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Gamjatang

3/29/2014

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감자탕  or neckbone soup as I know it.
However when I googled it, Wikipedia says it is 'pork bone soup'.  SO, I guess maybe it can be made with any type of pork bones?  Who knows.  All I know is it is good and if you like Korean food then you should try this.
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A while back I wrote about this Bulgogi and Squid place.
The  Gamjatang place is RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET.
(In Hannam)

Take note:  The orange sign says
감자탕
Go in that alley.
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When it dead ends take a left you will see this:
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This is the restaurant.
Check out the menu, they even have it highlighted with red around what you need to order.
감자탕 = 6,000 won.
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When you order 감자탕, you get this:
Neckbone soup - pork neck bone, vegetables, green onions, hot peppers (although this was not very spicy at all), potatoes and wild sesame seeds.  You will need to eat this with chopsticks and a spoon.  Chopsticks to pick the very tender meat out with, a spoon to eat the delicious broth.
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The first time I went we ordered it in a larger size with noodles.  I liked this better, but I'm not sure how to order this.  I'm going to take the picture in next time to show them unless someone on here can tell me what it is.  Super and we added rice at the end when there was only a small amount of broth left to make it even more scrumptious. 
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To drive here from post:
Exit Commissary gate - turn left
Stay right - Turn right onto Itaewon Street 
Turn left on Daesagwan-ro - this street has a light. 
(You will be going through a street with many lights and lots of people walking - near Hannam Village)
At the light pretty far down just before you come to the big intersection (Daesagwan-ro)   turn left a - it's kind of a crazy light - I think it is just flashing, maybe not even a light at all - but more of a 4 way stop.
The restaurant is on your left just a few stores down.  
Park on the street.
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Homemade Mayo

3/14/2014

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I'm not a huge mayo fan so it took me a long time to actually start making mayo, but now that I do I typically have a batch in the fridge! This chicken salad is reason enough to make your own mayo.

The original mayo recipe comes from Paleo Comfort Foods - a cookbook and blog I love.

1 large egg, room temperature
juice from 1 lemon
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 cup light olive oil
1/2 cup garlic infused avocado oil (I find this at the international market in Itaewon) 

I use my Vitamix to make this, but you can also use a food processor.  When using the vitamix I just keep it on low.

Combine egg, lemon juice and mustard until frothy.
Drizzle the oil in SLOWLY.....I'm talking like a teaspoon at a time.
DO NOT RUSH.
That's it.
Seriously.
Put it in a plastic container and stick in the fridge. 
I keep it for about a week if it last that long.


You can mix up the flavor by adding different types of infused avocado oils, or just toss in different spices! 
Once you make your own mayo you will never go back.  ;)

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Standing Coffee

3/13/2014

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Seriously, just go here.
It's totally worth it.
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From post:
Go out the Kimchi Pot gate
Turn right
Cross the street in the underground crosswalk
Come out on the right hand side
Walk a little ways and you will see Standing Coffee on your left hand side
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NQR #49

3/10/2014

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Jack Frost Martini 

3/10/2014

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I'm sorry I failed you guys.
I cannot believe I did not share this with you guys this winter.
Sure I shared it on FB, but do you know how hard it was for me to find on FB? 
The East Coast is still getting snow, so East Coast friends go ahead and get your martini shakers out friends.
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Ingredients:
1 cup pineapple juice
½ cup (4 ounces) vodka
½ cup (4 ounces) blue curacao
½ cup (4 ounces) cream of coconut (not coconut milk)
10-12 ice cubes
Shake it up!
Rim the glass with shredded unsweetened coconut.
Enjoy.
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Welcoming 2014 & Our Last Few Days...

3/8/2014

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December 31-January 3

On day 7 we moved again to what was our favorite little B&B, Grand Luis Lodge in the Philippines.  This B&B was up in Forrest area in Bohol -- beautiful and quiet!  This was my favorite location of them all, plus the house was amazing.
I loved everything about it.  We spent our last few days on Bohol just relaxing and enjoying our time together.
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The kids loved the pool....
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This is the outdoor shower!
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The last sunset of 2013.
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Goodbye 2013....
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We rang in the New Year on the roof top of our B&B.
I have never in my life seen anything like it.
Fireworks were everywhere -- seriously, every direction we looked there were fireworks and the bulk of them lasted for a good 2 hours...and we are not just talking a few, the entire island was COVERED with fireworks going off.
When we went to bed after 2AM, fireworks were still going off.
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On New Year's Day Hubby and Boys 1 & 2 went on a 'deep sea fishing adventure'.
Let me be the one to break the news to you....if there is not an 'organized' tour, don't ask anyone in the Philippines to organize one for you.  The fishing poles were the fishing line in the picture below, their bait was a conch that the boat driver dove underwater for.  He brought it onto the boat, broke it open with a rock and hooked it to the 2 hooks they found along the way.  The only fish the boys caught:
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That's right, Boy 1 caught NEMO.  :(
They came home early from their 'fishing trip'.

Then we headed to the Alona Beach.
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Where it rained on us for most of the day, but we didn't care, it was still super fun.
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Girl found this awesome shell....
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And the kids hung out with some local kids who showed them the ropes:
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As soon as the boats would come in, the kids would just on, and off and on and off.  It was their own little playground in the water.  The boat drivers didn't seem to mind too much either.
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And of course there were recycled Christmas trees everywhere.
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On January 2nd we took the Supercat back to the Cebu where we spent our last night on vacation.
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The morning before we headed home we had breakfast by the pool....
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And Boy 2 had his last watermelon juice before we headed back to the land of the $20 watermelons.
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Happy New Year!

(Yeah, Yeah, I know I'm writing this in March.)
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Day 6 - Balicasag Island, Virgin Island and a Rain Storm!

3/3/2014

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December 30th, 2013
Bohol Adventure to Balicasag Island, Virgin Island and the rain storm that had someone all freaked out.
Hubby and I started our morning off with a walk.....
We were trying to find a beach to take t he kids to.
This one was perfect for Hubby and I, but the kids would like a little more.
There was NOTHING here - which could be perfect for some, but not for others.
If we lived here and we were prepared with all our 'beachy' stuff this place would be perfect.
But when we realized there was NO PLACE TO FEED them we thought they might go off the deep end, so Hubby and I soaked it up and savored this moment for ourselves.
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After spending a little time on Duero Beach (I think that is what it is called.)
We hoped in a tricycle & headed back to our hotel.
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We then chartered a boat to Balicasag Island which left from the tiny little beach (muddy) area at the back of our hotel.
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By about Day 5 our kids are pretty much done with going (you might be surprised to find out that we have a couple of real home bodies) and the complaints were flying that we had to go on another adventure.
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Girl on the other hand is always raring to go!
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We passed Virgin Island on our way to Balicasag Island.
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Upon arriving to Balicasag Island it was NOTHING like the pictures would lead you to believe....
It was shack, after shack after shack of people trying to sell you things.
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We were BOMBARDED by the locals and by this point in our trip we were done with it.  We wanted to sit on a beach, snorkel and just hang out.  They were trying to sell us everything from lunch (I learn that lesson in Cambodia!) to snorkel & dive trips, to taking us to other islands.  It was madding and with children on the brink of melting down we had to GET OUT.  We knew there was a 'cleaner' area on the island so we took off on our own little tour.
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And we were so thankful we did.  When we got to the other side of the island there was a resort where we could sit in beach chairs, snorkel from the shore to our hearts content -- ON OUR OWN, have cocktails and just relax.  And that is what we did.
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Another Christmas tree.
This made my heart happy.
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This is the life.
Cocktail in hand, lounging on a chair while Hubby snorkels and the kids have crab races under a tree.
(Boy 1 was lounging on a chair beside me.)
I joined Hubby for snorkeling around the reef, it was amazing!
On the 'other side of the island' they will tell you that you need to hire a boat to swim around the reef, but we had no problem doing it on our own from the resort side.  If you were to hire a boat to come to this island, ask them to drop you off at the resort side.
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After spending a leisurely afternoon we did end hired a boat to take us out past the reef in hopes that the kids would feel more comfortable and jump in the water.  After feeding the fish for a little while most of them couldn't resist and they jumped in and swam around.
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These two said they were fine feeding the fish from the boat.
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Back on the boat to head to Virgin Island.
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Traveling back to Virgin Island it started to rain.
Then it started to pour.
Someone, I'm not mentioning any names had a freak out and was insisting we turn around and go back.  We were in the middle of nowhere and could see no land around us.
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And I will admit it was a little freaky being out in such a rain storm.
We all wrapped up in towels at first.
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And then we grabbed the life jackets to shield the rain from us.
When I was finally able to pull the camera out again this is how dark it was:
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And after the longest 20 minutes ever on a boat the rain stopped and the skies started opening up.
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We all (except for Hubby) wanted to just go home, but out boat driver insisted that we get out and get in the water to warm up.  When we did the water felt like a hot tub!!

This is the only picture we took of Virgin Island, but it was beautiful. We had more crab races, just hung out and explored the entire island.....as we were the only tourist there! 
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(and yes, I realize Boy 3's swim shirt is too small. ;)

The kids were happy when we arrived back at the hotel - they swam in the pool, played on their electronics and ate.
And ate.
And ate.
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Philippines Day 5 - Bohol

3/2/2014

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December 29th, 2013
We packed a WHOLE LOT into our 1st day on Bohol.
(So grab you coffee, this is going to be a LONG one!)
Our first stop was at a market to buy flip flops for Boy 1.
His shoes broke the day before and since we travel light, the poor boy needed shoes.
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While we were there we picked up a little breakfast for the kids.
Just kidding. 
While they are adventurous, the draw the line at eating dried fish from a box.
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On the way to our next destination we saw this Jeepney FULL of people getting to and from work, home & Grandma's house. 
This was a common site.
These things were ALWAYS PACKED to the BRIM and many times overflowing.
Hubby really wanted to ride on one, but alas I was not really into strapping the kids to the roof, although it would have made a great Christmas card for next year.
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Our next stop was at the Blood Compact Monument in Tagbilaran City.

This is what is inscribed at the monument:
"
About the middle of March 1565, the fleet of Captain General Miguel López de Legazpi anchored along these shores. In the course of this visit, López de Legazpi entered into a blood compact with Datu Sikatuna for the purpose of insuring friendly relations between the Spaniards and Filipinos."

It added that the compact was performed a as part of the tribal tradition:
"Each of the two leaders made a small cut in his arm, drew a few drops of blood from the incision, mixed it with wine, and drank the goblet containing the blood of the other. Thus was the first bond of friendship between Filipinos and Spaniards."

In his report to Philip II, Lopez de Legazpi wrote:
"
It is observed in the following manner: one from each party draws two or three drops of blood from his own arm or breast and mixes them in the same cup, with water or wine. Then the mixture must be divided equally between two cups and neither person may depart until both cups are alike drained."
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And that was it.
Ranked #19 on Trip Advisor.
True Story.

What I liked more was the view:
(and the coffee shop next door....I have yet to have a good cup of Joe in the Philippines.  I'm starting to have withdrawals.)
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But check out what you see when you looked down.
Rubble.
On that balcony to the left is an infinity pool..
...and below...
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Baclayon Church.
One of the oldest stone churches in the Philippines founded in 1596 and was the best preserved church in the region until the earthquake of October 2013.
On Bohol the devastation from the earthquake was worse than that of the Typhoon of November 2013.
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We always seem to find the ice cream man!
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Hanging with my favorite 17 year old.
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While traveling though the Philippines we saw Christmas trees EVERYWHERE and most of them were made from recycled products.
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Our next stop was the Xzootic Animal Park.
Really pathetic and not worth a stop.
They did have a 'Gray Squirrel'.
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More devastation from the earthquake.
Another old church reduced to rubble.
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More fun things to see while traveling....a pig in a tricycle.
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Another festive Christmas tree!
I LOVED seeing these everywhere!
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The most fun thing of the day....
ZIP LINING at Loboc Eco Adventure Park.
We did 2 zips.
1st Zip:
Length 520 meters
Height 120 meters
2nds Zip
:
Length 420 meters
Height 100 meters

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The view from the middle of the zip:
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My favorite sign of the entire trip:
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We then headed over to the Tarsier Conservation Area.
The Tarsier is the cutest little creature I think I have ever seen.
We were able to see them in their natural habitat.
I think we spotted about 5.
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Isn't he adorable?
I wanted to take him home.
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Chocolate Hills - Ranked #1 on Trip Advisor.
Chocolate hills have NOTHING TO DO WITH CHOCOLATE....do you hear me....NOTHING.
The Chocolate Hills is a geological formation.  There are at least 1,260 hills - they are covered in green grass that turns brown during the dry season....LIKE CHOCOLATE.  WHAT?!?!  Seriously, that is how they got their name. Do you know how disappointing it is to go to the Chocolate fields and not get chocolate?  Thank goodness we knew this before we got there or I would have had a revolt on my  hands.
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At the top of the view point.
More devastation from the earthquake.
I love how the palm trees are still alive...I hope they replant them someplace else.
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This is what happens after you have been sightseeing for an entire day and you ask you people to take a family picture at the chocolate hills with no chocolate....
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Traveling to another area we see this:
They have STOOLS in the back of their truck for sitting.
Genius?
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As we continue on our trek we ask to stop at another market. 
Hubby's flip flops wore a blister on his foot so he needed new shoes now.
This market was HUGE!
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It kind of reminded me of Cambodia.
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Need clothes?
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Cabbage?
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Rice must be comfortable...if you remember I posted a picture of children hanging out on rice bags in Cambodia.
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Christmas started lined the streets of Bohol.
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After a long day we made it back to our B&B where we had the pool to ourselves!
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The sunset was magnificent!
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After a long day we sat down to a dinner of fresh caught fish by the owners of our B&B, Isola Bella Beach Resort.
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After dinner we finished the night with a few fireworks on the beach.
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The world is a book & those who do not travel only read a page. ~ St. Augustine

I am blessed beyond measure that I have been able to read several chapters with the people I love the most in this world.
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    “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you 
    did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”   
    ―     Maya Angelou
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    Hi, I'm Trish, the writer, creator and photographer of this blog.  I started this blog for 2 reasons, 1 - When I found out we were moving to Korea back in 2008 I was a little freaked out and started scouring the internet for information on Korea. At that time there wasn't much out there so I am doing my part in helping families across the world not be so freaked out when it comes time to move to Korea.  The 2nd reason I started this blog was to help stay connected to family members back in the states.  Today it is so much more that.
    I hope you enjoy our journey.

    Are you moving to Korea?  Do you have questions, concerns?  Are you freaking out?   Freak out no further -  click the button to ask a question.  I'll do my best to answer open and honestly.
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