10.058

4 (Mon) March 2019

1.25

Tsuiwan

at Springs Hotel

room service

-Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia-

solo

Mission to Mongolia, Day 2 (see previously 10.057 Hindu Meal).

In Ulaanbaatar.  As part of a coordinated region-wide retreat to work on the new Regional Director’s vision for the future – Tue to Thu – I’ve been deployed to facilitate the proceedings at the Mongolia Country Office.  Could be construed as a recognition of my skills as a facilitator, but probably isn’t.  Anyway, happy to be in Mongolia for the first time.

Springs Hotel

In the distance to the right: Sükhbaatar Square, both monument and central goverment complex.

Literally, a stone’s throw from the Ministry of Health, where the WHO country office is located.

Spent Monday meeting with focal points in the country office to prepare.

Afterwards, room service for dinner.

Tsuiwan is a Mongolian dish.  Flour noodles, typically hand-made – similar to Korean kalgusku – first boiled, then stir-fried with sliced beef/lamb and vegetables.

Perhaps just here, but I found the dish to be dry and flavorless.

LUNCH

By good fortune – not entirely a matter of luck, as Ulaanbaatar apparently has a lot of Korean social infrastructure – Springs Hotel hosts a Korean restaurant: Haenbuk – oddly transcribed into English, in Korean = “헹복 (haengbok)” or “happiness.”

Banchan (2.0)

Soft Tofu Stew (2.0)

If I worked at the Mongolian country office, I would presumably eat here quite often for lunch.

And with that, Mongolia becomes the 15th country and Ulaanbaatar becomes the 32nd city outside of Korea where I’ve had Korean food (see KOREAN ABROAD).