Anniversary Date.

Yesterday was our 5th year anniversary. I'm not sure if it's a side of Chris's zany culture I don't particularly get, but he likes to think of our anniversary as the day we first met. But knowing Chris who tends to forget his own birthdays and stuff, I wasn't expecting anything to happen that day. Besides, it fell on a Thursday which means he's busy as hell at work.

Later in the afternoon, I recieved a call from him saying he's gonna bring me somewhere and that I should be ready by 6:30 pm. I was elated by the fact that he remembered! So like a kid getting ready for prom, I spent the next few hours tinkering my very limited wardrobe for stuff I could wear. Well I couldn't find anything decent as most of it are either too large, too formal or too casual. So I just followed my sloppy instinct and wore something plain but comfortable, and prayed he wouldn't bring me to a place that has a dress code or something.

That night, he brought me to this place called Jeongjo-dong Street Cafe in Bundang - a village brimming with so many cute cafes and restaurants all clustered together (think Eastwood City on a much grander scale). We chose this restaurant called "Chic Ami" by the side of the main road and here's what we had:

Seafood Pasta in Cream Sauce.





Roasted Beef, Mushroom and Gorgonzola Cheese Pizza.




After dinner, we went to Cafe Pascucci for a kick of my favorite java, then we were off to explore the neigborhood some more.

Then we drove to a lake park not far from the cafe street. It was such a cute park with fountains and brimming with trees. We stayed there till midnight.

So that's how our special day went. It was simple but so damn memorable. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Sunday Rendezvous.

So this is about a gathering that happened yesterday...


***

WHAT: Potluck Party/Housewarming; lot's of food, laughter and a little bit of witchcraft ^^;
WHO: Me and my friends Jehan, Tessa and Anne. With the special participation of Gerald (Anne's better half) and Chris.
WHERE: Jehan's fabulous new home in Gimpo.
WHEN: Sunday, June 6th.


My friends and I had been planning to have a potluck party as early as April, but everyone seemed to be swamped with work, part-time jobs and family affairs that we couldn't squeeze a day out of our busy schedules to make it happen. The days and months kept counting, and the pressure from my impending departure got bigger and bigger, so I sent everyone an 'it's-now-or-never' text to meet on Saturday, June 5th. Eventually, it was moved to Sunday to give way to Jehan's pre-natal check-up. With Jehan's pregnancy and her new apartment, we even got bigger reasons to meet and celebrate!

So the Potluck Party/Housewarming was set, and everyone's expected to bring some food. Armed with a heavy paper bag reeking of pineapples and bell peppers from the Sweet and Sour Pork dish I made earlier, I rode the subway to meet Anne and Gerald. All three of us went to find Jehan's new house hidden amongst a sea of beautiful ricefields and farms. Their apartment complex is new so it was a little hard to find. Gerald, being the courteous man that he is, made a quick stop to buy a huge pack of toilet paper for Jehan (it's customary for Koreans to give toilet paper when they visit a house for the first time). Gerald went back home shortly after dropping us there..


Jehan lives in a beautiful place surrounded by ricefields. I can just imagine how beautiful it's gonna be in fall when the ricefields become golden in color.



As soon as we entered the new house, the party got rolling. Our conversation drifted from wallpapers, to curtains, to pregnancy, and to life in general. Coincidentally, it was Jehan's wedding anniversary that day so topics about significant others were also one of the things we talked about. Tessa had a prior engagement so she had go there all by herself. Jehan's house is a grueling 2 hour bus ride from Seoul to Gimpo, but Tessa beat the odds and showed up 2 hours later carrying a cake! Here's the food we had at the party...

My Sweet and Sour Pork with pineapples and slightly discolored bell peppers.




Anne's Galbi and Chapchae...

Tessa brought dessert, delicious White Mocha Cake..

So four hungry and overly energetic girls in a fabulous new house with endless things to talk and laugh about.. It was a riot from then on!







All's good till Chris called saying he's coming to pick me up at 8. It's so hard to leave when the party is as good as that. To make the most out of my one hour left, I decided to try a trick my mom taught me when I was a kid. Some may call it witchcraft, I call it an ingenious trick to know how many babies a woman will have and what genders their babies are going to be. My mom learned it from her Highschool Physics teacher, and from then on she has been performing this trick. She had done it to over a hundred people since she was young, and she never got it wrong. Jehan was the first to try of course. Since it's still early to check her baby's gender thru ultrasound, she has to wait 3 months to know I'm right (that is if the doctor will tell her the sex cause it's illegal to know the gender of the baby here while you're pregnant).

Chris came shortly after that. We convinced him to eat and chat a little before heading home. It was a long drive to Suwon and I was so tired when we came back home. But I couldn't stop smiling and thinking how fun that Sunday afternoon had been!

Fueled and Caffeinated.

The oil price is giving us a headache these days, so kudos to my friend T and her husband M for bringing me here all the way from Bucheon last Saturday. I can't thank you enough guys! They were our first visitor in our humble home, and the least I could have done was serve them some snacks, but unfortunately our fridge was understocked and there's nothing to offer except for a few alcoholic drinks and some nuts.

Chris and I are not environmentalist in the truest sense of the word, but we are advocates of saving nature's finite resources. Chris does his part by going to work on foot, and we only use the car when it's absolutely necessary. So if there are other mode of transportation available or if the distance is "walkable", we prefer to leave the car at home. Not only does it save us a lot of money, but walking is also good for exercise. On days when we just have to bring it, fueling it sends us the shiver. Even though it's a small car and it's consumes less fuel, the staggeringly high oil prices is enough to elicit a couple "ehyu" and incomprehensible mumblings from him.

It is often said that Korea is The Land of Freebies, and gas stations are no exception. Here they call it "service" meaning free of charge. They usually give out tissues and bottles of water, but Samil gas station gives out free coffee (how great is that?!). I love coffee as it is, even more if it's for free!

Chasing Cherry Blossoms Part 2

Last Saturday, Chris drove me to his hometown to visit Incheon Grand Park, and later to meet some friends whom I haven't seen in a while. The said park is known to be the best place to view the Cherry Blossoms in all of Incheon, but we were kind of disappointed to see that the flowers are barely out of their buds. Seeing how disappointed I was looking at bare trees and dead grass, Chris offered to bring me to a different place where I'm gonna see the flowers for sure. But I figured it's better to make the most out of our time there instead of chasing the elusive flowers.

I've visited Incheon Grand Park before so I know how insanely beautiful it looks come spring time. I can't help but blame the strange weather for ruining what I thought is gonna be a picnic-perfect day. And so we walked for a good 2 hours or so, slowly taking in the view and admiring how big the park is. The lake and the zoo are still under construction and that sort of added to my disappointment, but I did enjoy watching people having picnics and walking their dogs. They all looked like they're having a blast inspite of the cold and breezy weather. Anyway, here's how the park looks...

I realized I haven't posted pictures of myself lately, so here are some pictures of me all bundled up in a thick jacket (which for some reason they call "jumper" here). Like I said, the weather is still too cold for skin-tight cardigans and light sweaters. But days are becoming warmer so I think I gonna give my winter jacket a rest soon.

Later that afternoon, Chris brought me to Bupyeong station to meet my friends. Just outside the station, we saw lots of Cherry Blossom trees so I didn't pass the opportunity to admire them up close.

I really had a blast that day, especially after seeing my friends. For now I'm gonna put the chase for the Cherry Blossoms to rest. There are so many things to see and look forward to this Spring that'll keep me entertained for sure.

Chasing Cherry Blossoms.

If you are to ask a Korean what is the most beautiful season, I bet the answer would be Spring. Here they call it "The Queen of all Seasons", and I could totally agree to that. What makes Spring so worth the wait are the cherry blossoms. I'm sure everyone knows how delightfully pretty these flowers are especially when they're in full bloom. I gotta say walking on a street filled with rows and rows of cherry blossom trees, and flowers draping above your head like a canopy is such a magical experience.

On my second day here, Chris took me to Yeouido where the Cherry Blossoms festival is happening. We went there after working hours hoping that it wouldn't be so crowded anymore, but we were wrong. The traffic was so bad and it was hard to find a parking space. Not even the freezing cold temperature could deter the wicked number of tourists from visiting. It was a little early to visit Yeouido. The flowers are still not in full bloom, but I'm sure next weekend, it's gonna be a hundred times more beautiful. Here's how the Sakura Festival looked like.

Other than the cherry blossoms, these are the things that caught my attention. I'm not sure what the ribbon thingies are for, but I'm guessing it's people's wishes that are written on it. It's quite common to see this in Korea, but what I can't understand is that how writing wishes in special ribbons and hanging it for everyone to see could help make it come true.

There were a lot of artists that night. They make beautiful portraits of people with cherry blossoms on the background for a very steep price.

Even though it was awfully cold that night, still I saw some people having picnics right beside Han river. I can't really blame them though... The river and Seoul's city lights look pretty spectacular at night.

Hope you all enjoyed the tour!

Hello to Spring!

The weather is awfully cold for Spring this year, but I'm not complaining. In fact, I am enjoying every minute that I'm away from the hellish heat of Manila. Funny thing, I wasn't dressed appropriately when I came here. I thought this season is about light shirt and skin-tight cardigans. It didn't cross my mind that the weather would be more like winter. So I was there at the airport shaking and desperately trying to keep myself warm while others in fur coats were dodging glances at me. On my way home, I noticed how different the surrounding looks from the previous spring season (*same day last year). The trees are bare and flowers are still trapped in their tiny little buds. I sort of expected to see a more colorful sight than that. But even so, I'm glad I came here this time. I love to wait for flowers to bloom and see the surrounding slowly change from bare to beautiful.

There are some major changes this season and I'm having my fair share of adjustments and getting-used-tos. It's like a fresh, new start; a clean slate. To give you guys a hint of what I'm going through, I'm sharing a few below.

• We just moved to a different place so my days are mostly spent on arranging furniture and cleaning the new house. It has gotten so noisy and stressful in our old place and Chris thought it's about time to move. I'm so glad he did! There's not much difference from the old one when it comes to size, but I find it more comfortable here. I love that it's more peaceful and quiet, plus the wallpaper is really, really nice!

• Chris recently got promoted and it poses some serious disadvantage for us. Here in Korea, promotion equals to longer working hours, more business trips abroad, bigger responsibilities, and a lot more people to suck up to. That's why I don't really blame Chris for looking so beat these days. He looks like he really needs to go to a spa or something...

• Health wise, I could say I'm doing well and I'm still pretty fired up to lose another 10 lbs. The only thing that bothers me is that I'm gonna be away from the gym. Working out has been very much part of my routine in Manila but not here. I'm scared I'm gonna gain weight so as much as possible, I control what I eat and try to do some floor exercises whenever I can.

• I'm missing my two, 6 month old puppies every single day. They're staying at my friend's house in Manila while I'm here. I just hope they're fed well. My Mom can't take care of them because she's going to Australia late of next month to visit my sister who is now pregnant...

• And yes, in a few months I'm gonna be an aunt. I'm practically clueless when it comes to kids, but I hope I'd be a good aunt.

It's still a little early to enjoy the real beauty of springtime, but in my five days here, I already did a lot of sightseeing and travelling. I hope you all join me as I get to enjoy and appreciate the myriad of sights, sounds, and tastes of this wonderful season.

Unforgettable Things About Korea.

Korea has grown on me in so many ways. I never knew I'm gonna miss even the most trivial things about the country. And like many foreigners who got to live in Korea, I miss eating Korean food. But I wouldn't go as far as saying I miss Kimchi cause the smell of it is freaking seared in my memory and I'm still having nightmares about it. It just repels me and why others horde and manage to keep tons of it sitting in their fridge never fails to confound me. I swear, the smell reeking even from air-tight containers every time I open the fridge in the morning summons my inner-bitch and make me act all schizo.

Other than Kimchi, all the rest serve to add a different appeal that makes life in Korea more alluring and enriching. Say for example the wide array of side dishes served in restaurants. That has got to be one of the most unforgettable thing about Korea. The tiny portions of side dishes they serve are all well thought of and carefully calculated to accentuate the main dish. Not only does it give you a buffet of different taste and texture, but how they present each one of them also give your eyes something to feast on.

After going through the health scare, I started this semi-vegetarian diet to get healthy. But for some reason, veering away from meat makes me think about Galbi more and more. This dish rightfully falls on my list of unforgettable things about Korea. I'm sure everyone knows why Galbi is world famous. It's inarguably delicious and could surely impress anyone who isn't a fan of Korean dishes. So if you know someone who can't stop ranting about how everything in Korea is spicy, bland or plain smelly, take him or her to a Galbi restaurant.


Third on my list is Western Bar in Korea. They call it Western Bar because it serves western liquors and beers from around the world. Whenever I'm having a nightmarish-ly bad day, Chris takes me to our favorite bar. I love it cause it's spacious and they serve free (refillable) side-dishes. They also have this small button at the edge of the table that you could press to call the waiter. It's a far cry from the crampy, dim, and noisy bars I'm used to.

For me, life in Korea is far from fairy tale beginnings or endings. I call it a life-changing and temper-taming adventure laced with pain, joy, and a bit of humor. Sometimes it's blissful, sometimes it's really tiring, and other times it could truly push the limits of your sanity. But the important thing is that I've grown to love it flaws and all. But as far as flaws go, the smell of kimchi still bothers me and I need a few more years to fix it. Have a happy Monday you all!

Suwon's Finest: The World Cup Stadium.

Suwon is synonymous to two things; Hwaseong Fortress and Suwon World Cup Stadium. I live near both, but the distance of the latter is much closer.

During daytime, the Stadium turns into one busy arena, holding multitude of soccer fanatics. It's the home of Suwon Samsung Bluewings, a popular team in the K-League - Korea's top professional football league. Chris could get free tickets at work if the team has a match, however, both of us couldn't endure sitting and watching a soccer match for long hours (for some reason, it bores us to death ;p). At night it looks even better, so whenever Chris and I feel like going for a late night walk, we head to World Cup Stadium. It looks really cute when the purplish and pink lights are turned on. A lot of people go there to jog and exercise, some people choose to spend time in a random cozy spot and drink coffee. This is how the World Cup Stadium looks like up close.

The Stadium also has park-like amenities and there are tons of things you could do while your there. There are exercise equipments you could use for free, cozy-grassy areas where you could have picnics, and a huge space to jog and do in-line skating. On our most recent visit, we had a picnic there. We ordered chicken (and YES, they deliver EVERYWHERE!), and bought a six-pack beer. We've had one of our most meaningful conversations there. Stars were unusually plenty that night, and I could barely tolerate the crisp autumn air. It was a magical evening, and it's hard to believe that a night as perfect as that, we could get for free. Now I stand by the famous and overused adage "The best things in life are FREE."

If you happen to be in our City, head to the East. Visit the World Cup Stadium, and experience what over a million inhabitants get to enjoy for FREE.

A Cute Cafe in Bucheon.

Three weeks ago, I visited Bucheon to meet friend "T". She just moved there from Seoul and was halfway thru arranging stuff in their new pad. We met at Bucheon Station, one of the biggest and busiest station I've ever been to in Korea.

We went looking for a place to eat near the station and we found this really cute Italian cafe. The interiors are amazing! Walls are painted white and the whole place is brimming with cute little plants. There are wooden structures there that serves as division for tables. I love that it's adorned with hanging plants and ferns.






Lights are subtle and easy on the eyes. Flowers are everywhere and cute little lamps provide a more pleasing effect.



The cafe is small and could only accomodate a few number of customers at a time. They also have limited choices in the menu. We ordered a basic Spaghetti in Tomato Sauce and Bolognese.

Food is anything but spectacular, needless to say, the lunch turned out to be disappointing. But we did enjoy the delightful ambiance, which is probably the only reason why people visit this place. Like others, I recommend this place not for the food, but because it gives visitors a visual treat.

Flowers For Me.

Thursday ended bad, I managed to stupidly injure my right foot with shards of broken glass that night, and I cried myself to sleep wallowing about my injury. Friday was no good either, I wasn't up for anything other than to mope the whole day. When Chris came back home from work, he was carrying a bouquet of pink flowers for me, and it smelled so fresh and sweet!



That night, we had dinner at Mr. Chok Galbi Restaurant. I love the succulent taste of their barbecued ribs!

I was a lot more cheerful after that, I forgot all about my injured foot and even allowed Chris to take this picture...^^ I still look like I'm in pain!

It's customary for Koreans to drink alcohol while eating meat. The ribs tasted so good that we just had to drink. Our liquor of choice that night is called "Dae po". It has a sweet smooth taste, it's milder than soju, and they serve it straight from the fridge.

Friday may have started bad, but it ended really well. I had a lot of fun, and I totally forgot about my injury, all thanks to thoughtful Chris.

Movies, Shopping, and a Sumptuous Dinner

Chris heard from a reliable source that the Song-do Festival pretty much sucked, so he figured we better do something else that Sunday. We went to the theater to watch "The Perfect Getaway", it stars Milla Jovovich and Steve Zahn who played newlyweds on a honeymoon somewhere in Hawaii. As much as the director wanted the story to be 'unpredictable', we kind of predicted 95% of what's gonna happen. The story wasn't original and I thought they copied it from the movie called "Taking Lives" which was far better, and far loaded with punch.

Chris wanted to do a bit of shopping so we hit the stores right after the movie. It amazes me how long it took him to choose 2 shirts of the same style but different colors, and how he spent the next hour trying it on again and again. The saleslady looked annoyed as hell that she had to 'sales-talk' him for like two hours, but he ended up not getting anything. I waited for him at some couch, but when it became unbearably long, I decided to shop as well. I was able to buy a pair of jeans from Polham, two blouses, and a skin care set in less than 15 minutes.

Dinner was "Dak Galbi", stir-fried chicken in spicy sauce. It was delicious, but spicy as hell! I sweated profusely and got a fervent runny nose while eating...

Most grilled, barbecued, and stir-fried food here have really strong smell that cling to clothes. If you don't want to roam the streets smelling like what you had for dinner, go spritz yourself with that fabric spray before leaving the restaurant. Most restaurants here have one sitting by the counter...