All Moved In…Sort Of

We’ve finally moved out of the hotel and are into our new home for the next two years. Chances of us getting approved to live in different housing are not good. Unfortunately, that means Cooper will not be able to come here with us 😦 We’re upset about it but always knew it would be a possibility. He’ll be in good hands with Michael’s mom until we come back. That’s just the way the Army works sometimes.

Now, about our house! I’m not sure if it’s called a townhouse, apartment, or what but it’s a two-story unit in a complex of roughly 20 units. Right now, we have military issued loaner furniture and it’s pretty ugly. We can’t wait to get our stuff and turn this place into our home! Our first shipment of things is already here and will be delivered sometime this week. That shipment includes all of our linens, kitchen supplies, wireless router!!, and other miscellaneous stuff. I’m excited to start cooking with more than one pot and one pan!

Some other things to note about the new place:

• The walls are concrete so hanging our pictures and mirrors might be a problem. Any suggestions?
• The floors are all tile, so buying area rugs is a must. Finding the ones I want that will ship to an APO address is proving to be a challenge!
• The kitchen is very large, but there are no drawers! Only cabinets!

I can’t wait to make this place our own. Slowly but surely our things will arrive and we will be all settled in.  In the meantime, we will continue to enjoy watching The West Wing on the computer and various other shows from iTunes. Ahhh technology!

Kimchi Fries and a Korean Palace

We finally had some nice weather this weekend and were able to enjoy our time outdoors. Michael started work on Friday, but won’t be too busy for a little while. We finally get to move out of this hotel on Monday and I am beyond excited. Twelve days in a hotel gets old really fast. The housing they put us in is not pet-friendly so hopefully it’s temporary since we are trying to get Cooper over here. Michael has to submit some paperwork that will *fingers crossed* need to  be signed to allow us to live in a different housing complex that allows pets. Like I said, *fingers crossed!*

Just look at that face!

Friday night we tried out a Korean-Mexican-American fusion restaurant that we had heard a lot about. We knew it was small and the wait would be long but we went anyway. After an almost two hour wait, we finally got in and it was worth it! I wish that I took more pictures, but I’m positive we’ll be back. We ordered kimchi fries, carnitas tacos and pork belly tacos. They were served on the best, home-made corn tortillas I’ve ever had. It was the first food experience here in Seoul that I really enjoyed. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had other good food, but this was definitely more my style and more American 🙂

Bad iPhone photo of Kimchi Fries from Vatos Urban Tacos

Saturday we woke up gorgeous sunshine and decided to head out to a Korean Palace. Thankfully the humidity wasn’t as bad, but it was still a scorcher out. We’ve noticed Korean’s use their umbrellas a lot. They bring them out on the rainy days, the cloudy days, and the really sunny days. Today, we wished we would have brought ours out to provide us with some shade.

Entrance to Gyeongbokgung Palace

The grounds are huge so we walked around for a little bit and looked through various buildings. I saw kids walking around with ice cream so I talked Michael into getting some for ourselves. We sat in the shade along a pond and enjoyed relaxing and cooling down for a bit.

We finally had seen enough and decided to head back to the hotel. We walked to the Subway station and enjoyed sitting on the quite, air conditioned train-car…that is until we transferred stations! It was crowded to say the least!

Exploring

Michael’s back to in-processing today, but was off for the weekend. It was rainy and windy on Saturday so we hung out at the hotel pool and gym. The great thing about our hotel is that there is plenty to do. It has an elaborate bakery and deli, a “Mexican” restaurant, steakhouse, ice cream shop, casino, and beautiful outdoor garden which we were able to enjoy today for lunch.

Garden at the Dragon Hill Lodge

Sunday we did some exploring of Itaewon, which is right outside the gate and is a known place for expats and military to frequent. When we stepped out of the taxi, I was a little shocked. I expected it to be different from most major cities I have been to, but I guess I wasn’t as prepared for just how different it was! Everything is extremely close together, crowded, and kind of smelly. At different points, I wasn’t sure if I was smelling delicious food or rotten garbage. We wandered up and down the streets and through little alleyways and found plenty of restaurants we want to try.

We stopped for some Korean BBQ and Michael was in heaven.

Michael is quite the adventurous eater and was determined to try everything at least once. I decided to just take it all in and eat only what I knew I would like.  Our spread included grilled beef, onions and mushrooms, kimchi, some kind of tofu soup, rice, marinated mushrooms, seaweed salad, some kind of marinated garlic, and another tofu dish. When we were finished, we decided to go for something a little more American; Baskin Robins!

These were some of the most elaborate ice cream cakes that I have ever seen and the scoop of mint chocolate chip hit the spot.

We headed back to our hotel for the night in preparation of starting the week. Michael has his final two days of in-processing, then two days off for the Fourth of July holiday. Hopefully we will have word about housing soon. I have an urge to cook my own dinner, preferably pasta and bread!