I'm living for the weekends...

So, I actually hadn't posted in a lil while... My apologies folks, I've actually had more of a life here in Korea and I've done a lil research too, lol... Not to mention cathcing the worst food sickness ever, but I'll get to that. 

Anyhoo... to bring you all up to speed I've realized that here in Korea, Ulsan more specifically, I'm living for the weekends... Being out in the country-side has its perks, like the beautiful scenery and peace and quiet. But I'm far away from everything I might wanna do, anything I may wanna eat, but making up for it... on the weekends. 

So back to this food-born near death experience!! LOL, it wasn't that bad... felt like it for a while tho... I live here on campus, in the dorms with Hatsumomo and the Twins driving me crazy and typically I'm subjected to the cafeteria since there's no kitchen in my dorm room. That is USUALLY ok, cause if I don't want what's being served I'll eat the kimchi and rice being served along with the meal. Just to give you an idea, we eat things like this...

Seemingly harmless, while not looking too appetizing right?? Well, on one particular afternoon lunch actually looked and tasted pretty good... but I realize now that was the master plan from the start. Not even two hours later was I terribly sick. Horrible... I literally couldn't eat for 3 days and fought lingering nausea for a week and a half... Let's just say, I've been getting off campus even more now...

Getting off campus tho, was more of a challenge because I didn't know where to go and virtually NOTHING is in english nor can anyone speak english... That's fine, I'm in Korea. Ok. Since Transformers is coming out I decide I'm gonna get out and go with my labmate cause she knows the area... How about she misses the bus?? Then decides that "maybe I should take rest and she'll talk to me later" completely ignoring the fact that I caught the bus but didn't know where-in-the-sam-hell I was going. Ohhhhhhhh... talk about pissed!! And honestly, a little scared. I was lost, literally. I got off the bus and decided to let my spidey sense lead me where to go. I decided, don't get mad... get glad, lol. 

I made lemonade outta my labmate ditching lemons... I was on a quest!! lol

Ready to test these wings to see if I can fly

On my journey to the shopping center I got a glimpse of a common sight in Korea... Women covered in neck scarves, detached sleeves, hats, umbrellas and even masks... all trying NOT to tan, cause lord forbid if they get dark. O_o

 I also stopped to get a "brunch" donut at Papillion since I was boycotting the cafeteria for trying to poison me. The french obsession here is extremely evident... I love Paris tho so it's all good with me

I also couldn't help but notice the nearly 20 pet shops with cute lil dogs in the windows, but ALL within a block of one another... Kinda weird... esp since some Koreans eat dog in a stew called Boshintang... But, I guess its no different from my cousin who had a pet duck and chicken at one point... BTW, I wonder what happened to those things... I don't think she ate 'em?!?! Or... Ok, I lost focus... 

 After almost 40 minutes of walking I FINALLY found the shopping center. I was no longer the student but now, a master!! Equipped to tackle Korea without ANYONES help... It liberated me and I felt ready to explore...

This Mickey D's was definitely gonna make it to my dinner menu later cause I was taking a Korean food break til my stomach could handle what I ate...

The benefits of being closer to the city... Starbucks and its high a$$ coffee... I was glad to see it too...

Decided to treat my feet to a pedicure while I waited on my movie... which, here in Korea you have assigned seating in the movie that you chose when you buy ur ticket... 

Hey, I'm still smiling!! That's always great!!

The masses at Seongnamdong for shopping and fun... 

I on the other hand was on a mission to see Transformers!! Too geeked actually... And it was worth it!! SN: Not sure what the sign translates to, but in case ur wondering the movie is in English with Korean subtitles

The megabox!! I'll be back when its time to see Harry Potter!! Don't judge me!!

Got my Happy Meal for dinner!! YAY!! Reminds me of home... and glad I got a cheeseburger and not a bulgogi burger... It didn't look delish

This... literally, had me dying... Does he even know what it says?? Hope so... He was even walking with two girls... This Korean dude is keepin' his pimp hand strong!! LOL... 

Ahhhhh.... Yes, I survived!! Waiting for the bus and just glad I was on my way back to the dorm... Safe and Sound

Decided I liked this shirt for one of my nieces... esp since it said made in Korea in the tag... A nice gift until I realized after the fact my Korea clothes buying mistake number 1... DON'T buy clothes here that have english words or phases... Sigh... Can you tell what's wrong?? I should have paid more attention to what it said instead of the tag...

Oh, and I thought it'd help me be more tapped into Korea if I had a lil phone fob to hang since EVERYONE... I mean, Everyone has one... Grown men and all... with Kpop ringtones to boot... I didn't go that far tho... This one says "I Love You" and since getting this one, I now have two... I'm slowly being brainwashed by Korea, lol jk

Finishing up my weekend with church!! An English service just for Foreigners. Everybody's gotta get their praise on!!

Hitting up a pseudo american restaurant with a Korean twist... Love the food, but again... the English, lol

Yeah, interesting menu and even more interesting spellings... Its really nice they try so hard 'cause I def have a challenge with my hangul... funny, but nice... Oh, and not too sure what chicken muscle salad is... but... I think I'll pass...

So I guess they didn't know what to call this group of menu items and went with some food... I can dig it... lol. The BBQ Chicken was calling my name

 Our table looked like a construction site as we waited for our food

Ohhhhh, this was soooo good... and not completely americanized which is great. While I've had my issues with the food at times, I didn't come here only to eat American food that I wouldn't normally eat if I were in the states... This was a great balance...

 Church crew having an after service lunch!! Dig in!!

On the fourth of July... while all my friends were in New Orleans having a blast and everybody was bbq-ing, it was a normal workday for me... Whomp... So, I got all patriotic in my red, white and blue and took myself to dinner...

Not only was I geeked that my food was great and closer to the school but I also had a fork, knife and regular sized glass of water... You just don't know how infrequent that is here... I savored it, lol... It's the lil things...

Ray and his buddy were so nice to me... since then, I go here fairly often... My fave place for italian in Korea

Passed a chicken and beer place when I left... What is no stress beer?? I might have to have one of those, lol

Also, found a great coffee shop thanks to Swati before she left... 

Well I guess it's not hard to tell... I've finally got that hang of Korea... and right now, I'm living for the weekends!! Stay tuned...

Ulsan Living... Its like a fine wine, it gets better with time

Ulsan living is getting better. Especially since I'm learning the bus routes, learning the city, trying new things and finding out there are a few things around that can remind me of home. One of which is a bar called Purple Haze, although come to think of it, I don't recall there begin a bar like this back in BR. Check out the leaf and guitar player tho... So weird to see this here, lol.

 Anyhoo... the bartender was so nice that he gave Wally and I a free shot of our choice since it was our first time at purple haze. Hey, service... We'll take it!! Its a saturday night and we're going back to the dorms, why not throw one back?? lol. 

 Today after church we decided to go venturing out for dinner before we were doomed to a week of cafeteria food. This place was awesome and this isn't even our food yet. This is just the starters!! Nice (in  my fabolous voice)

some fried fish (thanks harmony for identifying it) and zucchini and peppers

Mmmmmm.... THE BEST chicken soup you'll ever eat!! Its called samgyetang and its a chicken stuffed with rice and ginsing root in this savory broth!! It was just the change of pace I needed from eating so much korean bbq... Sigh... I gotta go back again. And the crazy part is... the whole meal is only ~9 USD or 9000WON. Bananas!! We were stuffed!!

The chicken in this soup was so moist and soft, it fell right off the bone. Yum!!

 Here's Wally getting ready to eat a pepper from our ban chen... only AFTER the lady told him it wasn't hot!!

 Melissa and Harmony... our two new US friends. 

 See!! Told ya that soup was good!! I made a happy bowl (almost, you don't actually eat out of this bowl... you spoon it into another, lol). On another note, culturally I believe its bad manners in Korea to clean your plate so I was glad that while this plate was empty, my actual bowl still had some soup. I dub this one of my favorite Korean dishes!!

 After dinner we decided to stop by a local store to pick up some stuff before heading back to campus. I guess its the top mart for that, lol

Ok, really?? Spam?? Who THEE hell eats this?? Apparently they eat it here in Korea. What exactly is spam btw?? Yuck... don't wanna know on second thought. Oh and then they have the nerve to charge 4980WON for it... That's damn near 5 bucks US. Please!!

 This is what you find in the grocery store?? Silkworm pupa?? To eat?? In a can ready to take home?? lol. I'm done. Oh and don't EVER let me know they put this in my food. Please and thank you, lol. I'm adventurous and willing to try some stuff... That however, pushed the envelope. 

On that note guys... Monday morning soon awaits me... Enjoy your sundays!! 'Til next time :)

Random... Let's make a deal and Service...

Aloe juice with a rice and seaweed triangle filled with a meat surprise,  lol

Ahhhhhh the breakfast of champions!! lol... No, seriously. This is my breakfast some mornings, which is actually pretty good. Also, its easy to get because its sold at all three 7-11's here on campus. lol. And just fyi... the campus... not that big. Anyhoo... welcome back to my blog. I've been MIA a few days and I'm proud to say its cause I have a little bit of a life brewing here in Korea. Who woulda thunk it?? lol. Also, you can see that I've had to contend with the elements as we are in MONSOON season. WTH. Oh and a hurricane or as they call them here, typhoon, is making its way inland today. Oh joy... the hurricanes follow me  all the way from Louisiana.

Nonetheless, I've decided that I can't let rainy season keep me more isolated than I already am, so to hell with it. I'm not scared of you rain!! (Well maybe my hair is) Out into the pouring rain I must go!!

Luckily, we caught a break before the sky really opened up and I noticed this Curves sign. I thought to myself. "Wow, this must be how Korean girls stay so rail thin". LMAO, just kidding. My real thought was, "who in the hell HERE uses a Curves??" I haven't seen a BIG girl yet. But hey again... Curves may be the reason why, lol.

So, we ventured out to a grocery store thats MUCH closer than the hour long trip we took earlier to Foreigner town and E-Mart. The funniest part was out of NOWHERE this store clerk gets on the PA system with a mic shouting the store specials!! I thought for a second I was on the Korean version of Let's Make A Deal or Supermarket Sweep!! I was ready to get my cart and run down lil Korean old ladies to stock my cart with Seaweed, Kimchi and Dried Squid for the win!!

He let me take his picture between ads, lol

 Venturing around we found this bar/restaurant and I thought it was hilarious to see the blues brothers out front. Was this how Americans knew to come there?? Dunno... I assume they must have seen the movie tho.

Blues Brother... although he's a lil creepy

 After walking in to view the menu's of several places we finally decided on a Vietnamese place. It was really good and full of flavor although I still don't quite know what exactly I ate, lol

my delicious food although I can't tell you what it is and frankly, I don't wanna

 Swathi, a grad student from my lab here, was so wonderful to let us come along with here so we could get to know the area. She was prepping to spend the summer in California so we had to get a pic with here at the bus stop. 

Yay!! We have a new buddy. too bad she's going to cali

To celebrate Swathi's last day in the lab all the foreigners go together for indian food!! Here is Helen, Brendan's wife, and I posing after dinner. 

Helen and I!!

 The foreigner crew at dinner for Swathi!! Who would think I'd come to Korea and be able to eat Indian and Vietnamese food... That's more diversity than that what I can eat in Baton Rouge

The Foreigners 

 Here are the fellas checking out the street food carts... Ehhhhh... I think I'll pass. You guys can play, "what the hell am I eating tonight" by yourselves, lol.

 WA Bar!!  We decided to stop here and have a few post dinner drinks to finish up Swathi's going to Cali-forn-ia dinner. Lets just say we had a hell of a time!! 

Cheers!! Or since we're in Korea... Gan Bae!!

I, not being a big beer fan, decided to go with this South African grape alcoholic beverage.

 I thought it were fitting to pose since my drink came with a wine glass even though it was in a beer bottle. O_o Guess thats how girlie drinks are served??

 We decided to attack Brendan with our "service". Where here, "service" is anything thats given for free and at bars they give these corn pop cereal like ring things. It could be thought of as the peanuts they serve at bars in the states.

Attack of the ring things!!

 So as with all pictures here, Wally decided to do the traditional Korean peace pose. Didn't quite look believable tho... I think he's too white, lol. 

 On the other hand, the gesture is done seemly perfectly when Brendan does it EVEN THOUGH he speaks english, he's canadian and his parents are chinese... NOT Korean. Believe me... He's NOT. A Korean chick asked us if he was Korean like 3 times, lol. 

 Nonetheless the "foreigners" had a ball!! And there are more adventures to be had!!