Leaving late...

Fall is here, and in accordance with the season, it's all of a sudden been getting dark REALLY early!  Last Friday, I left work about 30 minutes late because I was busy checking e-mails, catching up on facebook, and writing a blog...  I was shocked when I turned off my office light and realized I couldn't see anything in my classroom!  It was only 5:15pm, and already pitch black outside, and everyone had already left work!  In addition, the hallway at my school was like a scene from a horribly scary movie - dark and eire and probably haunted - and I was ALL ALONE!  It will definitely be the last time I stay late around here!

On the positive side, I grabbed my camera out of my bag and snapped this picture of the city below, from my classroom window!  I've never been here after dark and was shocked at the view of the city lights below - so pretty, huh?! 

This is one of the redeeming qualitites of working on top of a hill! :)

***

Street Scene!

Last night, I was determined to learn how to take better pictures, so Aaron and I went to Nampodong in search of some photo opts. I'm convinced that I've got a long way to go in mastering photography, but I don't mind... I like the learning process, and especially the practice! I decided to document the delicious, oily, fried, and extremely crowded, Nampodong street food scene! ENJOY! 

Fresh, steamed corn!

BBQ'd chicken on a stick...

Grilled and dried squid tentacles!

Waffles with frosting!  (Believe it or not, I've yet to actually taste one of these!)

More corn... and baked potatoe sticks...

Kimbap, rice sticks in red sauce, and fried fish - on a stick and marinated in fish soup...

Delicious fried pastry with cinamon and sunflower seeds inside!

The only Korean who was willing to allow me to take her picture!  :)

Grilled chicken on a stick, and corn dogs-covered in fried potaoes!  Strange, I know!

 

Little squid balls!

Pork burritos!  One of my favorites!

As a side note... how amazing are the kids shoes here?!  I want a little girl, just to dress her in over-the-top Korean stuff!

Mandu, cow intestine, and pajung!

Any and every kind of vegetable, covered in a flour mix, and dipped in boiling oil!  Notice, Korean's are all about this place!

Cookies!!!

Candy covered nuts, waffers, and banana chips!

All I see in this picture are the 3 GIGANTIC blocks of butter!  Eeehhhh

Fancy seafood - octopus, clams, shrimp, lobster, etc, etc...!

More outrageous, raw seafood! 

Hope you enjoyed my little tour of the street food scene, and all the yummies I have to chose from around here!

*** As a side note:  I had a dream last night that my mom said she was getting bored with my blog because I've only been talking about food lately!  Obviously, I'm aware that I've been writing about food a lot because I had a dream about it!  So, I will do my best to get off the subject of food for a while and chose different topics - at least I'll give it my best shot! :)

Happy Monday morning from Busan!

Date night with my love...

It's been a long time since we've been on a date; you know... the dinner and a movie kind of date!  We're both careful about staying on budget, and saving what we earn by cooking at my place, or downloading movies online!  But, last night, Aaron met me at Nampodong and took me to the brand new Chinese restaurant on my favorite street in the city!   It's the one on the right with the red awning and chinese lanterns!

I was in love with the lighting at this place and did a little photo shoot of Aaron!

This is what I get for holding a camera in his face while he eats!  But, this is the true Aaron! :)  Always a character!

After dinner, we walked over to the movie theater, but only 1 English movie was playing and neither of us knew anything about it, so we headed in search of a DVD bang instead (a favorite of young Korean couples!)  We decided on PIFF DVD... It looked nice, and CLEAN - which is important when choosing a DVD bang around here!  

The hallway leading to our DVD room was covered, head to tow, in blue lights - interesting!  I personally think red is more appropriate for what really goes on in these places!  It's true!

And this was our room, complete with an actual bed (covered in cartoon zebras, dogs, aligators and elephants, mind you)!  We both laughed at the idea of the cute little innocent koreans getting crazy in here, behind closed doors!  So, Aaron is reinacting what the korean guys probably do to lure in their women!  It almost worked on me - but I was there to see the movie, not make out!  :)

We ended up watching ATONEMENT - which started off slow but picked up at the end and was really good!   Not too sure we'll go back to this DVD bang anytime soon... but it was a fun experience none the less!

Thanks for the great date A!   Can't wait for our next one!

******

The fish is staring at me, but it's okay!

Last night, the teachers from my school all went to dinner at the world famous fish market in Jagalchi where raw fish was the menu item of choice!  (In Korea, you don't order your own food... someone from the group orders one thing and everyone shares it.) 

Anyway, someone must have told the Vice Principal that I don't really like raw fish, (my suspicion is that it was Ella!  She loves to take care of me!)...

 ... because I was brought my very own cooked to perfection ENTIRE fish!  Such a sweet, sweet sentiment from my Vice Principal!  ***When I first arrived in Korea, this would have terrified me!  An entire fish; eyeballs, teeth, bones and fins - NO THANK YOU!   But, I've come a long way!   I immediately picked up my chopsticks and dug right in - literally!

I kid you not, this was the most delicious fish I'd ever tasted - ever! 

The finished dish... (not for the faint of heart!)

***

Buyers remorse

I hung out with Truchen and Gill in Seomyeon last night after work, and while we had an awesome time and even got home close to midnight, I'm having some remorse about some decisions I made. 

#1: I regret buying and drinking an entire LARGE mocha ice blended drink filled to the brim with whipped cream!

#2: I regret ordering, and singlehandedly devouring, an entire slice of New York Cheesecake along with my 600+ calorie drink!

#3: I regret deciding to go to dinner, after our coffee date, and agreeing to stir fry covered in cheese!

#4: But my biggest regret wasn't about what I bought and ate, but rather what I didn't buy and take home with me last night...  As we were walking through the streets of Seomyeon, Gill spotted a woman on the sidewalk selling kittens, puppies, ducks, and baby chickens out of boxes!  In one of the boxes was the most heavenly, cuddly, all white kitten, with piercing bright blue eyes!

I'd never seen anything like it before... I was mesmerized!  Unfortunately, the lady was trying to rip me off and I wasn't willing to pay the outrageous price she was insisting on!  

Can a person have buyer's remorse over something they didn't purchase, but wish they did?!  If so, than I have buyers remorse over a kitten today!  I'm seriously tempted to go back tonight and see if she's still there, in her little box, waiting, with her piercing blue eyes, for a mommy to adopt her!  I'm not crazy, am I?!