I was scolded for taking pictures in the Too Cool For School cosmetic boutique. Reasoning was that this was their brand….no comment. Check out the oddly shaped mushroom puff to apply BB Cream.
We walked almost ran home once off the train because the sun set and the temperature dropped.
It took me very little time to snuggle into the rest of my Saturday night with a hot cup of chai spice black tea and some Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Tonight we celebrated with the M family as they eagerly await the debut of their sweet boy A.
All week at work the Korean ladies have been discussing what exactly a baby shower is. “How do you shower the baby before it gets here?”, “what does it mean to shower a baby?” Honestly being one of three American women at my work, we never gave it much thought that a baby shower wasn’t something typical the Korean culture might celebrate.
Tonight one of the Korean ladies I worked with decided to celebrate with us and see exactly what a baby shower was like. We played games like guess what chocolate was mushed in the baby dipper, timed fill in the nursery rhyme, measure how round the parents to be standing together are, blindfolded feed the “baby”, and see who can drink apple juice out of the baby bottle the fastest (pretty hysterical to watch!). You know, all the works.
Being a foreigner in Korea you tend to forge together and make “families” with the people you go to church with, work with, are friends with. These people help bridge the gap and make home feel a little less far away.
We ended the night with gift opening, and of course CAKE! The parents and big sister to be were so thankful and appreciative of all the love and support displayed in that room tonight.
What a terribly fun night!
Whew! Weekend recap…. Sitting here with a nice cup of tea (complements to our friend Katya and her mother for sharing her garden herbs) and enjoying a tasty piece of toast with strawberry jam.
Rainy Friday, snow squall Saturday, and a Sunny but windy Sunday…
What are the Bees to do with themselves when their original plans fell to the wayside because of mother nature’s indecisiveness?
Well, of course we just don’t let it get us down! Ha, that’s right! (Enter in a judo-chop) Take that mother nature! 😉
We celebrated our good friends birthday this weekend with dinner and drinks at Zelens (Bulgarian cuisine). We walked around Itaewon, where they showed us a hidden little gem called the Hidden Address (no pun intended). The Hidden Address is a vintage shop with a little coffee shop too. It really is a hidden address, located off the beaten path of the main street flowing through Itaewon. We loved it! Everything from the look of the building on the outside to the clean style inside called out to us. Thanks for sharing with us guys!
Throw in a morning waking up and seeing snow on the mountain! Yes! Snow! Comeeee on paaaallleeeaaasseee! Where is Spring?! The grandparents told us it’s been in the 80’s (and don’t forget this is central PA we are talking about).
Back at our place, we met up with some more of our friends this weekend and filled our bellies with some Budae jjigae. We couldn’t not think of anything more perfect to eat with the craziness of the weather. (Double negative-our high school english teacher’s ears are currently burning). The soup was awesome! However be prepared to smell like garlic the rest of the day. It worked out well for us Bees, we both smelled pretty ripe, however we smelled ripe together so it didn’t matter. If you remember from an earlier post Mrs. B ate Budae Jjigae in Uijeongbu, where the soup is pretty famous. This soup is MMmmmmm Mmmmm good!
I hope your weekend was as great as ours!
My iphone tells me…
I’m obsessed with our cat, Bean,
I’m really trying to learn Hangeul, the Korean alphabet,
I have a handsome husband,
Korea needs to jump on the whole spring thing,
and food plays a disproportionately large part in my life.
the end. <3
Sometime…I just don’t have it.
What an interesting and busy weekend it’s been! Mr. B had meetings all day Saturday, and I had a hair apt in Seoul. The day started early, catching the train at 7:30AM in Dongducheon to make it down to Seoul by 9:30AM. Made it onetime no problem! That’s the greatest thing about Korea, you can almost set your clock to arrivals and departure times of the public transportation methods. I used knowing the departure times to my advantage and after my appointment I had some time to kill before I had to get back for a St. Patricks Day work function. Perfect for a nice leisure walk around the Myeong-dong shopping area. (sorry no new pictures snapped of the hustle and bustle of the shopping district).
Sunday, no rest for the weary. Okay, maybe just a teeny little more for me than for Mr. B. We headed down to Songtan Saturday night to grab a hotel room so that we didn’t have to wake up as early. Mr. B. continues to move full speed ahead with his PADI certifications, he had to assist with instructing newbies. I had all intentions of joining him in the pool, however when the alarm went off at 6:15 my body had other plans. I was tired, exhausted, drained! Whew, is this getting older? Ha Ha! Just kidding! I think the go, go, go from the week and Saturday finally took it’s toll. I casually woke up at 8:00AM, ate some breakfast, walked to Mr. B’s car to fill up on gas, and picked up some groceries.
We’ve been watching the weather back stateside. It sounds like Spring has truly sprung! As for the weather here… Well…that’s a bit of a different story. We have been all over the charts with our temperatures.
Last weekend We were in wool sweaters, winter coat, ear muffs, and mittens. This weekend it is oddly warm and sunny, no complaints here! Saturday made for a beautiful St. Patrick’s Day! I only wish we could have seen more green, yes…besides the green shamrock attire, beads, and beer. I’m talking about the leaves, grass, and beautiful spring flowers!
(This picture of a beautiful flower bouquet will have to fill the Spring flower void for now).
Sigh…see, patience…I’m missing that one particular gene.
Hope everyone had a wonderful St. Patty’s weekend!
Sunday we decided to take a stroll up Soyosan to the buddhist temple. The last time we had hiked up there, the temple grounds had seen better days. Yes, the flooding from the heavy rains last year really did a number.
The air was quite brisk, but the sun was actually shining through the bare tree branches keeping us warm on our hike.
Once on the hiking path, we were glad to see that the grounds were in full swing of repair. The park crew already had water runoffs dug alongside of the roadway leading up to the base of the mountain.
Now…all we need is the beautiful spring weather! We just might get our request later this week!
Woot-Woot!! Check out that weather forecast!! Okay, don’t look at the snow folks..it’s the 50’s we are digging!
Yes! A new restaurant to add to our will go positively go back to list!
We enjoyed dinner with some great friends and their cute little baby boy. Well, he’s not as little any more. We can’t believe how much he’s grown just in the short amount of time we have known them. Children really put life into perspective, don’t they? Yes, a constant reminder just how fast life goes by.
Okay, enough of the mushy stuff. Back to the real focus here! We Bees have walked past this place numerous times on our weekly walks and 7 Gram Cafe drop in. Each time we pass we look in and both say, “We should try this place”. Tonight we did just that!
We totally went into this meal blind. No recommendations, no idea what the menu consisted of. Little did we know we were in for such a treat. This place grills chicken! Yes!!
We asked the waitress what the most popular items were. The three suggestions consisted of the spicy chicken, the bbq chicken, and beef. We opted for the spicy chicken and the beef.
Oh GOODNESS! We cannot express how tasty this chicken was! Like we said… we WILL be going back again very soon! We think next time we will try the BBQ chicken along with the spicy of course. Stay tuned for feedback.
After dinner we went right next door to 7 Gram. Big surprise! ha ha.. No, really, The P’s suggested! We swear!!
We all sipped on drinks chatting. Then…we were introduced to the Humongous honey bread. Folks, this bread just melts in your mouth. Talk about dangerous! It was truly a wonderful way to end the meal. THANKS MR. P! Our bellies thank you, but our waistline hates you!
So, how brave are you when it comes to trying a new place out? Would you have went in and braved it? Or, are you more of a wait and see what everyone else has to say type?
Well, whatever the case, we hope you enjoyed dinner!
Until next time….
Grab the map coordinates here.
Thats right! After one missed highway exit that caused us to have to pay two highway toll fees, an hour standing at the little rest stop Hi pass office dealing with a sweet ajumma telling us she needed a business number confused by a US social security number, a teenage Korean Hollys coffee Barista translator, major props to our Russian Korean translator, and a very helpful little adashi that walked us through the Hi Pass paperwork and process AND let us drive out the back gate of the Seoul Hi Pass place to avoid toll charges, we Bees FINALLY have a Hi pass!! (breathe)
(Our neat little Korean Hi Pass)
(Now the Korean Navi has some Korean technology company on the dash)
(Seoul Hi Pass building located on Highway 1)
(Woot-woot!! Hi Pass lane!!)
We know what you are thinking. Honestly, why all this excitement about a toll pass? We had one in the states called an ez pass. In Korea they are basically the same. Well, they serve the same purpose. You don’t have to stop and physically had money at each toll booth. The pass allows you to sail right on by charging your pass.
The Korean Hi-Pass comes in different models all telling you one way or another just how much you have left on your pass. The model we purchased is solar powered so it doesn’t need to be charged or have cords dangling from it. It can be pre paid and recharged at any rest stop, or directly linked to your Korean credit card.
Pretty neat!!
We’re excited because now we can use the blue Hi Pass lane and keep on our merry traveling way.
