I reckon I’ve been knowing Kevin Kim (aka the Big Hominid) for going on 10 years now.  At least as well as you can know a person by what you read on their blog.  He’s a frequent commenter here at LTG as well and we’ve exchanged some emails over the years.  He even spent some time in my Korean abode last year, albeit while I was out of the country.  But not wanting to rush into anything, we had never actually arranged to meet up in person.  Until yesterday.

The setting for this long anticipated gathering in the flesh was the Tabom Brazil steakhouse.  Seven meats, all you can eat.

Carved right from skewer and onto your plate via Kevin’s deft handling of the tongs.

I knew Kevin had enjoyed dining at the Copacabana, another nearby Brazilian steakhouse.  I’ve always preferred Tabom for its quieter ambiance, street views, and superior food quality.  Well, the food yesterday wasn’t quite as good as I’d remembered it.  I passed on seconds for at least three of the meat choices (although I had thirds and fourths on the others).  The pineapple was outstanding though.

Now, I’ve had the advantage or reading Kevin’s take on our meeting prior to writing my own account.  I’d say he gave a fair assessment, although I hope I didn’t come off more as an interrogator than a conversator (I either just made up a word or I don’t know how to spell conversator).  Truth be told, Kevin is much more interesting than I am.  Once I told him about my passion for darts, websites I visit, and Civilization game play, there wasn’t much else to reveal.  I figured I’d save my love of afternoon naps for our next meeting. On the other hand, Kevin is quite the intellectual with a keen interest and grasp of many and varied subjects.  It was much more enjoyable for me (selfish bastard that I am) to poke about his brain for interesting tidbits of knowledge.

After reaching our capacity for meat intake, Jee Yeun suggested we retire to a local coffee house. And so we did.

We did engage a bit on some topical issues and current events.  Had I been drinking beer instead of coffee I might have become a bit more strident in articulating my positions on the political happenings back home.  I think it is fair to say that Kevin and I occupy different points on the political spectrum, although neither of us are in the crazy zone extreme fringe.  The give and take with an open minded person who does more than regurgitate trite talking points is something that I quite enjoy.  We’ll have to have more of that one day soon!

Anyway, it was a long overdue and a happy (and well-fed) meet-up.  After Kevin departed for his train, I retrieved my phone which I had inadvertently abandoned at a nearby watering hole the previous night.  Later I played my Seoul Sunday Singles League dart match and won 14-5 which was a fine finish to an outstanding day.

And oh yeah, we took our trash out for recycling today and had no issues whatsoever.  Just sayin’.