Tag Archives: friends

Backpack Bees First Annual Supper Club

The only thing that seems to be regular around here is my lateness in blog post lately. EEK! So what have you been up to and what in the world have we been up to? Well, I can fill you in on us and you’ve got to leave us some comments below on you. Lets see… Ah! We hosted our first annual supper club at our place last weekend.

Yup, we gathered up 7 sort of strangers around our wooden table in our cozy little South Korean apartment, added a touch of good tunes- mind you it has to be an excellent mix, had oodles of laughs, kept the wine glasses filled, took a heavy dose of creativity and openness from both the host and the supper club goers.. and welcome to the Backpack Bees first annual supper club! (Sounds like the opening of the The Real World , right? LOL..Na…nowhere near as dramatic).

We had these bigger than big ideas to whip out our KitchenAid Ravioli Maker and make homemade ravioli. Pretty awesome, right? Right and it was! Let’s fast-forward to the actual day of the supper, when we quickly realized we had never even used our ravioli attachment… oops.. How hard can it be? I mean we used the pasta attachment for spaghetti before. Easy-peasy!

HA-HA..well in the end the pasta came out delicious but I’ll keep it real and give you the backside of the story. Mr. B whipped up an excellent homemade tomato sauce and the ravioli vegetarian filling (ricotta, spinach and shiitake mushroom). Then moved onto dredging the eggplant into a Smoked Paprika breadcrumb mixture, later to be deep fried. While I on the other hand was struggling with the dough, on the verge of almost a mini-panic attack. Thankfully in walked two of our dear friends with vino, smiles and helping hands. Together we all quickly went to town manning almost assigned kitchen stations and managed to pull it all together. Thanks again guys!

BACKPACK BEES SUPPER CLUB MENU:

Rolls (Thanks Danny & Katie)

Fresh Greek Salad

Lemon Parsley White Bean Salad (Thanks Mandy)

Breaded Smoked Paprika Eggplant Bites

Vegetarian Homemade Ravioli -Stuffed with Ricotta, Shiitake Mushroom and Spinach Topped with Homemade Tomato Sauce

Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice-Cream

Homemade Strawberry Basil Ice-Cream

Homemade Apple Tart (Thanks Megan)

Who’s joining us for dinner next?

Backpackbees

Click, Ship & treat yourself!

More see you laters

Today I joined our friends for brunch at The Bakers Table in Seoul. As I sat there enjoying the Farmer plate, (sunny side up of course), it hit me like a ton of bricks that this was yet another couple of wonderful friends that we’d say our see you laters to (never goodbyes). Yes, in the early morning (SUPER EARLY!) this couple would be off to starting a new chapter, soon with a beautiful bundle of joy, in Malaysia together. We were grateful to have the opportunity to spend some time with them and to open our home up to them on their final nights in Korea.

You think after all of these years abroad it would get easier to see our friends off, but it isn’t. Every time we arrive at this point I always sit and wonder why certain people enter into our lives when they do. We all start off strangers, but end up meaning the world to one another, with this link and strong bond. We know we will see you guys again very soon and cannot wait to welcome this beautiful baby into the world with you as well! Cheers!

Backpackbees

2014: A Very Festive Christmas Dinner

TAKE 1…

TAKE 2…

TAKE 3…

TAKE 4… OKAY, OKAY… On with the post.

Celebrations and togetherness’ like this Christmas evening are dearly treasured moments in our lives.

Wowie, the incredible aromas that are swirling around our place from the kitchen, the love and laughter shared between friends that have become part of our extended family (Santa beards, elf get-up, festive glasses, Cards Against Humanity and all), the overall warmth felt in our place tonight just makes the whole night so memorable. I mean I serious wish that you had a scratch and sniff computer screen for each of these photos, better yet a sampling screen! Don’t worry, may in the new year I’ll honey-do-list Mr. B with carrying out the invention and production.

Our two dear friends came over tonight and prepared us an outstanding Christmas dinner. Thanks guys! Succulent root-beer glazed spiral ham, stuffed tomatoes and mushrooms, bacon wrapped homemade stuffing, steamed lemon pepper asparagus, roasted potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes and British sticky toffee pudding danced happily in our bellies. Mmmm Hmmm….Truly such a special gesture.

Already 2014 is coming to an end. Life really is on fast forward mode, each year we’ve got people coming and going in our lives, so it is always really nice to take some time and let people know how amazing they are and how much they truly mean to us. With that being said…

Dear Family, Friends and Neighbors (near and far), Though you might not be at our dinner table tonight sharing this Christmas meal with us, you are certainly not forgotten and are here in spirit. Wishing You All a very merry Christmas! Cheers!

Backpackbees

Celebration Calls For Afternoon Tea

This morning, Christmas eve, I attended a graduation and certificate ceremony for my dear friend at Le Cordon Bleu (French for “The Blue Ribbon”) culinary school located in Seoul. What an honor to be invited and partake in such a monumental moment in someone’s life. Not to mention a dream of my own…swoon…

As you may know already, there are some rather distinct differences when it comes to comparisons between S.Korea and the US. I now can also safely say that a graduation ceremony is another difference in my life experience book as well. The ceremony while very nice, had some distractions occurring.

…Eh, heck why not, I’ll share some of the humor with you all…while I carefully tried to concentrate and make out some of the words being said in both French and Korean, I was sitting beside a Korean man who was obviously very proud of his family member, so much so that right after his family member walked off the stage he decided he immediately needed to put together a video montage with songs right on the spot (I’m talking no ear buds, full on sound for all to hear around him). Then after said Korean man was happy with his masterpiece, I thought I was in the clear, silly me….two elderly Korean woman to my left decided to sit down and have a very loud conversation and pay no mind to the ceremony, or anyone sitting around them. I really don’t believe that they looked up at the stage once. I pondered if they even knew anyone there and perhaps maybe had come for the free food afterwards? Hey, no judgement ladies… no judgement. For future events try to keep it down a bit please? Thanks.

Anyways, the ceremony was beautiful in book, even with said distractions. I was beaming from ear to ear with a huge permi-smile for my friend and her incredible accomplishment! I think I told her about 50 times that afternoon how proud I was of her and how much of an inspiration she was to me. She really is, more than I think she will ever know!

Onward to the celebration afterwards. Let’s talk food shall we?

No, wait.. even better shall we look at amazing photos of the food that the Le Cordon Bleu Chefs prepared for the graduation ceremony? Yes, I think we shall…

After the ceremony and the light tasting event, we headed onto our own celebration at Shilla Hotel, also located in Seoul, for afternoon tea.

There is no need to make reservations and the afternoon tea is held in the Library Bar and Lounge of the hotel. The Afternoon Tea Set starts at 46,000 KRW and there is an option to upgrade and add a glass of champagne for the set price of 68,000 KRW.

First we were seated and asked to select our tea choices. Because our group was rather large, we ordered various teas. The tea selection is plentiful and I immediately fell in love with TWG’s White House tea. I know, I know…Perfect pick for the American! But really, the tea was a delightful white tea. It was described as, “delicately fruity with overtones of ripe, red berries and a scattering of rare and fragrant rose petals.”

I was blown away by the tea set that came out! It was impressive and perfectly plated for presentation. A wonderful section of various pastries, hot scones, sweets and beautifully sliced tea sandwiches. The afternoon Tea set also includes a selection from the cake cart. Our group chose a gorgeous slice of chocolate cake (and that says a lot coming from a non-chocolate lover)!

I cannot wait to go take a few friends back and share the experience.

I Highly recommend the afternoon tea and by the way, don’t forget pinkies up!

Backpackbees

Directions:

Le Cordon Bleu
Website: Here

The Shilla Seoul Hotel – The Library Bar and Lounge
249 Dongho-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Views in Ilsan, South Korea

Recently I took my very first public trans bus adventure from Uijeongbu Station to Ilsan to spend the day with a good friend of ours. Thankfully the journey was quite uneventful and I made it there with no hiccup (THANK YOU KATYA AND THE SEOUL BUS APP).

Ilsan is a beautiful city located just northwest of Seoul in Goyang city. I visited Ilsan twice prior when I first got to South Korea. Once was to visit the gigantic convention center called the Kintex, and the other time was to go to Costco before one was built much closer to us. Both trips never really awarded the opportunity to get out and see the city and explore a bit.

When I stepped off the bus I immediately took notice of a beautiful lake surrounded by walking paths and park. I lucked out too because Katya was just as eager to get out for a walk around the park as I was. Katya explained to me that the lake park is a very popular spot in the city and is known as the garden city. There were so many people out being active walking, jogging, spending time with their families, biking, skateboarding, snapping photos for blogs and magazines and yet it didn’t feel crowded one bit. It was a feeling you’ll seldom get to experience in Asia.

It was a wonderful fall day spent strolling around the lake park admiring the views, checking out the local Cafés, mall, restaurants and indulging in some frozen yogurt. I highly recommend a day trip to the area if you ever are looking for a new place to explore while in South Korea.

Thank you for hosting me this weekend Katya you are such a dear friend!

4th of July

The 4th of July is one of those holidays that we Bees really crave a good ol’ BBQ, the rays from the sunshine, fireworks that light up the night sky, lounging by the pool, or on beach with your close friends and family. We almost had it all checked off the list this year, minus being 6,875 miles from the Pennsylvania and most of our family. Almost…

We headed to the East Coast of South Korea and Mr. B finally got in some diving and I some much-needed R+R+R (rest, relaxation, reading). Kelsey joined up with us on Saturday afternoon along with some fun friends from the UK, South Africa, Korea and the US. We learned all sorts of useful British and Korean words — crisps, brass monkey and chincha. HA-HA.

Waking up each morning and falling asleep each night with the sounds of the ocean waves crashing against the rocks right outside of the resort windows was so calming. The view was breathtaking even when the fog rolled in over the boat harbor. I couldn’t contain myself with all of the gorgeous wild flowers popping up all around too.

In the morning we really roughed it by grilling on our little Korean stove top with our cast iron skillet. Wakey wakey eggs and bakey. We actually had quite the little spread going for “roughing it”. Greek yogurt, red grapes, blackberries, English muffins with the nooks and crannies, because really is there any other kind? In the evening of course we had our BBQ and a nice selection of condiments.

We all enjoyed potbingsoo too! With a view to boot!

The dive shop owner had the sweetest Boston terrier dog named 사랑 salang, korean word for love. Ohhh and how I loved this dog! It was so playful yet reserved and chill. It walked around playing a game with us all. she’d find plastic bottles and random items from the divers, latch onto it then wanted people to try to take whatever it was from her. She salang was sweet.

I strolled over to the observatory one morning, then again to show Kelsey too. What a wonderful ocean view and breeze felt from up there! I could have stayed out in that ledge all day. The deck had clear glass floor that allowed you to view the ocean below your feet. It reminded me so much of being in Chicago with the glass observation deck. You never know quite how people are going to react. Even in a different language body language is all the same.

How was your 4th? Hope you were all safe and celebrated it right!

Backpackbees

Uncle Tomato and Turkey

I know what you are thinking, first what in the world is on that menu? Doesn’t rice ball flying fish spawn sound delightful? Ha-Ha! Second, I’m not really seeing tomatoes, Uncles, or Turkey in these photos. Okay, maybe one tomato in that salad. Hmmm… You’re correct.

The restaurant that I enjoyed a dinner date at with my dear friend Mary is called, Uncle Tomato. The restaurant offers a decent sized menu and quaint atmosphere. You can order anything from pasta, pizza, steaks and salads. There was something for everyone and in Korea that sometimes is the challenge. We kept pondering why didn’t we go here before?

Unfortunately and fortunately Mary and her family are moving to Turkey in the next few days. Now the puzzle pieces are coming together. I say unfortunately because this woman has become a sister to me and the selfish thoughts of loosing her, her friendship, love and family all currently and conveniently within a quick stroll down the road, is going to break my heart. I say fortunately because TURKEY!!! Come onnnnn the food, travel, meditation lifestyle! I’m so there! Making my plans as we speak, of course after I was extended the invite 😉 (Thank you Mary and family!)

More fun and special moments shared….

Not only have I watched these two beautiful children grow, you have too! Can you believe how grown up the are already? It really puts time into perspective. Eek! I miss them already! Guess I better keep saving those coins for my Turkey trip to see them again soon!

Backpackbees

Uncle Tomato
719, Jihaeng-dong 2F-#201, Pine Hans Bldg., Dongducheon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
031-865-0999

Kuala Lumpur Day 5

Gosh dangit already on Day 5 of the Memorial Day getaway. Well, we trucked around center city Kuala Lumpur on our last day with Luis. We checked out Brickfields also known as Little India, China Town or known as peddlers ally, and the Central Market.

We ate the local eats, such as durian fruit (AKA hot trash) and ais kacang or known as ABC (acronym for Air Batu Campur, literally meaning “mixed ice”). The ABC reminded me of S.Korea’s potbingsoo but cracked out. There was so much on this thing my mouth was totally confused by all of the textures and flavors that were going on inside of it. I am talking about crazy flavors like palm seed, red beans, sweet corn, grass jelly and cubes of agar agar, aloe vera, cendol, ice cream. A final topping of evaporated milk, condensed milk, or coconut milk drizzled over the mountain of ice along with red rose syrup and sarsi syrup.

Perhaps I am bias, but I will always hold such a dear spot for our beloved original potbingsoo. It’s good to be back in the graces of Potbingsoo’s again. Cheers!

Many thanks to you Luis and showing us your Malaysia. It was a dream!

Curious, would you dare to try the local eats such as local eats, such as durian fruit or ABC?

Backpackbees

Burgers, Spuds and Shakes

Beef, vegetarian, turkey, tofu or chicken.  Burgers are always a food of comfort to us all in one way or another. I feel like they are meant to be enjoyed and savored with good friends. Tonight we had the pleasure of sharing our company with our dear friend Krista and her sweet baby girl while Dave, hubby/dadda was working the night shift. (I’ll take any excuse to snap away photos of our Jilly-bean).

The great thing about burgers is that you can build them with any sort of fun toppings just the way you want!

Tonight we opted for some very healthy choices that included pan-fried bacon and sautéed onions, melted extra sharp cheddar and roasted rosemary spuds in the oven. Then to finish off our light meal we toasted marshmallows over our gas range for nutella milkshakes.

Mr. B kept reminding me that I needed to live on the edge a little and indulge. Obviously I didn’t need that much convincing. . .

You know you want to make it…. just do it!

Nutella Toasted Marshmallow Shake

1/2 Cup milk

2 Cups packed vanilla ice cream

2 Heaping Tablespoons of Nutella

Toasted marshmallows, for garnish (optional)

Huzzah for the weekend!!

What are your favorite burger toppings? Share your delicious creativity with us!

Backpackbees

Making Friends as an Adult.

I found myself deep in thought, while sipping my coffee, waiting on a dear friend at our local weekend coffee spot. The thoughts deep like the swirls of whipped topping and caramel mixing with my coffee were about making friends as an adult. Let’s go one more step more and add to the complications of that… making friends. as an adult. while living abroad. I feel that in high school or even college for that matter while they are preparing you for the “real world”, they should be instructing on real world issues such as when you take that gigantic leap outside of your safety blanket (your hometown or surrounding area) what you may find yourself feeling.

I know, I know… the world’s tinniest violin is playing for me right this second. I’ll take this second to have a small (but respectful) pity party for myself, then we’ll get to moving on with this post.

2013 proved to be one of the more challenging years for me in my adult life. However during those challenges, I met an acquaintance of a friend that turned into a dear friend, a sister for life. Unfortunately, I know all to well that she is only abroad temporarily and will be moving on in the next few months. I’ll always remember a wise family member saying that quality over quantity will matter when you are an adult. At the time I remember thinking, yeah sure… then gloating about all of the “friends” that I had on my Myspace page (Don’t try to deny it..you know you had a Myspace page too). Now my 20 something self is understanding just how true that family member’s statement was. As a child, my grandparents told me that I could be-friend anyone, anywhere. The public pool, yep had a random swim buddy, the playground, yep had a tag or jungle gym pal, high-school, yep some bad gal pals and good gal pals, college, yep crazy but fun housemates. Truly I have been blessed to have met some amazing friends along the way and share equally amazing memories with each of them too.

However, over the past few years, let’s say the past three, I haven’t had the best of luck making friends since we moved abroad. I blame it on my mostly on my work schedule, and maybe partially on the fact that I have turned a bit anti-social. And introvert-ish. I’ll digress. Some of the first “friends” I made when we moved abroad turned out to be a group of ladies that belonged to a church group. Sound choice, right? Wrong…some of these women made me feel so insecure with myself. Constantly judging my knowledge of religion, my life, masking me with this toxic vibe, etc. Isn’t that comical? Ladies of the church! But at the time I couldn’t see it… Then I snapped out of it and distanced myself. I made the decision that I really longed for quality over quantity. I think that is where the fuel was added to the fire.

Don’t misunderstand my words, Mr. B and I have some great couple friends, most of them with kids too. (Apparently we are freaks for not having one by now). Ooops. Kidding! They are outstanding and we love their kids too!

So how does one make quality friends? Sometimes I wonder if I am sending out the wrong vibe? Hmm.. Really, what is the right vibe to attract quality?

Although…side note…I did take a gigantic leap and branch out last month. Yes, I made random conversation with a woman while she bundled up her baby, about politics outside of the grocery store. We ended up exchanging Facebook names and are “friends”(our generations most acceptable way to socialize, right?) Since that first encounter, almost every time I run into the grocery store to grab something we bump into one another. We talk eggplant, holidays, serious grocery chatter. This most recent encounter we actually took a step forward and decided to make a plan to meet up for coffee soon. Hopefully I do not let her down by not being able to uphold my end of conversation about breastfeeding, the homeschool, private, or public school decision. You know, whatever all of you cool moms talk about over coffee. We will see.

So…. there it is just in time for my coffee dates arrival too. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Backpackbees