All posts filed under: Lifestyle

Matcha Waffles

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Oh, green food. The sign of health. At least that’s what I told myself as I basked in the glory of these delicious matcha, or green tea, waffles. Sure there’s a bit lot of sugar hiding in those crannies, but green tea is ridiculously healthy.  Green tea is what other health foods might call an overachiever. It’s considered a cancer-fighting, age-defying, heart-disease-battling cure-all, a star among the lentils and açaì berries. But matcha, a powdered version, makes even the other green teas look lazy. It’s the healthiest of them all—by a landslide. Bon Appetit The subtle hint of green tea mixed with maple syrup and strawberries was a breakfast delight. And that’s not all: they’re green! Green waffles! That’s a conversation piece if ever I battered and fried one. They would make a terrific centerpiece to a spring brunch table. The recipe I used called for culinary grade  matcha tea. This is supposed to be less expensive but still delicious. I honestly have no idea what type I used, because I quickly bought it before I boarded my plane …

Ihwa | mural village

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Ihwa Village is a controversial excursion to write a blog post about. There is currently a cold war playing out between selfie hungry visitors and those who call the area home. Obviously, as a human being, you want to side with the inhabitants. But, as someone who loves to look at street art and loves to put money into Korean crafts and stores, you can also see well meaning visitors’ sides. The issue arises again and again in Korea and makes me wonder: Can’t we tourists just stop being assh*les all the time?  So What’s the Controversy? Imagine living in a sleepy little village for most of your life. It’s underdeveloped and poor, but it’s home. One day a group of well meaning individuals decide to paint some colorful street art on the walls surrounding your neighborhood. It’s cute, sure, you might even like the whimsy at first. It’s supposed to bring tourism and money to your neck of the woods. Everything sounds great. And then, bam! Your village in overrun with loud mouth camera hogs desperate to get …

MMCA | what’s new in modern art

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Love the art scene in Seoul? I’m with you. I like to prepare, research, gear up and eat well right before heading to a new exhibit at a museum or gallery hopping in this crazy cool city. So when I headed out to see what was new at the MMCA in January, and I expected to be wowed. Just like the time I went before.  the day began Being excitable, and more than a little hungry, I decided the first stop needed to be food. Luckily as I walked down Yulgok-ro, a wonderfully pushy ajumma summoned me into her mandu restaurant where I promptly ordered this beauty : Honestly, I didn’t have much choice. She was very persuasive. Next, I cut through the alleys to get to the MMCA from the back, where I met this beautiful view. I admit, sometimes at modern art museums, you can be thoroughly underwhelmed or even walk away uncomfortable and confused. The first exhibit was a hipster spectacular about food called Activating the City: Urban Gastronomy. They had some information …

Daytripping | Chinatown

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  The only official “Chinatown” in Korea is located in Incheon and takes a long, boring ride on the subway to get out there. It’s a full on tourist destination and it has a quintessential selfie tourist trap, the barf-worthy Fairytale Village. But, as much as those things irk me, and they do, don’t let it stop you from heading out there just once. It’s an interesting and quirky place. There is a different feel to the area, in no small part due to the different smells and different building styles. There are many restaurants and spots to buy a snack. We found a dim sum restaurant that squelched some cravings I’d been having for weeks. It’s also the birthplace of the ridiculously popular Chinese-Korean dish, Jjajangmyeong. After eating, you can wander around and find a beautiful cafe, like one we found that doubled as a gallery. TLDR: A Brief History The history of the area is…interesting. When Incheon Port opened in 1883 a small settlement of Chinese people grew.  The population has remained small for …

Winter Vacation!

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year…to travel! Actually, I’m not sure if it’s the most wonderful, but I am having winter dreams about this one…Kyoto. I’ve saved up all my yearly stress for this holiday vacation and now it’s Crystal-time! The history. The architecture. The food. I can’t wait to walk aimlessly around for seven days, landing in coffee shops and stationery stores (oh, the money I will spend).  I will take loads of pictures of all the touristy things and then try to snap every Christmas in Kyoto-y thing I can find. If I see a geisha posing near a Christmas tree I may pass out. To organize my thoughts and enthusiasm, I’ve made my ideas list below. Any suggestions? Things you loved in Kyoto that are worth it, things that are tourist traps? Please let me know! Please visit soon! Likes and follows are loved! Facebook Instagram Bloglovin Tumblr

Donghae | relax east coast style

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The east sea has beautiful blue water and sandy beaches. Our trip was very quick and the days were mostly overcast. But, the peace of being away from Seoul made the trip to sleepy Donghae worth the bus ride out there. where to stay We booked a room at the Hyunjin Tourist Hotel. It was spacious, clean and has lovely staff. This was a picture of our view from the room. It was about a block from the quiet and calm Hanseomhaean Beach. It’s a block a different way to many restaurants and stores. They could not find my reservation so we were upgraded. Terrific end to a moment of panic. I booked through Agoda here. what to do Besides the beach, in particular, Mangsang Beach, there are actually several things to do in this small coastal city. Sea Train: take a ride up and down the east coast to see great views, drink a beer and listen to music Cheongok Cave: a large, cavernous limestone cave in the middle of the ctiy Mokho Harbor: …

Nonhyeon | at home series

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For a long time in Korea, I used the word home as the placeholder of the city I had left to come to another country. As time marched on and that, “just one more year, probably” became a more permanent move, I grew to call Seoul my home and St. Louis, back home. I’m sure this is no surprise for someone who has lived abroad for some time. Nonhyeon has been my home for over three years now. I’ve grown to love certain dimensions of it and not love, to be kind, other parts. The nightlife, for one, has grown very tiresome. I’m too old, too sensitive, and too picky to want to see some of the scenes I’ve witnessed. Just ungodly things…on my way to work at 8:30 am for the most part. However, on the other side of that crazy coin, Nonhyeon is getting much more adorable. If you avoid the main strip of bars and noraebangs with drunks out until 2 or 3 in the afternoon from the night before, you can find loads of coffee …

Hanbox | My New Venture

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This month my Portland-based friend Gina and I finally started promoting a shop that has been a couple years in the making…our own subscription box business! Our shop idea has gone through several key changes through our planning and vast amount of discussions. In the end, we decided a Korean lifestyle box was the way to go! We are in love with this idea! Now, it seems like such an obvious thing to do we both love Korea and the Korean culture. I have always loved shopping for all the unique Korean products and giving them to friends and family back home. Now I can do it lucratively! 😀 So we have created Hanbox! This is easily one of my proudest moments…this idea we had that came to fruition. Hanbox is our Korean lifestyle subscription box. Each month we will carefully choose the items to include from the wide varieties of Korean accessories, stationery, cosmetics and more. We chose the name and logo from the hanbok, a traditional Korean dress. We think it perfectly encapsulates Korea and her style. We hope …

Searching for France | Seorae Village

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Seorae Village is not the easiest of cultural hubs to get to. In fact, it’s placed in such a distance to the closest subway stop, that it keeps the streams of people away for much of the time. A wonderful discovery on a sunny Sunday afternoon. This was my third time to the area, and I was hunting for more French influence than ever. Sadly, however, the proximity to the subway hasn’t stopped this area from being infected with the old standards here in Korea like Tom ‘n Toms, Paris Baguette and others. Not to mention, the last time I visited this area, I had the most delicious French style baguette sandwich at Paris Croissant and when I visited this time, there was nothing but Korean style be-pickled and be-sauced sandwiches that I couldn’t bring myself to try. Le sigh. Seorae Maeul grew up French around the Lysee Francais, a school which teaches in French as a first language. Something like 40% of the population in this area are French. The area has it’s charm, to be sure, but there is …

A Peachy October

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I recently saw a brilliant idea from an adorable blog, With All My Affection, where the blogger posted Insta snaps as a monthly recap. And as you should be reading blogs for inspiration, I will bor-row the idea and work on monthly photo recaps for my Seoul life.  🙂 October The weather got chilly. There was an increase in the kitty snuggling. I found some amazing food. I got a new kitchen corner. I experimented with a few recipes.  It was Halloween two times over with costumes for school & a night out. It was a busy month. Click on the snaps for details! Many are from Instagram. But I have a bit of a different vision for future recaps… Have a beautiful November! Are you my Facebook friend? How about Instagram? Do I sound like I’m begging? Here’s two  more: Pinterest and Twitter! ❤ you!