Weekend in Busan

While writing this post, we are driving across the mountainous northwest of the US on the way to our new home in Tacoma, WA. Before we left Korea, about which we had mixed emotions, we took a trip to the coast! 부산 (Busan) is the second largest city in South Korea, and is very different from Seoul.
First, the weather was cooler and more breezy when we went. It looks older than Seoul, except some main areas. According to the drama Reply 1997, people in Busan also have a different accent than those from Seoul, which of course Seong could distinguish, but I couldn't! Busan has lots of mountains and hills, so the roads were terrible! We rode a bus and it was not very pleasant.

For our short trip, we took the train and stayed in an AirBnB apartment. We visited the beach, the college area, and the world's largest department store! Here's the video!

We Love the Han River

One of the many blessings of living in the heart of Seoul is that we are minutes from the Han river, which runs east to west right through the city. The parks surrounding the Han are always bustling with activity!
한강 (hangang) is its Korean name because 강 (gang) means river! So don't say "hangang river", got it? Actually, 한 (han) is an old Korean word that means "big", so 한강 means "big river". During the Joseon dynasty (1392-1897), official titles were written in Chinese, and the Chinese character pronounced "han" (漢) was used for the Han river as well as the old name for Seoul, 한양 (Hanyang).
Anyway, biking along the river has been one of our favorite things to do on the weekend. Here's a video (shaky - sorry) of one of our rides!


This is a short time-lapse from high above the Han river in 63 Building, a Seoul landmark with amazing views!

민속촌 = Korean Folk Village

A few weeks ago, we spent an amazing Saturday with Seong's cousins at 민속촌 (Minsokchon), which is a mix between a theme park and a museum!



It was such a pleasure to hang out with them. I got to practice my Korean, they practiced their Englsh, and Seong and I tried really hard to make the kids like us! We also got to try on traditional Korean clothing, called 한복 (hanbok)!



Aren't we a pretty king and queen?

창덕궁 = Changdeokgung Palace Video

So, we have a confession. We sometimes do fun things without blogging about it! We are finally cleaning up our video folders and making videos that we should have made a while ago! Here is our visit to one of the Korean palaces, 창덕궁 (Changdeokgung), which actually happened a few months ago.



Hopefully we can continue to check items off our bucket list...and hopefully we can post about them in a timely manner!

아파트: Apartment Tour Part Two

Living in Korea has been fabulous for us, partially because we have been blessed to live in this apartment! Here is our long overdue video apartment tour!

먹방 (Mukbang) Monday: Churros

It's Monday! You know, it is difficult to come up with an interesting food-related topic every week. If we don't post a Mukbang Monday, it's because we didn't have anything to show or talk about! But today, we thought it would be fun to make a short video while walking to get a quick dessert.
We apologize for the shaky video...and the bad light...hey, stop being so picky!
Here's the Chos eating churros!

We went skiing!

This winter in Korea was not that bad. There wasn't that much snow or ice, and we could still go out as long as we brought our coats. Even so, I am so happy that spring has arrived! 봄이 마침내 왔습니다!
Just as winter was fading and spring was creeping up on us, we took advantage of the last possible opportunity to go skiing while we are in Korea. We went with a tour group on a day trip to Yongpyong Ski Resort.



Sorry that we didn't get any videos of us actually skiing, but we do not own an action camera and didn't want to risk dropping our phones or camera into the snow! In fact, the only times we filmed where when sitting on the lift or taking a rest.

We started with the bunny hill, and after getting the feel of it, we moved up to the intermediate slopes. Our crowning achievement was finishing a 5k slope called Rainbow Paradise! We took the gondola up to the top of the mountain, gripped our poles, and didn't look back! It took about 30 minutes to get all the way back to the bottom, but it was not very steep and the snow was fluffy. It was so fun, we went down a second time!

Napping on the 3 hour bus ride home was easy as pie, and our muscles were terribly sore the next day, but we were happy to spend time together enjoying the wind of winter and the sun of spring!

먹방 (Mukbang) Monday: Banchan

Hooray! Another video Mukbang Monday! Today I just had to talk to someone about our recent banchan purchases. 반찬 (banchan) are Korean side dishes, which are an essential part of the Korean meal. The Chos don't usually have a lot of banchan in the house, but after discovering how deliciously and easily they make a meal, I'm sure we will buy more in the future. I can't wait!

먹방 (Mukbang) Monday: Kimjang

Well, it finally happened! We didn't get this posted on Monday! Dun dun dun!! Hopefully it is still Monday for most of our readers?    Anyway, this weekend we had the opportunity to volunteer by making kimchi for underprivileged children. The event was hosted by CJ, a South Korean company with more businesses than I can count! They own a movie theater chain, movie production studio, several tv channels, restaurants, cosmetics stores, and cafes, just to name a few. They hosted this event to share Korean culture with the expat community (Expat is short for expatriate, or someone temporarily residing in a foreign country). There were volunteers from the US army, international students, and CJ employees. CJ also heavily promoted their brands to us and encouraged us to donate to their philanthropy company too! But we didn't complain about that because we were having so much fun!
    The day included making kimchi, obviously, and a short concert by Hi.Ni, kpop artist, a dinner of 수육 (Suyuk = boiled pork), and a movie! "The Admiral" was downright amazing! We cried, laughed, and cheered! I highly recommend if you can see it with subtitles. We will probably buy it :)
Enjoy!

먹방 (Mukbang) Monday: Crab not Crap

This week we bought crab from the market and I, Seong,  cooked it for us.

In this video, I pointed out some tips and how to steam crab.

Enjoy.

It is a crab, not crap.

먹방 (Mukbang) Monday: Snacks

This Mukbang Monday is not a recipe, it is just a collection of snacks we bought from our Korean grocery store!
1) 고구마 - Goguma Chips
2) 김 - Crunchy Seaweed
3) 호빵 - Hobang (Red Bean Bun)
4) 불가리스 - Bulgaris (Kefir)
5) 떡 - Ddeok (Rice Cakes)
We would love to hear from you if you love or hate these items. This is by no means an exhaustive list, so we will keep you updated when we find new delicious snacks! If any of these look good to you, see if you can find them at your local Asian market. And don't forget to hashtag #mukbangmonday. Happy Snacking!

N Tower Vlog

Seoul N Tower is a landmark in Seoul, and the N stands for 남산 (Namsan = south mountain). We took a cable car up the mountain and spent the afternoon checking out the many shops, enjoying the views, and exploring the nooks and crannies. It felt like half park, half strip mall! It was actually around $17 for the cable car tickets (17,000 won to be exact). The worst part was that we underestimated the walk from the subway station to the cable car, which was long and uphill! The best part was definitely the view! I love seeing new aspects of this city, and up there, you can see forever.