WEEK 4 - FAREWELLS & BIRTHDAYS

Week 4... very emotional!

This week I didn't have any time to visit another city mainly because I was back to school and because there was so much happening in my own city. 

This is also the week we say goodbye to Helyn :(

In terms of getting in with Korean/Asian food a lot was accomplished. I think I'm getting a bit lazy and just so anxious to leave. Counting down the days!  

Here's a summary of what we did:

Tuesday, February 7th - Samgyupsal (Rodney's birthday)

Thursday, February 9th - Kalkuk Su, Vietnamese & Thai. 

Friday, February 10th -  Dinner & Noraebang.

Saturday, February 11th - Birthdays and Farewells.

So close to the end, my emotions are a mess. 

On Tuesday was my friend Rodney's birthday, so we went out for dinner- samgyupsal. As mentioned before, one of my all time favourite Korean dishes. I'm not going to explain what it is again, just read my week 2 post (Week 2: Daegu) for a nice description :)

Cheese, egg and kimchi samgyupsal. 

EVERYONE! 

On Thursday was my school graduation so ended school early. We went for lunch to a nearby restaurant for Kalguk-su. As a starter we had a lovely pork platter- I can't remember the name. 

Can't remember the name but it's the sister of samgyupsal.
The same meat as samgyupsal, just steamed and not barbecued.  

Kalguk-su. 
Hot noodles. The sister of cold noodles. (In summer these noodles are served cold, sometimes with REAL ice cubes). Plain and simple. Very delicious :)


On Thursday, Helyn and I planned to have Shabu-Shabu for dinner but we got our restaurants confused and ended up going to a local food shop called Mr Spoon. It's basically a hip, modern restaurant that serves Vietnamese and Thai food. Very delicious! 

Too good for words. 

Helyn, having some kind of spaghetti affair. 

I had some fried rice with Thai green curry. It doesn't look very good but it was DELICIOUS, or in the words of Rachel Ray- YUM-O!!!

Helyn, me, Chris, Steph and Andrew :)

On Friday we closed school and went for lunch at an a-mah-zing beef restaurant. Again, I don't know what the dish is called but it's the brother of samgyupsal because it's cooked in the same way.  

Almost ready to eat. Meaty meat!! 

On Friday my Steph was leaving for Paris and it was also Helyn's last Friday night in our city (yes every moment has to count) so we went out for dinner at Seoga & Cooke followed by a 3 hour noraebang session!! Yes!!

Steph and Tim posing :)

Helyn and I looking divine!! I look squint though. 

Well noraebang is one of my all time favourite fun activities in Korea... so... enough said :) 

Jarrod and I getting ready for our duet :)

Awesome noraebang vibes with some crazy awesome Koreans!!! ^^

On Saturday was the official day to bid farewell to the lovely Helyn, it was also the official birthday celebration of friends Rodney, Pips and Jacqui. 

A very tearful goodbye. 

Birthday boy, Rodney enjoying a drink. 

Posing with some very lovely ladies!! 

Well that ended a very lovely, exciting week in Korea. School outings, birthdays and farewells, it was a mix of emotions. I'm so glad I got to spend quality time with friends and colleagues. 

WEEK 3 - POHANG

Half way to the end! 


3 weeks remain for me and 1 week remains for Helyn. (As of last week) Can't believe how fast time flies! 


This week's schedule:


Thursday February 2nd - Jjimdak. 
Friday February 3rd - Final Makeoli night. 
Saturday February 4th - One night in Pohang


Not very busy this week but still FUN. Temperatures dropped considerably this week with lows of -17 so we were more inclined to stay in. 


On Wednesday night we headed out for some amazing Jjimdak. To be fair though, we've been eating A LOT of amazing dishes these past few weeks. 


So what exactly is Jjimdak? 

A whole lot is thrown into this lovely dish. The main ingredients being chicken, sauce and some glassy noodles. Then there are some vegetables and sometimes bits of rice cake thrown in too. 

All done! 

We went to a restaurant called 'Zzim' in our area. 


The dish comes in different spice/ hotness levels on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the spiciest). Unfortunately they are very generous with the chilly powder so even at level 2 we burned our lungs out! 

Helyn and I. 

Megan and Rodney

EVERYONE!

On Friday was our monthly makeoli (막걸리) night. It's usually held on the first Thursday of the month but this month it was on a Friday to accommodate people who couldn't make it on Thursday. 

Makeoli is a Korean traditional rice wine best enjoyed chilled. Our 'makeoli night' event has been running for 3 years and this month marked the last time that some of us will ever enjoy this wonderful drink in Korea. So... we had to make the most of it!!!

Megan and Rodney looking lovely. 

                 

With markers in hand, we set off to get our graffiti on, writing on every bare surface we could find. 

Rodney having a good time with his marker. 

Makeoli is served in a large bowl and scooped into smaller ones. 

Considering that it was the last time I'll ever have makeoli, I'm surprised I didn't drink more.

***

Saturday was a very special day for Helyn and I. It was her second last weekend in Korea so she had a farewell in Pohang. Also, my friend Reneldon was back from South Africa so me and a few of my other friends went to Pohang to see him. Homecoming party meets farewell party. EPIC night. 

Moments on the lips... 

We started the evening off with a lovely dinner at The Lazy Diner in Daegu, followed by a frantic mission to get to the bus terminal which was about 20 minutes away. 

I look so out of it while Anthea looks so fresh. 

Arrived in Pohang at 10pm, with no time to change or freshen up, the night was calling and we had to answer. 

Steph and Anthea getting groovy. 

Pretty much our 'group' for that night. 

Lovely ladies bidding farewell to Helyn. 

We left Pohang at 7.40am. Slept on the bus back to Gyeongsan. Thanks to everyone who made Helyn's farewell a stunning, flaming affair. It was also great hanging out with my dear friend Ren again :) Thanks Anthea for coming and thanks Steph for allowing Anthea to kidnap you for the night lol. 

Until next time, peace!!! 

WEEK 2 - DAEGU

My mission is going well and I'm having SO much fun with my friends!!

Wednesday January 25th - Spa Vallley

Thursday January 26th - Samgyupsal 

Friday January 27th - Bowling, drinks and noraebang

Saturday Jaunary 28th - Samgye Tang

I decided to venture into Daegu this week. Yes I've been to Daegu a million times but my visits usually involve dancing, shopping or eating. Daegu is a metropolitan city about 30 minutes by subway from where I live (or 10 minutes by train). I've never really explored it at all. (Does an amusement park count?) 

So since I've never really done anything in Daegu, Helyn and I decided to get all our friends together and head off to Spa Valley on Wednesday. 

What is Spa Valley?  

Fay and I looking kinda scared. 

Well firstly  don't let the

name fool you. Usually the first thing you think about when you hear 'spa' is aromatherapy, massages, candles, soft music and soothing streams. Well not in this case. However you can expect to find some pretty cool stuff that does the job.  

The Spa offers:

* A water park with slides and a pool with fake waves. This closes  during winter but there's one slide that stays open. Don't be too alarmed- everything is sheltered and the water is heated. So you're outside, but not quite. 

* An indoor heated pool. Nice but there's also a kid's pool in this section so things can get a big messy if you know what I mean. 

* An indoor hot tub. Basically a small big Jacuzzi.

*A scrub service. Get a Korean ajumma (aunt) to scrub you down and 'scold' you for being so dirty. All in jest though. This was not available for men on that day which was great because I was not willing to go naked anyway. 

*Saunas.

* Heated rest rooms. Also known as 'dry saunas'. These rooms have TVs and pillows etc in which you can actually sleep in or just relax, and you stay dry the whole time.  

The guys. If I can remember correctly - from left: Jarrod, Tim,
 Me, Rodney and Paul.

EVERYONE! Megan, Rodney, Jarrod, Paul, Steph, Tim,
 Helyn , Fay and I. 

Everyone except Helyn who was taking the photo. 

I had such an amazing time here! Just what we needed for a cold winters day. 

On Thursday we decided to get in with some 삼겹살/ Samgyupsal. We went to a famous restaurant in the University area in which we live.

So what is samgyupsal?       

Curry on the right and black pepper on the left. 

It's strips of pork barbecued/ braai'd into seasoned bits of sizzling sensations. On the right is a picture of the pork all laid out nicely on a platter. You get various kinds - herb, black pepper, oriental, curry and a few others that I don't remember. Sooo delicious! This was and always will be one of my top Korean dishes. 

Tong master doing his thing. 

On Friday was Winston's siblings' last weekend in Gyeongsan so he got everyone together for a night out on the town. We started off with some bowling. Of course I didn't complain because bowling is one of my absolute favourite things to do. Time: 7.00pm

Winston and Lorna know it's about the right size... and the right colour. 

The Boys - Happy with their scores.

Not so happy with our scores... but still lookin' FRESH!

2 hours later we decided to pack up our shoes and put down our balls and head out to mingle with the University students in our area... but first... group picture, say kimcheeeee!!!

EVERYONE!

Next stop: Fish and Grill. Hmmmmm. Time: 9.00pm

Vegetables covered in cheese and sauce served on a shell. 

Lorna and I were hungry so we decided to get in there with some yummy bar food... Only to find it was the spiciest dish on the menu. FAIL. I ate it alone - sorry Lorna!! 

Tim, Adrian, Jarrod and Josh getting their 'bad boy' faces on. 

Fishy Fishy!!!

What would a great night be without some good ol' noraebang?? So off we went 3 hours later to get our sing on! Time: 12.00 midnight. 

Anthea, Steph, Helyn and Anthea getting the party started. 

Yes. Everyone had a good time. 

Amey, Helyn, Megan and Tim getting ready for their song. 

We went home at about 3am. Good times!!


Weeeeeekend!!! On Saturday we decided to get in there with more Korean food. This time round we opted for some 삼계탕/ Samgye tang on a beautiful winters evening in downtown Daegu. 


So what is Samgye Tang?

Ready to eat!

It's a whole chicken boiled and served in soup/ broth (tang). This is a very simple and easy to cook dish. Apart from the chicken and water, there is chicken stock, spices and some spring onions that are added to enhance the flavour. It's all served in a huge stoneware bowl that almost resembles a pot. 

Smells divine! 

It's steaming hot when brought to you so it's almost inevitable that you'll go in for a smell and just take in that beautiful aroma.

Helyn getting ready to dive in.

Almost everyone :)

Week 2 successfully completed. In the two years that I've been here, I've never done so many things all in week.

I'm looking forward to the coming weeks ahead and most importantly getting in there with Korea! After this week Helyn just has 2 weeks left and I have just over 2. Time flies when you're having fun!

Signing out until next time!