Joni’s first day in Korea was pretty busy!
We walked around in Old Downtown (near the apartment) and bought some new glasses.
We went and ate some spicy chicken fried rice (which Joni loved).
We got our nails done.
We went to a norebang (Karaoke room).
We went to a Korean photo booth.
And finally, we had dinner in Busan near the Diamond Bridge.
As always, click on any photo to see it BIG SIZE.
I was so excited all day to pick Joni up from the airport. Joni had been on airplanes or in airports for over 20 hours just to get to me. When we got home, I showered her with gifts. She was my first visitor in Korea so I went a little overboard.
Joni has always wanted to go to Japan and buy a kimono, but she wasn’t able to on this trip so we got her a yakata (summer kimono) when Dave and I were in Tokyo. Joni has a hat collection so he brought her back a cork hat from Australia. They are supposed to keep the bugs off of your face, but if you ask me, the only thing they’re good at is causing motion sickness. And of course, Joni is also sporting her new Korean face mask.
This was taken in Old Towntown Ulsan. I am always amused when I see people carrying things on their heads.
I know I promised to get this blog updated, but as it turns out, a lot of the photos I needed were on Dave’s computer and he was in Korea. He got to Texas about a week ago and now we are in Hawaii and I woke up super early. Jet lag is actually helping me be productive. Who would have thought?
I spent the weekend preparing the apartment for Joni’s visit. I knew she would be jet lagged and our apartment is big and can be difficult to navigate so I made some signs using post cards from the DMZ. This is the sign for the bathroom. I used the post card of The Bridge of No Return that connects South Korea to North Korea.
Click HERE to read about Meagan’s birthday!
I have been a TERRIBLE blogger lately, but I just found this blog that my friend posted about my birthday. I thought you all might enjoy reading it since I never got around to blogging about my birthday (in May).
I saw a hair salon around the corner from the Exordium Apartments where I live. The sign outside was modern and appeared to be English friendly so I had high hopes. I went in for a wash and a dry. The shop was staffed by mostly men. They seemed intimidated when I walked in. One man walked over to the counter and attempted to help me. When I told him what I wanted, he scurried off and went straight to another guy to try to get him to translate what I’d said. While he was away, I used Google Translate. When I showed him, a lightbulb went off… “Oh! Shampoo and dry!” Must remember that for next time.
The actual process was quite interesting. The curling iron was placed on the floor while it was being heated up. I just laughed it off, but I won’t go back. There are 10’s of hair shops in the few blocks surrounding the apartment.
I found a great little place to get my nails done near our apartment in Ulsan. The owner is so sweet. She even speaks English, which was a surprise because the sign was only in Korean. The shop is on the second floor so if I couldn’t read Korean, I never would have found such a wonderful nail shop. And did I mention she charts about $6.50?
Over the past few weeks I’ve been so busy! I had about a week to unpack and get settled in my new place in Ulsan and then my dear friend Joni came to visit for 10 days.
I’ve been keeping a secret from Joni for a while now and she finally found out the morning Dave and I took her to the airport. We left the apartment at 5am and I brought a pillow with me in the car. When we got to Gimhae Airport to drop her off, I was still holding my pillow. She laughed and said, “You’re taking your pillow in?” I opened the trunk and said, “That’s not all I’m taking in!” and pulled out my giant fuchsia suitcase. Dave had secretly loaded it that morning before she woke up. She had no idea that I was flying back with her. She was so surprised and so happy!
We flew from Busan to Narita Airport (about 2 hours outside Tokyo) and then had an 8 hour layover. The flight from Narita to Dallas was over 13 hours. I got in Thursday around 4:30pm.
I know my blog is really behind and I intend to update it as soon as I shake this jet lag that has me feeling absolutely exhausted all day.
I have seen this ferris wheel tons of times, but it was always from afar. I finally saw it up close and my mind was blown when I found out its actually on top of the Lotte Department Store.
There was a typhoon blowing through Korea on Tuesday so I had plenty of time to get some cooking done. It’s been nice to have the time and to have a kitchen big enough to really cook. I’ve been making a lot of very tasty and healthy meals. We have also been doing a lot of juicing. We found kale in the store here and now I have become obsessed with juicing it. We also both tried quinoa for the first time and it’s so yummy and very good for you!
Life Outside of Texas 