This weekend Bren, me, Yong, Kevin, and Col Clouse (Casey Docs) hiked Soyosan. Nice trip but not everyone was prepared for the first mile! 12% grade!! Afterwards the colonel pitched in for chicken tocino in the Ville... Nice going! 
My trip back on Korean Air Flight 36 from Atlanta... 12 hours and 53 minutes to Incheon. Seats situated aft of 747-400 bulkheads are a common spot for families with babies and mounting "in-flight" cribs--old hat for any Everett payloads engineer at Boeing.
With Brenden, Kevin and Jason PCS'ing next month, life is a whirlwind in the evenings and weekends. Just trying to cram in as many activities as possible.
A favorite run of mine is the north and south extensions of the Riverwalk in San Antonio. Great scenery, very few crowds (bypassing the popular downtown Riverwalk loop) and totally automobile-free for 6.5 miles. I'd jump on at the Josephine Street bridge and loop back at the Johnson Street footbridge.
Two months of instruction, briefs, tests, staff rides, PT... it's over! This looks to be it at Fort Sam Houston and the fun dinners at General Czerw's house. Next is ILE at Leavenworth and Staff College at Carlisle Barracks.
Had a great time with the fam during Labor Day weekend... including a trip to Spokane, overnighting in Coeur d'Alene and going to Silverwood.
I ran up to Fredricksburg to see the National Museum of the Pacific War. WWII Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz was born in Fredricksburg. After a dinner of sauerbraten, spaetzle, and blaukraut at Der Lindenbaum, my return trip included a run through Luckenbach and down to Boerne through German Hill Country on Ranch Road 1376. Very beautiful drive.
On the 20th anniversary of Buzz Bissinger's book I thought I'd test his theory and now I know: High school football is big in Texas. Absolutely!
The world of Mex-Tex cuisine thrives in San Antonio. So many choices, so little time. A couple of my favorites thus far:
After a week of prep work, our "Course of Action" briefs are over! The assignment: Support the medical transition for the "mock" 1-34th Brigade Combat Team in Iraq. You're the brigade surgeon. What would you do?
With an ongoing drought in South Texas, brown lawns are in vogue. Publically, watering is restricted to one hour a week. Be that as it may San Antonio Botanical Garden volunteers water thirsty flowers, plants and trees daily. That's my new weekend job...
I'm on a quest for the perfect jalapeño chip and this may be it: The HEB THIN Jalapeño Flavored Potato Chips. Finally a nice departure from the "jaw-breaking" kettle chip genre... poor muscles of mastication!
Looking for a local hike? REI is a good place to start: Helpful staff, cool equipment to check out, plenty of ideas for things to do outdoors. Is there an REI in San Antonio? Answer: No.
We turned in our battle analysis papers today. Owing to a book, Ghost Soldiers, that I read in 2002 I decided to write about the Cabanatuan Raid in WWII's Pacific Theater of operations.
On Friday my slightly "sore-to-bite" molar went "Timber!" A tooth with teenage-era silver filling, converted to a custom porcelain inlay is now missing 3 of 4 cusps. Yikes... !!
I spent part of Saturday at the downtown San Antonio Library doing some research on my OAC Battle Analysis paper. Huge library... university size almost. Found all I needed and headed out for a self-imposed treat at The Smokehouse: #1 brisket and ribs with rice and beans. Great tasting barbeque... skip the sauce and just savor that glazed and smoky, hand-rubbed flavor... too amazing for words!
My friend Ben is a managing doctor at BrightNow! Dental office. He mentioned that his new oral surgeon knew me.
A month ago the hard drive on my MacBook crashed... and with it went photos, documents and all my iTunes music... nothing backed up externally. Foolish me!
Our OAC group toured the Center For The Intrepid today. The Center is located next to Brooke Army Medical Center. Built from private donations in 2007, the 65,000 square foot facility was established to provide state-of-the-art care for US servicemen and women.
We watched Taking Chance at Officer Advanced Course. A cinematic witness to the sobering journey home for a fallen Marine and his escort.
I attended the Olmos Heights Ward in the San Antonio Texas North Stake. The chapel reminded me of the Greenwood building in the Shoreline Stake and was a 15 minute drive from Fort Sam Houston.
Finally a fat-free cheese is on the shelves! I bet it's always been there but not in Korea... Cooper Brand Swiss. Match 2 slices of Swiss with 2 slices of Oscar Mayer's Oven Roasted Turkey Breast on Orowheat's Double Fiber Whole Grain bread and Porchman's Chicago Fire Tabasco Mustard for a 19 gram protein, 12 gram fiber and 2 gram fat sandwich at only 250 calories. Not bad! Add some skim milk and fresh fruit... voila!
It's been a week at Officer Advanced Course in San Antonio and we've done some stuff--completed our record APFT (338), finished the Phase 1 review test (passed), participated at the Leader Reaction Course in Camp Bullis (fun), took two subject review exams (not bad), and completed our first set of class briefings (National Security Strategy)--all within six days of instruction.
Leaving for America almost two weeks ago was a fun experience... first off, I used the Korean bus service, "Airport Limo" (11,000 won = $8) and second I met an Asiana Airlines employee on the ride.
Elder Stuart Taylor arrived home having served in the Brazil Belo Horizonte Mission. Two years is such a long, LONG time!
Nothing says I'm home more than Pags! A nice primo pie with the fam and life is good again. Top it with some Guarana... the high life.
No better time to start studying for an upcoming OMFS residency than now. Fishman's "Medicine 5th Edition" and Peterson's "Principles of OMFS, Vol 2" top the reading list.
I just finished reading the childhood memories of life inside a Japanese concentration camp. Dutch prisoners in Java--a mother and her three small children--overcame amazing hardships and inconceivable brutality.
I was determined to find the Brazilian Embassy and the Korea Seoul Mission Home today. Both are located in the same part of town, Bukchon. So off I went after work down Line #3 to Anguk. Using the Embassy website I found the building without a hitch.
I'm on temporary duty at the 121 Hospital in Yongsan to learn about oral surgery and lodging at the JW Marriott just south of Post. Nice digs for sure!
Bren and I stepped into a small Korean "bu-pay" (buffet... no "f" in Hangul) for dinner in Old Town and ate well. This Korean buffet featured scores of vegetable, meat, seafood, salad and fruit selections--all you can eat for 9,000 won ($6.67).
An old timey restaurant in Old Town Dongducheon serves up gom-guk (곰국) or oxtail soup. It's very nutritious, very high in protein. The key to its flavor is its long-term boiling--it can be simmered as long as six hours.
This is a big month for the fam...
Dongducheon pays its last respects at a memorial set up near Jihaeng Station to former President Roh Moo-hyun. Driven to suicide by allegations of bribery, many question Roh was the victim of a relentless media and prosecutorial system.
The spirit of Rahab is alive and well in South Korea. A glance from our sidewalk stroll gave view to an alleyway of pink lights, small rooms with large glass windows and ladies working in the World's Second Oldest Profession.
A nice little greasy spoon in Old Town Dongducheon offers some cheap eats that are rather tasty.
Serving alone in Korea is hard to fathom--I take it one day at a time. Having the world's greatest team on my side makes it work.
It's time to bid for a fond farewell to our leader, Colonel Jose Olazagasti, DDS. His year-long tenure as Camp Casey Dental Clinic's OIC was a good one--a great leader and mentor. It culminated in an Area I barbeque on Friday held in his honor.
Tak kalbi (닭갈) is a favorite Chuncheon-area dish. It consists of stir-fried chicken in chili sauce with sliced cabbage, sweet potato, scallions, onions and these little round rice cakes called tteok (떡). Tteok is the Korean version of Japan's mochi (餅). It's eaten with rice or rolled in lettuce leaves and eaten like a burrito.
After 2 record PT tests and 1 diagnostic test, I finally nailed my first perfect 300! From last August's 266, February's 282 and March's 296... it's time to SUMMIT!
Call it field cap, call it beret, call it kevlar... we call it "cover" in the military. Even our winter PT uniform has a gray-green beanie. Rarely will you see a soldier without cover in uniform unless they are indoors.
A nice shop next to TDC's "Second Market" offers a tasty, healthy fare: chicken and rice porridge, or dakjuk (닭죽). This happens to be Brendon Ewers dining pick for the eve...
The 618th spent last weekend camping for the semi-annual field training exercises at Camp Humphreys. Get to sleep in comfy tents, enjoy hot showers and lunch on yummy MREs... life is good!
Where do 8,000 young men go for a good time around Tongducheon? If they're from Camp Casey they seem to find themselves in the "Ville"--a small area just west of the Bosan Train Station. The Ville is home to several restaurants and shops but its main source of income are the night clubs.
Brown rice, whole grain toast, whey smoothies and old-fashion oatmeal... my dietary mainstays! Add to that chicken, canned salmon, beans, non-fat dairy, nuts, veggies and fresh fruit.
