i went to my friend's kid's first birthday party at yongsusan restaurant in koreatown. this was my first korean first birthday party that i have attended. you see, in korea, turning one is a special occasion. my friend isn't a traditional person but they went traditional for the birthday. my friend and her daughter wore the traditional clothes (hanbok and baby also had on a headdress which she didn't like) and did traditional things. i'm not familiar with korean culture so i don't know the words for some things and will have to look them up. my brother is in love with korea so he is much more knowledgeable in these matters. he will probably read this entry and write a comment with a bunch of corrections! hahahaa. it was probably his first korean first birthday party too as i don't think he has any friends with children.

my friend was wearing this little ornament of which i forgot the name. my brother asked her what it's for. she didn't know. she asked her mom and her mom replied in korean. then my friend told us the name of the thing. my brother said he could've told us the name, he just doesn't know what it's for. my friend's mom then came over and as she was explaining it in korean, my brother had already translated and told us. it is to show class. that's just an example of how my brother loves korea and knows about korean things. my friend hasn't seen my brother for years. i'd say not since BKF, before korean fever, so she doesn't know his abilities as far as speaking and knowledge of korean culture. in fact, he blew them away and my friend admitted that he speaks better than she and her younger sister that was standing next to us. now my friend wants my brother to teach her about korea. hahahahahaaa

the restaurant serves traditional food as they advertise, but more specifically, it is royal food so it is different from what you usually find in restaurants. on top of that, it's north korean and again, what you usually find in restaurants is south korean. the exposure to new things was a good thing. i'm not sure if the food i tried was 100% vegan but they seemed to be vegan. there was no meat/eggs and asia isn't known for dairy and korean food doesn't use fish in everything like japanese food. there were various clear noodles and kimchi of course but i don't dig kimchi. i tried deodeok (false ginseng) and damn that was good. the more i ate it, the more i liked it. the pumpkin soup was good too but it had a certain texture to it that makes me guess that it was mixed with glutinous rice. at the end, they let guests take home leftovers which is very unusual for buffet service. however, they would not let you take home all the dishes. they wouldn't let me take home the deodeok. :(

there was a dessert table comprised of many colorful ricecakes, some even with korean writing, as well as fruit. this was more of a display. i don't think anyone, at least not the guests, ate the ricecakes! for dessert instead they served slices of cakes and korean traditional desserts. the korean version of mochi that was going around was either juicy in the middle or very bland. the room was decorated with many balloons shaped into bunnies and flowers. twiddle thumbs wanted them all it seemed like. we walked out with a few and a gift bag for children because there were extra. great, now i can color in my hello kitty book with my disney crayons!