Blog Archives

Neighborhood Kickball Tournament - Year 2

10/26/2013

How fun is our neighborhood?
Our teens ROCKED it out even more this year.
This was our 2nd annual back to school kickball tournament in the hood.

Click HERE for pictures from last year.

This year, they took it to the next level:

They even planned out the teams BEFORE the game this year.
But no worries, if you showed up and didn't have a team you still got to play.

Captain of the RED TEAM!

BLUE TEAM captains!

The game was VERY SPIRITED this year!

And he was SAFE!!

I love how you can see the sand flipping off the top of his sandal.
Even though he missed the ball, he still made it safe to 1st base! :o)

That boy can KICK!

This year he had it all figured out and didn't run past one single base.

There was no shortage of Popsicles!

Those that were too small to play found other ways to entertain themselves.

Mud puddles are seriously fun.

I'm not sure which team won.
It really doesn't matter.
Well, maybe it does if you ask the kids. I'm sure there is a big dispute.
In fact, I just ask my kids who won the game and they said the blue team, but they were all on the blue team.
I wonder what the red team would say....

For me it doesn't matter.
It was just another fun day on the ROK.

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Splish & Splash Water Park at Camp Humphreys

10/23/2013

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This is one of our FAVORITE summer adventures in Korea!
The kids LOVE going to Splish and Splash Water Park at Camp Humphreys.
It really is a great water park for kids (and adults) of all ages.

This pictures shows the 'little kid' area.
If you look to the far right corner you will see a small swimming pool....that pool is super shallow perfect for toddlers.
In fact the whole area pictured is perfect for toddlers.

This picture shows one of the 2 larger slides (I'm standing on the top of the other one - it is open as you will see in pictures to come.) And do you see the life guard on the right side towards the middle? He is working the 'big' pool. This pool is Olympic size and has 2 diving boards (again you will see in pictures to come), a high dive and a regular diving board.

I'm going to warn you right now, there are some SERIOUSLY CUTE KIDS in this blog post.
If you have an aversion to cuteness, stop looking now.
I'm warning you.

A rare moment when these two actually love each other.
Don't get too excited, I think right after this picture Boy 2 tried to drown Boy 1. ;o)

These boys had a ball hanging out together.

Big sisters are THE BEST!

Freckle Face.

Isn't this one of the most adorable girls you have ever seen?
I love the drip of ice cream on her nose.

There was so much fun to be had on the water slide!

Hamin' it up!
This girl was the 'photo bomber' in a past post.

Even the moms were getting in on the action!

I love how he was looking right at me.....'take the picture so I can move on lady'!

The brother of the photo bomber....the tongue out thing must run in the family! :o)

One of my favorite shots of the day!
What a cutie!

Water parks are exhausting!

Some of the momma's of the bigger kids hanging out in the pool working on our tans.

My friends are hot.

She looks like a super star.

And it looks like she is in a photo shoot for J Crew.

So much fun was had on the high dive!

Look what I can do!

This girl was awesome.
If I had jumped off the high dive I think I would be making the same face!

Doesn't he look graceful?

I am one blessed momma.

Splish & Splash information:

Camp Humphreys is about 1 hour from Yongsan.

Monday - Thursday open 12 noon - 8PM
Friday - Sunday open 11AM - 8PM

No outside food.
You may bring in Gatorade and water ONLY.
They sell booze at their concession stand.
You can order food from the restaurant next door to the water park.

031-619-6412
754-6412

Daily Rates:
US Individual:
E1 - E5: $5
E6 - O3 (includes W1 - W3): $7
W4/O4 - O10 & Civ/Contractors: $8

US Family:
E1 - E5: $10
E6 - O3 (includes W1 - W3): $14
W4/O4 - O10 & Civ/Contractors: $16

Non US ID Card Holder: $20

Non US ID Card Holder: $26

Season Passes:
US Individual:
E1 - E5: $80
E6 - O3 (includes W1 - W3): $100
W4/O4 - O10 & Civ/Contractors: $120

US Family:
E1 - E5: $160
E6 - O3 (includes W1 - W3): $175
W4/O4 - O10 & Civ/Contractors: $200

KN Individual: $150

KN Family: $300

Half-Season Passes (May 18 - July 17 or July 18 - Sept. 9):
US Individual:
E1 - E5: $50
E6 - O3 (includes W1 - W3): $60
W4/O4 - O10 & Civ/Contractors: $70

US Family:
E1 - E5: $90
E6 - O3 (includes W1 - W3): $98
W4/O4 - O10 & Civ/Contractors: $110

Ages 12 months and younger are free of charge. All others will pay rate listed. DoD civilians/contractors who are military retirees will be charged at the rate of their retired military rank. KATUSA's will be considered by their military rank.

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Not Quite Right #43

10/22/2013

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Something to make you smile.

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Wangsan Beach - Summer Fun!

10/21/2013

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Something odd is happening to me.
I've been posting things out of order. Not terribly, but somewhat.
Back in the day I would have NEVER been able to post things out of order. I felt like it was too messy. Like life was out of control. All thing must be in order. If the my post were not in order I would just skip them and not show them to you guys. Also in the past I would make sure all pictures were in order of the time they were taken..no picture out of 'time' order either......TRUE STORY....I was (am) a FREAK. I've learn a few things over the years. It is OK for things (me) not to be perfect. It is OK for things (me) not be in control all the time. It is OK for things (me) not to be in order.
You guys are still happy to see beach pictures that happened back in August. So what if it is October now! So what if I am wearing a sweater & my fingers are freezing as I type this. This was a fun day. And you know what? I'm kind of feeling all warm and tingly inside even though my fingers are freezing. I'm pretty sure the people that went to the beach this day would like to see these pictures too.... So, even though I am way behind and things might be out of whack....it was a fun day, so let's take a stroll down memory lane.....

27 adults
61 kids
2 buses
120 jello shots
1 hour ride to the Wangsan Beach, South Korea
Memories forever

Bus 1 ready to go....

Bus 2 ready to go.....

A few of my favorite girls.

I can't tell you how much I love this kid.
Mean look and all.

Freckles and dirt.

My "girlie, girl".

Anyone up for crab races?
This is their 'holding cell'.

The way American's roll....
Chairs in the water & no umbrella's covering us.

"Hey, wait for me!"

Beach gang.

Every single time I have gone to the beach in Korea, tractors are always involved.

"That doesn't look safe."

Don't you just want to smooch that sweet little face?!

You have to love a good photo bomber - or two!

A post about beaches in Korea would not be complete if I didn't add a little Korean beach wear to it.

Good times, great friends & memories to last a lifetime.

Wangsan Beach is near Incheon Airport for anyone looking for it. :o)
It is near Eurwangni Beach.
It is what I thought was Eurwangni Beach for years.

4 Comments

Lunch Boxes - Move Away From The Sandwich

10/16/2013

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Back by popular demand....
What I feed our kids!
(I really wish you guys could read this the way I write it, because when I wrote 'What I feed our kids' I sang it in the voice of an announcer for a wrestling tournament.)

Anyway, no doubt our kids are pretty good eaters.

In fact the other day Hubby and Boy 2 had a conversation about the food in our house.
Boy 2 gave me 9 out of 10 stars for lunch.
I would have gotten higher, but sometimes I do 'sandwiches'.

This is one of Boy 1's favorite lunch box meals.
Here is the recipe for the shrimp - super easy and super fast. You can make it the night before of if you are like me and wake up crazy early you can make it in the morning. I do leave out the avocados because for some freaky reason the kids don't like the avocado in this meal, even though they can eat the heck out of guacamole. I just don't get it.

Next up...super easy. Grilled chicken cut into strips. We had this for dinner & I made extra for lunches.
Add a little salad, fruit and rice krispy treats and you have happy kids! :O)
The small containers hold BBQ for dipping and salad dressing.

When I'm out of everything else, I throw together 'lunchables'.

Lamb chops.
True story.
Lamb chops at the international market are very reasonable for some reason and the kids love them.
And I love them.
And Hubby loves the.
We are a lamb chop lovin' family.
In fact tonight for dinner we are having lamb curry.
This is something I made for dinner and made extras so we could have left overs for lunch.
The kids will eat this cold.
And they are happy about it.

Turkey breast with a little rib meat.
A little broccoli for a couple of them, salad for the other two.
Two of our kids can't stand broccoli.
Two of them will eat it by the bowl full.
Go figure.

Want to see more of our lunch boxes?
Click here.

Happy packing!

4 Comments

Not Quite Right #42

10/13/2013

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Night shopping find.
Close but not quite....

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Tuesdays With Trish - Grano Italian Restaurant

10/12/2013

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There are some days that are just WAY more fun than others, this was one of those days.
I got an extra ab work out because we laughed so much on our journey to Grano's Italian restaurant.
On this rainy, rainy day Jerri was our leader.
We were accompanied by our new pals Thunder and Lightening.
Umbrellas were involved of course and we were fearful we might be conductors for the lightening.
Lightening is somewhat rare here in Korea.

Once exiting the subway you still have about a 10 minute walk to get to Grano's.
We discussed jumping in a taxi but decided to hoof it instead.
In the rain.
Our pals Thunder and Lightening had not made an appearance as of yet.
Then the rain REALLY started coming down.
You know that Korean sideways, knock you over type rain.
Yeah, that rain.
Then our friend Thunder BOOMED right beside us.
Our umbrellas weren't helping much.
We were wet from our waist down.
Then Lightening made an appearance.
And another, and another.
Jerri ask us to tell her family she loved them and she was sorry she was being so careless all for good Italian food.

In the end we made it.
Soaking wet, but alive.

See, we clean up pretty well.

During our adventurous trip Jerri was a little nervous, hoping it was 'worth' it and that we not be disappointed after we all risk our lives to get here.

They had me at 'black truffle pesto'.

The prices were a bit more than we like to pay for a lunch out with friends, but oh baby it was SO WORTH IT!!!
I had the sea bass, served on a bed of spinach, tomatoes and some sort of scrumptious sauce.
Typically I would never order sea bass because most people don't cook it properly and I'm always disappointed.
NOT TODAY! The chef cooked it to perfection - it was melt in my mouth deliciousness.

The Alfredo was divine.
And the spicy eggplant pasta dish was a little slice of heaven.
It was a win, win all the way around.
(except for my pictures - I had a rough photography day. I blame it on the rain.)

The desserts were just OK.
I would not order the cannoli again.
The tiramisu was just OK, nothing to write home about.
We also had cheese cake.

Personally, I would skip the dessert and just go with wine. We did have a little mix up when it came to the wine... the waiter told us the wine was 6,000 won per glass, which we were SHOCKED about and we questioned him a couple of times about, but he continued to say 6,000 won. In reality it was 16,000 won. We should have known better. At least it was good wine. :o)

Remember the rain?
There was so much they had to use a snow shovel to remove it.

Thank goodness the trip home was not as eventful as the trip to Grano.

I apologize, I cannot give you directions to Grano.
However I can give you the address.

Just jump in a cab and give this information to your cab driver:

645-1 Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
(02) 540-7330, 8330;

Reservations are not required, but encouraged.

Hours:
Daily
11:30AM - 2:30PM
5:30PM - 2AM - last food order 10:30PM

PS...and this place is pricy. Expect to pay no less than 50,000 won per person.

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Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Blondies

10/11/2013

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Shut the front door.

Don't they look delicious?
I thought they were.
I was eating dough straight from the bowl.
At this point I knew they were going to be a hit.
I was also fairly certain NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON would guess the 'secret' ingredient.
AND
I was right.
No one guessed - well, no one except my friend Amber who is a pro at healthy eating and a pro at sneaking good for you stuff into food - and then it was only a guess.

Every last cookie was gone in NO TIME flat.

Here are the tally's from my house:
4 loved them and ask no questions.
2 thought they were just OK.
1 did not like them at all.
(Yes, that does equal 7. Yes, I do know how to count. Grammy is visiting from the states!!)
Can you guess who didn't like them? That's right, the one I made them for. The one we are fearful is gluten intolerant. She would have nothing to do with them. In fact, she spit them out. WHO DOES THAT?!?

Tally from Amber's house:
Totally WIN all the way around!
6 for 6 baby.

I got the original recipe here. I modified it a bit to make it a little more sweet...
Next time I am going to double the recipe.

What you need:
Parchment paper
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained - that's right, I said CHICKPEAS!!
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 + 1 TBL maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350

Line 8x8 pan with parchment paper (Or you can use cooking spray, but I don't like that stuff.)

Toss all ingredients except chocolate chips in food process or (or vitamix) and blend those babies up! It took me all of about 1 minute to complete this part from start to finish!

Once all your ingredients are mixed well fold in chocolate chips.

Bake for 25 minutes - edges will be slightly brown and it will look undercooked. Go with it anyway.

Cool on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes.

While they are cooling sprinkle a little sea salt on top for a little sweet/salty blend. I totally forgot to do this part, but I imagine it adds a whole new beautiful element to the blondie. If you forget, don't worry, they are delicious the way they are.

Cut with a plastic knife (these have the consistency of a fudgie type brownie)

Don't tell anyone the ingredients and serve for dessert.

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Beondegi AKA Boiled Silkworm Pupae - Street Food

10/6/2013

23 Comments

Beondgi, or boiled silkworm is a popular Korean snack sold by street vendors across the land. You always know when you are approaching someone selling a nice boiling pot of silkworms as the smell is something you will not mistake for anything else. In fact you may not even think the smell you are smelling is food. (Ummm, because it IS NOT - it's bugs, FREAKING BUGS!)

For years I have avoided putting one of these tasty treats in my mouth. The smell alone is enough to make one cringe, and you guys know I will eat most anything, including yummy delicious (not) snake eggs in Cambodia. I like pushing myself to do things and most of the time I feel proud...I tried it, I did it! I conquered the beast!
These silkworms though....they were a bigger beast than I was hoping for....

Crunchy on the outside and as you bite down they squirt. They squirt NASTY bits of squishy slime that I can only imagine to be yellowish green in color into your cheeks. The taste just resonates in your mouth, growing larger and louder by the millisecond. It makes you want to gag and really makes you think that cutting out your tongue is a good idea. It is that bad. This is a taste that stays with you for hours. Even makali can't cut that taste....

So, what are you waiting for? Go out and find yourself a ajumma selling a big pot of beondegi and have a taste. Just make sure you have a big bottle of soju to wash it down with.

Oh, and just swallow, don't bite.

With love from Korea.

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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

Author

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.

Moving to Korea?

Neighborhood Kickball Tournament - Year 2

Splish & Splash Water Park at Camp Humphreys

Not Quite Right #43

Wangsan Beach - Summer Fun!

Lunch Boxes - Move Away From The Sandwich

Not Quite Right #42

Tuesdays With Trish - Grano Italian Restaurant

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Blondies

Beondegi AKA Boiled Silkworm Pupae - Street Food

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