Romantic Dinner at the 63 Building

The 63 Building is the tallest building in Seoul...about 100 stories high. And, Mike surprised me with a romantic dinner at the top of the 63 Building.

Bad quality picture of the Happy Couple

View of Seoul from our table

Our table facing out to the view of Seoul...and
dont' forget the wine!

Oh yeah, in the bottom of the 63 Building, there is an aquarium...all part of the date!

Golfing in Korea

Since South Korea has 60Million people in the space the size of 50% of California, there isn't much space for extra things.

One of those "extra" things are golf courses. There are some golf courses, but they are very highly in demand and cost about $300-$400 per round. Hmmm...1/2 the price of a trip to the Bali or 18 holes. Needless to say, we have not chosen to play many rounds of golf here.

But, we have chosen to play some Indoor Golf. And, it is more than just Nintendo Wii style. The platform moves and you can see the ball fly through the air on the screen. Koreans know how to make this work...

Here is our friend Todd on the indoor course.

Oktoberfest at the Grand Hyatt Seoul

Just because we live in Korea doesn't mean we have to miss Oktoberfest. The Grand Hyatt here in Seoul hosts one of the largest Oktoberfests in Asia.

Lots of beer and lots of German food...and good friends.

Jeff demonstrating how to properly drink at Oktoberfest

Beer chugging competition...a Korean woman won! Who says
Korean woman cannot drink!

Even some authentic dressed Germans in Korea

...and we danced!

And dancing...people actually know all of the words to these songs :-)

...and danced

...and danced!

Seocho 5K

Mike and I are STILL running. Our neighborhood had a small 5K event in September and here are a few pics from the event.

Not sure what the gladiator suits are for, but this Korean guy wanted to pose with me.

Again, not sure what a carrot/ orange guy is doing here, but you never know what you are going to see in Korea. 

Mike prepares to make beer in Korea.

If you are reading this blog, you know is pretty well and you know that Mike's life-long dream is to open his own micro-brewery. And he has "assigned" the task to his lovely wife Jennifer :-)

So, in the meantime, Mike is preparing to continue his home-brewing here in Korea. And, in order to do that, he needed a "really big pot."

And in Korea, Namdaemun Market is where you can find anything...which is where Mike found this happy Korean Man who was happy to sell him this 15-Gallon Steel Pot.

Hopefully, we will have some beer soon...

Noraebang!!!!!

For those of you that love Karaoke, you will adore Noraebang. The hardest part of Karaoke is all of the strangers staring at you. Noraebang has solved that problem.

For a mere $10/ hour, you can rent a small room with your friends for a private Karaoke event with tamborines and lots of supporting music. Even Mike sings at Noraebang...after a few beers, of course. 

My New Car!

My husband bought me a car!!! 

Wow, never thought I would say this, but Mike bought me a car! Not that Lexus Holiday Big Red Bow event, but ...even better, a cool Dirt Yellow Matiz!

Here are the highlights:

•  0.8L, 3 cylinders of power
• turn off the air for big hills gives you turbo-boosting power
• probably about 50 miles/ gallon

And...best of all. I get to driver here in Seoul, even with the $8/ gallon gas prices.

And here she is..

Mike has proposed  some modifications to improve the appearance...Transformers Stripes! What do you think? Since GM has sponsored the Transformer movies, there is an aftermarket kit where you can actually get these stripes :-)

And if you are skeptical about how pretty my car is, here was my other option. Yes, that was pink on the inside AND outside.

Hangover Food of Choice in Korea!

During my time in the Incheon Airport here in Seoul, I ran across either a more-than-literal translation or something awesome.

"Non- Instant Ramen for Drinking to relieve a hangover and Rice Roll"

Two great things about this menu item...
1) They are being very specific that this is "non-instant" ramen
2) Recognize that hangovers require good food to help relieve them!

Where Americans choose greasy Diner food, White Castle Sliders, late night Taco Bell or Skyline Chili in Cincinnati...Koreans want their Ramen!

Gotta love Korea! and their Food!

Things that make you go hmmm.... (Part Deux)

These signs I post below are official signs posted in public areas, not something handwritten. I would hope that someone was spell-checking and grammer checking.

But, then again, I my Korean consists of mono-syllables and even taxi drivers continuously correct me on my pronunciation!

This is the Emergency Hammer in the Seoul Public Bus...It says "Embergency Hammer"

"No Forget them!...Your Personal Belongings!" (that is).

Summer is the season for Base....ball!!!

Summer in any American City means Baseball games.Things like the Tigers games in Detroit with some cold beers and the fireworks at the end are something you miss when you live overseas. So, we decided to try a Korean Baseball Game.

There are 8 teams in Korea. LG Twins, Doosan Bears, Samsung Lions, SK Myverns, etc, all of which are owned by the large Korean corporations...in case those names didn't ring a bell to you.

The Doosan Bears are our local team...with their stadium in the Jamsil Olympic Park, just about 6km from our house.  So, we joined some friends and decided to cheer on our local team.

Great things about Korean Baseball games:
 1) tickets are only $8-$12 for good seats
 2) stadiums are completely accessible (as is everything else) from the subway, so no worries about drinking and driving
 3) no ridiculously priced food or beer...beer $3, kimbab $3, ice cream bar  $1.50, KFC family pack $6 or any other Korean food...priceless that you can actually afford to take your family to a baseball game and have a few drinks and  without breaking the bank!!
 4) choreographed dancers!
 5) sing-alongs in Korean to American music (like "Surfin USA, etc)

Yes, this guy is selling beer from a keg on his back...and
it is only $3.

We'll be back to support our local Doosan Bears...although I hear they aren't doing so well this season!

Chillaxin' on the Roof!

Great part of an ever-transient expat community is the someone is always leaving for another foreign country assignment and has great things to sell. 

So, Mike and I got this great patio set from a friend that is moving to Singapore...and are enjoying the heck out of it :-)

This was a Saturday afternoon (after a long run) enjoying the sun on our roof, a great view of Seoul, some burgers on the grill and some good music. It almost felt like we were back in Warren, MI in our backyard...minus the grass and the loud neighbors!!

Maddy was loving it too.

You all have an open invitation to visit us anytime and enjoy some beers and music on the roof!

Queen's Birthday Ball

Spring in Seoul is the season of Balls here in the expat community of Seoul. This is what I have been told...and I am telling you, you should all experience the Balls! What woman would miss a chance to get all dresses up and Mike loves the chance to wear his tux.

The theme was Alice in Wonderland and the Hyatt did an amazing job with the food to match the theme...

It started with a potion..."Drink me." The deserts included. some crazy mushroom and other crazy shaped sweets

Even ones with lights inside.

The lovely ladies of the tennis team.

And some of the husbands as well..

 Thanks to Sarah for letting me borrow the beautiful dress and thanks to Shannon for inviting us. We will be back next year!

A quick getaway to Maui

Thanks to the Deverys and Masons and of course, my brother and sister-in-law's willingness to have me crash their Hawaiian vacation, I left Mike and Maddy to fend for themselves in Seoul for 10 days and took off for Maui.

It was a great time. Here is the group at the pool at the Mason's condo. Rob cooked up a Hawaiian BBQ feast.

We did some paddle boarding...

And took a drive to Hana...

And an awesome snorkel trip thanks again to the Devery's connections on the island!!

Awwww....so cute! Would you believe she is actually pregnant here :-) Thanks again Dennis and Rita for letting me crash your Hawaiian Getaway! I had a blast. Can't wait to do it again.

And...thank you Mike for being such a supportive husband and letting me take these crazy vacations on a whim! I love you!!