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Saturday, July 12, 2014

D&D's Trip to Korea: Four F's

We've been back from Korea only a week, but our time in Korea feels as if it happened years ago. We crawled back into reality whilst battling jet-lag. Now that it's been a week, it's safe to say that we have accepted our fate, trudged back to our lives before Korea ever happened, in 100 degree weather. Life is beautiful!

Now that I'm back on schedule, time to record the remainders of our trip. I've already blogged away about our reception, Gyeongsang province, and Seoul. I've selected some pictures of our last days in Korea and  a few remaining pictures and complied them into a folder (on my desktop), Four F's: Family, Friends, Food, and Fun!

 The infamous live squid
 Flying fish
 All sorts of fried tempura
 Spicy seafood noodles
 The best frozen yogurt place, ever. Six Mango. David and I went every single day...
 Six Mango, with friends.
 Oh Koo Dalk (Chicken baked in the oven).
 My favorite dish of all time, my grandma's kimchee chijae!
 Pork intestines! Yumm!!
Korean style Vietnamese food. 
 A feast prepared by my grand-auntie! This was our breakfast!
 Yogurt smoothie with my cousin! 
 Donkatsu!
 Pig feet!
Mango Six, again!
 Fried dumplings!
 Froyo, again. With my closest friends <3 i="">
 End of the Korean peninsula.
David, inviting hermit the crab to play with us.

 He finally came out. And we jumped a mile away. Literally..
 Alive and alive. Disgusting. 

 David and I, at my grandfather's peaceful resting place.
 My two favorite men.
 The last meal of D&D? Samgyupsal! Mmm..
The night before our departure. Say Kimchee!

Our trip was amazing. Perfect. I've never been a fan of traveling. But, since David joined my life, we've traveled quite extensively. And I've got to say, explorEng the world has become quite fun. I would love to travel to exotic places such as Eygpt or South America... (One day.) However, exploring the motherland never gets old. And, my motherland is the one place that always welcomes me. Until next time, KIMCHEE!

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

D&D's Trip to Korea: Seoul

A visit to Korea just wouldn't be complete if we skipped the capitol city, Seoul, right? So, we jumped on the bus and stepped into the busy streets of Seoul. Personally, I'm not a big fan of Seoul. The city is overflowing with too many streets, shops, and people. But, once again, this trip is not about me. It's all about David. So, off we went.

We first made our way to the royal palaces starting with Kyeongbok palace (경복궁). It was the home to the royal family during the Chosun era starting from 1395. Unfortunately, it burned down during the Korea-Japanese war in 1592. It became the home to the royals again in 1865 ish. It has some wears and tears and some ruins that happened during the Japanese occupation, but has gone under extensive reconstruction. After enduring hundreds of years of history, it stands so beautifully, right in the middle of the busy streets of Seoul.



 The yellow ribbons tied around in the city are to remember the victims of the Sewol ferry tragedy. The people continue to mourn and pray...









The first day we arrived in Seoul was also the day Korea would face Belgium in the World Cup series. Cities were busy in preparation for the match.

"Red Devils" waiting in the strees of Gangnam to unite as a country and cheer for the Korean team!

The second day, we met up with my cousin Hyemin and walked about the streets of Insadong, a small area that still tries to preserve oriental traditions. It's a great place to pick up traditional Korean souvenirs.




 After Insadong, David and I went to another royal palace, Changdok palace (창덕궁). When Kyeongbok was ruined in the fire, the royals moved to Changdok palace (so I believe). Changdok palace is known for their ponds and gardens. We were also told that lots of K-dramas are filmed in this area.







Since we were on a tight schedule, we immediately left for Namsan tower. I've always wanted to take my boyfriend to the tower and "lock our love" on the tower as many couples do in Korea. I am so lucky I was able to go with my husband and fulfill my lifelong wish. David, as usual, was so eager to fulfill another cheesy. girly, romantic wish and was very willing! 
 Kim Soo Hyun, the love of my life... 





 The view of Seoul from Namsan tower.
With the love of my life, Kim Soo Hyun David Eng!

After Namsan tower, my grand uncle and grand aunt (whom we stayed with) and cousin  treated us out to ... pig feet! At 10PM. I love Korea



The last day, we decided to shop till we dropped. And literally, we did. We went to Hongdae ( a busy area in Seoul that is usually full with shops that are targeted towards college students). We were too busy shopping, this is the only picture we took during the last day of our trip to Seoul. David's first time eating street food, which he enjoyed very much. We crawled back into my parents house at 2AM. (Did I mention my curfew was 9PM until I left for college?)

We are back in Gwangju and now have very little time left before we are back to reality. We are both dreading to see the end of our trip. Why can't vacations be any longer?

P.S., I notice I'm wearing the same two dresses in every blog post since our trip. I promise I have more clothes. But, I guess a little more shopping wouldn't hurt as well. DAVID!!