To the Mountains…^.^

Seoraksan is the highest mountain in the Taebaek mountain range in the Gangwon Province in eastern South Korea. It is located in a national park near the city of Sokcho. My brother, sister, and I asked our Imoboo if he could help us plan an adventure to travel the Southeastern side of Korea. Luckily, he happily agreed and then recruited one of his students to help! We left early Saturday morning and boy I was a bad packer. I realized that I should have brought more cute clothes from back home! dang it…so I just brought some things that I had that were semi-cute and good for being active aka shorts and a t-shirt haha We left for the Gangwon Province early Monday morning and after about an hour and half of driving we made a pit stop!

Without a doubt one of my favorite things in Korea is the highway rest stop (휴게소).

There you can find HO-DOO GWAJA (Walnut Cookies): Walnut shaped pastry with sweet red bean paste inside and a whole walnut baked on top. Delicious, especially when fresh :)

Next, we arrived at Yeongdeok! We began by enjoying some of the freshest seafood imaginable

My uncle insisted that we try live shrimp! As it stretched its legs, we had to behead it with our spoons…:X However, I must say that it was quite sweet. My sister was lucky (according to my uncle) because her piece of shrimp has eggs aka Shrimp caviar! You mix it with rice and it goes crunch in your mouth just like the small orange eggs you can find at any sushi restaurant! :P  Couldn’t believe this was our meal…

 Here is Jeffy from earlier…He was delicious and then my sister mixed her rice inside his shell with all his insides and crab broth. WOWZER! If you have a chance definitely try it. The taste was like a creamy rice/risotto combination. Absolutely amazing! After an eye-opening eating experience, we went to the beach!

The only other time I’ve ever been to a beach was when I was 3 years old and we lived in New York. This by far was one of the most incredible experiences and standing along the outskirts (photo on the bottom right) was like an air conditioner! The refreshing breeze felt great in the 85  degree Fahrenheit weather. Oh yes, and above in the photos are my Uncle, his graduate assistant, my brother, sister, and I.

Next, he dropped the 3 muskies off at the bottom of Seoraksan, the mountain!

Check out the next post to read about our experience

Much love,

Jennifer

Night Before

Hello Beautiful!

Today is the dress rehearsal for the big day. My father, brother and I left a day before our flight to stay the night. We double checked our luggage for the tenth time to make sure we packed everything we needed. As usual I forgot something…my invisilign teeth. Then about two minutes later I could not find my kindle. After about 30 minutes of panicking, I found the kindle buried in one of the side pockets! Ah ha at least I was 1 for 2! Then we registered for our plane seats online, which I definitely recommend for those traveling abroad (another thing you won’t have to worry about!) Other than that make sure you pack the essentials for rain or shine. Of course, pack according to the season as well. Safe travels!

Love,

Jennifer

Musical @ House of Congress

Welcome to the Korea House of Congress!Fun fact: Korean calls the place where the President resides the “Blue House.” After a fun day with my Aunt, my grandma took us to a musical.My grandma and her friend! ^ Below is the Inside the theater! Looks like boy bands heheThey even changed costumes numerous times and did a lot of fairytale like dancing and singing! It was really cute!Following their performance was a musical group!After the musical, we went back to our Imoboo’s (My mom’s youngest sister’s husband) house and I hungout with my little cousin. Where he taught me how to breakdance aka stand on my head and hold a pose! Sweet right!? haha

Have a wonderful night <3

JenKim

Bungeeeee!

International Prime Buffet Restaurant, located on the 8th floor of Homeplus.

GO NOW. My grandparents, brother, sister, and I met my Big Aunt and Uncle for lunch! The place was enormous, full of everything you could possibly imagine, and they provide water using tea pourer things! So fancy! haha After lunch we went to my cousin’s home to see her home and meet her baby girl Insugnee. She is adorable and she wears squeaky shoes so you can hear her everytime she walks! I’m obessed with all of the babies! haha Then we went to my 2nd Aunt and Uncle’s house to prepare for our Big plans the next day!!!

Definitely in my TOP 5 things to do! So much fun and a great experience to share with my brother and sister! It was really really scary being that high up and I didn’t realize how fun it was until I came half way down. Initially, I tried to superman. However, I was too afraid and curled into a ball until I was halfway down. haha I enjoyed the bouncing up and down part the most!A guy was on a boat on the water waiting to catch you.

After a super jjang afternoon, we went to eat Tonkgass, which is a fried pork cutlet! It was very similar to how they serve it in America because they cover it with gravy.  The next day our Aunt took us on a tour! Take a look!

My Aunt took us to the Namsan Tower or Seoul Tower. It is a communication and observation tower located on Namsan Mountain in central Seoul, South Korea. It marks the highest point in Seoul.How people use to carry their things!Ladies would grab the handle for balance as they put their shoes on.Behind us are the doenjang clay-pots, they hold fermented soybeans. It sounds disgusting, but it is addictive once you taste a well made doenjang jjigae!They also have games that people use to play. This one is similar to darts. You throw the arrow hoping to make it inside the vase. This one was harder than it looks!http://Behind us is the trees made from locks. Usually couples write a message and lock it onto this tree to bring them a long lasting relationship! So cute!We rode a cable car to reach the top of Namsan!Korean corn: chewy, crunchy, and not sweet like American corn definitely a unique taste/texture!Then we finished with a walk to Cheonggyecheon (chong-GAY-chon) (청계천). It is a man-made river that is about 6km long, running through the middle of Seoul.and to finish this post…A super awkward/cute picture! haha

Love,

JenKim

Meeting more FamilY!

On our first Sunday in Korea, my grandmother took us to a temple where we met my grandfather’s brother’s family!

After my grandpa’s brother’s passing, every sunday (till 50 days after his passing) family gathers at the temple to honor him. We went to one of their houses after the temple to introduce ourselves and talk more.

This was the view from her apartment.It is Lotte World!

Then after lunch, we were off to meet my oldest Aunt (big imo), cousin and his son!

Such a cute baby!!! <3 After chasing him around, my Aunt took us to see a musical.

Inside the SHart Hall..haha such a funny/strange name!

Then we walked to the Gyeongbokgung Palace <3 Jennifer ( Jie Young in Korean)

Sport’s Dance

Hello! Hello!

We all went to watch my grandmother show off her moves at her community dance performance! Even my grandfather came to cheer her on! We arrived an hour early and forgot to bring flowers. So, my sister sent me on a mission to explore to find some flowers. After about 20 minutes of aimlessly walking, I asked a street vendor where the nearest flower shop was located. He sent me in a path and somehow I made it there! While at the flower shop I purchased a bouquet of wild flowers and as soon as I asked the owner how much the flowers cost she replied you must not be from here. haha my korea must be that bad. I have a hunch tha she raised the price knowing that I am a foreigner, but either way I needed flowers. She took her time preparing them as she told me her dreams of coming to America, where she has traveled, and held onto the flowers for another ten minutes so we could talk more. Finally I made it back to the Dance complex to watch my grandmother!

Here she is dancing with her partner. She said that there are not enough men so the best dancers are given the lead role ;)

Below is the whole gang!

After her performance, we went to visit my grandfather’s older sister! She is 101 years old!

The lady below my sister is my grandfather’s sister’s daughter. She was very sweet and we had a chance to talk as we had lunch!

While eating, my grandfather accidentally told his sister that their brother had passed away two months ago. The atmosphere became solemn because my aunt explained that when he called to say his last good-bye to her, he said his head was hurting so he wore a pas (think icyhot on a sticky bandage) and he felt better. My grandpa was in bigggg trouble by my grandma! After we said our goodbyes  my grandfather took us to Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market!

http://dried fish…yum?Octopus ^ The fish was as fresh as could be! aka most were still wiggling  for their lives as their head was chopped off!

Ekkkk! But definitely this was definitely apart of the cultural experience which I recommend because it is pretty cool aside from the strong odor…

Hope you have a great day!

JenKim

Personal Tour Guides

“Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they are going.”

-Paul Theroux

My brother, sister, little cousin, and I beginning our day full of exploring Myeongil & more!

These exercise machines are found all throughout Korea. They use only your own body weight for resistance and are easy for everyone to use….AND they are free for the public! I hope we can bring these to the USA someday!

And below is a little friendly competition against my long-legged cousin…GUESS WHO WON!? 

Here is my brother and cousin posing for some pictures!

Then we found ourselves a park and decided to hike! It is amazing that in every bustling city, you can find a park. When I say park I mean full forest, batminton courts, hiking trail, and more. Looking around in a park, you can’t every tell that you are 5 minutes from crazy traffic! They are beautiful and a great change o f scenary!

After a lot of walking we bought some drinks! These small cans are available in the vending machines located almost on every other, other block!Next, we walked around the Olympic Stadium found in Jamsil, South Korea.Finally, to end our adventure we had a free foot massage….it was a little on the painful side haha.

Every small adventure takes you somewhere new and can lead to something magical.

To Do: Go on your own adventure and explore something new! :)

Jennifer