Fray Adventures

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Another race in Seoul...I am back!

This morning, May 1st, Mike and I ran our sixth or seventh race here in Seoul with our trusty Seoul Flyers.

It was my first back since the Seoul Marathon in late March. Still nursing a bit of a bad knee, so just a 5K for me and 10K for Mike.

Mike had a PR for his 10K (not inlcuding when he was 17 Years old, but I don't think that counts anymore). He now officially has a faster 10K time than me!

NANTA!

NANTA is a show here in Seoul that combines the traditional Korean drums with some humor and cooking. Hard to explain. Some sites call it the Eastern version of the Blue Man Group...very high energy, crowd-involvement required show.

At any point, there is drumming, wacky Korean humor, food flying, knives thrown, plates thrown, men kissing and even some taekwondo and numchucks (made of wisks!). If you are in Seoul, it is worth seeing this show.

Mike and I went to see it last night and I wanted to share a clip of it with you here. There is so much in this show, that we couldn't show you all of it, but the Korean drums are my favorite, so here is a clip from youtube.

Spring has Sprung here in Seoul!

I was walking Maddy the other day and was overwhelmed by the fragrance of lilac. It was like I was standing in a Bath n Body Works at home :-) I think it is sad that is where my mind goes when I think of lilacs, although BNBW marketing company would be so happy.

When I looked around, I realized that I was surrounded by beautiful flowers everywhere.

Thought I would share some of the those with you. If you look close, you can see Maddy in one of the pictures.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Adidas MBC Race

When Nike or Adidas sponsor a race here, it usually draws a crowd and the shirts are very bright.

This year, the Adidas Race Shirt (race swag) was neon green...and everyone wore the shirt. In the U.S., it is an unwritten rule that you don't get to wear the free race t-shirt until you have completed the race. Here in Korea, things are different...I believe the understanding is that, if you are given a t-shirt, then they must expect you to wear it ?!

Well, with neon green shirts, it creates a sea of green...

Still on the injured list from the Marathon, I was the support for this race, while Mike ticked away and came very close to beating my best 10K time...(really need to get back out there before he catches me!)

It was easy to spot Mike in the light blue shirt...

And here are some of our fellow Seoul Flyers who also came out for the run.

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.