No visit to Korea, be that literally or travel via blog, would be complete without a trip to Lotte Mart, a large Korean big box store that is only comparable to Wal-Mart and even that is a drastic stretch. I recently saw one blogger describe it as, "Wal-Mart on acid," which I find to be as close a description as any. The Lotte--LO-TAY-- company name owns many businesses in Seoul and around Korea everything from an Amusement Park, Lotte World, which we will hit up soon, to Hotels and even a home shopping channel and fast food restaurant, Lotteria. They also have outlet shops, still very expensive like a high-end department store, but the most popular of the businesses is Lotte Mart. We happen to have one right up the street from our apartment and when we need a few things, it is always a quick walk. The entire lower level is food, household items, deli and even fine wine. We really just went for toilet paper to be completely honest, but ended up spending over an hour just piddling around. They have free samples everywhere. I HONESTLY tried to eat something strange and new, but dropped in on the floor by accident. I took that as a sign. Better luck next time. We wondered through the endless displays of pickled, spiced, and fermented vegetables. In the right hand corner of the picture below, you can see the Tongmaneul (spell check doesn't like that word), or garlic cloves, whole and I assume pickled and of course, you have your traditional Korean Kimchi . . .  lots and lots . . . and lots of Kimchi,  made of fermented vegetables, usually Napa Cabbage, rubbed down with red chile paste, fish sauce and other seasonings, pictured on the left below and according to Health Magazine, one of the world's healthiest foods. It is good for digestive health. Each Korean eats roughly 40 lbs of the staple each year. I will be lucky to ingest 1 lb. I like it, but it is nothing I want in large quantities. Maybe I will buy it and serve it with my lasagna tonight. Go Korean or go home?

Learn more about Kimchi and then go try it.

http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/easy-kimchi

 Ok, back to Lotte Mart. . . 

One of the most appealing foods I saw at Lotte on my last visit was the Crabs pictured above. I didn't buy them, but they are in the back of my mind for the future. I happen to love the red chillies that they put in everything. It is spicy, but not TOO spicy. More of a warm heat that is quite pleasant.

When you have had enough of the deli and the fish mongers, you can head over to produce. It is all beautiful and I may shop there from now on for my produce. We were having a great time mulling over future shopping plans when we ran into this a giant glass window with a "garden" inside. They were growing what seemed to be all varieties of greens and lettuce. It is quite a modern and maybe slightly unnatural food growing concept, but when you have a country with one of the largest populations living on one of the smallest pieces of land, you have to get creative to sustain life. I can see some of my natural foodie friends groaning, but it really is genius and keeps the masses fed with fresh produce.

The heads of lettuce are sliced off and sent right to the shelf for purchase.

    

Photo credit: Google. I forgot to snap a photo.

        

If you are more in the market for housewares, decorative items, pet supplies, clothing and electronics, this multilevel store has it all, you just need to take you shopping card and head up the escalator. Yep, they have ramp-like escalators and you ride them up to the second level, shopping cart and all. Actually, the man in front of us lost control of his and almost ran us over. Not a pleasant experience for our first uphill shopping trip. Finally, we made it, alive and well, to the top floor. We have been on a toy quest since arriving and I heard that they had a Toys 'R' Us inside. They DID have a small version of the toy store called, "The Toy Box." They had some similarities to Ikea in their home goods and of course all the Korean decor you could want, which for me personally isn't much. ;)

Bins of grains and spices. This reminds me a bit of Whole Foods.

Just an example of a typical Korean grocery store display. Several varieties of dried fish. Im afraid I don't even know their purpose. 

 Many new drink options, all of which I have to translate and usually come up as, "Milk of Banana" and such. In fact, as I have mentioned before, the Koreans are very kind to children and on the subway this weekend, a man and boy gave Emmalyn just that, a little bottle of banana milk just her size. Very sweet . . . the gesture, not the milk.  She clutched that little bottle all the way home. 

 One of my favorite "finds" so far has been this jared, Honey Citron Tea. It is made in Korea, as many teas are, but it comes in a jelly/honey consistency it also has orange peel and pulp in it. It is delicious and very un-tea-like and more of an apple cider feel. Very delicate and fragrant. Darren was not a fan, although he doesn't care for fruit floating in most of his drinks. I, however, was most intrigued and decided it needed a whole photo demonstration. So, below you can see me going through the steps of stirring tea. Haha. I promise that if you ever encounter such an item, you will want to give it a go.

I would say this is the best thing on the menu.

Lotteria Fries: in-joy :)

 On our way home from Lotte Mart, we decided to stop by Lotteria, from what we have heard the Korean version of McDonald's. We really don't eat out much since Emmalyn is such a handful these days and her restaurant behavior is less than stellar, but we can usually handle a fast food joint. Darren learned there was a burger where the bun was made out of rice and was dying to try it. It was a beef bulgogi burger, Korean speak for seasoned, grilled beef, which is very good and probably mine and many other American's go-to Korean food. I usually do the ordering and told Darren I would get him one. I tried the chicken sandwich and somewhere along the lines myself and the cashier had a miscommunication and I ended up ordering 3 sandwiches, three fries (which leave something to be desired) and three drinks. Yep, that was embarrassing for two reasons:  A) There go the Americans with all their food while four Korean friends sit around the same drink with four straws. B) There go the Americans giving their baby soda and fries. UH, no. So we shamefully sat with our pile of food while people took our picture. Yes, we always get our  picture taken wherever we go, mostly because of Emmalyn, but I fear that in this particular instance it had to do with something else; however, I say it is fair since I am running around their grocery stores and city taking pictures of their fish.

This past week we enjoyed an evening at the zoo. It was a wonderful chance to feel like we escaped from the city and experience some beautiful spring air, all nestled into the beautiful mountains surrounding Seoul. The zoo is apart of Seoul Grand Park and it is a very affordable experience, only about 8,000 KR WON total ($8.00 USD) and just 11 subway stops from our front door.

This woman is selling Silkworm pupa, which are boiled, seasoned and eaten as a snack.

These lovely girls were so kind to Emmalyn at the playground. She loved the attention of the big girls.

They were kind enough to pose for a picture. 

We are still so grateful for our time here in Seoul. It is not always a perfect fit, but we love and embrace the changes. We are learning more and more every week, sadly that doesn't include the language, but with time I am sure we will pick up a few more phrases. Thank you all for your interest in our lives and your thoughts and prayers you give us on a regular basis. I wish you could all come see Korea for yourselves one day!

Time flies when you're having fun. Boy is that the truth. I can't believe that we have been living in South Korea for 5 weeks already. Occasionally, I have to remind myself that I am NOT on a perpetual vacation. I have been keeping a running list of places to visit on my phone and when I wake up in the morning and find that Darren has taken off to work, it is a major imposition on my endless vacation. Alas, I suppose there is plenty of time for exploring.  

This past week has been a beautiful one and with the arrival of spring on our doorstep, beauty is popping up everywhere. Within a week or two, I believe everything will be dripping in Cherry Blossoms. I know this is a painful statement for my Colorado friends who seem to be suffering from endless winter. I do not envy you. 

As you know, we live in a sky-rise building that has been built up smack dab in the middle of an "old fashioned" Korean market, as all of our cab drivers refer to it. Since our vehicle just arrived in the country, up to this point we have been walking through the market everyday to get to the Army post. It is very charming and unusual at first, but the more we walked up the road, the more pungent the aromas and the stranger the sights. But with the arrival of spring, the produce is beautiful and the older Korean population seems to carelessly wonder through the market, restoring a bit of the charm. I snapped a few photos of the surroundings.

     

Several weeks ago we signed up to take a USO tour to a local Cherry Blossom Festival. Im not sure what I expected, but it was basically an endless supply of street-food vendors and entertainment, with one lonely Cherry Blossom tree in bloom; however, I do not need flowers to eat, so we dove right in. The street food runs on a scale I have listed below:

TAME -----Interesting. I will give it a go----Maybe next time------ Not happening. . . ever

                      

                          

        

        

A large table of what I assume to be roasted/grilled Octopus. My friend got a free sample, but I will try it next time. I have had Octopus in soups before, but never like this. 

         

Double-fisting his corn and chicken.

 Emmalyn was a delight and took in the sights of the festival from her stroller. At one point in the evening, a man walked up to us and put these lovely little glow lights on her ankles. They are immensely loving and doting to children here and I believe that can only be beneficial. I am learning to adjust my comfort levels with stranger-danger and accept their happy pats and tickles of my child.

                                                     

Spring on the Army post. 

  

We watched an outdoor concert at the park along the Han River.

                                       

There are tanks that line the seafood restaurant fronts for what I imagine would be advertising "Fresh Seafood." Ha, no kidding. I must admit I am unabashedly American when I say, "I like my fish from a large yellow box with a kind-looking fisherman in yellow rain gear." Fresh is good. This fresh, not so good. I would equate this to having a burger restaurant within the confines of a feed-lot in Northeastern Colorado. Am I right?!   

One of the loveliest food experiences we have had during our time here was a visit to a Japanese restaurant. The Japanese are famous for their Panko bread crumbs and deep-fried foods, which were surprisingly light and came in small quantities. Even Emmalyn got in on the Japanese food, eating up the Udon Noodle Soup. One of my more embarrassing cultural experiences to date happened at this restaurant. The lovely server, ever so kind and demure, was kind enough to present me with a pair of scissors. No, not pasta sheers or dainty scissors, the kind you find in your junk draw or office. BIG SCISSORS. She so kindly explained to me what they were for and walked off. . . one problem, she explained in Korean, which did not include either of the words from my two-word Korean vocabulary. So I was left to wonder. Our food arrived and on my plate was a large pile of VERY long Buckwheat noodles. I am fairly proficient with chopsticks; however, these noodles proved to be very difficult for me to eat due to their length. I pulled out a couple of them and put them on Emmalyn's plate to let her sort out. In the meantime, I had an, "AHHA moment." These noodles needed to be cut up for me to more efficiently eat with chopsticks! DING! The scissors!! Right?! I thought, they must use these scissors to cut the unnecessarily long noodles, or maybe she was just being kind to the American. So, I proceeded to snip away at my noodles and behind me I hear the constant giggle of the lovely staff. I definitely got the vibe that I was doing something VERY wrong, but at least now I could eat my noodles. We left and upon arriving home, I decided to do a little research on those scissors. Much to my embarrassment, those pesky sheers were actually intended to cut up food for the baby present at the table. Who knew!? While I happily dined on cut up noodles, Emmalyn played with her two foot long noodle and all the while our Korean servers had a good laugh at the mommy eating, "baby food." Live and learn. :)