Tag Archives: June

Day 8 R&S Invade South Korea

Rebecca was up and out the door this morning at 6:00AM to catch the metro down to City Hall in Seoul. Today is the DMZ tour and it takes approximately one hour and ten minutes to go from our metro station to the City Hall station. What a trooper! She woke up with a very runny nose and stuffy head. It might be allergies, it might be just a plain old case of the Korean crud, either way I knew it was going to be a pretty rough day for her.

Mr. B and I both had to finish out the work-week today. We were both delighted that Rebecca could go tour the DMZ and get a feel for the hope that exists for North Korea and South Korea to reunify. Rebecca said that the tour guide was a riot and reminded her of a little gangster when she used certain phrases or exhibited certain expressions. She thought to herself while on the tour that Id get a kick out of it. She knows me so well, I’m sure that I totally would have!

Once we were all back home in the evening, We wanted to hear how the tour was. Rebecca said it was good however the visibility was much like that of looking at North Korea on a google map. Eeek! That bad?! Yes, the sky was rather gloomy all day and it definitely would have affects on the South Korea DMZ observatory. That mother nature can really be a Debbie downer sometimes…All and all, Rebecca and I both are grateful, we know it may be a once in a lifetime opportunity experience.

Rebecca’s symptoms were definitely peaking in the evening and she was in dire need of some antihistamine or decongestant. We took care of her, many thanks to Mr. B, sometimes I am not sure what id do without this man folks, what a godsend. We hung out for a bit allowing the medication to sooth Rebecca’s system. About twenty or thirty minutes later she was actually starting to dry up a bit. She commented on how nice it was not to have to blow her nose every few seconds.

The semi re-charged Rebecca bravely blurted that she could handle going for dinner when we were ready. Dinner, dinner? Did someone mention dinner? Mr. B’s ears were certainly perked at this point. All week Mr. B knew that Friday night dinner plans meant D-I-N-O-M-E-A-T-S,those words were magical to Mr. B. and he was up and about and ready to go in no time. Uh-oh Rebecca…hope you are ready for this place.

We like to go to Dino Meats occasionally. Okay, okay, using the word occasionally very loosely here. This is a restaurant that is very popular because of the copious amounts of meat that you can consume. You hand select every cut and type of meat that you personally will grill and eat right at your own table. You must take off your shoes before entering and you must sit on the floor. We enjoy seeing the reaction of people who go for the first time because of all the key items listed above such as the floor seating, all you can eat meat, grilling at your table, and removal of shoes. It’s fun!

So how does one eat like a dinosaur? What a splendid question! I think we should ask Rebecca about that one…

Mmmm Hmmm… we indoctrinated Rebecca right away. We let Rebecca hand select the first round of meats. We then proceeded to provide her with a gigantic lettuce leaf and let her go to town. Mr. B said she had to eat it the Korea way. The Korean way, she asked? Yes, prior to consumption, you take whatever slice of the cooked meat you like and place it on the lettuce, with some cooked rice, or any combination of the vegetable such as the sliced garlic, kimchi, mushrooms, bean sprouts, or grilled onions. The final step, roll everything up in the leaf, and shove the entire thing in your mouth. It sounds easy right? I swear, it’s some form of mastering food art.

What a champ! She did it! Enjoyed it too! We giggled about how the first time Mr. B and I had to eat the meal this way we were trying to be all proper and have manners. Trying to perhaps tackle the leaf with some scientific approach and tear it in half, this way it would be smaller bites and smaller portions. WHOAAAAA!!! That wasn’t flying with our accompanying friends. When you are in a Korean “beef and leaf” restaurant in Korea, all the years you were drilled not to shove your mouth so full with food goes right out the window.

Bellies stuffed to the gills we went home.

2012_06_22 Rebecca Day Eight

2012_06_22 Rebecca Day EightJun 22, 2012Photos: 9
 

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?!

2012_06_21 Rebecca Day Seven

2012_06_21 Rebecca Day SevenJun 21, 2012Photos: 20
 

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…

2012_06_20 Rebecca's Day Six

2012_06_20 Rebecca's Day SixJun 19, 2012Photos: 14
 

Day 5 R&S Invade South Korea

Today we woke up, grabbed a bite for breakfast, Rebecca Skyped a bit, and we were out the door.

We had a Korean cooking class scheduled near Insadong at O’ngo. What was crazy about this place is that, before I moved to Korea I found this company and had plans to take it while living here. I never got around to it and the brochure still hangs on my refrigerator to this very day.

Rebecca was coming up with her itinerary before her visit and found it while notating things to do and places to see.

Rebecca, the worldly traveler she is, took a cooking class in Thailand while on a trip and loved it. So once she found this class she immediately emailed the company for more info, in the meantime asked me what I thought. This is a true story! How in sync are we?! There was no thinking about my response. Yes! Yes, what an outstanding plan!

O’ngo offers many different classes and tours. We decided on a bulgogi and cucumber kimchi course.

We took line one to Anguk station and wondered a bit more around Insadong. In search of cool postcards and food magnets. Ha Ha! Don’t ask…it’s a crazy touristy Korean thing.

We dawdled a bit, grabbed some postcards and realized quickly we were getting much closer in time to our class reservations. Sorry O’ngo! We were 7 minutes late…eek!

We found the O’ngo building location and rushed up to the third floor.

The ladies that greeted us were absolutely fabulous! They immediately offered us tea, coffee, or water. They didn’t mind a bit that we were running behind on time.

We were taken into an connecting room that had a culinary setup. One station was set up for our instructor, the other for Rebecca and myself. We were the only two in the class. Talk about one on one attention! The private atmosphere was awesome! This gave us ample opportunity to take our time and ask any pressing questions that we had.

Welcome to class!

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Welcome to class!

 
Our station

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Our station

 
 

We started off with watching our instructor prepare cucumber kimchi. I’ve got to tell you folks, I’m so excited to recreate this!

Cucumber kimchi

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Cucumber kimchi

 
Yikes! Look out Rebecca... that's got some spice to it.

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Yikes! Look out Rebecca... that's got some spice to it.

 
Our delightful Instructor

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Our delightful Instructor

 
Start of cucumber kimchi

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Start of cucumber kimchi

 
What we need to make cucumber kimchi today

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What we need to make cucumber kimchi today

 

After watching the cucumber kimchi instructions we were to head back to our station and recreate what we just learned.

Rebecca was much more handy with the knife. Although I loved that she was able to show me a few new tricks of the trade. I’m thinking a knife course is in my near future.

After preparing the cucumbers we went back to the instructors station and watched her prepare the bulgogi marinade. The aroma was incredibly delicious!

We loved how the bulgogi marinade ingredients were so simple! Asian pear, garlic, onion, mushroom, soy, sugar, sesame oil, sesame seeds, pepper to taste. We were also delighted to learn that pineapple or kiwi in the place of the Asian pear too.

 
YUM! Cooking up our meat.

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YUM! Cooking up our meat.

 
 
 
Perfect again! It's like she is a pro or something.. .ha ha!

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Perfect again! It's like she is a pro or something.. .ha ha!

 
Final products. YUM! We got to taste too!

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Final products. YUM! We got to taste too!

 

What a wonderful experience! I’m so thankful we had the opportunity to learn this course together! (Thank you grandma Mem!!)

Rebecca and I agreed that we need to continue on with this tradition and when we meet up again in the future. It’s so much fun, you learn something new, and you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor with others!

She is just so cute!

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She is just so cute!

 
Action shot!

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Action shot!

 
 
Besides the farmers tan we are looking fab in the kitchen!

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Besides the farmers tan we are looking fab in the kitchen!

 

After cooking, we plated our meals and sat down to enjoy.

Check out our hard work.

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Check out our hard work.

 
What a wonderful day!

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What a wonderful day!

 
 
 
 
 

Bon appetit!

After finishing the meal we didn’t know we were in for a special treat. We had a market tour! What fun! Again, I learned more about the Korean foods and culture. The Guide was very sweet and very patient with us. I loved that Rebecca had the opportunity to chat with an English speaking Korean.

Market Tour

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Market Tour

 
Lotus Root

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Lotus Root

 
White Rice to cook with

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White Rice to cook with

 
White Rice to make rice cakes with

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White Rice to make rice cakes with

 
 
Korea's red pepper

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Korea's red pepper

 
 
The owner will grind the red pepper for you too.

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The owner will grind the red pepper for you too.

 
 
Many different rice cakes

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Many different rice cakes

 

We parted ways with our guide and set out for Lotte Hotel. We started out earlier in the week trying to book a tour to the DMZ but disappointingly due to location and subway times were not able to. Rebecca continued to do some reading in her Seoul City guidebook and was able to find two more companies offering the tour as well. Score!

We arrived at the Lotte Hotel and were instantly blown away at the classiness of the hotel. We made our way to 6th floor. The elevator doors opened and there were travel agencies upon travel agencies. We located the one we needed and were also able to book a tour for Friday! Score! What a relief! I feel much better now, this was something I knew when she visited she should experience if she could.

Seoul Tower near Lotte Hotel

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Seoul Tower near Lotte Hotel

 

After booking the tour we made our way back to the subway and went home.

No rush….

Korea....

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Korea....

 

What an incredible day! I can’t stop smiling when I think of how much fun I had this week, today, and knowing I still have more time and a few days left to share with Rebecca.

2012_06_19 Rebecca day Five

2012_06_19 Rebecca day FiveJun 19, 2012Photos: 56
 

Day 2 of R&S Invade South Korea

We all woke up around 8ish-9ish this morning. We didn’t have a real plan in place. We wanted to keep the decisions of what to do up to Rebecca and how she was feeling. Mr. B whipped up some south western egg whites and I cut up a nice fresh Korean watermelon for breakfast.

Eventually we formulated a plan to see all the marketplaces in Seoul. We got everything together and were out the door around 11:30 with the GPS set to direct us to Seoul.

Please disregard the worst farmers tan ever that I’m sporting in my photos. Come on folks, I’m trusting you now!

We hit Namdaemun Market, Dongdaemun Market, Myeongdong, Cheonggyecheon Stream, and walked down the center of Seoul as the sun went down outside of Gyeongbokgung Palace.

We spent the afternoon lunching on street vendor food, shopping, exploring a bit, snapping photos, and soaking up the sunlight. The weather was gorgeous, we traipsed our little butts about 8 miles around the city.

As the sun went down, Rebecca said the city started to really take on a different vibe. We agreed, we love Seoul during the day, but really love Seoul light up shining brightly at night too.

Even after being here for over a year, we still get the same feelings of excitement while wondering around Seoul. Needless to say we were all thoroughly enchanted.

We ended our Seoul Backpack Bees tour in Itaewon over a delightful Thai dinner. We never ate at the restaurant, My Thai, it turned out to be rather delicious! We ordered pineapple fried rice, a spicy Thai noodle dish, and pad thai with shrimp.

It was getting late, we still had to drive home, we were all pretty exhausted. An hour and a half later we arrived home at midnight and all decided to retire to bed.

What an amazing day! Can this week not ever end, pretty please?!

2012_06_16-24 Rebecca's Visit

2012_06_16-24 Rebecca's VisitJun 15, 2012Photos: 95
 

Day 1 of R&S Invade South Korea

It’s FRIDAY! You know what that means!!

SHE’S HERE!!!

Yes! Rebecca’s flight landed a little after 3:30PM today, Mr. B was such a doll and drove to the Incheon Airport to pick her up for me while I finished out the work day. (I know, I know, I’m so lucky!)

Within 15 minutes of each other we all arrived at home. Two words, pure bliss! As soon as I heard the code getting entered into the door, I immediately had to run over and give her a big long overdue hug! I keep having to pinch myself to make sure she’s actually here! Actually sitting at our bar, sipping her drink, chatting about life! It’s reality!

SHE’S HERE!

Rebecca, having the amazingly caring Seoul she has, came baring gifts. Things from back home, Tastycakes, and a copy of the Real Simple magazine. Does she know us, or does she know us?

We took it easy, had a very low key relaxing night. Rebecca unpacked, we showed her around our place, and she decided she was up for something of lighter proportions for dinner after her incredibly pork filled flight. Lol, long story.

We all decided bibimbop would serve as an excellent meal choice. Plus it was one of our favorite places that we wanted to share with her. Needless to say we were pretty excited!

The restaurant changed some of the side dishes because of the seasonal changes. It was fun getting to taste the new mix-ins.

We asked Rebecca how she liked the bibimbop, she said she really enjoyed it, however she was used to it being served directly to her with everything already in the bowl. We explained that most places do serve it that way here in Korea too. This restaurant is just a fun experience allowing you to pick what you would like in your dish.

After dinner, Rebecca could no longer keep the sleep monster at bay. We decided to call it a night and head back home so she could get some sleep and prepare herself for the rest of the week.

Goodnight everyone!

Give Me 50!

Laps that is.

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Today, for the second time in a row this weekend, I woke up with Mr. B and went to the indoor pool. Yesterday I swam 30 laps, today I pushed myself a bit harder and did 50. Mr. B jokingly said that he needed to buy me a wet-suit for the pool because my lips were turning blue by the time I got out. When he said that, it instantly took me back to childhood memories, the days of swimming until my lips were blue, teeth chattering, convulsing shivering, but not daring to admit it’s time to get out and warm up.

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Those were the days!

I stuck around a bit longer this morning to watch the Scuba students in action. Don’t tell Mr. B that I said this, but he’s such a natural! He loves scuba and it truly shines through when he’s helping to assist the students, or explain something more in detail. It’s just so darling watching him light up.

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(Well, Hello Mr. B!)

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Happy Sunday.

Thirty-Two Sucks…

Or, does it?

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Nevertheless, it never tasted so sweet!

Today is June 9th. June 9th marks a very, very special day of the year for me….

Yes, today I cheers another year of having the sweetest man I’ve ever known to call my own in my life. I know, I know, every wife under the sun says that about her husband. But honestly, for me, he really is.

Mr. B has shown me what real love is in its truest form. From the very first day we met, Mr. B has continually portrayed what a friend, a man, and a partner is. I swear this man has such patience, an incredibly understanding heart, a faithfulness, a forgiveness, and the most genuine love just for me. How blessed am I to have him as my best friend?

Mr. B threw a bit of a wrench into the birthday weekend festivities. He has pool classes all day today and all day tomorrow. However, I don’t think there is another way he would want to spend his birthday, well besides being with his family, naturally.

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I had to do a smidge of improvising with how to celebrate Mr. B’s special day from the hotel location. Did you check out the ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins?!

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Happy Birthday, my dearest Beebs! You’re nothing less than my dream come true. Only you!

Perfect And Not So Perfect

What is your definition of perfect?
Sometimes I follow blogs and think to myself, “wow, that bloggers life comes off as almost perfect”. Think about it…you get to choose what photos make it on your page, your topics, your comments, etc.

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.

Yes! In my flips! Did you really think i’d have something different on?
Sometimes all you need is a little mind over matter. (EEk! Little did I know I’d pay for that when retiring off to bed).

Anywho, I enjoyed my walk up…

up….

up…

and finally over and down…

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!