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Category Archives: Outdoors & Parks
Day 9 R&S Invade South Korea
Today is day nine…I can’t help but think about the fact that in a few short hours my wonderful week with my best fiend is coming to an end. Nevertheless I am very determined to not let that gloom over my head and not let me enjoy the precious hours that I do still have left with her.
Rebecca is still recovering with her medication. We again decided to have an easy, slow, at our own pace type of morning. With no rush or real plan in place, we all woke up, ate some breakfast, talked, and got ourselves around for the day.
We eventually decided that once the sun was setting we would head up to Herb Island, a fabulous (i’ll admit a tad bit cheesy too) botanical garden facility near our place. I really enjoy going to this place and was absolutely delighted when Mr. B first took me there. I just knew Rebecca would feel the same way and really enjoy it too, or at least I really hoped so!
Mr. B had some things he needed to tend to during the afternoon hours. This left Rebecca and I more time to just lounge around the house, nibble on our left over market goodies, and giggle. A few hours later we both looked at each other and decided that we were growing incredibly hungry. We were in need of something light, not in the mood for something heavy. Perhaps a sandwich shop? Hmm…the Subway shop nearby? No… that wasn’t sounding that appetizing or appealing in the moment. Ah! We could dine at the local GS 25 (A local convenient store) and raid the place for interesting finds. Yes! We thought: what a perfect idea!
We sat on the patio and munched on divine foods such as seaweed covered tuna triangles, chicken triangles, banana milk, with some sort of crazy circle things? Friend that speak Korea, throw me a bone and help me out! HA HA! We had a blast just sitting there watching the world go by, eating our triangles.
On the way back to our place we stopped by a local grocery store and perused the place for some goodies that we could box up and send back to the states for Josh (Rebecca’s amazingly sweet boyfriend!). While we were running amuck we found the popsicle display case and it was marked 30% off! SCORE! Of course we had to!
We strolled home in the heat with our melting popsicles. Mr. B had arrived home and gave us a ring to find out our location. We were so close so we just decided it made sense to meet back up at home again.
Around 6:30 we all piled back into the car and Mr. B took us on a nice drive through the countryside North of our place, no not North Korea HA HA! Rebecca really enjoyed getting to see all the mountains and all the lush green farmland. It’s such a change from hustle and bustle of Seoul and the city. It’s refreshing, calming, most of all it reminds us a lot of home.
We looped back around and found ourselves at Herb Island, exactly where we wanted to be once the sun had set. Excellent timing! The place was not jam-packed with people and we free to mosey around as slow as we wanted.Plenty of time to stop and smell the flowers, or in my case snap a million pictures. There were just to many silly or beautiful things that I couldn’t pass by without capturing.
After our Herb Island trip was almost complete we ended up at the restaurant, or what was left of it, that we wanted to share Herb bibimbop with Rebecca. Phewey! Herb Island was doing some major construction and the building was no longer standing in the place it once did. We opted to head into the bakery and munch on all the delectable samples of freshly baked breads. Mmm… this place is Mr. B’s Achilles heel.
We had to decide on something different for dinner. Our options were herbed meat or pizza. We didn’t have much reassurance in the pizza place because it was fairly empty. We all decided, meat it is. It wasn’t the herb bibimbop, but it was still tasty.
What a great night! Rebecca had a blast! Yippee! The night was a total success!
Day 7 R&S Invade South Korea
Unfortunately I couldn’t tour Korea with Rebecca today, it was back to the daily work week grind for me. However I was very fortunate to have the time I did off with her.
Rebecca decided to get up, Skype, and catch the metro down to Myeongdong to see one of Korea’s catholic cathedrals. Afterwards she stopped off in Itaewon and found the foreigners bookstore called What The Book. She said the new books were priced a bit steep, but the used ones were very reasonable.
After grabbing two new books and a mango smoothie, Rebecca decided to make her way back to our place in Dongducheon. I’m so glad that shes the type of gal to seize the opportunity and get out see things even if I can’t join.
Once I got home from work we decided on dinner and a stroll along the metro line. I wanted to show Rebecca how the Koreans utilize the land and space for all it’s worth. It’s incredible! I mean even the building that I work at, outside has a tiny patch of something green sprouting up. We really could learn a lot as Americans from this self sufficiency.
As we walked, we reminisced about the fun times we had growing up. We talked about Rebecca’s friend Nora, which by the way she sounds so sweet, and how she is interested in starting up urban gardening programs. I made sure to snap some photos to share with her.
We ended up eventually at Lotte Mart. We decided that we wanted stone bowl bibimbop. It really hit the spot too!
Eventually, later in the evening, we met up with Mr. B and decided on going for dessert. Pot bing su! Is there anything else in the summer months of Korea?
Our cool treat was absolutely heavenly! We all walked back to Mr. B’s car while taking in the city lights, occasionally stopping for some photos. We’re big cheesers, we simply cannot help it !
Im super duper excited for Rebecca, tomorrow she is going on the DMZ tour!
Again, do these days really have to come to an end so quickly?!
Day 6 R&S Invade South Korea
Farmers markets around the world vary so much, they each have their own personality and aesthetics. Rebecca said that whenever she travels to a new country she really makes an effort to check out the local offerings. See what the locals sell, buy, make, how they live. You really get a better understanding of the culture that way, I couldn’t agree more with her.
Its true, I am a sucker for farmers markets. I have fond memories of my Grandparents taking me to market-houses in central Pennsylvania when I was a little girl. The fondness has Since continued to grow and today I love just taking a stroll through tents of vendors selling fresh produce.
Okay, so I know by now you must have guessed…we visited the marketplace near my house. The market is held every five days. The streets are lined with trucks, tents, tables, and loud speakers all trying to win your attention and bate you in.
We strolled along the streets ogling the produce, meats, beans, and well…the unknowns. Uh-huh…unknowns….
We decided before we picked up anything from the market we would go for lunch first. However, even before heading to lunch we made sure to drop off postcards at the Korean post office.
We stopped by the steamed dumpling stand for mandu. We picked up two bulgogi and one kimchi filled mandu. Rebecca picked up a red bean filled doughnut too. We sat in the shade and enjoyed our treat. AFTER munching them down we decided to get a seafood pancake.
The Seafood pancake reminds me of potato cakes from Pennsylvania. Rebecca enjoyed this tasty treat too. Whew! Two for two today! Ha Ha! The great thing about Rebecca is she is so eager to immerse herself and try all the cultural things, like myself.
After lunch we strolled more, stopped in a few stores, and looked at fun stationary. I loved sharing this with Rebecca too! I knew it was just her style and so inexpensive too.
After our shopping excursion we went back to the marketplace where we picked up some delightful looking cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and a watermelon. Everything just looked so yummy! It was hard to resist not picking up more, if only we had more hands…
Day 3 of R&S Invade South Korea
We got off to a late start today, but thats okay because we had no real formal plans in place. Typically I’m notoriously known as a planner, I drive Mr. B nuts needing to know or have some sort of back up plan in place. Since Rebecca’s been in town I’ve really surprised myself and we have been taking everything day by day.
Today Rebecca was interested in checking out some Buddhist temples near our home. We decided to hike up to the Soyosan Temple. The hike was really nice, we lucked out with another day of gorgeous weather in Korea.
We snapped some photos, people watched, and hiked our way up to the Temple.
We all laughed and giggled at the air machines that the hikers were using to to spray off their hiking boots with. We also couldn’t get enough of all the little Korean children running around enjoying their summer weekend. What fun we had just people watching.
After our short 2 mile hike we went to Lotte Mart and exposed Rebecca to a Korean grocery store. Rebecca described it as sensory overload, you know I’ve got to agree with her on that one. There are just people everywhere, loud speakers blasting with Korean, free samples of various foods, not to mention the endless amounts of foreign grocery goods to explore.
A shopping cart full later we purchased our dinner for the night. We decided to have a fun cook in Korean night.
Mr. B cooked, Rebecca chopped, and I stirred, prepared the tofu and cleaned up around the kitchen. We sipped on Soju and some wine. Made Kimbap, pickled quail eggs, chopchae/japchae, Bulgogi, fried tofu, and grilled garlic chips. What a feast! We may have went a tad bit overboard…quickly realizing that we cooked entirely way to much food. Plenty of lunch leftovers to go around. Rebecca can now proudly say she knows how to cook chopchae/japchae and roll some kimbap. Memories I know I’ll never forget, I don’t think she will either.
We cleaned up dinner and all watched Despicable Me. He-He-He! What a cute movie!!
Perfect And Not So Perfect
Life is made up of so many perfect and imperfect moments. Eventually we realize that each happens for a reason one way or another.
So here’s a run down of the perfect and not so perfect moments of our 5 year anniversary weekend happenings.
First, many people asked, what did you do for your anniversary weekend? How did you celebrate…well we went to the East coast…naturally.
Some of the new dive students said,”Mrs.B, you don’t dive”, “You are okay just hanging out for the weekend?”
The answer is, I enjoy it. Getting to watch Mr. B totally in his element, reading a good book I just downloaded, relaxing, and snapping pictures, chatting with friends, meeting new people. What a perfect gift! Hmmm well… minus the stomach bug that’s been plaguing me for the past 2 1/2 days. If you didn’t already assume, chalk that up to the not so perfect moments.
Saturday morning started off a bit rocky. We wanted to be on the road at 4:30am…however… Father time totally worked against us. Yes, that sounds about right, blaming him! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Aka.. Didn’t hit the snooze button, turned the alarm completely off. Oops….
Still made great timing, no traffic. Everything worked out rather perfectly.
Saturday afternoon the skies sort of matched my stomach. Gray. Luckily the dives were going well for the eager group of 30. Unfortunately on the opposite end of things I was still on the fence, stomach not feeling 100% like itself.
In between dives I made myself get up and take a walk. Convincing myself that the crisp beach air would do me some good. I ended up leaving my camera in the car with final thoughts of it will just be a short walk, no need to carry anything extra.
Aren’t those your famous last words? Ah! I didn’t think I’d walk around as much as I did. I really should have took the camera with me.
Again, convinced myself to go back to the car and then If I felt up to it again I’d go back and snap some photos. Eventually that is exactly what I did.
Anywho, I enjoyed my walk up…
a mini mountain that hugged the harbor area the divers were using to practice their skills. It was pretty neat to look down on the ocean below to see if I could spot them.
I stumbled upon an elderly Korean couple singing to one another and taking in the oceanic views. Also on the walk I found a temple, and laughingly watched a Korean family with two children that were being playfully teased by their father for being afraid of the metal grated pathway affixed to the mountainside. I guess you can add to my list throughly enjoyed my people watching too.
Sunday morning the sun poked right out behind the gray skies. It turned out to be an absolute perfect day for the divers. Plus while my stomach continued to remind me I wasn’t going anywhere I had ample opportunity to catch some rays.
Ahhh…What an incredibly peaceful place!
I’m convinced even though the beaches here on the East coast are bare compared to that of one stateside, a beach is a beach, the feelings of calmness, peace, and relaxation still loft in the air. Heaven on earth.
Hope you all had a truly perfect weekend!
Palau Video 1 & Photo Album Dump
The much anticipated videos from Palau. Here is video 1 we should be posting 1 new video per day until all the footage is uploaded.
[youtube=http://youtu.be/tpg5zqopImg&w=450&rel=0]
Hongdae
I woke up and road the subway for and hour and 30 minutes to a part of Seoul known as Hongdae. Hongdae is where Hongik University is located. Hongik is a private university and is best known for it’s Fine Arts programs. My hair dresser and some other friends suggested that I check the area out sometime because they said it was an area that reminded them a lot of me.
Not sure what an area would be like that was thought of to be like myself, of course I had to check this place out. I asked if a girlfriend of mine would like to join me, eagerly she said yes. We met outside at exit 9 of Line 2’s Hongik University station.
Almost immediately after reaching the top of the stairs from the exit you see that the area has plenty of clubs, restaurants, little shops, cafes, etc. The more you walk the more and more endless options of these places you will see. (Keep your eyes peeled for crazy restaurant and bar names, check out the pictures above…you will see exactly what I mean).
First we checked out the Free Market. No, this isn’t a lost in translation phrase. This free market is an open-air market where independent artist can sell their work. I made sure I did some research before hand so we knew the location and when the market opened.
It didn’t take long for the marketplace to fill up. The vendors stands ranged from jewelry items, hand crafted trinkets, paintings, and just about everything in between. I loved the vibe of this place. The people who recommended this place to me were absolutely correct. The creativity behind some of the items for sale was rather impressive.
There were a zillion things that I could have purchased. However, there was one thing that I couldn’t pass up for my soon to be baby niece. The cutest little cotton knit cap. I snapped a picture of it, I cannot wait to send it to my sister. The women that makes these knit caps allowed me to take a picture of the various types she offered. Get this, even an adult could purchase one of these caps. HEHEHE… What are the odds I could get Mr. B to wear a monkey cap? realistically, zero to none. Funny thought though.
After our Free Market experience we decided to grab a bite to eat. We stumbled upon a placed called Wistera cafe. The address is 405-8, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul. The outside looked pretty enticing… Sure, why not. The inside was very sleek and decorated with a few bold art pieces. I am assuming maybe a purchase from a local artist? There were three that stuck out that I really liked and would have taken home if I could.
At first I had made my mind up that I wanted a nice fresh salad. However my stomach decided on a brunch dish. There was a little salad and soup included, the food was just divine. The dish consisted of two nice sized fluffy pancakes, a side of strawberry jam, half of a sausage, broccoli cream soup, fruit slices, a small salad drizzled with almonds and balsamic dressing, a slice of pumpkin, sliced potato wedges, and mushrooms. Quite a nice little feast we enjoyed among ourselves.
After brunch we located the Ice Cream shop called Fell + Cole. Well…it wasn’t quite as easy as I stated. We walked around in circles a bit trying to locate the place. I read about Fell + Cole online and was instantly attracted because of all the unique organic flavors that were offered. Im talking flavors like honey lavender, burnt caramel with smoked sea salts, pina colada, orange creamsicle, strawberry red wine with szechuan pepper, jesus juice, and so many others.
After trying a few flavors Katya went for the burnt caramel with smoked sea salts, and I chose to go with some jesus juice. Very refreshing! Oh, and I almost forgot! I went there with a purpose and that was to donate some money to a vegan bake sale with proceeds going towards the International Justice Mission, to abolish human trafficking and sex slavery. I picked up some delicious almond butter cookies made by Mipa an awesome blogger located here in South Korea.
Check out Fell + Cole’s website: http://www.fellncole.com/ Also, do yourself a favor and swing in to try a crazy flavor that fits your fancy. I cannot wait to drag my best friend there when she comes to Korea for a visit!
Okay, back to the rest of the day. Well after we had our full bellies we were ready to tackle some shopping. The wonderful part about Hongdae is that there are tons of teeny boutiques with shoes, clothing, and various accessories. We must have walked into a million of these places. However, I didn’t find anything that I just had to have. I enjoyed checking out the stuff and getting ideas. Katya picked up a few little things for herself.
I really have to say that my girlfriend was such a trooper! Our feet walked for hours around the area. At times I think we crossed over our main paths. What a dear! Thank you again Katya!
After shopping we were both pretty tired, almost five and a half hours had went by while we were wondering all through Hongdae. We headed to the subway hugged and parted our ways for home.
Yikes…looks like we are not the only ones with the idea to head home at this time.
My feet have never been so thankful to be propped up on the ottoman as they are at this very moment.
Good night all!
Catch Up
Sorry, I’ve been MIA a few days… I’ve been a bit under the weather. Oh! speaking of weather…
Blossoms
