A Visit to Dr. Fish

One of Kwang's co-workers from Singapore was in town so we took her to Dr. Fish. We had foot massages and dipped our feet in water filled with little hungry fish who eagerly began to eat all of the dead skin off our feet.

Here's Kwang in his special spa outfit with his feet in the fish pool.

Ahhh there were so many fish flocked around his feet. They were mighty hungry. Kwang's feet were the perfect treat too as they are in sort of rough shape due to his time in the military.

They really just tickled a lot. The fish took little nibbles, but nothing too extreme. It was sort of insane at how many were feasting on our feet all at once. I felt like they swam in a school from foot to foot. As soon as one of us took our feet out of the water they would go right on to the next foot.

Cake Decorating Shop

Kwang and I went to a cake decorating shop this weekend. Here you get to pick out the flavor of cake and then decorate it with all sorts of goodies. It comes frosted with a base layer so it's really all about the decorating. Kwang was having a hard time deciding.

Here's the menu. We chose the vanilla cream cake in, of course, a heart shape. One bag of frosting comes with it so Kwang picked out a green melon flavored frosting. It tasted just like our favorite ice cream melon bars.

Yeah!! It's just like making cupcakes without the work of baking. Ohh I miss my oven.

We stenciled on "Love" with cocoa powder.

Pictures of cakes made at the shop line the walls. It was so interesting and inspiring to see all of the different designs. 

Little containers of fruit helped add all sorts of color and texture to the cake. 

Apparently I'm wearing the green hat and Kwang's wearing the brown one. Hahaha.

Here's our finished product! It's delicious too. Only after getting it home Kwang announced to me that he just didn't feel right eating a cake he decorated so it's up to me to make a dent in it! Korean cake is much less dense than American cake. It's light and airy and even the frosting isn't as sweet. I wonder how they do this and if this could be our future business venture in the US.

 

Wade Kids Academy Goes to Nanta

We took a field trip to Nanta a couple of weeks ago. Nanta is usually a live cooking show, but we went to the kids version that's a three part activity. In the first part all the kids were given instruments that we used to record sound for a cartoon. Here are they are fanning plastic wings that made a soft wind sound.

Next the kids went to the cooking studio where they each picked out three different packets of rice, barley, beans and peas. Then they "cooked" the grains and poured them into a plastic egg to make a music shaker.

This is Shawn. He's one of the youngest and tiniest students at the school.

Next we went to the music studio where there were all sorts of drums and cymbals. It was pretty cool. The instructor taught the kids how to read music beats. 

Then the lights went out and a black light came on making everything illuminate. I think the kids enjoyed this part the most.

Hiking Up Gwanak San Mountain

Kwang and I went for a hike up Guanak San Mountain this weekend. It's actually really close to our apartment and we were able to get there via a 20 minute bus ride. It was pretty humid out so it was nice to get into the forest where is was much cooler.

There are lots of hiking clubs in Korea. Many of them like to pitch a tarp near the trail to eat lunch under. We heard a lot of cheering as well as soju and beer was consumed during lunch time.

Here's Kwang, excited to get out and stretch his legs on his only day off this week. He's such a good sport.

Here I am, funny story though. I was waiting for Kwang to get out of the store at the bottom of the mountain when two old men walked by. One seemed to be struggling getting cookies out of a package. When he was finally successful he looked up, saw me, walked out of his way and gave me one. His friend shook his head and laughed at him. Apparently my love for cookies is acknowledged world wide.

What's Wrong with this Picture?

I broke down and bought some knock off Birkenstock this weekend. I didn't really look twice at the label, but when I got home I realized they were Birkinstick. I had a good laugh about this blatant infringement. Apparently Birkenstick is even a registered trademark as per the circled R.

Let's see Birkenstock cost about $80-$100 USD. Birkinstick on the other hand cost $12 USD, bargain shopping!

Team Death Adder vs. Team Mamba: Avalon in Action

Kwang and I went to a video game competition that his company Razer was sponsoring. The Razer symbol is that weird triangle snake emblem that's featured on the the bright green banners. Each team is on their respective side and from my understanding the big screen in the center shows the action of both teams, though both Kwang and I had no idea what was going on.

Here's a close up on one of the players. He looks very intense. Razer designs and manufactures the headset and mouse this gamer is using.

The competition was broadcast live on TV so along with a very fancy female announcer there were these three commentators. The announcer was on-site at the competition, but these men were no where to be seen except on the screen. I really wonder what they had to say about the players.

New Haircuts

We broke down last weekend and both went and got haircuts together. Ahhhh. Truth be told Kwang gets a haircut at least once a month to keep that good looking face in order. The place we went to is right near our house and they were super sweet to the two of us.

They not only blew my hair out, but then straightened it and then blew it out some more. This will be the last and only time you ever see it look just like this as the humidity has made it a curly, unruly mess, but that's the way I like it.

Oops and I forgot to mention it only cost $12 USD!!!

Pop and Lock, Break Dancing Championship....we were there!

Kwang's brother, Chang Woo, passed along to us some free tickets to the World B-Boy Masters Championship. We got to see three different rounds of free style dance. It was pretty awesome.

Two competitors would step up on the stage and then they would each have two different rounds to compete in. The three judges on the far left would then deem a winner that would move on to the second round of competition. There were competitors from all around the world; Japan, Vietnam, France, the Netherlands, the USA, and China.

Here are some of the guys up close. I really should have shot a video.

Don't forget the ladies! The dancer in the pink was Yuna and she was awesome. Plus I love her gypsy, MChammer inspired pants. They are all the rage here.

Olympic Park

Back in 1988 Seoul hosted the summer Olympics. We went to Seoul's Olympic Park this past weekend and I was totally impressed with how much art and green space was in the park. Last winter Kwang and I visited Beijing's Olympic park and it was a concrete wonderland. Seoul did it right though and the park is beautiful.

The amount of modern art in the park was incredible. There were lots of giant impressive pieces like this one.

Perfect picture opportunity!

This was really cool. The sphere shape is created by hanging pipes that have been arranged in a way that creates a 3-D illusion. Kwang was quick to remind me that this represents the S. Korean flag and the energy of the ying and yang.

The Bike Path Near Our Apartment

Here are a couple of pictures of the bike path near our apartment. I love this section because of the fountain spraying water. There is a small stream that the bike path runs along. Some sections run under the subway, others run under the road. There are also parts that are open with exercise equipment and sports fields ready for the willing.

Here's a good view of the of the stream with the supports of the subway grounded in the stream. Straight ahead is a walking path and to the right of it is the bike path that runs under the road above.

This is the second time I've seen this man playing accordion along the bike path. I love it. He's sitting in a section that's covered so the sound of his music echoes throughout the path.

Little mini walkways have been put in place so that bikers can get across the stream with ease. This is a less fancy one. Some have a groove down the middle so that you don't have to carry your bike.

Boramae Park: An Oasis Near our Apartment

Boramae Park is located just a few blocks away from our apartment. There are many sports fields, playgrounds, badminton courts and a good sized pond. It's sort of an oasis in the middle of the city. I sometimes choose to go one stop farther on the subway on the way home from work just so that I can walk through the park. At night the pond even has a fountain show. Recently I saw some strange wildlife in the park. One family that had spread out a big picnic had attracted a big white duck which they were feeding bread to. On the other side of the park I came across a huge, fluffy rabbit. It looked like a pet rabbit that was now having to forge upon grass. It still had a pretty good life here in the park as I don't think anyone was going to disturb it, except for the occasion cell phone picture.