It's Summer time!

The Summer is here and it is HOT! Similar to PR hot (in it's hottest day), but over there you get the nice ocean breeze... none of that here!!! HOT my ppls... 

When you peak your head out the door it's the same feeling as when you're baking something and you open the oven door to check... Woshhh... a heat wave right on your face! It must be 100% humidity or something... you spend the whole day soaked! Hot & sticky = stinky : P 

While living here I've realized 3 things when it comes to seasons and weather;

1. I love having seasons
2. I am absolutely a Winter person
3. I don't like being hot... at all!

Ohhhhh (sigh).... How I miss having the ocean 10 minutes away! 

I guess taking 5 showers a day will have to do for now...The beauty of city living! : P

So, last month S. had a day off from work and he prepared a little surprise adventure for us. He rented a car and took us for a drive to the West side of Korea, outside Seoul. We went there maybe hoping to go and eat some seafood by the ocean. We had just seen this episode of a Drama where the guy took the girl to a sashimi restaurant right on the water... it looked sooo beautiful in that scene!

Well... we didn't find that place (apparently it's on the East side, where beaches are nicer). We still had a great day... if I don't take into account the 3 hours we spent driving there... with 2 little ones... locked up in the car... you know what I mean!!! ; )

This beach was called Muchangpo in Boryeong-si, Chungcheongnam-do.

The drive itself was beautiful. I got to see some pretty scenes, cool bridges and really beautiful landscapes and rice farms, not the flat ones I've seen so far, but ones in mountains. They looked like stairs almost... really pretty! As much as I tried getting an image of this, from the car it was impossible. Also, it was a very gloomy/misty day... not the best visibility. We didn't stop because the kids were sleeping at that point, and we have one car rule;

If kids are asleep

• NO STOPPING

& we finally got there...

Supposedly, something really cool happens during the tides of the Summer season, similar to when Moses parted the Red Sea, the ocean opens up and a path emerges from it. You could walk through it for a couple of hours a day. They say you can come across snails and octopuses stranded on this path.

We did not get to see this. : (

& Marky was sooo exited...

& Olivia was happy to...

She looooves water! Came out a fishy, like her Daddy. ♥

Little girl playing... 

& we went shell hunting...

& I put her on the bare sand for the first time... ever...

Then Da-da picked her up... : )

& Marky tried to build a sand castle...

While the girls wondered around...

& found some interesting things...

Like some tiny villas. They must be vacation rentals. I peaked inside and it was empty. It's basically just so you could sleep indoors... most Koreans, as you may know, sleep on the floor. They each had a stack of chairs outside and a table with the BBQ setup in the middle. 

& instead of beach chairs, there are beach tables. Pretty smart if you ask me... your food won't get sand on it. : )

& there were clams waiting to be eaten...

& fishies too... 

& we rented a bicycle...

& we went for a ride...

Since it was pretty chilly that day and the water was cold, no one went in the water. We also did not eat there, cause there wasn't really anything for Marky or me to eat. The restaurants there were either sashimi, (which I'm not there yet) or clam and oyster based soups (which I happen to be allergic to shellfish)...  How "shellfish" of me... poor S. he refused to eat by himself. 

So we hit the road once more... 

& we stopped at a rest stop and the food there was pretty decent. No McD' ppls... We had dok ramen, kimbap & miso soup with a side of pickled radish, cabbage salad & kimchi. 

And after, a whole other 3 hours drive back home... 

Yes... I think 5 showers a day will have to do for the Summer...

xoxo

T. : )

Food*Food*Food & Myeongdong

Hola! 

When I started doing this blog, I though I was going to do it in chronological order. Truth is, this seems imposible to me now. I didn't realize how many pictures we have. I have like 10,000 pics. and we've lost so many! 

All this time I've been thinking how fast 7-8 months have gone by.  Then when I look at all the memories we've collected, makes me feel like we have been here forever. I still can't believe we live in Asia. Never ever would have I though I'd be here. 

Everybody asks me if I have gotten used to it, if I like it...etc.  I see it as an extended vacation.  Best thing I could do for myself is not look back and feel sad. Thinking about it, isn't gonna magically make my Mami appear in front of me... I wish! Thinking about it is just gonna make me sad, so I just won't allow myself go there. For the time being this is my life, and I want to enjoy it, so I plan on eating  the time away!!!!!!..... just hope I don't gain too much weight while at it : )

Myeongdong!!! I guess if you come to Korea you HAVE to go to Myeongdong. Shopping, eating, shopping, eating & some more shopping.  Myeongdong is not my favorite place to shop (far to busy) but I do enjoy going there, we always have fun.
They told us that one of the most famous dishes that represents this district is Kalgooksoo, kalguksu or Kal gook soo. Kalguksu is a noodle soup (it means knife cut noodles).  I think is handmade flour noodles, I assume cut by hand with a knife. ; )  Made out of beef,  sea food or chicken broth with some vegetables like carrots & Zucchini and some beef on top (the one I had).  I had it a bit ago, right when we came the first time. I wasn't crazy about it, but I know people love it. I WILL give it another try soon though. I need to know if my taste adjusted to Korean food.

First thing you do is get in a cab : )

or the busy subway : (

When you get there, (video). This was so early in the morning, and is already so busy. I think I read that over one million ppl visit this area o a daily basis.

I'll try to get better with the videos.... Sean's gonna kill me for putting this up. : /

Myeongdong, Myeongdong, seoul, South Korea, corea, 

Myeongdong

As you walk around you see all kinds of vendors selling all kinds of fried everything!

Myeongdong

Bopki

There's  also sweet stuff, including the one I talked about in my last post.  This one, Bopki, is like burnt sugar. Mad skills...  Sean's cousin told me, that if you can brake the shape without braking it, you get another one for free. 

Odeng...

odeng

picture from the web

This one is similar to a corn dog, but for some reason it reminds me of an alcapurria.  It's called Odeng or Hot bar. It's deep fried and served on a skewer. I think is pureed white fish. I have not tried it, so no idea if is any good. Last time I had a corn dog from a street vendor, my stomach didn't appreciate it. Now that I'm breast feeding Olivia, I'm very cautious with what I eat. I'm sure is just fine though. 

Tteokbokki

Tteokbokki

All I know is that the first one here, with the red spicy sauce is Tteokbokki.  There is a soy sauce version of this and is not spicy. I really like this one. I even like the spicy one, the thing is now since Olivia feeds from me, I can't have spicy food... VeeEeery hard to do here : /

Tteokbokki

Tteokbokki & Morcilla

Yes MORCILLA, they have those here my PR friends! The exact same thing. I don't know how it's called here, cause even Sean calls it Morcilla... mi koyorrican ; )

Myeongdong

busy, busy Myeongdong

Myeongdong

Street vendors. 

And finally their famous Kalguksu. 

kalgooksoo

Sided always by kimchi. We also had some dumplings, but couldn't find the picture.

Kalgooksoo

We had it at this restaurant that's supposed to be the best. Super busy, you have to wait,  you rub elbows with other people and they rush you out too. : /

Next time I try it, I think I will go to another restaurant.  Not because it was packed, the wait and the elbow rubbing, (these are things you get used to when you live in a City that has over 11million people) but because it was too small for our big family, with sometimes 2 strollers : )

Until next time!

xoxo,

T. : )