Tag Archives: travel

Kuala Lumpur Day 1

For Memorial Day weekend we Bees hopped a flight to visit a friend in Kuala Lumpur. It took us 6 hours in total and we flew Malaysian Air. I was a bit uneasy at first when I realized we booked with the airline, however in the end we arrived safe and sound at KUL -Kuala Lumpur International Airport. It didn’t take much time to clear customs and grab our baggage before we met up and were greeted with a welcome sign from our friend Luis.

We loaded our baggage up in the car, the car with the steering wheel on the right side I might add. We three giggled about that car the entire time we were there. For only being there for a few months, Luis quickly got acclimated with driving on the opposite side of the road from S.Korea and the US. It was comical to watch Mr. B’s reaction sitting as a passenger on the left side of the car and not the right. At times it often feels like the car beside you is going to turn into you, or you see the passenger on the left side where we are used to seeing the driver absolutely not paying attention and you think, “Oh lord they are going to crash that car! Pay attention!!” Then after your short moment of panic you remember that the driver is on the right side and not the left. whew.

It took us about 40-45 minutes to arrive at Luis’s home in Damansara. Damansara is a central commercialized hub that houses several affluent residential areas. His home was located within walking distance to two large malls and multiple shopping complexes. Very convenient! We arrived just in time to see his neighborhood in the daylight and to watch the sunset from his balcony and gorgeous tall windows.

We got all settled in and decided we needed to grab dinner and drinks. We talked about our travel plans for the duration of the trip, as well as caught up discussing whats been going on in all of our lives. It was so peaceful sipping on our margaritas and people watching from an outdoor balcony that overlooked a twinkle light lit marketplace. I just sat back and took it all in! “So this is Malaysia,” I thought to myself feeling so excited that we were actually here.

Backpackbees

Do you have any plans for Memorial Day weekend?

Happy Halloween!

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I am finally back from my two week trip stateside with work and back to my dear blog again too. My trip was amazing and I would love to share it with you all so I will write a post about it a bit later.

First thing’s first! BOO! It’s Halloween! I live to celebrate holidays and look forward to and the traditions we continue to build with each new year. There is something just so magical about the fall season where pumpkin flavored everything and mythical creatures abound, which by the way are totally my style. (There may or may not be a 63oz coffee/latte pumpkin flavoring from Starbucks in the refrigerator right now). What? I’ve told you all..I get my sweet tooth from my grandfather and all the sweets in the world never ever truly satisfy it. Speaking of which, who held out that Target has awesomely fun coffee flavors like this little guy I snagged while stateside? Candy corn?! Yum!

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One of the best parts about Halloween is opening your front door to cute kids in costumes. This is the third Halloween living abroad that I’ve had the opportunity to hand out candy in our small community to the other foreigners living here as well. What a treat! Check out my two dino buddies that really had down their scary rawr!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Backpackbees

Jeju Island Getaway

This past weekend we got the opportunity to again enjoying a brief getaway on the beautiful volcanic island of Jeju, only this time for a low-key friends meet up/ no real game plan kind of weekend.

Summer is officially over and clearly Fall is knocking on the door. Even on the tropical like island of Jeju the much brisk temperatures are starting to settle it. Saturday was dreary and rained, or misted rather, but we made sure we didn’t let the weather stop our fun. We took full advantage of checking out all the places that our group didn’t get to see the first time each of us visited Jeju in the past.

Get ready for some Korean cheesiness. Ready? Jeju Island Teddy Bear Museum….yes… told you.. we are clearly all about the cheesiness here, O’ Sulloc’s tea Plantation, Manjanggul Cave, Cheonjiyeon waterfalls, Jeju Starlight World Park and Planetarium, and Jinjie Cave.

We sipped green tea, coffee, ate some bingsu, ate green tea frozen yogurt, hiked part of the island coast where we got to check out 15 man-made caves ranging 15metres wide and 20metres long leftover from the period of when Korea was under Japanese rule, had the hubby believing that some of the teddies in the teddy bear museum were recovered and came from the Titanic, visited chocolate land where we later discovered we overpaid and were taken on the price of our boxes of chocolate (live and learn), and of course ate the Jeju speciality Jeju Black Pig (heuk-doe-ji). Overall a good time!

So, What were your plans over the weekend?

Feel free to check out photos and follow along on Instagram too!

Backpackbees

Around The World In One Week

 

Okay, maybe it wasn’t around the world…but it truly felt like it! It ended up that we went back to the states for a wonderful whirlwind of the fourth of july week. We tackled DC, PA, 3 full days of work, a best friends wedding, family, and a scuba diving certification. I think its safe to say, been there, done that, got the tee-shirt. LOL! We still wouldn’t have traded the time for anything in the world.

How blessed am I? I got to see two of my childhood best friends in one week! Cassie and Josh drove up from North Carolina and toured DC with me for three days. Don’t worry, I’ve got some photos to share of our adventures from the DC duck tour, and yummy sweet treat to ourselves at DC cupcake. Yep, we were the crazies that stood in the rain, but I’m telling you….Mmmm…the carrot cake cupcake was absolutely divine! We then went to Arlington cemetery to visit the tomb of the unknown soldier, so surreal!

After we said so long to my best friend and her husband, we headed North for our hometown in Pennsylvania. My other best friend, who you might remember from her visit here with us in Korea, was getting married. The wedding was perfect! Everything was so simple but elegant. You are going to love this… the reception was at a small local airport, inside of a hanger. It gets better folks, whoopie-pie wedding cake tower! If you are not familiar with a whoopie-pie… first, I’m so sorry you have been deprived this long, second, google the word and drool! The reception also featured stations from Danville, PA (where the reception location was), Seattle (where the groom is from), and Istanbul, Turkey (where the honeymoon destination is). These stations consisted of sliders, salmon, seafood dip, pidgeon and perogies, hummus, chicken kabob, and the list just keeps going on. It was one of the best memories of my life for my best friend and her husband. As we speak, the newlyweds are relaxing in each others company somewhere in Turkey. Gosh, I cannot wait until they get back so I can get the lowdown on the trip!

So how was your fourth of July? Did you travel far? See fireworks? Maybe it was more low-key and all about grilling and chilling? Whatever the case, I hope that it was a great one and I hope to hear about it from you all.

Backpackbees

Moboal, Philippines

Over Memorial Day we spent a wet and wild weekend on the shores of a wonderful little island of Cebu, in Moalboal, located in the Philippines. The location isn’t very touristy, it was just our style. Most resorts in the area cater to Scuba divers, so entertainment is very laid back and there are next to no night clubs. You can relish in the fact that a cold beer is less than 45 Pesos in most bars, or about 50 cents in US Dollars.

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While Mr. B dove with our friend Chris, I spent most of my time snorkeling, and relaxing on a rather magical porch, sunning, reading and of course…sipping on something fruity and refreshing. Just look at the view! The sea lapping right up to our little porch, pleaseeee take me back!

On the last day of our trip we all went sight-seeing around the island, swam with whale sharks, and experienced a “natural” massage at the Kawasan Falls, and ate halo-halo the Filipino dessert made from UBE (purple yam) . Experiences I will never ever forget!

We are aching to get back to the coast again. I do believe that I am suffering from lack of the sea, sun and sand as we speak. That porch off the ocean solidified that we need to invest in a beach home someday. Ahhhh, Somedayyy. When I am in the office I feel the soft quiet pull of the salty wind and sand. So, so unbelievably ready for the summer in South Korea, how about you?

Backpackbees

Splendid Extended

How was your weekend? I hope it was splendid extended weekend!

Ours surly was!

Some of the highlights from the weekend included:

-Juicing. I’m getting more creative, trying to incorporate sweet potatoes, ginger, etc. so delicious! I can’t help myself. Mmm! If you have a juicer, please share your thoughts and favorites with me. Pretty please and thank you!

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Sweet potatoes, carrots, pineapple, red grapes, and jeju oranges. ( I loveed this one! )

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Apples, cinnamon, and fresh ginger. ( Mr. B loveed this one! )

-Hair trim. Goodness, my mop desperately needed one! Fuzzy ends…need I say more? Pretty typical trip, except….drum roll….I drove myself for the very first time! No train this time around. If you ever get the chance to drive, or take a taxi in Seoul, you will know why this act in itself was quite the accomplishment! Mr. B was so worried about me driving alone for the first time. He made sure I had a GPS hooked up ready to go, with the route pre-programmed in too! What a guy! Thankfully
I also had a co-pilot. My dear friend accompanied me on the journey. (Girls day!). Woo-hoo! We successfully made it there and back, safe and sound!

-Skype session with my lovely Grandparents. My family always makes me feel so grounded. I treasure all the moments I get to chat with them via Skype, almost as good as being in person.

-Mr. B came home from being away on the East Coast…Hallelujah! Miss that guy a smidge when he’s away.

-Tied up some more of the loose ends of the Cambodia trip with Habitat for Humanity in March. Visa, plane tickets, a bit of research…check, check, double-check.

-Cooked up some fantastic homemade beef stew with Mr. B. Sometimes the best creations come from on the whim ideas. We had left over beef stock from a roast, it was just fitting to make soup. Plus, we’ve still got a white winter backdrop here from our little South Korean living room windows.

Here’s to many more splendid extended weekends in 2013!

January 6th 2013

Three families, visits with close friends, pounds of cookies consumed, and six beautifully decorated Christmas tress later, we Bees have made it back safe and sound to our little humble abode in Korea. We truly cannot express or thanks enough to our dear families and friends for all that they did and helped us with during our stay.

Okay, who’s coming over to visit us next?

Upgrade Me

I’ve must admit… the flight home was really nice! I mean really, REALLY, nice! We upgraded to business class. I’ve never flown business class before, so it was an eye-opener. Flatbed seating and leg room for days. The in-flight meals weren’t shabby either. I’ll take it!

Have you ever flown business class? What were your thoughts? Wait… is that even a question?

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!

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One More Sleep

Until my best childhood best-friend arrives in Korea for a visit. By best-friend I mean the kind of friend who would go all the way to KOREA to visit you. I’m so blessed to have the most amazing people in my life.

I cannot express how excited I am for her to be here! I think I’m just excited to share all the things that Mr.B and I fell in love with since moving here. Most of all just having her to make me feel sane, have that familiarity and major part of my US life with me again.

AhHH!! One whole week!

I’m envisioning lots of exploring, shopping, touring, eating, oh and we signed up for a Korean cooking course to do too!

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Look out Korea! You are in for it 🙂