Remembering to update :)

Hey guys! WOW I'm feeling quite guilty about not updating Xanga as much as my Facebook. And don't remind me about Jiwon's blog, I'm almost 16 months behind in updates for that one hahaha... Almost every weekend, the family and I have been very busy travelling and exploring various places in South Korea... tsk tsk tsk...excuses I know :)

How can all these adventures fit in between my hectic schedule? For starters, I'm no Bree Van De Kamp but a little organisation and help from modern invention goes a long way. I've developed a fantastic system where 5 minutes is all that's needed to have a clean kitchen - thanks to our beloved dishwasher. And in less than an hour, I'm proud to say the whole house is relatively spotless too! ^o^

With that said, it leaves plenty of time for life and love :)

And OMG... After loving the Korean version of Boys Over Flowers, I recently began another drama...  Beethoven Virus (2008). After viewing the first 2 episodes, I can definitely say that it has already got me by hook, line and sinker!! I heart heart heeeeeeeart the Maestro ^o^ He has such a manly, headstrong and direct manner... *chuckles* It's becoming quite apparent that I keep falling for similar characters with such personality traits hahahaha.... the best part is when they occasionally let down their guard, allowing the viewers a short glimpse of their elusive, kind-hearted and vulnerable side for a change....  :D

What can I say? Life imitates art hahaha.... Saranghae JH OPPA~ ^o^

Jebu Island, West Coast

 Hello my sweeties! Our family has been travelling quite a bit since my last entry, so I should take this opportunity to catch up on some blogging. Like I promised before, this one is about our weekend getaway at Jebu Island :)

One of my reasons for choosing to travel there is simple: I wanted to relax in a hot spring during this cold weather! Meanwhile, JH's ulterior motive was obvious... FISHING!! Eeekkk LOL... We really didn't know much about the island beforehand. And honestly, it felt more like spinning an atlas and choosing a random destination... But that's what makes it more enjoyable!

Firstly, information about Jebu Island:

It is situated on the West Coast, which is about 2 hours drive south of Seoul. Jebu Island is quite small and 10 minutes is all it takes to cover the entire area by car. More specifically, it is only 0.98 square kilometers (0.4 square miles) with a 12-kilometer long beach.

Jebu island comes from the word, jeyakbugyeong, a term used for people who carry young children and old men and women through the muddy flats between the island and the mainland. Today however, a paved road connects the island to the mainland. What makes this island special? The sea which separates the island from the mainland opens up daily (hard to explain but...) and I guess many people say it's like the famous parting of the Red Sea by Moses in the Bible (minus the giant waves LOL). Before anyone gets excited, it's not as miraculous as it may seem... something to do with low-tide/high-tide times.

During high tide, visitors are not allowed to travel on the road because it IS under water. However, the muddy plains during low tide proves to be an attraction. Literally, it is best described as an oyster beach!! Many visitors pay money to purchase plastic footwear and tools for digging up clams etc.

I love oysters, they are just divine! JH managed to find a couple of fresh ones early in the morning, but as we had sight-seeing plans, it was impossible to leave them in the car (without an icebox) until dinner time. Too bad, huhuhu~~~ It was too tempting to eat them there and then, but I decided not to risk my health LOL. On the seashore, there were many seafood restaurants situated on the boardwalk which served fresh seafood al fresco or dine-in. JH, Jiwon and I decided to go straight to the seafood market instead - that was really fascinating! There were all sorts of fish, clams, shells, giant mussels etc... and other creatures that I've never seen before. I have it all on my mobile phone, but can't seem to work out how to transfer the pictures succesfully >.<

In the end, we purchased a LOT of seafood for that night's dinner and barbequed it ourselves at the comfortable villa we stayed at. We ate inside what looked like a giant wooden cubby house with windows - mainly to keep the customers warm, while letting the smoke escape from the open windows. Nice idea! ^^

Anyway, throughout the trip JH was unable to go fishing as the outside temperatures were unsuitable. Too bad, huh? LOL. The next day, we did more sightseeing but found the island to be very inaka (country farms... and more farms). Luckily I was able to go to the onsen... BUT it was more like a public bath house, and of course women and men were separated from each other LOL. Instead of hot springs, real sea water was used. And the temperatures in the various bath areas were too hot, except for one which was extremely icy.

As always, it was awkward walking around wearing nothing but my birthday suit IN PUBLIC but it seemed like an ordinary thing to do at place like this. The funny thing was, every other woman around me was about 50 or over... but it felt like they were comparing my figure to theirs O,O Anyway, I carefully chose to bathe where no one was in the direct vicinity, but this one woman decided to sit next to me. Geez Louise~ It was safer to look at the ceiling than anywhere else!!

HAHAHAHAHAHA~ until next time folks! I will write about our next trip to Ganghwa Island, with real pictures (already uploaded on Facebook) ^^

Ice Fishing Experience

Last week during a 5-day holiday for the Lunar New Year, JH's father took us ice fishing on the frozen river with his friend. Well, I thought fishing was my least favourite thing to do, like EVER... but now that I've actually given it a go, it's not too bad LOL. Please note this was a special case: it's my favourite season ^o^

The man who taught me how to ice fish was none other than the CEO of IBM Korea. How lucky am I!! Beginner's luck was also on my side as I caught 10 fish continuously within 1 hour :D How ironic that my husband, the fishing enthusiast, caught less than say.... 3 - but who's counting wahaha...

The fish we caught are known as "bing-o" (and not pronounced like the game "bingo"). Their lifespan is limited to 1 year gurai and they only live in clean icy water. This means bing-o can be eaten raw!! My father-in-law kindly demonstrated this by dipping a wriggling fish (headfirst so that the tail wouldn't slap his mouth) into some spicy sauce and ate it. Needless to say I was half mortified and half amused, and quite unwilling to try it myself just yet LOL.

We stayed on the ice for about an hour... Personally, the cold was frost-bite-level!! Perhaps it wasn't a good sign to lose the sensation in my fingers and toes  :P Anyway, at times like these, some business entrepreneurs (spelling??) like to take the opportunity to set up convenient restaurants in large tents with heaters and everything! It was slightly painful trying to defrost, but it meant that my digits weren't about to fall off that day :P

While waiting for the rest of our party to join us, my father-in-law ordered some delicious fried bing-o tempura style for us to eat. And guess what? I ate a whole one including its head!!! Hey now, you're all probably thinking "eeeeewwww" and yes, I was secretly thinking exactly the same thing. But on the bright side, I didn't chew the head.... I swallowed it HAHAHA... Bing-O grows no larger than the size of an index finger, so the head is only about a third of your smallest finger.

The next day JH and I returned to the same fishing spot, armed with a filter to keep the fish alive - that is until we decide to eat them... JH was determined to catch more this time. We spent about 2 hours on the river, but it was a little on the unproductive side of things. In the end, I caught about 20 small bing-o and JH perhaps 10. Back at the in-laws's house, many people were looking forward to our return. However, 30 small fish did not seem to be enough so we bought more! LOL for aout $5, we ended up with a big bag the size of a beach ball full of live bing-o!! *sigh* IF only we had known about this earlier ^^;;;

Hope you enjoyed reading my brave adventure LOL. For now, that's all folks! Stay tuned until next time (very soon, probably tomorrow) when I talk about our weekend trip to a small town on the West Sea and public baths. Wow!

Another country :)

Hello friends!

The chapter on our adventurous tales from Okayama has ended, but now it's time to share my experiences in Korea - the wonderful sights, sounds, delightful dishes, and longstanding culture - well everything, really!

There's no doubt about it, I love it here. Of course there are some aspects I dislike, but generally speaking it's difficult not to fall in love with this beautiful country and people.

The Winter season is cold... very cold... did I mention freezing?? Once you step outside, it's almost as if you're walking into a  freezer at -20 degrees Celsius (or -4 degrees Fahrenheit, thanks Laura-chan). And hey, who's complaining. I get ecstatic when the news forecast promises a day of snow! The only drawback is, it's not much fun having to wear thick layers. It kinda feels like you're as large as the smallest sumo - with more clothes on however ^o^ 

At least most of the houses and restaurants have wonderful heating. It's common to have heated floors with temperature control, which is especially nice during this weather. My inlaws' apartment on the 14th floor has central heating n their building. There's a huge difference in temperature when entering. It's as hot as the Australian Summer. When visiting them we're usually rushing to change out of our thick outfits or else risk sweating from the heat!

Despite the low temperatures, there hasn't been much snow lately. I heard there were often a few cases where sadly, a homeless person would freeze to death. One night, I was annoyed at JH for some reason and made him sleep outside on our balcony. It wasn't too harsh. Afterall, I made sure there was a supply of hot coffee and a sleeping bag! LOL... 30 mins went by before guilt came tumbling down and I dragged him back inside. Luckily for him! And that's when JH told me that story about people actually dying from the cold in Korea. UH OH!

By the way, balconies in Korea usually have windows to enclose the area. Very safe, sheltered from the wind but ice cold at present :P

Studying.... Really?! :P

After reading Laura-chan's recent entry about being a good student, it amused me that we were both procrastinating in the name of study LOL.

And this is how my story started...

Between revising for exams and chatting online, my mind easily drifted off to the exciting world of Heroes!! And from there, I noticed an advertisement for men's cologne. Guess who I found?! Suresh. Mohinder Suresh!! Unbelievable, hahaha!!!! Who would have guessed Mohinder Suresh was the male model for Tommy Hilfiger's True Star.

Then I checked more carefully.  It says Enrique Iglesias LOL.

On a side note, I almost died from eating ramyun!! What I thought was "happiness" in Kanji was actually written as "spicy" LOL. Only one added stroke :P But it made a big difference from being happy, to desparately slurping down 2 glasses of milk :)