2013 Wrap Up

I thought I would do a really quick wrap up of the year that was 2013.

This has been a hard year for me and I am sure a lot of other people have had a rough time as well. There has been a lot of pain and splash of laughter and happiness. I am ready for 2014 to be a much better year.

This morning in RPM I thought I do not really want to make any New Year’s Resolutions for the single reason that every single day (even every hour, minute and second) can be a fresh start. I also do not want to set myself up to fail by putting a truck-load of pressure on myself with a huge list of resolutions that might not be achievable.

Really I just want to be a better person to myself and others. I want to be happier, kinder and more balanced. Most of all I want to be healthier and if that means losing some weight and getting fitter then so be it.

In February my father passed away and there are days when I feel his loss more than others. I thought that our first Christmas without him would be the hardest but in truth it was my first birthday that I really felt his absence and my heart just hurt. What I will say is that cancer is one of the cruellest diseases there is and it does not discriminate with who it takes. More than anything I was just relieved that when my dad passed away that the suffering for him was over. I strongly believe that he is with me every day (in my heart and memories) and that makes it a little easier.

It was a year of many firsts. 

I finally met my long-time online friend Pip from Invercargill which was super exciting. We have probably been talking for over 3.5 years and we met through Twitter. Pip was up for a wedding and so we made time to catch up and go for lunch. 

We purchased our first house together and although it was not without some major hurdles we have just spent our first Christmas here. There are days when I drive into the driveway and it seems surreal that we own this place and we are not just renting. We just had one of my oldest and closest friends and her husband come for a lovely BBQ dinner on Saturday night at our new house. It is so nice to have people come over and see how house and it is possible that we will have a house-warming at some stage.

I finally tried Body Attack (which I am slowly starting to enjoy more and more) and Bikram Yoga. I tried Paddle Boarding and also joined an amazing, supportive community of women (MotivateMe NZ). I did quite a few walking events and also two RPM/Spin events and a flipping obstacle course. I already have a few events booked for early in the New Year which is really exciting including my third year doing The Dual on Motutapu and this year Mark is doing it with me and we are camping there overnight.

I discovered that I absolutely love RPM and have been doing it pretty much every week since early in April. I am addicted and I have also encouraged the same addiction in friends…oops! I have established that stairs get you fitter faster despite the fact that they are EVIL!

A few of my friends have had beautiful children this year and my nieces and nephews continue to grow more beautiful with every month. In the last 2-3 weeks two of my friends have gotten engaged which is super exciting. Funnily enough Mark and I have 3 weddings to go to in 3 cities over a 10 day period. The second wedding in March is in the lower half of the south island which is am ridiculously excited about as I have not seen very much of the south island as an adult.

I attended a Tangi for the first time and met some truly amazing, caring, selfless people.  At the same time I had my heart shattered and I was taken back to being a 14 year old teenager in a heartbeat. What I have realised is that despite everything I am really strong and resilient even in the face of pure hatred. So, if you think you beat me…you did not and you will never have any part of me again.

I went to South Korea in June despite being completely freaked out in the beginning. It is an amazing country, rich in history and culture. I want to go back with Mark for a holiday so I can experience it with him and do the things that I did not get a chance to do. My dad would have been so excited (and proud) that I went to Korea and I thought about him a lot when I was there. Actually, my wonderful brother-in-law even asked me to write a blog for his website about my trip! No one has asked me to write a blog for them before.

I decided to leave Twitter after nearly 4 years which was both sad and liberating. 

I discovered some amazing new TV Shows including Elementary, The Walking Dead, Homeland and Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (very NEW favourite). Discovered some amazing new music via RPM and Julia. 

Finally saw Wicked!! Okay, so it was not in New York but I do not care it was amazing. It was the day that we were meant to go unconditional on our house and it did not happen that day. I cried during 'Defying Gravity' and I probably did not stop crying until the end.

I had the best birthday week with time down with Julia and Paul in Wellington and their fur baby family. Then in October I went to celebrate Julia’s birthday with her. These were two amazing trips that were filled with ‘pee your pants’ laughter, relaxation, good food and amazing company and a MILLION Piper, Vuk and Sophie cuddles.

I feel blessed to have a lovely group of friends who I consider to be my family. Life would not be the same and as rich without you all in it.  

So bring on 2014; a year of more exercise, better nutrition, more events and more happiness and calm.

Happy New Year to you all and let it bring you everything you hoped for and more.

Food in Korea Part II

Okay, I did not really think that I would need to do another post about food in Korea…boy was I wrong! After the first week of eating different styles of food i.e. Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and Korean I realised that traditional Korean can get so much better!

In the hotel I read a booklet on an introduction to Korean food for visitors and foods were graded as Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced and Veteran. I am happy to say that I have tried something from every section! There is some information on the Official Site of Korean Tourism.

I have also really made an effort to try everything that has been offered during the meal with the exception of dishes containing red meat, lamb or pork.

On Monday we went to a small buffet style Korean restaurant which was really lovely and had rice, crumbed fish with an amazing sauce, vegetables, radish etc. You could have a second helping and I was so tempted (photo on its own).

Wednesday brought us to a lovely traditional Korean restaurant for a course (not set) menu…there was so much food!

I tried the following

• Sesame and rice soup; which is possibly a type of sesame juk (1)
• Warm rice noodles with mushroom; Japchae – glass noodles with sautéed vegetables (2)
• Salad with root and orange and tomato (3)
• Another cold dish with different noodles (4)
• Sushi with spring onion and chilli (5)
• Cold chicken and chili; yum! (6)
• Water kimchi; cold
• Mixed vegetable dishes including sesame leaves and gourd (9/10), Korean cabbage with bean sauce which tasted like Miso soup (7); Namul
• Traditional Korean Bean Pancake; Jeon Bindaetteok/pajeon (8)
• Aged/picked vegetables onion, pepper and Korean garlic root (Jangajji – pickled vegetables)
• Aged Soya bean soup (11); Doenjang jjigae – Soybean paste stew. Apparently many Korean people who emigrate really miss this however do not cook it because of the smell and people potentially complaining
• A very sweet ginger and rice drink; icy (12)

After lunch I tried two ice blocks…melon flavoured and another that was icy with sweet red bean paste in the centre (13)

On Thursday we went to a little restaurant just behind the office; actually I had seen a cute little ginger cat outside there in the morning.

We had mixed sides

Kimchi cabbage, sesame leaf, traditional Korean pancake, mushroom and the most amazing side of acorn jelly! The jelly was the best thing ever…I could not stop eating it (14)

Then the main was the most incredible, traditional Korean chicken stew with chilli, potatoes and onion…be jealous…I have the recipe to try making it in New Zealand (15)

 

On Thursday night we went out for a celebratory dinner and started with Italian food and NZ Wine and I took photos of the beautiful cakes that I never ended up trying (16) and then we finished up at a Japanese restaurant with Japanese beer, chicken and mussels.

My final day (Friday) saw me finally trying a dish that I had read about in my little food guide

Samgyetang which is traditional ginseng chicken soup; amazing! (18). It is believed that in summer that this meal is good at helping restore people’s energy. You can read about it here.

Again, we had an amazing selection of sides to try including chilli, garlic, fresh Kimchi Cabbage, soya bean paste (AMAZING) and aged squid (17). I tried the aged squid and it was quite chewy and not bad until the after taste…never again!

I feel quite sad about being back in New Zealand as I really miss the people and the food in Korea. Today I had Japanese and it was amazing...kind of made me feel like I was back there. So I will learn to cook Korean food and we will frequent some of the beautiful Korean restaurants here in NZ. 

Food in Korea

What really astounds me is how many food places there are in Korea; it is just a mecca for every sort of food imaginable! Everywhere I turn there is food Italian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, American.

I have realised that I am really a bit of a chicken when it comes to trying new food especially if I am on my own. I just cannot take the chance that I will end up eating red meat or lamb. However, if I can safely eat something knowing that it is chicken, fish or vegetarian then I will give anything a try.

I promised one of the gals from Twitter a blog about food.

To be honest I have not really had that much traditional Korean food.

Monday was Japanese chicken noodle soup for lunch and the BBQ Party in the evening (which had some traditional fare)

Tuesday I got to try Bibimbap which is rice topped with vegetables, Korean chili paste and a raw egg and it’s all served in a very hot stone (?) bowl which keeps cooking your food. In the evening we went to a Burger place serving very beautiful 100% beef American Style Burgers

Wednesday saw the girls and I having Vietnamese and I ended up with Pad Thai and Kimchi (various pickled vegetables) and I left dinner until very late and ended up having fried chicken with potato chips. I also had a potato curly thing on a stick in Myeong-Dong Street; which is the same as the potato we get at the night markets in Auckland (1)

Thursday we had Italian which consisted of a Panini for me and Pasta and a grilled sandwich etc. for the others. On Thursday night I realised that I could have drinks and food on the executive floor; I have never eaten so much smoked salmon in one week

Friday we had pizza and chicken salad and I ate at the hotel as I was completely knackered!

Saturday brought with it a massive food extravaganza and it is really hard to know just where to start! Lunch was at a beautiful Italian restaurant just down the road from my hotel; I think it was Villa Ottimo. I had deep fried mozzarella ravioli in a tomato based sauce (3) and we shared a chicken salad (4). Nayoung had porcini in a cream sauce with flat pasta.

We then caught a taxi to Insa-Dong Street (more about that in another blog) and we saw these amazing things hanging from a shop (5); they are filled with fresh soft serve ice cream – a sweet treat. We then walked up to a rice cupcake shop (6) and I got to try Patbingsu (7) which is a traditional Korean shaved ice dessert. It is shaved frozen milk, sweet red beans, dried bean powder (?) and then a rice cake on top. It was amazing and something beautiful to share. When walking through Insa-Dong there are some lovely, entertaining guys who make a traditional Korean sweet (8); it is honey and nuts. It is like spun thread….best to watch the video. For dinner we had Chinese (9).

What I have realised while being here is that food is something to be shared and it is such a social thing. You share your main meals with one another and also your side dishes.

I still have a few days left here and hopefully I am brave enough to try some more traditional dishes. In my hotel I have a guide to Korean eating and there is a step-by-step guide for beginners, intermediate, advanced and veteran. The ironic thing is, is that the food that I really want to try is temple food (100% vegetarian) and that’s under advanced!

Today while walking around Myeong-Dong and the surrounding areas I saw many food stalls with all sorts of Korean delights. The one that I really did not want to try were some sort of bugs…they did not smell appealing at all!

Also, iced coffee is really popular here. I think that the Korean people prefer the Americano or Expresso with extra water so it is not too strong. The other day I paid $10NZD for a coffee; gutted!

 

Bring on the next food experience! 

Ness

P.S. I do make a real effort to try all the sides that come with our meals including green beans and chilli, radish, cabbage etc.

Korea…you are making it hard for me to leave you!

Day 3 in Korea sees me start the day with a 2+1 iced coffee deal (Picture 4 from the previous day). The men in the shop were so lovely and friendly that I walked out thinking “It is going to be very hard for me to leave this place and come home”.

The night before we went to an American Style burger bar serving 100% beef burgers; you can see Nayoung’s burger (1) and how amazing it looked. I had a coke, coleslaw and fries.  Honestly, her burger looked amazing! It almost made me want to eat meat!

The following morning (Wednesday) I braved the gym and I was the only woman there. I took a photo (2) after a 30 minute run/walk (more walking than running) to contribute to my beautiful Autumn Shake Up girls final day! I got the photo through this afternoon from our trainer and they looked gorgeous! I tell you that working out in 19C heat is like a sauna!! Apparently, Friday will hit 30c!! I definitely sweated a lot; I was well past glowing!

For the last two days it has been raining and it has cooled things down slightly (3). I experienced the Seoul Subway system which is incredibly confusing and I would hate to attempt it on my own. Also, if you do not like people in your personal space then it would be really horrific. I am feeling a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of people in this city; it’s full on!

Bubble Tea ~ My first time!

Yesterday, as well as experiencing the subway we also went to have a look at a very popular local shopping district. I should remember the name, however it escapes me. It was incredible, so many shops, so many food carts…just like a MASSIVE night market there were outfits for your dog (5), we went to Olive and Young (6) a huge beauty store. Olive and Young sell these crazy plastic templates that men can place over their eyebrows to shape and groom (7) and apparently, guys do wear make up! I did take a few photos of the food carts (8) as they are so much like the food that we get at the Glenfield night markets and I loved the sign for the cat café (9).

I also tried Bubble Tea....you know "feel the fear and do it anyway" - amazing! I have had Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Chicken and Potato chips and a panini so far! 

 

Oh and for Liz I have to add that I did try the posterior clean on the toilet last night…second and ‘probably’ the final time!  Come on, tell me that you would not try it!

 Nayoungs burger

1. Sweaty in my retro pink head band to mark the last day of the Autumn Shake Up
2. Rain Seoul
3. Iced coffee
4. Outfits for dogs!
5. Olive and Young
6. Eyebrow shaping/grooming for men
7. Food cart
8. Cat café

Waking up in Korea

Waking up in Korea is not quite like waking up in Vegas. However, it is almost a city that never sleeps.

I got through the 12 hour flight from Auckland to Seoul with no issues; 6 movies later (picture 1) and a great goodie bag (picture 2) I arrived and managed to catch the bus to the hotel. It was amazing to see the difference in skyline and landscape as we drove to our location. What really blew me away was the sheer volume of apartment blocks…really puts Auckland’s Unitary plan to shame!

When I got to the hotel I was just shattered and managed to shower, unpack my bags and fall into bed. What really made me laugh were the toilet controls (3); seriously what happens in the middle of the night if you accidentally press posterior clean instead of full flush? I will not lie; I tried them all.  Trust me, once was enough! My hotel room is fantastic with a lovely, relaxing area to sit (4) and chill out.

The first morning I woke up really early and as breakfast does not start until 7am I was able to have a walk around the local area. Unbelievably, I came across a cupcake shop (5) and all sorts of amazing restaurants, wine bars etc. I did take a photo of a shop especially for Julia as it seemed to combine her two favourite drinks; coffee and whiskey (6).

We went out for lunch on Monday and I had my lunch ordered for me and I got this beautiful, hot, spicy chicken soup with noodles. YUM! I asked if people go out for lunch or bring their own; and they said “everyone just goes out for lunch”. 

The hospitality is amazing and people are so warm and very friendly.

After a full day at work I walked back to my hotel; one of my business associates was a bit worried that I would get lost however I managed to find my way back. I had a quick shower and left in search of something to eat.

What intrigues me is the whole concept of chicken and beer; apparently it is the Korean version of fish and chips. Very popular especially on nights when there are soccer games on (like Tuesday night).

I walked by a petrol station and noticed that their pumps were in the air (7) and I wondered if they have them up there at night and then drop them during the day. Then on Tuesday I saw one during the day with the pumps in the air; so perhaps some petrol stations have them up there permanently. 

On Monday morning I discovered a gym down the road from the hotel that offered Spin Classes, Pilates and Yoga. I was really excited as I am already missing RPM and the gym so I decided to check it out on Monday night. Unfortunately, I could not do a casual membership so decided that I will have to stick to the hotel gym and using the stairs that are just up the road.

After so many choices for food I actually ended up eating in the hotel where I saw the sign that said ‘All You Can Drink BBQ Party’ (8). It was an all you can eat BBQ; which is a bit useless for me as I do not eat meat! However, they had an amazing assortment of sashimi and sushi which was great. Also can I tell you that their ICE CREAM bar was AMAZING!! I should have taken photos. Also, loved the portion controlled dessert options (9).

That pretty much sums up my night and day in Korea. I was really worried about coming to such a massive metropolitan city however as I get used to things I am really starting to enjoy myself. I cannot wait until the weekend when I can relax and have a proper look around.

1. Inflight entertainment
2. Goodie bag with face cream, eye gel etc.
3. Toilet controls
4. Living room area; beautiful
5. Cupcake shop
6. Cello Coffee and Whiskey
7. Petrol up in the air
8. Dinner on my second full day
9. Bite sized desserts; portion control at its best