Saturday Recap

In the morning, we met up with Soojin’s ?? (hoobae, meaning a fellow student that enrolled after you) Hisu at CoEx Mall.  While waiting for her, we just hung around the mall area…  one thing I noticed is a coffee place that had the same name as my ex co-worker, Joe Pascucci.

And I’ve heard that the pho had become popular in Korea, but this was ridiculous!  This place was part of a food court!!  I didn’t even bother checking out the taste!  Maybe I should’ve for Chrisitine’s sake!  😛  NOT!

The kids seemed to enjoy the new experience… but only for an hour or so, after which, both grew tired… physically.  My thighs are still sore from all the walking around!!

Soojin soaking it in…

And me looking tired and worn out from all the walking… and sooo many people!!!

That’s Hisu on the left.

Anna and JJ looking like pros but just waiting for daddy’s coffee to be done so that they could get their ice cream!  😀

Walking around the CoEx Mall looking for places…

This was a typical crowd given at anywhere in the mall!! After seeing her, we went to ?? ??? (Olympic Stadium) subway exit, at which was a junior/senior high school that my ?? ?? (youngest aunt mom’s side)
worked at.  We met up with her to drive together to my ?? ?? (second aunt)’s place.  They lived on way south of Seoul.  The apartment was really nice and brand new.  Both the 2nd aunt and uncle had retired and they had picked up some art as their hobbies.  Well, my aunt picked up clay pot making and uncle was into oil painting.  Here are some of their nice works.

After a very nice home cooked meal, we had some nice dessert that my cousins (from my youngest aunt) had brought.  It was called “redmango”.

Getting a similar vibes?  Fans of frozen yogurt stuff should recognize how similar it seems to our own Berripop and LA’s popular Pinkberry!  Why?  ‘Cause this is the one that supposedly started it all in from the motherland!

The taste wasn’t too bad… it was smoother tasting and not so tart or sweet.

And this is their motto… “?? ????” which translates to “Let’s love myself”.  Korea has picked up on self-focused customer-oriented aspect of American consumerism!  🙁  But it was tasting so good!!

The group picture.  On the back, from the left, is my cousin, Choong, Anna, youngest aunt, second aunt, second uncle, and in the front row holding JJ is my cousin Sun, also from youngest aunt.  Missing are two cousins: Yong from the same aunt who was working still despite being a Saturday evening, and Hye-bok, from my second aunt.  My youngest aunt gave us a ride back to my brother-in-law’s place and that was a two-hour ride!  Yikes.

Friday Recap

On this day, we left for an “artist village” better known as “??? ??” (Hea-ri Village). Think of this as a collection of artsy people that focus on different things. Among them is a place that focuses on a popular children’s character (at least in Korea) known as “??” (Strawberry). They had a loads of places for the kids to play around in… just let the pictures speak for themselves…

This is outside of the place by the entrance…

With grandma and their cousin, Taeyun.

A cute looking dog character… no idea what it is called…

Giranimo!! 😀 JJ having a blast on the slide down.

Now it was Anna’s turn…

Grandma and aunt looking at the kids having fun…

A nearby place had large fake pencils as a fence.

And now the grand family picture!

Thursday Recap

On Thursday, with the in-laws, we headed to CoEx Aquarium. It’s located in a very busy side of Seoul. On the way, we stopped by to pick up the never-changing food for trips: kim-bap (??). 🙂

The CoEx Aquarium wasn’t that special but it was a great time for the kids. Here are some pics from that.

The above was in the aquarium, believe it or not. This is a traditional setting for a house.

Above: All the grandkids together… that’s Taeyun and Taekyung (from left to right), and Anna and then JJ.

And then went to “Kimchi Msuem” right next door! LOL… 😀

More to come as time

Finally in Korea!

After what felt like days, we are finally in Korea!

The flight from Houston to San Francisco was ok but JJ developed some kind of fever and was very cranky.  🙁  So at the wonderful airport of San Francisco, we got him some medications.  On the flight to Korea, Singapore Airline was great.  Service was more than terrific as the stewards and stewardesses kept checking up on us, the mere economy class, and took extra care and time on the kids.  However, food sucked still.  Badly.  Worse than some other airlines, including Korean Air.

Overall, I felt like a zombie on the plane.  But I managed to stay awake till midnight (locally) so I am somewhat adjusted to the time zone here now.  Now, bring on the food!!  😛