Tessa Bday-Coex Wine Buffet & MB

Tessa & I at the wine buffet

On April 28th, Tessa celebrated her 25th bday with a great party starting at the Coex Inter Continental Hotel Wine Buffet. I LOVE everything about the wine buffet! It is a great way to feel a bit classy in a country where our nights our usually consist of buckets of booze and drinks spiked with soju (the korean liquor).  Anyway, to get to the buffet you just need to go to Samsung Station on Line 2 and then you can walk about 10 minutes to the hotel.  The buffet costs $35 with taxes and all charges included and is from 6-9 (I know it is on Fridays, but I think Saturdays as well. ***Not sure about other days of the week).

Here is address of

SEOUL COEX

524 BONGEUNSARO, GANGNAM-GU • SEOUL, 135-975 • Korea

Front Desk: +82-2-34522500 • Fax: +82-2-34308000

In terms of the set up, there is a light fare of foods such as meats, cheeses, crackers, salads, and tons of yummy stuff to eat.  There is also a great selection of alcohol too! Red and white wines, champagne, soju cocktails, and sangria! YEAH!!!

A view of the hotel

A group pic of the gang out for the bday festivities

Christy, Tessa, Carrie and I

YB and I enjoying the red

I wasn't good at taking pics, but this was a messy pic of our table

Tessa, Carrie and I

After the wine buffet, we had enough class and it was time to get back to our comfort zone, so we all headed to Monkey Beach! Buckets of booze were consumed, Christy and I won a dance contest, and once again no one died! Yet again another successful night! 

New Bikes- 새 자전거

About 2 months ago, YB and I decided to make a big purchase- NEW BIKES!!!! I love keeping an active lifestyle, and I knew YB really wanted to get a fixed gear bike, so when I saw these great bikes on sale on Seoul Groupon we jumped at the chance. Our bike is a fixed gear made by the brand Foxon.  (It normally retails for about $700, but we got the bikes for about $320 each with free delivery)

A fixed gear bike is basically a bike that doesn't have any gears.  They have been popular among people in the US for a long time, but in the past few years the trend has really picked up in Korea.  YB definitely liked this bike for the style of it, more than the function but I actually really love this bike as well. 

The great things for me about my bike are:
  1) It is PINK!!! Yes, it is flashy, but honestly in Korea everyone rocks the bright colored bikes.
  2) It is super  lightweight!  Since we live on the third floor we have to carry our bikes up the stairs every time we use them, so a light bike is important.  It doesn't have the weight of the extra gears to weigh it down.
  3) It is simple.  I don't have to worry about switching gears, and most of the bike trails in Korea are flat so I wouldn't really use them anyway.

So for the past couple months YB and I have been loving our purchase!  It gives us something to do as a couple that is also healthy for us.  And a great thing about Korea is the bike path by my house is lit 24 hours, which makes for safe night riding too!

Girls Night in my Hood!

Friday, April 27th was such a great time!  For over a year now, I have been living in Silim since I started going to grad school and had to get my own place.  Then in March, YB and I moved into a bigger apartment in Silim, so I thought it was finally time I should invite friends to my neighborhood and have a much needed GIRLS NIGHT!

As you can see a very small spread, due to small living space

Limmi, Tara, Carrie, Christy, Tessa, Jackie and I - *Kristi was the photographer

Of course my apartment is still small, and we don't even have a proper table, everyone sat Korean style on cushions and we had to use my little foldable table for the snacks.  It may seem ghetto, but actually is totally normal in Korea.

A ghetto fabulous selection of wines

Tara, Carrie, Christy, and Tessa

Carrie and I

Limmi and I

So basically all the girls came over around 9-10, we drank wine and ate way too much cheese! Of course being girls we gossiped and talked about boys! No matter what age we are, I think that never changes.  Anyway, I was soo thankful to have such a great group of ladies make an effort to come over and check out my new place.  We all have busy schedules and so it was really appreciated.

Also, I realize that being in Korea it can be difficult without having your long time friends and family from home, but there is such great opportunities to make new friends.  I have been really lucky in meeting some great people! Also, I love that each and everyone of us was from a different part of the world!  Canada, San Diego, Washington D.C, Korea, Conneticut, New York.... cool isn't it!?!?! I never thought I would have such a diverse, awesome group of friends.

Anyway, enough sentimental crap! Ladies nights are always more fun when you get out and try to get into a bit of trouble, so that is exactly what we did.  All of us girls walked down the street to my local bar The Colony and got a bit crazy!

Us posing with some boys- they had bottles of vodka, so we were being friendly ^^

Cute Limmi taking a shot- she doesn't go out to clubs/bars often so this was a rare moment unlike the rest of us

Carrie in a blond sandwich

Jackie, Tara, Limmi, Kristi

Free shots at The Colony

As, I mentioned the night was great! We ended up getting free shots from the bar and having a great time!  THANK YOU LADIES! 

Everland-Rides, kids and whiskey

Once again Young Bum and I do another date fit for teenagers (or children)! I love amusement parks and all the cheesy things they entail!  The music, snacks, rides, and characters. Every bit of it is awesome.  I could live without the lines and kids but other than that, love them.

YB happened to get free tickets from his work place so off to Korea's biggest amusement park- Everland!  It is south of Seoul and takes about 1 hour 30 minutes, or 2 hours to get into the park.  There are a variety of buses that can take you there.

Here is how we got to Everland
-Go to line 2 or 4 Sadang Station (사당 역)
-Take exit 3
-Get on bus 1500-2
-From there you will be taken to a parking lot and there is a shuttle bus to Everland Park

Once you get there a ticket will cost you about $35. I am not exactly sure since we got free tickets^^

Enterance to Everland

YB with our flask (this is how we dealt with the long lines )

**** Seriously, all rides were over an hour!

We thought that we would miss some of the crazy lines and waits by going on a random Monday.  So, instead of going on the weekend when we knew it would be crazy we took the day off from work and went.  Did that help!?!?!? NO! There were tons of teenagers there! As we got there bus loads of kids were coming.... so whiskey was our answer

Viking boat ride

Feeling up the statue in the garden/fountain area

The actual rides at Everland aren't that amazing! They do have the basics- Viking boat, a wooden roller coaster, tea cups, water ride, etc. But the nice thing about Everland is that they do have a really beautiful park with flowers, fountains and a great atmosphere.  I wish there was a way you could just go enjoy the park without having to pay the ticket price.

YB and I in front of the tulips

View of the beautiful park

Ferris Wheel (although I think it wasn't in operation)

European themed food court

There are tons of restaurants where you can get chicken, pasta, snacks, beer and etc.  The food runs about $7-$20 and the beer ranges in price from $3 drafts to more expensive brews.  I thought the food prices were pretty reasonable for an amusement park.  Also, there were tons of places to get cotton candy, popcorn, and icecream for around $3-$5.

This is the T Money Roller Coaster we waited 80 minutes to go on

Since the park was so busy, we had to choose what ride we would go on.  So to get the most bang for our buck we chose to wait for the T Money Roller Coaster. It was an 80 minute wait for a 3 minute ride! The ride was pretty good, but the wait was soooo long! I honestly was a bit scared on the ride, which means it was a good one.

So after waiting nearly an hour and a half, we got some food and then chose our next ride.  We decided to go on a water safari ride.  You ride in these tubes that hold about 10 people.  It is a bit fun because you go down some rapids and get a bit wet along the way.

YB enjoying the water ride

Wet Bum post Water ride

On April 22nd, 2012 YB and I ran our 2nd 10k together! It definitely had some standout points that made it different than other 10k's I had ran.  First of all, it was really cheap! Just $5 a person. Second, it was very unorganized!  Checkin in our bags before the race was a complete disaster!  The race course was terribly marked.  Post race we had to wait in ridiculous lines. But overall, it was a great value for the race with super prizes. Who can beat a $5 10k with a time chip??? That alone was worth the money!

The race website was www.nhicrace.or.kr and it started from World Cup Stadium in Seoul. The race had a 5k and a 10k option.

Getting ready to run in our ponchos (handed out free before the race)

YB trying to catch up to the runners (We got a late stuff trying to get our bags checked in)

Getting our 10k on

A pic of some runners (mostly walkers) on the rainy Sunday morning

Tired/sweaty/ getting to the end self pic

Lines of people post race waiting for their prizes!

Overall a good run.... just unorganized!

Assaulted by an Ajuma

I have lived in Korea for 5 1/2 years and never had such an experience like I did today.  In fact, I would say that Koreans are some of the nicest, most generous people and Korea is a very safe country for foreigners.  Today though, I had such a strange experience that I am still angry/confused/disturbed by it.

Every Wed-Fri I take the busy line 2 subway to school from Silim to Sinchon.  It is always a busy ride, with lots of pushing, cramming, and shoving, but in general no violence.  Today I was lucky enough to get a seat for the last ten minutes of my twenty minute ride and the subway train was actually not too busy on this beautiful Wednesday.  Everyone had plenty of room and the center of the train was actually quite open with plenty of space.  I was concentrating on memorizing my flashcards and then checking my phone, not looking around.  I was listening to the announcements and knew I had to get up in a moment because we would arrive at Sinchon.

Suddenly, I felt a strong kick hit my feet/legs.  I looked up and this ajuma (korean older woman) of about 50-60 shuffled away getting off the train.  Immediately I assumed it must have been an accident because she wasn't even looking at me and she must have just been trying to get to the exit door.  But my legs were throbbing and the amount of force used wasn't normal.  If someone had hit someone with that much force a normal, "excuse me", "sorry", would be standard even in this country where pushing on the subway train is normal.

So, my curiousity caused me to follow this women. We both were getting off at Sinchon anyway,  and we were both going the same way, so I simply walked past her and glanced at her.  I figured if she looked at me as if nothing had happened maybe it was a mistake.  But when I walked past and glanced at her, she gave me this twisted evil expression and then started doing these disgusting hand gestures.  She was flipping me off with one hand and then running one hand up and down that hand as if in a dirty sex motion of some sort.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS WOMAN?!?!??! Who does that!?!?!? I was so shocked that she did it, and seriously disgusted because she looked like a nasty little witch! Also, it was embarrasing too! No one paid any attention to it, and I am not sure if anyone even saw.

I had no time to act though because I had a midterm I was heading to.  I seriously wanted to confront this lady and address her behavior.  If I had mistakenly done something to offend her I want to know, but acting in that manner is unacceptable.  It infuriates me that someone believes they can assault another innocent human being for no reason in such a place as the subway that should be safe for all public use.

It made me realize that racism is still alive and flourishing in Korea.  I am a white, American girl and so I may be treated better than other foreigners living here, but I today experienced what I believe was an act of racial violence.  If I could go back to the situation I wish I could have asked her why, confronted the police, or taken a video to broadcast and show the racism that occured and educate people that it is not ok.

Of course, this happens in every country and this was just one instance by one crazy Korean woman.  I can't be certain it was because of my race, citizenship, or gender, but I am certain this behavior is unacceptable and if I encounter this again I won't just continue on my way to class.  I will act!

Coex Aquarium

Putting my hand in the Dr.Fish at Coex Aquarium (little fish that bite dead skin off your hands or feet)

Young Bum's turn

Saturday was a rainy, stormy, icky day so YB and I decided to head to Coex Aquarium for our Saturday date.  As I am writing this blog, I realize I should almost call it Tegan's Animal Adventures or something similar because half the time it has to do with animals. YB and I both LOVE animals, so any chance we get we head to the zoo, aquarium, horse races, or pet cafes.

Anyway, Coex Aquarium is a great place to go for an afternoon of fun.  In Seoul, I know of 2 aquariums- Youido 63 building and Coex.  There is no comparison! Coex takes the cake hands down.  And they both cost about the same amount of money- $17.50 for an adult at Coex, and I think $15 at Youido.  Anyway, of the two go to Coex.

These fish were really cool/creepy! They were shiny and their face almost resembles a human

Beautiful Saltwater tank w/ coral and tons colorful fish

Not a great pic, but this is a manatee eating

Underwater walk through tunnel- really cool!

Aquarium love

Jellyfish- I don't know the real name but YB said they look like snowflakes

More jellys

Me getting eaten by a shark

A tank filled w/ sardines- they looked so beautiful even though this isn't typically what you think of as a beautiful fish

Hope you enjoyed a peak of the aquarium! There is also a huge tank filled with sharks, sea turtles, and rays, but none of my pics turned out good. Also, there are other animals as well- otters, a beaver,etc.

ENJOY!