The Ice-Cream Cake to End All Cakes

 I'm going to start this miniature edition of the blog with an extremely cute dog.

Some of you may be wondering why I chose this mini dog.  It's extremely cute, but cute counts for little in my world; why the dog Sam?

 Well the dog has some internal assets that no other ice-cream cake in the shop possessed.

Firstly, it was one of the largest.  This isn't necessarily apparent in the photo, but the spherical dome and cylindrical body mean that a large amount of ice-cream is held within.

Secondly, the ears are made of chocolate, as is the little heart message at the bottom right, as is the pink flower thing.

All this chocolate adds up.

 Finally, and most importantly: IT HAD CHOCOLATE INSIDES.

It was an entirely chocolate ice-cream, with a pretend coating of strawberry ice-cream.  I like strawberry ice-cream, I like chocolate ice-cream, ergo I like this cake.

It was the only chocolate one they had of this size.

Plus it looks cute.

 Ok, so, now you're wondering why this particular cake deserved my hard earned money.

I'm going to let you into the thought process for picking chocolate cake here in Korea.

Firstly, is it chocolate?  If yes, proceed to question number two.  If no, find another cake.

Secondly, is is circular?  If yes, try to find one of the shape above.  If no, proceed to question number three.

Thirdly, does it have awkward angles?  If yes (as pictured) buy this cake.  If no, look for a cake that fulfils all requirements.

The reason for wanting awkward angles might not be apparent at first.  Underneath the chocolate coating is a layer of chocolate icing.  This coating and icing are applied after the cake is made (naturally).  The reason for wanting to purchase a bizarre shape becomes apparent when you cut into the cake, as awkward angles are difficult to coat with icing - you end up with an inch thick layer of icing around the difficult pointy bits.

 And here is a close-up of the edible pilot.

I think his name is Biggles.

I didn't actually eat him, but I did lick the chocolate from his boots.  (Look at his boots and the chocolate that's accumulated behind them.)

This is a picture of the  technology corner of my room.

Notice the plethora of wires, the random computer(s) I've managed to accumulate (they're both turn of the century models, so I can't really use them for much.  Is it too soon to refer to the year 2000 as the turn of the century?) and the refrigerator with all the Mandarin I'm currently learning.  It's really basic, but I can speak about five times more Mandarin than Korean.  A hint to xenophobes everywhere: Unless you are willing to teach foreigners your language, you have no right to complain when they don't speak it.  It's impossible to learn without help from someone.

Right now I'm going to look at a photo exhibition, then I'm off to do some shopping.  When I get back I'm going to apply for my Masters course (the form is formidable) and by the time that's half done (I don't expect to finish that until next weekend) it'll be time to do my ironing for the week, then bedtime.  The fun is never ending.

And that's the miniature edition of the blog.  Sorry there aren't more interesting pictures, I'll try and go/do something interesting sometime soon.