Jeju Island Adventures

Hubs and I recently snuck away for a little weekend getaway to Jeju Isalnd or "Korea's Hawaii" as it is sometimes called on this part of the globe.  It is a beautiful (although super touristy) little volcanic formed island and was just what we needed for a few days of rest and relaxation.

This is a picture of the castle  hotel that we stayed in and part of it's very impressive outdoor garden/waterfall/pool area.

This was the view from our room.  I don't know what to tell you about the Dutch windmills.  We didn't get it either.  Korea is kind of random sometimes.

Even thought it was a tad too chilly for swimming the beach was still lots of fun!

Here is Hubs impersonating a Dol harebang, a traditional Jeju statue of the god of protection and fertility (they were everywhere!).  You have no idea how hard it is to get a non silly picture of him. :)

Among other things (hiking, checking out a "lava tube" cave from when the island was an active volcano, going to a museum, and eating ridiculous amounts of awesome food) we got to visit a traditional Jeju village.  It was pretty cool!  

There is a great deal of pride in preserving their way of life and a good number of people still live in this village and practice traditional farming and fishing methods. For example, this is a traditional grinder we found in the village.  It is designed to be operated by being pulled by several horses but Hubs was pretty sure he was up to the task.

One last thing that I almost forgot!  Our tour guide also unexpectedly took us to a "maze" (I told you this place was touristy!) in the shape of the island.  Neither of us had ever been in one of these before and it was so fun!  Luckily I happen to be married to a land navigation genius so we made it through in record time with no wrong turns! :)

Here is my personal GPS (Hubs) at the halfway point (up on a bridge so you can overlook the maze), studying the map to make sure we are on the right track!

We were so thankful for the chance to take a mini vacation.  Hope you enjoyed hearing about it as much as we enjoyed taking it! :)

Korean Barbecue Adventures

One of our favorite things to do on a Friday night is wander out of our apartment into the little city we live in and find a new Korean (or sometimes Chinese, or Indian, Thai, etc. . .basically we aren't picky we just like food!) restaurant to try.  So far Korean style barbecue is one of our favorites.  It is much different than American barbecue but still oh so good.

Below is a picture of a pretty standard traditional Korean barbecue meal.  The big silver circle in the middle is a grill pit in the table with hot charcoals underneath.  Strips of raw meat (in this case pork) are placed on it.  We are then responsible to cook and cut it up (with scissors!).  The other dishes scattered around the table are various side dishes and sauces that all come as part of the meal.  They vary from restaurant to restaurant and season to season but are almost always delicious.  We can always count on some type of kimchi (vegetables fermented with spicy red pepper paste) being served and some type of tofu or seaweed soup.  Both are pictured below, the kimichi is the red stuff in the white dish on the upper right hand side and the black pot in the bottom left hand corner has some spicy tofu soup.

I'm pretty sure that working as a dish washer here has a lot of job security, don't you think? :)  Although with all the dishes on the table it's ironic that there are no actual plates belong to each individual person, everyone just eats straight from the serving dishes.  And if you are not that great with your chopsticks (like myself) you sometimes end up accidentally dropping your selection in another dish while it is en route to your mouth. :)

*A common way to eat the cooked meat is to wrap it up ,along with some rice and sauce, in a lettuce leaf and then pop the whole thing on your mouth.  Soooooooo good!  Hubs is demonstrating the proper roll up technique below. :)

Its would be way more fun to show you the food in person rather than in pictures though, so come visit and the Korean barbecue is on us! :)

* Editors Note:  I can't believe that I overlooked this perfect opportunity to pass on the nickname that Americans (and other English speaking foreigners here) refer to this type of meal as:  beef and leaf!  Ha, doesn't that make you giggle!?

Military Ball Adventures

Due to Hub's job (and my former job), we occasionally  have get to attend military balls .  Ha, just kidding they aren't that bad as far as "mandatory fun" goes!  Some are even down right fun.  A few weeks ago we got to attend the Association of Army Aviation Ball here in Korea.  It was the biggest and probably the nicest one we have ever been to.  It was held at the Grand Hyatt in Seoul, so the gorgeous venue definitely helped out!

I always get so nervous at these things that I am going to accidentally drink the water or use the silverware belonging to the person sitting next to me.  Believe me, there is so much stuff on the table it gets confusing!!

The food was delicious!  Here is a picture of my salad (chilled salmon).  I would have taken pictures of all the courses but I was too busy stuffing my face. :)

This is a picture of us all dolled up for the occasion.  The lights behind us are actually tiered, lighted fountains that were just outside the ballroom on a patio. . . so pretty! 

Also, here is a full length one of my dress for those of you who might be interested in such things.

And finally, here is a picture of Hubs (isn't he the most handsome thing you have ever seen?!?!)  with his two Lieutenants/ Platoon Leaders (on either side of him) and his 1st Sergeant.  (In non army language, that means the people that work directly for him and help him run his company.)

Overall we had a great time and are looking forward to doing it again next year!