Tag Archives: Korea

Peace

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Good Morning,

The weekend has been very quaint and quiet. Very peaceful. I made sugar and cinnamon roasted mixed nuts, twice (EEk!) oOOOoh but the house smelled so divine! Celebrated a good friends 30th (surprise) birthday. I sipped hot tea, enjoyed the morning sunlight peering into the windows with Bean, and took Velma out for a spin among the marshmallow-clouded sky. Perfect in my book!

Hope you all had quaint and quiet ones too.

Sugar & Cinnamon Roasted Mixed Nuts

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Ingredients:

1 Tsp Cinnamon

3 Tbsp Sugar -or- Splenda

1 Cup Mixed nuts

1 1/2 Tbsp Melted coconut oil (Or, if you are not a fan of coconut oil try grape-seed)

Lets get cooking!

Preheat your oven to 325F or 160/170C. In a mixing bowl, mix all of your ingredients except for your mixed nuts. Once all mixed, toss in your mixed nuts, combine. Spread nuts in a single layer on foil or parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Roast 15-20 minutes or until lightly toasted and you see your desired level of brownness. (Be careful! The sugar can have a tendency to burn if you let it go to long). You may lightly dust the final product once you take out of the oven if you desire.

For fun you can try adding in a pinch of brown sugar, or a pinch of nutmeg, even shredded coconut flakes are fun too! (Say’s the girl who despised coconut growing up)

Don’t say I didn’t warn you when your house is smelling incredibly sumptuous after about 5 minutes of these little gems roasting in your oven.

Enjoy!

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Oh Boy

Ladies and Gentlemen… this cannot be good…

What Does Summer Taste Like?

Well, to me it taste like…. F r e s h W a t e r m e l o n &B l u e b e r r i e sWith the summer temperatures soaring into the upper 80’s and 90’s, I find myself craving chilled thirst quenching fruits. I am on my fourth watermelon of the summer. While some (cough, cough, Mr. B) claim it’s borderline obsession, I like to think of it as simply getting my fill of the summer fruits in while I can. Those long days, warm nights, fresh vegetables, fruits and summer, itself, will be a memory before you know it! *Sigh*

I guess it wouldn’t come as a shocker to know that I heard the Watermelon truck near our place this weekend, rushed out immediately and purchased another one. Obviously I wasn’t the only one needing a watermelon fix…

I was the first one to the truck. No sooner did I turn around from paying for my prized possession, people were darting across the street and pulling over out of traffic to grab one too.

Right away, I took it home and sliced it up. Naturally.

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This weekend I got to Skype with my grandparents as well. It’s always so nice getting to talk to them. We always end up reminiscing about my childhood or theirs. Not to mention seeing someones face at the other end makes missing home a bit more easier.

Anyways, we talked about how fruit trucks were something normal from when they were growing up. They said it was normal to purchase your fresh fruits,vegetables, and sometimes fresh fish, from a truck that would stop by your home about once a week or so. My Grandma said that sometimes she thinks that times like those were more convenient than that of today. Fresh milk at your door every morning, eggs, etc. What an interesting perspective.

Strangely enough, South Korea has many of these options still available. The ladies that I work with get a weekly delivery of eggs, and a daily delivery of yogurt to their homes.

Also while talking with my grandparents we discussed various foods we both had been cooking lately. Cue the blueberries! When I was growing up, I can always remember the summer weekends during berry season at my Grandparents. I think because my Grandma would make a simple yet absolutely delightful instant vanilla pudding with fresh blueberries on top. Mmmm!

Well, you know me, clearly, I’m all about nostalgia these days so I knew I needed to make some for to cherish with Mr. B <3

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Dig in!

Change

Things change.People change.Friends change, and minds change too.The wonderful thing about living your own life is that you’re the one calling the shots. Yes, you are the boss of you, Inc.You can embrace the change, go with it, or fight it.Like it or not, it’s inevitable, it’s going to happen.June had been a month full of many changes here in Korea.People are coming, people are going.The weather is changing from beautiful, warm, absolute perfect sun-shiny summer June days, to wet, sticky, humid, monsoon torrential downpour July.Here’s to the continuous learning of how to embrace change.

From top to bottom: New and old neighbor’s moving, the first rainfall in weeks on my walk home tonight from our work dinner (forecasted to turn all monsoon on us), and the best kind of change…a brand new Starbucks opened this week right in our own backyard….can we say dangerous!?

We’ve Got One….

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.

Funny

Our friends shared this with us and we had to share with all of you!

We know our Korean friends can truly appreciate the humor in this YouTube video!

Happy viewing!

Presidents Day Weekend

This weekend we were invited to grab a bite to eat in New City with some of our friends.

Of course we forgot the camera….sorry! However we were able to snap a few pictures with the good ole iPhone.

Our friends took us to a restaurant we haven’t tried out yet. We were pretty excited!

Sorry we also do not know the proper name for the restaurant…maybe some help from our Korean friends? 😉 the location is in very close proximity to the jihaeng station in new city. Look for the 7 gram coffee shop and directly across from it you will see the place.

(Inside. Floor and table dining available).

(oops…forgot to get a shot of the start to the meal. We will leave you with the dinner aftermath).

The night was still young, we went for drinks. Especially when our friends found out that we still haven’t tried Soju. Yes! You read that correctly!

Where does one go for some drinks? Miller Time, of course! Haha! Also a first for the Bees!

The bar was actually alot of fun! Great atmosphere. We REALLY enjoyed the cherry Soju. Lordy, that drink is seriously dangerous! You’ve got to try it out!

The bar features a nice selection of your typical bar foods.

Bonus….Engrish spotted!

You know Mr. B had a fint or two… 😉

The bar keeps you munching on popcorn as you order drinks. They even brought out a free plate of tasty French fries. Score!

So now I’m sure you are intrigued by the fortunes, right? Well, the bar serves you fortune cookies with your first round of drinks. You match the pictures on the back of your fortune with the ones they have posted on the board. Free drink!!

Well, our group didn’t have a match.

But…

We did get to watch a group of Korean girls get completely annihilated celebrating a birthday. Fun times!! No, really! It was comical!!

THANKS GUYS!! Until next time 🙂 🙂

Fishy Friday

iPhone shots of Korean sushi dinner in New City(restaurant located directly across from women’s cultural center) with Mrs. B’s work ladies.

Much like most meals in Korea, the sides and various dishes just kept coming and coming. I found myself more and more impressed with each new item brought out to our table. Mmm! Korean sushi was a tad different but what a treat and experience!

Today Just Wasn’t The Same…

Now that we mention it, neither was the weather….

Strangely no Korean traffic….

Work wasn’t the same either…

Here’s to hoping things look up… 🙂

Just kidding! It’s Christmas vacation and we are currently blogging from the beautiful tropical paradise Island of Cebu, Philippines.

Beautiful tropical weather, gorgeous beaches, tons of sights and things to do. What more could you ask for when you live in the land of winter weather?

That’s all for now! Look forward to more blog write ups and of course pictures and videos when we are back.

Merry Christmas!

Diving with Aquatic Frontier at the Korean East Coast

Diving with Aquatic Frontier, the weekend of 26-27 November 2011. The owner, Allen Rivera, was able to conduct 4 diver specialties including: wreck diver, deep diver, night diver and peak performance buoyancy as well as conduct a Rescue Diver certification. Aside from an extremely busy weekend we were able to get some great diving and video in now that we are ending the year. Come dive with Aquatic Frontier in South Korea.