Six In Seoul
  • Our Life in Seoul Take 3
  • Our Life in Seoul, Take 2
  • 2015 Project 365
  • Project 365
  • Moving to Korea?
  • Six in the Hood
  • Seoul, 4/2008 - 4/2010
    • Flower Arrangements
    • Our second month here.....
    • Our first month here, 4/08
    • Flat Stanley
  • The Whole 30

Korean Kreatures

7/29/2009

8 Comments

 
Picture

Just a little something I have to share my house with during the rainy season.

8 Comments

Lemon Drop Martini

7/27/2009

0 Comments

 

Back in our Ft. Hood days, I would occasionally enjoy a lemon drop martini from Texas Land and Cattle, my hands down favorite steak house in Central Texas.  Once here, I started missing that drink, so I decided to try to mimic it.  I think I did a pretty good job.  If you like the basil-lime martini, you are sure to like the lemon drop martini as well.  I used basically the same recipe I use for the basil-lime martini, just switching things up a bit.  The result is pretty good, that is unless my memory has failed me.

Picture
Zest from 1 lemon
1¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 6-8 lemons)
1 750ML bottle of Grey Goose citrus vodka
2 cups water
1 ½ cup sugar 

Make simple syrup by simmering sugar and water together in a saucepan until all sugar has dissolved and syrup get a tad thick.  Turn heat off, throw in all lemon zest.  Let cool.  Once cooled, pour lemon simple syrup through a strainer to remove all the zest.  Using a funnel, pour the lemon simple syrup into the storage container, add lemon juice and vodka.  Put the lid on and shake. If you want one right away, just add ice to a cocktail shaker add a martini and shake, pour into a prepared martini glass with a sugar rim.  If you are making these in advance for a party, they will last a very long time in the freezer – when you pull them out of the freezer just shake and pour.  Ahhhh……
0 Comments

CasAntonio

7/26/2009

4 Comments

 
A few months ago I wrote about a FANTASTIC Italian restaurant in Iteawon, Antonio's.  Well, it is no longer Antonio's, the new name is LaTravola.  Upon entering I realized not much had changed other than the name, but if you know me, you know I had to ask questions. This is what I found out - Antonio didn't want to franchise his restaurant anymore, so he sold (unless something got lost in translation, that is the story).  He opened a new restaurant in Itaewon named CasAntonio.  You can find CasAntonio on the second floor above Los Amigos.
Picture
CasAntonio has a more elegant feel to it.  You might want to dress just a tad bit nicer than if you were going to the local taco stand.   The caprese salad  was to die for...that ball of buffalo mozzarella was melt in your mouth delicious!
Picture
The pastas are scrumptious!  This it the penne arrabbiata, we had buffalo mozzarella and chicken added to this dish. I love an arrabbiata sauce and this one was right on.  The amount of heat was perfect and the taste of fresh basil just right.  This is something I see myself ordering again and again. 
Picture
SIL & I ate in the wine room. (Big surprise there huh?) The wine room holds up to 8 people and is much cooler than the rest of the restaurant.  This is one of the two rooms where you can have a private party. Antonio is in the restaurant most of the time mingling with guest or playing the piano.  Here we are with Antonio.
Picture
4 Comments

Friday Night in Apgujeong-dong

7/24/2009

3 Comments

 

Friday night in Seoul is always exciting.  This past Friday night was no exception.  We started our night out at Once in a Blue Moon, yes, the restaurant where Hubby and I got food poisoning.  It is such a cool jazz restaurant/club that we felt Twin & SIL needed to see it.  The only catch - we DID NOT eat AND we had a bottle of wine which was opened at our table.  The only way we could get sick is if the glasses were not washed properly. We took the chance and it paid off, we were not puking at 3AM.  Whee.....

Picture
The next stop on our tour of Apgeujeong was the "Crazy Wine Bar"!  I found this place many months ago and thought of SIL right away.  I even facebooked this picture to her telling her I could not wait to bring her here.  The Crazy Wine Bar proved to not be as crazy as I dreamed up in my head, but it was still a good time! 
Picture
Picture
 In Korea when you order, many times things are in ‘sets’. In this set  we got a bottle of wine, pizza, and a kimchi pancake, everything was good until we got to the kimchi pancake.
Picture
The Crazy Wine Bar proved to be a good time, our waitress was fun, but I think it was because she loved Hubby.  As we were leaving the bar, she gave Hubby a shirt and when I ask her to take MY picture with MY husband, this is what I got.....
Picture
Picture
After leaving the CWB, we saw this place, we would have gone in for a line dance or two, but none of us know how to line dance.
Picture
The next stop on our tour was....
Picture
This little bar was in the basement.  Here we played darts, and I WON!  Not only did I win but I kicked booty on the first game!  However after that first game it was all downhill for me.  The next game I came in dead LAST!  Oh well, the victory was fun while it lasted.  On our way out the door of this place we noticed a breath analyzer machine, well, since none of us had ever used one of these things before, we thought it would be fun. 
Picture
All I have to say about that is, it is a good thing we were not driving.  Thank God for public transportation! 

The last place on our tour of Apgujeong was 24-7 Event Bar.  This place was WAY TOO MUCH FUN!!  Upon arrival they brought us sandwiches 'on the house' and continued to bring us little morsels throughout our stay.   Here is a picture of Twin and our waitress.  She was adorable, she makes hair bow as her hobby and gave SIL and I a few each. 
Picture
After we were here for a little while, the real fun began.....I felt like we were on set of the Korean version of the movie "Cocktail".  Glasses, drinks & bottles started flying everywhere!  This guy blew fire from his mouth and paid for it the rest of the night.  I'm pretty sure he burn his throat poor guy.
Picture
And the fun continued....
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Remember how I told you they kept brining us food?  Well, here are a few shots of our girl making caramelized onions for us.....
Picture
Picture
Picture
Or so we thought!  We were all very excited about these caramelized onions, and all at one time, we all popped a few into our mouths, only to look at each other in HORROR when we realized we did not have caramelized onions in our mouths....  it was caramelized SQUID!!!  Now, in defense of caramelized squid, it is not that bad, but when you are expecting onions and you get squid, it is a bit of a shocker!  After that we went home.  ;-)

PS....an interesting fact, the 24-7 bar closes at 5AM.
3 Comments

Royal Treatment

7/22/2009

3 Comments

 
Picture

One thing the girls really wanted to do was get a manicure and pedicure together.  This isn't a tall order since we do it every couple of weeks anyway; I mean who can resist getting a manicure and pedicure every 2 weeks when they only cost 27USD FOR BOTH?!?!  (I know, we are spoiled, thanks Hubby.)  The girls had a fabulous time and they got the royal treatment!

Picture
Here they are getting their 'massagies'.  (Notice the ladies did their hair as well.)
Picture
And their barbies even got in on the action....
Picture
3 Comments

Noryangjin Fish Market

7/22/2009

4 Comments

 

I'm pretty sure most of you are tired of hearing about the fish market.  Sorry about that, but I feel it needs to be mentioned one more time. You see, I really thought my SIL would never in a million years want to go to the fish market.  I thought I was going to have to drag her there kicking and screaming.  To my surprise, she went willingly, and even seemed to enjoy herself (ok, that's a stretch).  She never once pinched her nose to keep the smell away, and the only time she flinched was when she saw a fish monger "taking care" of a fish.

Picture
Oh, and check out what we picked up for dinner.....this was heavenly.  All this tuna cost 20,000 won.  That is only $16 USD. You can't even imagine how fresh this tuna was....there was NO SMELL to it AT ALL, OH BABY!
Picture
4 Comments

More of Monsoon Season......

7/18/2009

1 Comment

 

So really, the monsoon rains have not slowed us down one bit, however, I have never seen so much rain.  Some days it rains ALL day long, and when I say all day long, I mean ALL day long, sunrise to sunset, and then some.  The nice thing about the rain is that it cools things off here, on the flip side, the humidity is a killer!  Here are a couple of picture of the Bampo Bridge on our way back from Osan the other day.  I had heard for several sources that the bottom level of the bridge gets covered in water, but I had never witnessed it till this day.  A friend told me the markers showed that it was 9 feet under water!   In the first picture you can see part of the lower level....look at the end of the black car, then up and to the right a tad..see the blue?  That is the high part of the lower level, the rest of it is totally underwater.

Picture
There is a road under all that water.  You can see the tops of the signs if you look closely.
Picture
1 Comment

Paging Dr. Fish......

7/17/2009

2 Comments

 

It has been over a year since I have been wanting to meet Dr. Fish and have him nibble on my toes.  A couple of days ago while shopping with the in-laws in Osan we ran across Dr. Fish, so I KNEW we had to go inside to meet him, or them, and here they are a whole little tank full of Dr. Fish.....

Picture
Picture
Doctor fish eat the dead skin off your feet and lower legs, originally they were used in patients with psoriasis, removing the dead skin so new healthy skin could grow.  Over time doctor fish have become a popular spa treatment in Japan, South Korea, China, the Netherlands, Singapore, and the list goes on. I couldn't wait to plunge my toes into this tank of fish!  As soon as I did, a swarm of little fish came to meet me. HOLY COW, these little guys TICKLE!!!!  I have never in my life experienced a tickle like this tickle!  As soon as Hubby put his feet in the tank he started laughing like a little school girl, and he wasn't the only one as you can see in the pictures below!  How fun is this?!
Picture
Picture
 This is something EVERYONE MUST experience!  Oh my goodness it was great!  The laughter was contagious. I can only imagine what the salon sounded like after Twin & SIL joined us.  I am very thankful we were the only people in the entire place!  Once Twin joined it, the pressure was off of us because all the doctor fish swam over to him and started feasting!  Twin must have LOADS of dead skin on his feet and legs because they LOVED him!
Picture
I must admit, this treatment was a little 'fear factorish', Boy2 and Boy Cousin were both a little freaked out and could not put their feet in...they kept trying, but just could not do it.
Picture
We offered the boys 10,000 won to put their feet in for 10 seconds, so finally just as everyone was getting out,  and the offer of 10,000 won was about to be taken off the table, Boy 2 did it, he put ONE foot in and keep it there for 10 seconds (while giggling like a little school girl)! 
Picture
2 Comments

Amazing Race, 2009 with the In-Laws!

7/15/2009

3 Comments

 

You only get the details of the amazing race from one side, that is unlses someone else (Hubby or Twin) decides to write their account of the amazing race in another blog. 

I was the observer for Team 1, the team with Boy Cousin and SIL.   Here were the rules:

•       Total Score
–Best Time wins!
 –Total Time is arrival time minus penalties for hints plus rewards for scavenger items

•       •Equipment
–Each team must carry a camera.
–Each team member can pack a backpack with food, clothes, etc.
–Each team may bring a ‘travel publication’ with them.

•       •Receiving Help:
•       –Teams can use the internet for as long as they like after receiving the first hint, but can only print  one page.
•       –If you want a hint during the race, the observer will provide one but will assess a penalty (after arrival at the finish line).A hint is defined as providing enough info to reasonably relieve the immediate difficulty, but not so much as to solve future related problems:

•1st hint:  FREE
•2nd hint: -5 minutes
 •3rd hint:- 10 minutesEach additional hint penalty increases by 5 minutes


They also had a scavanger hunt list.  For each item they found the had 5 minutes removed from their final time.
1.Bad English’ T-shirt
2.Street food
3.Something made in USA
4.FC Seoul Item
5.Korean Candy
6.A piece of jewelry
7.A pirated DVD
8.Tourist Map
9.Picture at an exercise park
10.Religious Item
11. Something from 7-11

The first clue they received was:
Make your way to the observation deck of Namsan Tower.  Point out the direction of the USA for your next clue.

SIL & Boy Cousin hopped in a cab to head out to Namsan Tower, this was a good move!  Cabs are normally the fastest way to get to Namsan, however once the cabbie found out they were in a race and they wanted him to go fast, he started thinking...he was very excited because he knew a 'short cut'!  So, he pulled the cab over, put his flashers on and thought about the short cut for at least 5-6 minutes!  AUGHHHH!! Finally he cut through post to go out a different gate.  In the meantime, I am the observer, so I cannot say ANYTHING! I was having a cow!  This was the slowest and most expensive cab ride to Namsan I have ever taken! 
 

Picture
Upon arriving at Namsan, we saw the other team was already coming down the hill.  Oh, did I mention it was raining like mad?  Welcome to Korean and monsoon season! 

Picture
Clue #2: Take the bus to the Iteawon shopping district.  Find a Starbucks and order something to drink.  Once you have completed the drink, you will receive your next clue.
Even though team 1 thought they were WAY behind, when we came down the hill after completing clue #1, they found the boys still waiting for the bus!  Big SCORE for team 1!  They were all on the same bus heading down to Iteawon!

Picture
Picture
Picture
Clue #3: Make your way to the fountain in front of the Cheong WaDae, teh Office of the President of the President of the Republic of Korea, also known as the Blue House.  Take a picture of the fountain to receive your next clue.

SIL ask the lady working at Starbucks for the fasted way to get to the Blue House....once again we jumped in a cab and headed off - however this cab driver spoke NO ENGLISH, so it proved to be a bit more challanging than the last cab ride.  Once arriving at the Blue House, team 1 took a picture of the fountain from the cab. 


Picture
Picture
Picture
Clue #4:  Travel by any mode, but arrive at Yongsan Station by subway.  Make your way on foot to Emart.  To receive your next hint, you must find the kimchi in Emart.

This leg of the race proved to be a little harder.  Team 1 was going to take a cab to Yongsan station, but after reading the clue again and realizing they had to arrive at Yongsan station by subway, they had the cab driver drop them off at the closest subway stop.  SIL ask a local man for help - he ended up buying tickets for her, and taking her to the subway. 


Picture
Picture
Team 1 had to make a transfer on the subway, and the first guy wasn't going the same direction, not to worry, SIL talked to more locals and they walked her through it!   She even had them call their friend when they didn't know exactly how to get to Emart!
Picture
Picture
Clue #5:  Make your way to Seoul World Cup Stadium, home of FC Seoul.  Once there, locate a ticket booth.  Hurry, as this may be your final stop!

After receiving her last clue, we ran into my friends R & T at Emart, so she ask them for directions!


Picture
Picture
And the winners of the Amazing Race, Seoul, 2009 edition.............. drum roll please.......

Team 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They finished 2 hours ahead of Team 2!  Rock on Team 1!

3 Comments

12th Annual Boryeong Mud Festival

7/13/2009

5 Comments

 

It is exactly what it sounds like, mud, mud, mud and more mud!  We've been waiting for over a year to go to this festival, and it was well worth the wait!   This was the 12th annual mud festival on Daecheon Beach, about a 2.5 hour drive from Yongsan.  We loaded a bus at 7AM on Saturday morning and headed out.  If you are looking to go, there are many ways to get there, you can drive, take one of the many tours offered on post (if you are military), or you can take the train or a city bus.  If you want to go, check out their website here, to figure it out. 

Here are Hubby and his brother on the bus being themselves....

Picture
Heading to the festival.....the boys were not excited about dragging this cooler all the way to the beach, however the basil-lime martinis were in that cooler and there was no I was going to let them leave those on the bus!  Plus, they were pretty happy to have the cooler when lunch time rolled around.
Picture
Here we are getting our 'mud on'!

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
After we all got our 'mud on'!

Picture
Picture
Picture
Boy 3 being thrown out of the mud pit.

Picture
Washing off and playing in the yellow sea....(I know it doesn't look very yellow to me either)

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Only to get muddy again!

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Hanging with my 'Navy' buddies. 

Picture
Picture
Remember in previous post how I told you the Koreans LOVE our little blondies?  Well, the paparazzi was out of control at the mud festival! We couldn't do anything without them being right there.  Just check it out in the two pictures below.  In the 2nd picture Boy 3 was really working them. 
Picture
Picture
Boy Cousin doing the limbo!

Picture
Picture
Picture
Everyone had a great time at the mud festival.   Thanks to the Navy for letting us be the 'token Army family' on their bus!  And the last picture I will leave you with is of a typical Korean woman. She is wearing heels & her Prada sunglasses at mud festival!  You gotta love Korea!

Picture
5 Comments
<<Previous

    Author

    Proud Army wife and mother to 4 wonderful children.  I love to cook, travel, work out and scrapbook life’s adventures when I find the time.  We just got orders & are heading back to the states in March 2010.  I'm bummed that our time has been cut short, but proud of Hubby for the reason why.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008

    Categories

    All
    Appetizers
    Breakfast
    Cake
    Cakes
    Car Wash
    Cookies
    Cooking Tips
    Daily Life
    Desserts
    Drinks
    Entrees
    Hiking
    Modeling
    Moving To Yongsan
    Nightlife
    Not Quite Right
    Recipes
    Restaurants
    Salads
    Sandwiches
    Seafood
    Shopping
    Side Dishes
    Sightseeing
    Soups
    Spices
    Street Food
    Vacation
    Vegetarian

    Friends, Family and Fun reading:


    FeedYourKids
    GreatinGreece
    CookieMadness
    RomaninRoundRock
    Heather, Heath, Hayden & John
    EggsonSunday

    Five in Boise
    PioneerWoman
    Just The Four of US 
    SteamyKitchen
    All About Korean Food

    KissMyKimchi
    EatingOutLoud
    TheThrashClan
    Yossislost

Proudly powered by Weebly