Cherry Blossoms

For those of you East Coasters out there, Cherry Blossoms will sound familiar because they bloom about the same time in D.C as they do here in Seoul.  And they don't last long (especially with the wind here). 

Cherry Blossoms are a sign that Spring has arrived here in Seoul and the trees are beautiful. 

Yeouido Park is the prime area to see the Cherry Blossoms, but I think there were actually better ones right outside our house.

During Cherry Blossom Festival week, we, along with all of Seoul ventured to Yeouido to see the Cherry Blossoms.

Nice pose Mike!

Maybe a Christmas Card?

Marathon Recovery in Bali

There is just not enough to say about Bali. In one sentence...If you ever get a chance to go, GO!

About five days after Bali, Mike and I left a snowy (yes, snow) Seoul for our 7 hour flight to Bali. We were spending 3 nights in Ubud (home of Eat, Pray, Love) and 2 nights in Nusa Dua in the Hyatt. Ubud was our favorite.

We had a gorgeous Villa in Ubud right in downtown Ubud. We had a private pool and breakfast delivered outside to our vila each morning.

Here was our breakfast...after a quick swim in the pool in the morning :-) It is a tough life...heheh!

There are beautiful rice fields, all around and we found some restaurants overlooking the rice patties, visited Monkey Forest where monkeys run loose, ate, shopped, and took a tour one day of some of the parts of the island.

Ubud has wonderful scenery, shopping, eating and nightlife. We spent our evenings at a local bar with some live music and good drinks...

We did a day tour and drove around the island with a tour of a rice field, coffee plantation, and volcano.

And finally, we spent 2 days on the beach in Nusa Dua on the south part of the island.

Oh Bali...I miss you already! I'll Be Back!!!

Seoul International Marathon

It was a rainy, cold Sunday morning on March 20th here in Seoul, but Mike and I drug ourselves out of bed at 4:30AM to head to the start of 2011 Seoul International Marathon.

In a taxi by 6AM with Pierre (our neighbor who also runs) and at Gwanghamun by 6:20AM, followed by 2 hours of waiting in the cold rain. Not good planning on our part, but my fellow runners will know that the Onofrays prefer to be early to races...nerves are already working usually. Don't need traffic jams, porta-potty lines and crowds adding to the nerves.

We met up with the other Seoul Flyers, bought our 2,000 KRW ponchos from the ajimas selling them everywhere...and proceeded to wait for the start. Here are a few of us prepping (in our own ways) for the start of the race.

And...we were off...

Mike was an awesome supporter, and jumped on and off the subway to catch me and some of the other Seoul Flyers along the route. For those of you who know Seoul a bit, we start up and Gwanghamun and end down at Jamsil Stadium south of the river. We go back and forth along the Cheongycheong River, head east again and pass Children's grand park, then past Seoul Forest Park, across the river, circle around Jamsil and finish in the stadium...and they make you run the whole track in the stadium...brutal!

Here is me and some other notables along the route a bit.

Overall, I am happy with the Marathon, although I am currently on the injured list. I was on track for an awesome PR of a 4:10 Marathon for the first 2/3 of the race, but about 30K, I fell apart...legs tightened up, knees throbbed, (I swear some little efl was stabbing me in the knee with a pen constantly...bugger!) and overall...lost lots of time walking a bit, stretching and just cursing the rain. But, I finished in a grand time of 4:29 and was happy to finish and see Mike there!

This was a my first International Marathon and third overall. Chuncheon Marathon is in the fall here in Seoul, so maybe there is still a chance for that PR!