Molly's Visit Part I: Good Lucky Pig

Molly came to visit us in Korea last April/May (yes, I am aware it is November), and we had a really fun time. We did a lot of cool things and saw a lot of cool places.

I took Molly to meet my Korean friends Jung-suk, Joanne, and Jenna. They taught us how to make kimchi jjigea (not pictured), chon, and jjapchae, three very delicious Korean dishes.

Chon, which is basically a rice flour pancake with greens.

Chon is cooked like you would cook a pancake.

And this is jjapchae, a kind of noodle/beef/vegetable stirfry.

Jung-suk and Joanne also took us to to Namdaemun Market. It was really fun to shop with them. We also saw some funny Konglish T-shirts.

Funny Konglish shirts. Can you read them?

Molly, Jung-suk, and Joanne.

Me, Molly, and Jung-suk.

While walking through the market we found a place set aside for foreigners to sit (yes, it was labeled as such), so Molly and I decided to take advantage of our status and sit.

We later found out that what we thought was a chair was actually a table, and one is not supposed to sit on tables. It would have been really helpful if it had been labeled too. *haha*

After shopping we went to eat lunch. We ate budae jjigae, a relatively new dish introduced into Korean cuisine during the Korean War. During the war years, food was relatively scarce, and many Koreans who lived around the American military bases used whatever they could find or get from the soldiers (mostly SPAM), mixed it all together, and made "base soup," or budae jjigae, the Korean version of stone soup. Since the war this dish has become gourmet, and that is what we ate.

Budae Jjigae has sausage, ramen, kimchi, rice cakes, and vegetables.

As we walked to the restaurant, we saw some cool landmarks:

First Bank of Korea, built in the 1800s.

a Statue of Significance

I think all of the fun we had during Molly's visit could be summed up in one picture:

...we threw a good lucky pig at the window, and it made all the difference.

Check back for Molly's Visit Part II: the Revenge of the Manties.

Hello, everyone!

It has been long indeed since I have posted, but never fear I am back with a fervor to end all fervors. Yes.

I have been sick for the entirety of October, which was really lame because October is my birth month. Anyway, now that I am well again, I will return to blogging.

Some notable posts to look forward to:

Molly's Visit (including hanging panties)
Joey's Visit (including hanging gourds)
Young Women's Camp (including the stank; lucky for you I'm just kidding about the stank)

So check back regularly for these updates.

Poking and clipping

Not long ago, I had the "opportunity" to get my first pedicure. Well, Tiffany really wanted me to go, so I, being the nice husband that I am, decided to go along. Let's just say, I was a bit nervous about the whole thing.

We arrived at the salon, and I was somewhat heartened to see that there was another guy getting a pedicure (and a manicure, but I didn't go that far). Tiffany had said that lots of guys get pedicures, and she was right. I sat down in the comfortable chair which had a built-in foot bath, and braced myself for the experience.

I must admit, the foot bath felt pretty good. But then, the pedicure started. I am not accustomed to people poking and prodding my feet. In fact, I get pretty nervous even cutting my own nails. I was, needless to say, pretty tense.

There was a nice lady sitting next to me, who tried to help me feel better (Tiffany was waiting for her turn). She was nice, but I must admit I was a little bit distracted. My feet were being "exfoliated," my nails trimmed, and my cuticles... I don't know what they did to my cuticles but it felt a bit strange.

Somehow, I survived all the clippings, trimmings, and lotion slatherings. I don't know how soon I will return to the salon for another pedicure, but I did learn one important lesson: women go through a lot of trouble and discomfort to look good. And that's something I'm glad I learned :)

Speed demon

Well, I managed to get my first speeding ticket. Well, first ticket of any kind, ever. I guess it might not count, because it was one of those camera things that takes your picture and you get a ticket in the mail. Anyway, I was coming home from church and I guess I must have been going pretty fast or something. The ticket was for 16 km/h over the speed limit. It wound up being 30,000 won, which is a little over 30 bucks. And by the way, this happened on Friday the 13th :) Go figure.

Gwanak San, Ice picks at the ready.

Hello, my dear readers. Yes, it has been a long time since I posted. But here is the update. While Matt's family was visiting, we went on a hike up Gwanak Mountain to a Buddhist Temple at the top. The hike was only about 5 km, but most of those were vertical meters.

Here we are at the beginning.
There is a rather nice park at the bottom. Andrew is standing by this traditional Korean hamster. That's right, traditional hamster.


The mountain was beautiful.



We ran into this monument on our way up (and yes, my posturing does make sense because the translation of the Chinese is thus: the Rock of the Zealous Woman):

Many stone cairns littered the trail, marking the path we should go. We added a stone and made a wish, as that is what you are supposed to do.
Art imitates life. . .
. . .or life imitates art?
After much toiling (though it really wasn't too bad) we reached the top (where someone had set up a shop with cold drinks, ramen, and other snacks) and the Buddhist Temple.

Here are some pictures of the Temple:


After reaching the temple we had to return to the bottom quickly because the light was starting to fade and we were starting to get hungry, not to mention that Mom was waiting for us at our apartment. On our way down the mountain. . .
. . .we saw some cool things like a helipad. . .
. . .and this cool rock that we climbed under. . .
. . . like slugs. :\

Yes, like slugs. :)

Medicines and Mountains

Dad thought it would be fun to visit an oriental medicine market in Seoul, and Mom and I agreed so we three went. I saw a lot of things, not all of them pleasant (dog shanks and fish heads), but everything was definitely interesting.


I don't remember if we went to Seoul Tower on the same day as the oriental medicine market, but I think it was so I'm including them in the same post.

Classic shot of people foreground tower background:
I know I already have a picture of the sky urinals on my blog, but you can never have enough urinals. Any dude will vouch for that.
Instead of taking the bus down from the mountain, we rode the tram. It was pretty fun. It dropped us off at a strange location in Myeong Dong, however, so we had to walk around a bit before we found the subway station.
Before we found the station, however, we ran into this badboy:
So we investigated and found this:
A cartoon museum? How awesome is that?!

House and 'Hood

That's right: it's time to wake up the neighborhood (or at least your neighbor's hood). I've been meaning to get pictures of some of these places for a while now, but I don't always have a camera on me. However, thanks to visiters, the camera was ever-present in my ready hand.

If Waffle-Man had a single of his theme song, I think this would be on the cover:
Pay particular to the shop in the background. Yes, there is a store called Lullu Shop for Man, and it seems to stock predominantly female items. I'm not sure if it's just engrish or... well, I'll leave that up to you to decide.

This is my kitchen. I had just gone to the flower market the week before and picked up some snap dragons. I love snap dragons. Especially because you can use the flowers as dragons and snap at people with them. Maybe that's why they are called snap dragons. I'm a thinker.
This is an alley (suprisingly well-lit for what it is) that is fun to walk down. They have all kinds of dog soup restaurants back in there. We have yet (if ever) to try any of them.
Unfortunately it is a hazy day, but we had to take a nice picture of all of us for the Christmas card some time. We are on the roof of our apartment in our Sunday best. I wish I had done my hair differently, what with the promise/threat of the Christmas card and everything, but that's me; that is what I look like. No hair can change that. Tschüss.
The long anticipated rotisserie chicken van: the neighborhood just isn't the same when it's not parked at the corner.
Even the most exuberant vacationers require a little down time. During our down time, we watched the office and sang karaoke. Good times.
Technically this wicked -- excuse me-- wicker awesome dragon is neither in our house nor in our neighborhood, but it's so awesome and I didn't want to make a post just for it (it's not that awesome) that I decided to include it here.
Last but not least: our toilet. I'll post a video of its automations (gotta run it through its paces) later.

From Garbage to Garlands and Governers

As most outings in Seoul begin, this one began on the subway to Yeoido.
Yeoido is an island in the middle of the Han River in the middle of Seoul. I believe it used to be a landfill, but more recently it has been converted into a business park as well as a cherry blossom park. A cherry blossom festival is held here every year during the blossoms' peak. We were not fortunate enough to visit during the peak, but we were close.


I'm not sure exactly what this is, since it's not Christmas or anything, but we took a picture of it anyway because it's still cool (whatever it is):
This is the parliament building. Yep.

[insert pithy epilogical comment here]