Non-Fishy Fish Bread

This is one of my favorite Korean snacks! This is Gold Fish bread. It might look and sound like it is, but it is not made of fish or anything. It's a not fishy fish. It's made with red beans and actually has a sweet taste. It's kind of like a morning doughnut or pastry, only less sweet, and is yummy with coffee! They also come stuffed with a yellow custard and in a tiny baby fish size. Cute and tasty!

Post Pub Noodlage

March 19, 2016

This is a bowl of handmade noodles lovingly prepared by a sweet "aunt" street vendor lady. They were excellent! On this night, we went to What the Pub, which has basically been my sister's Cheers here in Korea, where everybody knows her name. The owner, Spikey, is like her Korean brother and is super cool. We drank some wine and beers, met some of her friends, and then hit the streets for noodles. 

Getting this dish is basically like their version of getting French fries with gravy at the truckstop after tying one on at the bar. Vendors set up mini tent restaurants on the streets and work all night making noodles and soups and other things. The street vendors in Seoul are some hard working people, that's for sure!

#seoulfood #foodasfriend

The First Supper

Our first dinner in Korea was exciting! And thus began my love affair with chop sticks, and schooling on all of the sides you get with meals. Kimchi is eaten like applesauce here so it tends to grow on you and I quite enjoy the cooking tables. A lot of meals are cooked in front of you. It's just neat! And spicy. Super neat and spicy. I'm enjoying the food so far. I learned to say "Excuse me! A little more water, please!" I'm pretty sure I said the right thing, because the server brought me water. Score!

#seoulfood #foodasfriend

Tenderheart Bear Went Over the Mountain

March 18, 2016

Our first day in Korea, we hiked up to the top of the mountain by my sister's apartment. There was a little exercise playground thing there, which we are finding is quite common here, complete with hula hoops. Pretty fun, even though the stairs kicked our asses because we were still fairly jet lagged. Luckily we have since adjusted and gotten used to all the hiking and stairs. Lots.Of.Stairs. 

I brought Tenderheart Bear with me on my travels, my little symbol of home. I'm taking pictures of him at places I go to show Celie. On this day, Tenderheart Bear enjoyed a nice view of Nokbeon below. 

Korea Bound: The Big Surprise Tour

March 16, 2016

So, it was hush hush that I was leaving because we were surprising my sister, but...I'M IN SOUTH KOREA!!

My sister has been living in Seoul, Korea for the past four years. My parents and brother were planning to go visit her, which she knew about, but my sister Kate and I decided to go as a surprise. She had no idea. Sneaky sneaks, we are!

So, we all boarded this two story air plane on March 16th to make the flight up over the North Pole to the other side of the world. We got her good! It was tricky, as we didn't know where she would be in the airport coming through, and I poked my head out of the door after coming through customs, and we saw each other for a split second, but she thought she was dreaming or seeing my ghost because both of us never thought in a million years I would be able to make it to Seoul while she was here. 

This is a chance of a lifetime! Hats off to my husband for taking over 2 weeks off of work to stay at home with our daughter while I did this; I am one lucky woman! There is no other way I could have done this. It was a 14 hour flight, which was rough, but the attendants on Asiana Air were very attentive and wonderful. 

It's crazy to think that we flew for as long as it took us to drive to Memphis?! This is so far away. I had a moment on the plane, my heart was kind of breaking, like it knew how unnatural it is to be thousands of miles from my daughter. It was hard to leave her, but I am grateful to be here with my family and it is great to see my sister, meet her boyfriend and his family, and to experience an entirely different culture.