A Pretty Nice Little Saturday

Let me start by saying how much I enjoy Korean food. When I first arrived in Korea over two years ago, it took me longer than the average person to get used to Korean food. Maybe this is because I'm a country girl who comes from a place where the most exotic food you can get is Canadian Chinese buffet. Maybe because I had yet to wrap my mind around the concept of eating seaweed as a snack, or marinated roots (aside from the obvious root of choice in Canada, the potato). Or maybe, it's because I had never travelled abroad before coming to Korea. In any case, I think it took about six months for me to really begin to enjoy and look forward to eating Korean food- even galbi (a foreigner's lifeblood in Korea). You know what I really think it was? Sesame oil. We never use sesame oil in our food back home, so it took me awhile to get used to the strong aroma and flavour.

Anyway, what's past is past. I love Korean food. But that doesn't mean I don't miss food from home immensely. I missed lobster season for nearly the third time this year, which is a special time of year for any Cape Bretoner. My Mom's pizza has been calling my name for months now (I just can't get my dough to taste like hers, even though I use the same recipe), and during the summer I can't help but miss the nightly beer and BBQ on the deck with my Dad. Maybe I just miss my family...

I like to go to Itaewon to eat, sometimes, is the point I'm trying to get at. Sorry for going so off topic. Usually it's a Mexican food fix that needs delivering, but sometimes I like to go for some Italian or the fare at Wolfhound's Irish Pub. I knew that there was a Greek restaurant somewhere, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out exactly where it was. We tried to find it last year for my birthday dinner but never thought to venture out behind the Hamilton Hotel (where, duh, all the great restaurants are located) and it wasn't until I ventured out to Scrooge's Pub with the rugby people that I finally found it. Santorini's!

Alternately, I could have just gone to Seoul Eats and read their review. It would have told me exactly where to go. Such a great website; why am I always forgetting to check it out for restaurant reviews?

This tiny place can easily be missed, except for the massive sign and it's excellent reputation among foreigners and Koreans alike for fantastic and authentic Greek fare (did I mention Greek is my second favourite ethnic food? Right after Indian...). The prices are a bit high, with the average entree coming in at around 19,000 won, but the house wine is nice and they give you extremely large portions. You definitely get what you pay for. The souvlaki is pretty much heaven on a plate. And the tzatziki! Ohhhh, the tzatziki.

That was my Saturday, and it was bliss. After dinner we went to the Bungalow where we drank the equivalent of six drinks each... for free! They were having a bit of an anniversary, I think. After enjoying the cocktails we went home, full and happy. I could probably eat at Santorini's seven days a week and never tire of the place. The next time I go, I'm splurging for dessert, and I suggest you do the same...

Summer Holidays in Sunny Jeju-do!

Sometimes monsoon season gets the best of you. You're tired and grumpy because, let's face it, no one wants to get out of bed when it's grey and dreary outside. Your tan that you've been able to maintain since your trip to Southeast Asia is now fading to a dull beige. You want to enjoy the outdoors but you simply can't. and you're getting cabin fever from being inside all day.

Enter summer vacation and the beautiful island of Jeju-do!

Note* "Do" in Korean, means both island and province. Jeju-do is an island (Jeju-do) annnd a province (Jejudo). Maybe it's the other way around... help me out here, people.

Anyways, it doesn't matter. The point is, I was feeling dreadful for weeks and needed a beach holiday *pronto*. So did some of my friends, although Patrick thought he would have to go to Japan and didn't accompany me.

I hate airplanes... like, a lot. It's a phobia of mine. So I didn't even consider taking the much easier and not-too-expensive option of simply flying to Jeju, which you should all probably do. I took the bus at some ungodly hour to the port city of Mokpo, and then took the ferry to Jeju, which took an entire day of travelling- made much worse by a monsoon which hit the path of the ship on the way and resulted in everyone around me (minus myself) puking ramyeon into little paper bags. Yuck!

On a sunny day, I assure you, the boat is a lot of fun!

The next day I met two of my friends at the airport and we spend our first day enjoying the scenery (the monsoon had been replaced with beautiful, glorious sunshine). We went to Udo (Cow) Island off the East coast of Jeju and rented some bikes. We did a little sight seeing and hung out on the beach, but we didn't go swimming because the water on that side of the island was freeeeeeeezing.

We found a nice motel near Hamdeok Beach and we spent the next few days using this area as our home base. There was a great little restaurant run by a Korean family, and the mother used to live in the States. She spoke excellent English and she made us "American" breakfasts every morning- bless her. She also made great cheeseburgers.

We used a taxi to get around, since it wasn't very expensive between the three and then four, and five of us (our friend, Elaine, arrived the next morning and our friend, Jeff, arrived later that evening) to share. Generally speaking, if you're going to Jeju alone, you're best bet is to a) rent a scooter (fun!) or, b) use to bus system, which isn't hard to figure out. There's basically one route around the whole island.

Hamdeok beach was amazing- full of people, sure, but it was surrounded by beautiful, green hillsides and the water was nice and shallow a long way out. Very wavey, as well, so it was fun to play in the water.

We got some sunburns, ate some "doongdedji", otherwise known as the famous Jeju specialty, poop pig (they weren't cooked with poop, of course, but historically the pigs in Jeju would live under the outhouses and... well... eat shit). Putting the poop thing aside, the pork was very high quality and some of the most delicious samgyupsal (and other mysterious pig pieces) I have ever eaten. We also spent a lot of time sitting outside convenience stores, drinking beer and having a laugh.

Vacations are necessary, aren't they? And I think teachers, above all other professions, need a nice, long holiday to de-stress. Not that I'm a real teacher, I'm thinking more about my Mom. Imagine doing this for 30 years... I don't think so!






Beautiful Hamdeok!




Palm trees galore...



The very crowded beach...




Enjoying some conversation, beer and ramyeon with Jeff... and fireworks...



Night out with the girls in Jeju-si (Jeju City).



Sara and Sophie, agonizingly waiting for their cheeseburgers to arrive. We were so hungry.



Checking out our pics from Udo.



Being silly, waiting for my dinner.



Our gorgeous boat ride back from Udo.



Sophie and Sara on the ferry- we were watching some giant jellyfish in the water. They were fricken huge!



I love my pink bike!



Udo Island Beach



Biking around Udo...



Our awesome, retro bikes.




Udo Beach, from the ferry.



Sara and Songsan Ilchulbong, the famous extinct volcano crater.



Sophie et Moi



Songsan Ferry Terminal

Once Upon a Time, I went to Namsan Tower

This happened... a long time ago. Like, November. Tristan, who lives in Seoul, called me up to see if Pat and I wanted to do something "touristy" in Seoul. We haven't really done a lot of touristy things, to be honest. I have enough fun without doing the touristy things for the most part. But we decided to go into the city and meet up with Tristan, as we hadn't seen him for awhile.

We found him in Gangnam, Lonely Planet Korea in hand, and he informed us that we would be going to check out Namsan Tower. This actually didn't seem like a bad idea, as I have always admired Namsan from afar and always wanted to see it close up. At night in Seoul, when it's all lit up, it's a gorgeous sight. In fact, the very first time I went to Seoul, a year and a half ago, I was mesmerized by it as we drove by in a taxi.


To get there: head to Myeongdong (on the light blue line) and then walk up the hill. There are two ways up- hiking, or taking a cable car. We opted for the latter and I went of my very first (terrifying) cable car ride. It didn't take very long.

... but it sure was a long way down.

It wouldn't have been a terrible hike, though.

At the top it's a typical Korean tourist attraction- and there are vendors everywhere selling dried squid.

The Tower.

View from the top... Seoul is so huge. It stretches as far as the eye can see in every direction.

Nice view of the Han River.

The only part of the city I recognized: Itaewon (that's just sad).

I was feeling a little dizzy, hence the stunned look on my face.

Afterwards we decided to walk back down. Only we ended up on the other side of the mountain. We went down a shady alleyway and then accidentally found ourselves smack dab in the middle of Namdaemun Market! I love markets so much.

Mmmmmmm my favourite kind of food. Street food.

Christmas had officially thrown up on the place (Namdaemun is rumoured to be overrun with the Russian Mafia).

My 24th Birthday Celebration!

This year my birthday was a little low key. Dinner with friends, traipsing around Itaewon and partying in the streets of Hongdae. Actually, maybe low key isn't quite the word I'm looking for... maybe... scrumtralescent? My birthday was totally scrumtralescent. Enjoy the (at times, embarassing) photos:



Patrick and Kerri at Taco Amigo in Itaewon, where we had dinner. It was really yummy- chicken burrito, lightly flavoured with cilantro, black beans, nachos and rice on the side with plenty of freshly made guacamole and salsa. Oh, and one can't forget the frosty bottles of corona with a nice wedge of fresh lime... I can go on about the food here... you should all go to this joint.

Allison and Jeremy, avoiding my camera at all costs.

Birthday girl party hat; courtesy of Ms. Kerri Fletcher. New camera; courtesy of my wonderful boyfriend. Corona? Courtesy of Mexico. Life doesn't get much better than this.

After dinner we strolled around Itaewon for awhile, taking in all the scantily clad ladies, the overly drunk American soldiers, and one very cute German Shepard I ran into. You never know what you'll find in Itaewon!

On our way to Hooker Hill, where one can find a quality soju cocktail establishment. I believe Hooker Hill's name is self explanatory.

Polly's Kettle! This stuff will seriously get you wasted (not that I did that, Mom- it's just a possibility).

They serve you the soj' in taseful cut-up pop bottles. It tastes delicious- the liquor is undetectable. That's why it's so dangerous.

After some embarassing Noraebang we ran into some friends from Suwon on their way to Hongdae. What a surprise! We were also on our way to Hongdae! Someone had the bright idea of sharing a cab.

When we arrived in Hongdae, this is how I found my friend Tristan. Don't ask questions; just go with it.

Of course I still had my party hat on. It was on all night!

But after seeing Tristan's hat I felt inadequate (sorry Kerri; it was a lovely hat, really).

Tristan just looked so debonair! And this hat was so versatile.

See? Ice cream cone.

Riding a motorcycle.

Riding a bicycle? We're running out of ideas.

In the end, I threw my purse and Kerri's inadequate (but lovely!) party hat in the street...

and that's when I really started to celebrate. Then the bar owner who also happened to own the massive cone came outside and took it back where it belonged. Happy birthday, me.

Happy Chuseok!

This has been my second Chuseok in Korea and, as always, we go all out at Maple Bear! My kids got all dressed up in their hanboks, we played traditional Korean games and we talked about what families in Korea do for Chuseok. The top three ways to celebrate?

1. Play games. Preferably computer or nintendo, but if these are not available then the more traditional Korean Chuseok games- Unori, for example, where you throw sticks up in the air try to be the first to make it around the game board (that's the jist, I think).

2. Go to your Grandmother's house. This is totally accurate. The Friday before Chuseok you can pretty much count on bumper-to-bumper traffic from one end of the country to the other. There is a mass exodus of the entire city of Seoul as the 30 million inhabitants go back to the countryside where many of them are from to spend time eating and socializing with their entire family. My married Korean girlfriends tend to not look forward to this as much as their husbands. Why? "Because I have to cook all day long," my teaching partner, Jessica says.

3. Make songpyeon! This is a favourite for parents and children alike. If you, for some reason, have been reading my blog for awhile, maybe you remember my songpyeon experience last year, where I made the chewy Chuseok treat with my kinders. It was great! You start with warm rice dough (precooked), make a bite sized ball of dough, flatten it out a bit, and fill it with all sorts of stuff. Most popular fillings? Bean paste (sweet beans), honey, sesame seeds, raisins and nuts. We are, after all, celebrating the harvest season.

Here are some pics of my second Chuseok experience at Maple Bear:


Pretty Sally in her pretty hanbok.

Miss Jessica, explaining the concept of "Unori" to the kids.

Me and the hanbok'd maidens.

Jessica and the hanbok'd fellas.

Afternoon kindergarten- Sally, Rachel and Seri.

If you read this blog you will know about my "favourite picking" policy as a teacher. As long as the other kids never find out, no problem right? Right Eric?

The maybe not-so-traditional game of "get the ring around the pylon".

We made Korean style hackey sacks. They were the best part of our Chuseok celebration.

Toby in his hanbok. He likes to cuddle.

Bright Kim showing off his Chuseok baby picture to his friends. He was quite a fat little baby.

So how did I spend my holidays...? Nothing major, just visited the super cool, semi tropical, volcanic island of Jeju off the south coast. More on that later. Happy Chuseok!