What I've been up to...

I've been out so much these past couple of weeks....
Where to start...

kids cafe korea, Seoul, kids cafe, little gim in Seoul, South Korea

At the kids cafe...

Kids cafe, Seoul, South Korea, Little Orchard,  Cafe, little gim

kids cafe, seoul, south korea, korea, little orchard, seorae village, little gim

There are so many of these in Seoul and I love them. Having one right across the street comes in handy during monsoon season.  

At the Dentist. Maybe I'll get it all done this time...

Sunday Brunch, Seorae Village, Bampo, Bangbae-dong, Seoul, South Korea, korea, brunch, 

Sunday Brunch

Seoul, south korea, seorae village, bangbae-dong, korea, window, shop

Macaroon time...

Subway, seoul, south korea, korea, life, blog, expat living, expat lifestyle

On Subway adventures...

Lotte world, lotte mart, seoul, south korea, korea

Supermarket hunting...

seoul station, seoul, south korea, korea, people in korea

People watching...

seoul station, korea, south korea, korea, people watching, supermarket hunting

Seoul Station...

The Dongdaemun area... dongdamun, market in seoul, traditional market in korea, south korea, seoul

Random market, on our way trying to find Bangsan Market (where they sell baking goods).

department stores in seoul, korea, south korea, Galleria department stores, galleria, shopping, seoul, rodeo street, apgujeong

Mall Hopping. At Galleria...

crabtree & Evelyn seoul, korea, shop, body lotion, apgujeong-dong, rodeo street, seoul, south korea

I found a Crabtree & Evelyn!!! 

Great find for me & just in time!!! Yeayyy...There's a specific lotion I love from here. I'm so happy, I've been saving the last few pumps... : )

apgujeong-dong, seoul, south korea, korea, walking, rodeo street, apgujeong, traditional clothing of korea, hanbok

On a stroll around Apgujeong-dong...

Apgujeong seoul, south korea, korea, apgujeong, apgujeong-dong, rodeo street

We went early in the morning, so most shops where closed. We just found the mess from the night before. Marky wanted to clean the streets. "is too messy Mommy"...♥ my sweet boy... : )

sneakers, shopping, seoul, south korea, korea, converse store seoul, 

Sneaker shopping...

lady bug

Lady bug ♥...

making naan, naan, homemade

Learning how to make Naan...

emart e-mart seoul, korea, south korea, supermarket, walmart in seoul

More Supermarket hunting. At e-mart...

Waiting for our fancy grocery cart at e-mart...

Someone loves this Supermarket...

flowers, seoul, south korea, korea

Celebrating our first year here...

And her turning 7 months...

And him being all cute...

Checking out hanboks...

dongdaemun, dongdaemun market, seoul, south korea, shopping, 

Sean's first time in Dongdaemun...

Dongdaemun dongdaemun market, seoul, south korea, korea

doota, doosan tower, dongdamun, doosan tower dongdaemun

Doosan Tower in Dongdaemun...

namdaemun market, nandaemun, seoul, south korea, korea, shopping, traditional market

Namdaemun Market...

street vendor seoul, south korea, korea, market, namdaemun, 

We haaad to get it!!! : )

steamed buns, korean buns, bread stuffed with noodles, bread stuffed with beans

Steamed buns...

Shinsegae Loves Britannia

We also went out to an event w/o kiddies. Shinsegae Loves Brittania...

Shinsegae Trinity Garden

Was pretty funny to see that these fashion events are all the same... In PR, NY or here... The same people just different faces!  This was on the rooftop of Shinsegae Main Store, (Trinity Garden). To see the view of Seoul at night with all the lights and the Namsan tower on the back was pretty cool.

Ewan mcgregor, Shinsegae, seoul, south korea, korea

& Ewan Mcgregor was there...

We also stopped by Myeongdong and Garosu-gil (one of my favorite areas here). While searching for the Baking area, I ended up around the Chonggyecheon stream. 

And it doesn't stop... We found out there's a Chinatown in Incheon and I sooo want to make it a weekend road trip. And mayyyybe we'll head over to Busan soon too... I love the good weather!!! 

Hopefully soon I can do more detailed posts about some of the areas. It's been a tiny bit hard keeping up these days. I get home and deal with the afternoon madness of what is having kids, feeding them, bathing them, bedtime & catching up with all my delayed house chores (laundry, cleaning, cooking etc.) See... keeping it real... 

It's not all fun in paradise... hehehe... 

I sure try to make the most of it! : )

xoxo, 

T. : )

Dari was here!

The title of this post reminds me of when I was in school and we used to write our name (if you did) on the restroom door, a bench or at the school desk... Tania was here!.... Sorry, just having a lame flashback moment...

Let's just say, somewhere in Seoul it says;

Dari was here... 4 / 1 / 12 

: )

Gmarket

The best thing about shopping in Korea during the Holiday season is G G G G G G-Gmarket! lol...
I've become very dependant of the Internet the time that I've been here.  There's no way I could've done without it all this time. It's been the only way to keep in touch with my people's on the other side. But also is been super helpful on every single aspect of my getting around and living here.
I started reading blogs about expats. Anything and everything about lifestyle and living here.
My first one was Eat your kimchi. I thought they where really funny and it helped me get an Idea of what to expect when I got here.  I liked better the first couple of videos of them, they were more helpful. From them I just basically started jumping from link to link and I got to the Gmarket.
Gmarket is "ebay" Korea. I actually think it's much better... well, that is if you have someone that knows Korean to help. : )
Sean helped me with my sign in registration form, I do the rest. I could be browsing on it for hours, well, not anymore with baby #2 home. : p
There is nothing that's not there, things from the US that you can't find in shops around in Korea.  Even if you can't find exactly what you want, will do something similar. The best thing is, that, It almost all comes the next day! : )
When we came down, I was looking for a bassinet for Olivia and I couldn't find anything around here. They didn't know what I was talking about.  Babies here sleep with the parents or on the floor in a "yo" Bed.



As cute as they are. It wouldn't really work for us, since we sleep in a regular bed and I'm not into the co-sleeping idea (would be terrified to roll over her).
I did eventually find one, the Stokke, but I refuse to pay that much (here it costs way more than over in the US)  for something I know I will use for such little time. I know you can convert it into a crib and a bed after, but I didn't need it, we had a crib on it's way. I just wanted to have something for just in case our stuff wouldn't arrive in time.
So I found one on Gmarket, not one I would have gotten, if I was back home, but I was happy to find one.

from Gmarket

For one like this in the US I would pay like $60, here It was $120. If you need it, you need it. At this point I was starting to miss not having a "Baby Shower"... lol ; )

Something else I couldn't find around was the Lanolin cream. I remembered using it a lot with Markus. Breast feeding him, was not very easy.

Gmarket

All I could find at the at that time at Gmarket was a Mustela one. Now I know how to do search better and I found the Lansinoh brand.  I love how they give you samples and a gift. This time was Pororo band aids : )

Off course, there's the beginners mistakes, like me once trying to buy some leggings for kids I really like from here. The mini Shop that had them was veery Korean, and veeery confusing. Instead of leggings I ended up with a bunch of leg warmers... hummmm... Good luck to me trying to exchange them! So, what are we supposed to do with these!!!

Gmarket

There were some boys and some girls (like 10 pairs). Marky uses them in his arms and says he's a Superhero, funny kid him... : )

Or when I got a rag doll/rattle for Olivia and when I opened the box, this is what I got...

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's a make it yourself!!!! Grrrrpppp.... If I wanted to make it, I would've done it for free, since I have stuff to do so... : (  NEeEd to learn Korean!

& off course, Instructions in Korean!!!

Thank God I'm very good with crafts and I could figure it out easy.

Taraaaaaaa...... 

I've gotten much better with my ordering. I could literally find it all here. I just did the Christmas Shopping here and it all worked out well. 

Gmarket

And I also got the leggings I wanted for the kids and not the legwarmers this time!

Gmarket

In the end I love shopping on the Gmarket. It's easy & convenient.  I didn't have to make the Huuuge ToysRus line, like back in PR.  Didn't get aggravated at people, I was in no last minute Christmas shopping craziness & I was all done with the click of a button.  The delivery is really good and it's cheaper than anyware else here... & I love me a good deal! : )

Now... if they only had Goya..... sigh...

xoxo

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. : )