I'm not sure I want to shop at this convenience store.....

I was at a PCE (Perfect Custom Experience - more on them later!) event when one of the PCE guys heard me talking about Thai food in Seoul.   I was talking about my favorite Thai restaurant in Seoul so far, My Thai in Itaewon which I can't believe I haven't blogged about yet...what is wrong with me?

Anyway, he told me about another place that he thought was better than My Thai - - Yum Thai!  Really, Yum Thai?  I can't imagine it being any better than My Thai, because My Thai is pretty darn authentic.   This is when he told me that the chef from My Thai worked with the chef from Yum Thai to develop his menu.  He also told me that the Yum Thai chef travels to Thailand every few months to get ingredients.    I was totally sold so I grabbed a bunch of friends and headed out to have a little Thai food.

                                                                   Singha is the only way to start a Thai meal.

I have one friend that doesn't drink beer so we ordered her the only 'mixed drink' available, a bottle of Thai booze.  This is the way they roll in Korea - you order an entire bottle instead of individual drinks - it is SO MUCH cheaper this way.

As the food started arriving it was hard to get pictures of it because as soon as it hit the table it was GONE!   Don't my friends know I need to take pictures?  I did manage to get a picture of one lonely little chicken wing:

They were very good....just enough spice and the perfect amount crisp!
We also ordered spring rolls (no pictures...) and crab balls (pictured below) I don't remember eating crab balls in Thailand, but they were AMAZING here in Seoul! 

Sorry for the blurry picture, but Buddy was moving them towards is mouth as I was trying to snap a shot! 

My Spicy Beef Salad was TO.DIE.FOR.
I had to stop several times for my mouth to cool.
PERFECT HEAT. 

Hubby ordered the Tom Kah Kai - HOLY HEAVEN.
My mouth is watering just looking at it. 
It had the perfect amount of FRESH galangal & lemon grass.
I was instantly taken back to Thailand.

This is a picture of the Green Curry with chicken.
Perfection.
The curry.
Not the picture.
Blurry picture again.
Sorry.
(Why do I feel compelled to point out the blurry pictures? Maybe because I was totally off this night?  Who knows.  Did I mention I fell in a hole?  True story. No, I had not been drinking.)

If you have ever been to Thailand and you are looking for that place that will take you back without buying a ticket, head over to Yum Thai!  Great food, great staff, great beer, the only thing that would have made it better is if there had been sand in between my toes and the prices were true "Thai" prices. 
But I guess that is asking for a little too much.  :o)

To get there by subway:
Line 3
Sinsa Station -   Exit 1
Walk straight for 4 blocks (I'm counting all cross streets as blocks!)
After the 4th street look to your right and you will see Yum Thai on your right.
(A big tower name J-Tower is on the left side of the street directly across from Yum Thai.)

02-594-7988
They accept reservations
When we went (Saturday night 7PM) the place was PACKED and on a wait - I was thankful we made reservations!

This looks like a great place to start in the morning for coffee, lounge on the furniture till you are ready for waffles for brunch, next you should order some wine and some more food all while looking at OBJET lighting and designing your studio???

Happy Monday from Seoul.  :o)

By now you know that trying new recipes for us is as natural as the air you breath.  It's the norm.  Sometimes I get inspiration from restaurants, most of the time from friends and sometimes just walking through the grocery store.  Last week I was shopping at the commissary when I happened upon the "DeLallo" brand pastas & sauces.  I'm always looking for a good pasta sauce since they don't carry my FAVORITE pasta sauce of all times here in Korea.  Rao's.  If you see Rao's Pasta Sauce BUY IT.  I promise you will LOVE IT!!  You might not love the price tag, but you will LOVE the sauce.  It ROCKS.    Sorry...I'm off track.  Back to DeLallo - anyway, as I was checking out the sauce I noticed pasta - or vice versa - whichever way it happened I ended up buying a package of Rigatoni and saw this recipe on the package and thought "what the heck....we love pasta, sausage and peppers, let's give it a whirl!"    I'm so glad we did.  Everyone LOVED this recipe and ask that it be put into our regular rotation (which means they might get it two or three times a year - possibly more since it was SO SIMPLE!).  So here it is, going into our regular rotation & hopefully yours.  Here is a link to the original recipe.  I adapted just a tad.

1 package sweet Italian sausage - casings removed and cut into bite size pieces
2-3 TBL olive oil
1 small yellow onion - diced
2-3 cloves garlic - minced
1 red pepper - seeded and sliced lengthwise
1 yellow pepper - seeded and sliced lengthwise
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 28oz can whole peeled tomatoes (use San Marzano tomatoes if you can find them - they are totally worth it!)
1 pound of rigatoni pasta
Freshly grated Pecorino-Romano cheese, or parmesan
Red pepper flakes

Cook pasta according to package.

Drizzle 2  tablespoons olive oil in large Dutch oven- sauté onions, garlic for 2-3 minutes, add sausage.     

After cooking sausage onion combo for 5 minutes add peppers.   Continue to stir and cook until sausage and
peppers beging to brown.   Add red pepper flakes - a few if you don't like it very spicy, a lot if you like the spice!  

Pour a glass of wine for you and your love, and then add a 1/2 of cup of the same wine to you sausage/pepper combo.
Let it simmer for 5 minutes.

Add whole tomatoes, breaking them up with a wooden spoon.   Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer - covered for 15 to 20 minutes.

Add the hot pasta to your pan - toss some Pecorino Romano in- drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil.....

Serve with a salad and some (homemade) crusty bread.

Simple goodness.

A few weeks ago Hubby mentioned that he wanted a 'really good burger' and then he ate at Burger King.  My poor sweet husband - craving a hamburger so bad he settled for BK.  It was at that moment I knew my next quest was to find my man a good burger in Seoul. It would prove to be a challenge, but a challenge that I was up for.

I ask a few people - looked on line a little and it wasn't until I was in the commissary and saw a lady that I thought I knew but wasn't sure how I knew her but I always smile & nod at her when I see her -  on this day after the smile/nod combo  she walked up to me  and said "Hi, you are Trish, right?"  It wasn't until that moment that I realized we had never met in person.  It turns out she was here in Korea the last time I was AND we have 33 mutual friends on Facebook.  We have been in each others news feeds for over 4 years but never met in person.  Anyway, I'm not sure how it happened (but I'm pretty certain you can thank my 'gift of gab') but she ended up telling me about Brooklyn Burger.  She was raving about the burgers, fries and shakes - something about Nutella & toasted marshmallows....I was IN!  So today, Friday in Korea time, Hubby has a day off so we jumped in the car and headed to Brooklyn Burger to get my man his fix. 

We almost missed it because it is tucked away at the bottom of a street in the corner.  
And it is *tiny*! 
There is only seating for about 23-30
people.
And it was JAM PACKED!

I must admit I wasn't totally excited about eating a BURGER in Korea and I *almost* suggested to Hubby that we go to the Mackerel Lady instead.  I mean I just wasn't feeling it.
Until...
We opened the door and the smell of hamburgers, REAL hamburgers begin fried up on a grill hit my nostrils.
It was at that moment my mouth started watering, my stomach started growing and I was instantly taken back to when I was 10 years old and entering Mr. Frosty's, an awesome little burger joint in my home town.

There wasn't even kimchi on the menu!
At this point I am hoping all my scenses are right and I have found Burger Utopia.
AND THEN...
I saw this....

Dr. Pepper.
IN KOREA.
In a restaurant.
All the stars are lining up.
Keeping my fingers crossed that it is as good as it smells.

Not only do they have Dr. Pepper, but they also have this:

What is that you ask?
Looks  like onions on a plate to you?
Look again.
It is a FULL SIZE napkin.
FULL SIZE.
BETH, are you reading this? 
FULL SIZE NAPKIN!!

I think I've died and gone to burger heaven.
They even have the cool Coca-Cola glasses.
And she brought out 2 straws.
I felt like I stepped into the 50's for a moment.
(Not that I would know what the 50's really feels like.)

Hubby and I ordered the Brooklyn Works burger.  He ordered the 7 oz, I ordered the 5 oz.  Both of us ordered with their 'special sauce' on the side.  We also ordered 1/2 an order of fries, diet coke (they didn't have diet DP - that would be asking WAY too much), and a Nutella with Burnt Marshmallow Shake. 

This shake was perfect. Vanilla ice cream with Nutella mixed in and burnt marshmallows on top.  Not too sweet and not to much chocolate and the straws in Korea, they always give you BIG FAT straws when you order something thick.

The 5 oz Brooklyn Works Burger.
If you live in the states you may think this just looks like another burger.
If you live in Korea, you know it is not.

And the fries....
So hot
so crispy
 so perfect.

And I can't forget to mention their special sauce for the burger.  I don't really care for sauce on my burgers, but their sauce was so good for dipping French fries in!  It was a mayo - horseradishie - goodness.

These weren't ours, but I snapped a picture of them before they went to their table.
My kids would LOVE these.

In summary, if you are living in Korea and you are craving a good burger then RUN, don't walk to the Brooklyn Burger.  (OK, take a cab or drive there - I saw a subway but I can't tell you how to get there from it and it looked like quite the trek.)  You are sure to leave with a happy tummy.

As with all things in Korea it is a little more pricy to eat here than stateside - burgers ran between 9,000 & 13,000 won.  The total price for both of us was 32,500 won.  But TOTALLY worth it.  I have a feeling we will be back very soon.

Driving directions from the commissary gate:
Turn right out of the gate.
Go across the Banpo Bridge.
Keep straight on the Banpo road - when the road splits (up/down) near the Express Bus terminal, stay UP - left hand lanes.
Right before you get to the big library on your right, and I mean RIGHT BEFORE you will see this sign:

Turn RIGHT, right now!!  It doesn't look like you should turn right, but just do it anyway!!
You will be on the left side of the library. 
Go to the end of this very narrow alley and turn LEFT.
Follow this road downhill - very narrow.
Keep your eyes open as you go around a very small curve Brooklyn is on your left. 
If you blink you will miss it.
If you are driving - right after Brooklyn turn right and then an immediate left,  a paid parking garage will be on your left. 
It only cost us 1,500 won to park here.
To leave - Turn left out of the parking garage, go down this VERY NARROW street a few blocks until you come to a bigger street - you will see Paris Croissant - turn right - when you get to the end - a big intersection with a light turn RIGHT.  Get in the left hand lane and turn left when you get to the BIG road with the signs to the Banpo Bridge, then you are home free.

They are open from 11:30Am -21:30
Closed on Mondays
551-32 1F Banpo-Dong Seocho-Gu Seoul
Phone: 02-533-7180

I couldn't leave without taking a picture of this sign:

I thought this was appropriate for Valentine's Day.

Kind of.
Happy Valentine's Day from the "Land of the Not Quite Right".

OK, so now you have had a few days or weeks to process that you really are moving to Korea.
See, it’s not so bad.  
In fact you might just feel a little excited.  
Have you Googled how great the shopping is? 
We will talk about that in a later post.  Today we are going to continue talking about getting you here.

We talked a little about what to bring and what not to bring.  
Let me ask you a question:
What makes your house a home?
For us it is all the little things – the ‘guts’ of our house.
Pictures that we hang on the wall, games, favorite toys, bedding, and blankets we use to snuggle up on the couch
with.  

Did I mention we have cement walls?  And that many of our pictures are hung using Velcro, super glue, hot glue and anything else I could find to make the pictures stick to the walls?

If you look closely you can see the Velcro in the pictures below.  That doesn't really bother me anymore.  I'm just glad they are staying on the walls.  (A few pictures have fallen to the ground and the frames have ended up in several pieces.)

I couldn't fathom living for 2 years with a government desk again....

The good news is that Post will provide one desk per house and if you need more you can put in an exception to policy (which is easy enough to do) to ask for more desks.  We have 3 of these loaner desks – one for each child’s bedroom.

The other thing that makes our house a home is home cooking.  If you know me or have been following my blog for any amount of time, you know I LOVE to cook.   So, I brought about ¾ of my kitchen stuff (I wish I could have brought it all…..) which was the majority of my weight allowance!  No joke.   When bringing kitchen things you do have to keep in mind that the kitchen here is most likely smaller than what you are used to and know that the kitchen pictured below is a little bigger than in some quarters because we have a 4 bedroom:

We do have pretty good storage in the kitchen:

Another thing to think about is holidays. 
Do you love to decorate for the holidays? 
Do you go crazy with decorating for the holidays?
If so bring your holiday stuff!  I have 10 bins of Christmas in our storage area & I don’t care that it is cramped.  I like tradition.  Do you fondue for New Year’s Eve?  Bring your fondue pot!  Do you have special baskets for Easter?  Bring the baskets!  If it is a tradition BRING IT.  Continue on as normal with family traditions – we have too many changes as military families as it is – continue on with traditions even if it means bringing an extra box of good that you will only use once or twice. You will be glad you did in the long run.

Where will I live?
Although there are always exceptions to everything, enlisted through 03 live in Hannam Village. Everyone else will live on Yongsan.  O4/05 live in Burke Towers, Eagles Grove, Itaewon Acres or Blackhawk Village.  E9’s live in Watkins Ridge. 06 live near the Helo Pad. GO’s live on the Hilltop.

What happens when you arrive in Korea?  How do I get from the Airport to the Dragon Hill Lodge? (If going to
Yongsan)  First off I hope you all have a sponsor.  Each family is supposed to have a sponsor, but sadly too many people don’t do their job correctly and many are left to fend for themselves.  If you don’t have a sponsor, ask for one, if you still don’t have a sponsor ask again. Make some noise. :o)   

So, if you are traveling on the ‘wonderful’ Patriot Express you will arrive into Osan.  Once you exit the plane you will go through customs, which is super easy. Then you will follow everyone out to the buses for Yongsan.  Put your luggage under the bus and hop on.  You will have about an hour to an hour and a half drive (depending on traffic) to Yongsan.  When going through the gate at Yonsan the gate guards will come onto the bus to check IDs.  At this point you have about a 3 minute ride to the Dragon Hill Lodge.  They don’t drop you off at the door, instead they drop you at the top of the hill where your soldier will go to a briefing that about 2.5 hours long and you will walk down the (very small) hill to the Dragon Hill Lodge where you, the family member will check into the hotel.   (Have ID,  & orders with you.)

**Remember if you want to go to the shoppette in the Dragon, take a copy of your orders and your ID card or they
will not let you buy ANYTHING.

Get some rest; you have a few busy days ahead of you.
 
Welcome to the Land of the Morning Calm.

Kapshi, Kapshida!

Click here to read "What?! We Have Orders to Korea Part 1"

I know I have said this before.
And if you live here you already know this.
BUT...
BABY ITS COLD OUTSIDE!!
It was 3 degrees when I went to the gym this morning.
It felt like NEGATIVE 12 degrees.
It is so cold out that my workout buddies car wouldn't even start.
And it is a new car -not a hooptie.

I know, I know all my friends in Alaska are rolling their eyes and saying - "HA - 3 degrees, that's a heat wave!"

I've learned that anywhere we live Dear Ol' Mother Nature is always playing games with us. 
The week before last we were up in the 30's.
People were wearing flip flops and it felt like Spring was in the air.
BUT THEN
we had this super cool sounding thing come through:
Shanghai Low
How awesome does that sound?
I was expecting something spectacular.
And I got it.
Shanghai Low is just a fancy term for BUNDLE UP! It's going to be FREEZING COLD with LOTS OF SNOW.

So last Monday, Super Bowl Monday, after our 1st Shanghai Low I woke up early (as always)  and found out school was cancelled - so I did what any good mom would do - I went outside to play in the snow ALL BY MYSELF!
I was the first one in the neighborhood to make footprints in the snow and my snow angel was the first in the neighborhood! 
I'm sure that if any of my neighbors looked out their windows they thought I was C R A Z Y .
And they would not be completely wrong.

 I mentioned that we are talking about Super Bowl Monday.
That's right, I said Super Bowl MONDAY.
And did I mention that when you live in South Korea on a military post that Super Bowl Monday it is a DAY OFF for the soldiers? 
True story.
Isn't that AWESOME?
Anyway -
After playing in the snow for a little while, checking to see if the Navy Club was still having their Super Bowl part I woke Hubby & Boy 1 at 5:30AM so they could go reserve seats for us to watch the Super Bowl while I secured a babysitter for the wee ones.  
By 7:30AM I was off to the Navy Club for a little Super Bowl fun with family & friends!

On the way to the Navy Club I literally sat in the window of the car (Don't worry, I wasn't driving!) to snap a few more pictures of the spectacular snow fall.

Right after that pictures as I was crawling back in the car window my cell phone dropped to the ground.....my white cell phone in white snow - good times!
No worries. 
I finally found it and it still works.

Super Bowl Monday was off to a GREAT start! A snow day for the little ones, day off for Hubby, a fun Super Bowl party with great friends, OK food & a great game & WIN for the Baltimore Ravens! 

How many things can you find wrong with this picture?