. What is so funny is that the tide comes in and washes away all their work every day... yet they continue to do it 

I have no idea what was so interesting. Maybe I broke a nail... heh. I think it was some small shell I was examining. 

People were on the shore collecting clams. I guess they were "shucking". Shucking clams. Shucks. 

Dum-dee-dum-dum 

"Sepia, you say? Ha! We were using sepia back when you were just a pup! So don't think you got something on THIS sepia." 

I sized up Grandpa. He sized me up. We sized each other up... Grandpa was bigger.

Look Ma! I have a rocky monolith growing out of my head! 

I'm distracted with some rock or something I'm looking at.  

Live sea anemones are really cool. They have a primitive nervous system (a nerve net, if you will), that responds to touch. When you touch them (with a pink seashell perhaps), their arms all reach out and stick to whatever is poking them. And they can really cling too!

At the dead center of this picture is a sea-urchin-y thing. Around it are green sea anemones. There's some red stuff too there, off to the lefthand side. And some white, um, rocks...Y'know. Yes, you may call me Biologist Ben.  

I actually kinda like this picture, which is rare when it comes to pictures of myself.  

A picture of a shallow pool of water along the shore where small living things...er... live.  

Jo and I. 

Me, on a bunch of rocks.  

Me... with the wind blowing mischeviously... to give all the viewers at home the impression that I suddenly had a change of heart and decided that "comb-over" is now "En Vogue". 

Here are the clams and scallops. The scallop shells are really kinda cool. They don't look all that appetizing, but these fellas taste pretty good! 

I think here I was thinking "What the heck do they PUT in that stuff???" Soju can be pretty nasty stuff - it tastes like battery acid... yet at the same time, has a smooth, unimposing aftertaste. Heh... 

Now if I could only... get... that... darn... clam... GAH! 

Here we are at supper. Notice the oh-so-fashionable Michael Jackson glove they provide for everyone. Grilled clam shells are HOT. 

"The hills are alive... with the sound of soju!"