Dinner, Dinner, Movies and Massages

The last week has been great – we’ve done a lot! We caught up with the other Australian Inpex guys for dinner one night and it was a really great night out. The food was amazing and SO cheap! Brent and Suzanne have a one year old, Stella and she’s is so adorable. She was such a good girl the whole time and didn’t mind when I stole a quick hug J

Wednesday was a public holiday here so Adrian and I went for a nice drive around the island. We planned to sightsee but the weather was not permitting so we took a few snaps of the mountains and then headed home. We don’t like to go out too long anyhow as we’re looking after Pip again and I don’t like to think of her being home alone. Such a softie!! Haha!

On Saturday night we went for dinner and a movie – we went to Vapiano’s again (the newly opened restaurant in the shopping centre). It’s only been opened three weeks and already I’ve been three times and Adrian’s been twice!! I’ve started my healthy eating plan and opted for the salad that night so I could have popcorn during the movie. I figure corn is pretty healthy right, even if it is covered in butter and salt! And even if you have a whole large box to yourself ;)

On Sunday we indulged in a massage which was really nice, painful but nice. The massages they give over here aren’t gentle – more like a sports massage but you do feel good after. And the outfits are pretty cool! J

I’ve also found a beauty salon that honestly does the best facials. I’m so happy I found it and the prices over here are ridiculously cheap. I’m talking $30AUD for a one and a half hour facial that includes everything you could ever think would be included in a facial. I don’t understand how they can be such a bargain but the beauty industry over here is great like that – everything is WAY cheaper than Australia and it’s all of such great quality too. Definitely going again soon J

Chat soon xx

Rafting and Waterfalls!

Life has been pretty full the last couple of weeks. We’ve done lots of exploring, catching up with friends and a bit of wedding planning too J

Last weekend we went for a nice drive around the island and stopped off at Mundong Waterfall. The photo’s we’d seen of it looked really pretty and well worth the hike. Of course when we went to visit the water was a slow trickle and Adrian thought if we’d walked this far we might as well keep exploring and see if there’s anything else worthwhile viewing while we were there. Being the outdoorsy person that I am (ha!) I was super excited by his suggestion, and even more so when he preceded to walk up a hidden trail that no one else dared to go. We encountered mosquitoes, giant ants, flying black bugs, crawling black bugs, dragonflys that seemed like they were aiming to knock you out by the force they would fly into your head and lots of other scary noises in the bushes! Adrian hiked on ahead and I did my best to keep up, not daring to get left too far behind for fear of what else could be hiding in the bushes. The walk back down the mountain was a struggle and I’m not sure if my legs were shaking more from exhaustion or fear of all the bugs! J

This weekend our dare-devil spirits came out again and we joined a group of Adrian’s workmates for an afternoon of white water rafting. I was a bit nervous at first as the website promoting it said the rapids were really fast – luckily it hadn’t rained in the weeks coming up to our visit and the current was nice and cruisy. There were a few spots where I might’ve let out a little squeal but overall it was a really fun experience and one I wouldn’t mind doing again. The only worrying thing was that our guide only knew two words of English – thank you and photo. Luckily we had a Korean colleague in our raft and he spoke fluent English and could translate all the safety tips and directions.

That night some of Adrian’s friends came down from Ulsan (3 hours away) and we all went out for dinner. It was really nice to catch up with them and have a good chat about life over here as opposed to life back home. It still astounds us how there is literally no crime over here at all and every time we look a news website from home it appears all we see is violence –murders, bashings, robbery so forth. Of course it’s not as developed as Australia but in a way I think that just adds to its charm. The mentality over here is more family orientated than about oneself like it is back home. Generally three generations live under one roof – something I just couldn’t imagine happening in Australia. As soon as you’re old enough you’re out of home and never return. Here it’s nice to see that the elderly are not sitting at home alone and that they’re surrounded by grandkids, it’s actually their ‘job’ (for want of a better word) to look after the kids while the parents work. I might have a case of rose-coloured glasses at the moment but I actually think that’s quite nice.

Chat soon xx

Adrian's 31st

Friday night we had drinks for Adrian’s birthday. It was a great night out! We had (plenty of ) drinks, yummy food, delicious cake, great company and even had a horse show up to say happy birthday!!

Saturday…well let’s just say we paid for having such a big night the night before. We spent some quality time on the couch and watched football (for Adrian) and movies (for me). It was actually quite nice to veg out together, Adrian is always on the go and doesn’t usually like to relax…maybe I should get him hung-over  more often! ;)

Sunday was Adrian’s actual birthday and I think I was more excited than him! I woke up early, got his presents together and brought them back to bed so he could open them straight away. He was a good sport and pretended to love it! J  When I was growing up we always got woken up early for birthdays, Christmases and easters to open presents. It was always so hard getting to sleep the night before because I was so excited about what I’d be waking up to. I’m still like that actually, I still can’t sleep properly on the nights before something exciting is going to happen. I didn’t even sleep properly on Saturday night because I was so excited to wake up early and give Adrian his presents. I’m a loser, I know!! We joke that he’s got to start getting used to it now because when we have a family Easter, Christmas and Birthdays are going to be a big deal. I can tell he’s excited deep down… ;)

Write soon xx

Beauty in Korea

Today I’ve had a fairly cruisy day. I started it off with an exercise class then came home to work the rest of the day away.
At the exercise class Mel, the lady who runs it, said that we should aim to do 5 hours of exercise per week. God, I'm only doing 2 and that feels like a lot! At this stage I figure two is better than none and I'll work my way up to five eventually. :/ Just have to stay motivated!!

Yesterday was the GFRA morning tea and this week  Leigh held it and talked to us all about where to get specific beauty treatments in Geoje. It was really informative as I’ve wanted to get a facial over here but the communication barriers have held me back. Geoje actually has every type of procedure you can imagine, from botox to laser to mud baths. It shouldn’t really have surprised me as South Korea is an industry leader in beauty and cosmetics but I honestly never knew we had so much here on this little island. It also surprised me as all of it is so cheap, especially compared to Australia. I figured as most other things here are comparable in price to back home then the beauty industry would be too, I was happily proved wrong.

I think I’m going to go get an organic facial next week so I’ll let you know how that goes. I did however buy an organic exfoliating peel yesterday that Leigh swears by. I tried it out last night and it was great. Honestly, that girl knows her products! (It’s called Green Apple Facial Peel for sensitive skin by Juice).

After the morning tea we all went for lunch as usual, this time we choose Buona Cucina. We all ordered the most AMAZING pizza’s and the service was great too. I’m glad that it’s in Okpo though as I think I’d be eating it far too often if it was closer to home. Yumm!

Write soon xx

Safety - Korean Style!

Well today is without a doubt the prettiest day I’ve seen in Geoje. The sun is shining and the sky is bright blue in every direction. It’s so nice to see blue sky when we’ve had so much grey lately. It’s super hot though, and the heat is oppressive. Don’t get me wrong, I’d much prefer the heat than the cold and I’ve experienced extreme heat back in Australia but over here it’s all consuming. Still such a pretty day though! You can tell it’s hot when they have the aircon on in the gym. I’ve started taking a kickboxing/aerobics class every Tuesday and Thursday and we aren’t allowed the aircon on unless it’s seriously hot. Today was our lucky day and the first time we’ve had aircon. It was a nice change. Usually it’s so hot in there it feels like a sauna by the end of the class and it’s like a two for one – exercise class plus detox J

We’ve had window cleaners at our apartments the last two days and it’s crazy the way they do it over here. Literally they are hanging by ropes, no harnesses, no safety equipment. Some are even wearing thongs. It’s crazy!! Here’s a few pics.

We had a nice weekend too, it was quiet and relaxing. On Friday night we met up with Ian and Sarah for dinner and a few drinks. We always have such a good time with them. I see Sarah most days and she has me in hysterics a lot of the time but when you get Ian and Sarah together it’s like our very own comedy act. They’ve known each other since they were thirteen and they bounce off each other in the most natural way. I hope Adrian and I are like that one day. It’s really sweet (and funny) to watch.

Saturday night we had a date night and Adrian took me to the movies (if you asked Adrian he wouldn’t call it something as romantic as a date, just that he wanted to see a movie and thought it’d be good to see it on Saturday together). Men! J We saw Batman and it was pretty good as far as batman movies go. I love going to the cinema - movie munchies and a tub of popcorn…yum!

Write soon xx  

Jimmy's Night Out

Well last night the jimmy’s had their very first outing. We had a work dinner to attend at the Samsung Hotel. It’s a really flash venue as far as Geoje goes and although the dress code was smart casual I was not going to pass up an opportunity to wear my new heels!

It was a really nice night, great company, great food (especially the dessert!), great heels…and sore feet. I haven’t worn heels for almost a year and standing around in extremely high heels for over an hour really killed me. I used to wear heels ALL the time. Honestly, I’d wear them all day at work and then again if I went out at night dancing. And they never bothered me. Now I wear them for an hour and I feel crippled with pain. What has happened to me!?! I think I’ve become unconditioned and I’m going to have to fix that problem, asap! I’m going to practice wearing them around the house until I feel comfortable in them again. And plus there could be worse things in life than walking around my apartment in a cute pair of jimmys right?!

Write soon xx

Excuses, excuses, excuses!!

Okay, okay I know I’ve been a TERRIBLE blogger lately BUT I’d like to give you the following three excuses, ahem I mean reasons… J

Firstly look at this face.

You can’t possibly be disappointed that I haven’t been blogging when my first reason is because of this gorgeous little fluff ball. Her name is Pip and we puppy-sat her for almost three weeks. She was only 6 weeks old when we started looking after her and it was a full time job so when I wasn’t running around after her and getting cute little puppy cuddles I was being quite the hermit. Adrian and I did go to the movies once to see Snow White (it was great by the way) and we also went to a wine and cheese night with his colleagues. It was a fun night and I loved the cheese, still haven’t acquired the taste for wine. One day I’m sure my tastebuds will grow up!

 My second excuse is because straight after we gave Pip back to Ian and Sarah I finally started working. Just from home on my laptop for the same company I was working for back in Australia. I work between 20-30 hours a week and I love it because it helps me feel like I’m doing something worthwhile over here, not just spending my days socialising. So between working, going for ladies coffee on Wednesdays and doing the groceries etc I put blogging on the back burner. After staring at the computer for work the last thing I felt like doing was sitting in front of it again to write the blog. Sorry!

Thirdly my final (and best) reason is because of NEW YORK, NEW YOooorrrk!!! (And yes I do sing that every time I say it). As soon as we found out New York was a possibility I was singing Frankie Baby as soon as I woke and usually a line or two before falling asleep at night. Tip: downside to having that song in your head when you’re going to bed is that is makes you WAY too excited to sleep and you find that you just sing it over, and over, and over again in your head…or at least that’s what happened to me. Poor Adrian had to put up with my tone-deaf singing and my extreme excitedness (yes I just made that word up) for a whole week. Every time I sang I would tell him I was serenading him but really it was an involuntary outburst brought on by thoughts of all we could do in New York (New Yoooorkkk). Ahem. And yes there were sometimes the occasional dances that went along with the song. And before you judge, I’m sure you’d do the same thing if you were in my situation and had dreamed about going to New York ever since you watched the first episode of SATC.

We ended up going to NY for three days and then Houston for another three. It was a whirlwind trip but oh so worth it.

Our first day in NY was action packed. We started out doing the Statue of Liberty cruise. It was amazing and because we were on the first cruise we had the boat to ourselves on the return leg. It seems not many people are awake and seeing the sights at 9am on a Saturday. Afterwards we walked to Wall Street and then Ground Zero, and then we caught the subway to Carries steps. Adrian was a great sport and took photos of me on the steps. I was so happy my cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Around the corner is Magnolia Bakery which is also featured in SATC, we just took a quick photo there and hopped back on the subway to go to Times Square.

We had lunch at Hard Rock and each had their signature cocktail – it was SO strong I felt tipsy after the first sip!! J We walked around times square and did a bit of shopping and then walked to the shopping district and our first stop was Manolo Blahnik! No need to go on and on (I could easily but I’ll spare you). Let’s just say I think I was in my own little heaven, surrounded by Manolo’s and then actually being able to buy a pair. Swoon! There was another lady in the shop who bought 9, yes nine, pairs and said she’d have her concierge come back to pick them up. Wow!!

I can only imagine what her closet must look like!

We walked around a few other shops and stopped by Tiffany & Co. I wish I could say I bought something but honestly the piece I had in mind wasn’t as spectacular as what it looked on the website, and considering a had just bought a pair on Manolo’s I figured I could pass on the T&C. We did however have a quick look at wedding bands (hey while in rome) and the sales assistant kindly cleaned my ring.

We walked back to the hotel and put our feet up for a while then went to an amazing restaurant at the bottom of Rockefellers centre. The food was delicious but after spending the whole day walking around in 37 degree heat we were knackered and went home to bed.

Sunday we were up early again for another action packed day. We started off by visiting the rockerfellers centre – the views were spectacular. Next time we’re going to go back at night, the city literally sparkles at night and paired with the breathtaking views from the top of the rock, I think it’d be great to see. It was well worth going during the day too though.

We walked up to central park afterwards and took a horse and carriage ride through the park. It was really nice and a really relaxing way to break up the day. Afterwards we strolled through the park and then stopped for a drink at the Boathouse. It’s the restaurant in the middle of the park that’s been featured in a few movies. It’s really pretty there.

We then hit the shops which was great fun for me, not so much fun for Adrian though but he was a pretty good sport about it. We also stopped by New York Public Library but it was closed so we could only get a picture of the front. I’d love to go back next time but we’ll just have to make sure not to do it on a Sunday.

New York was honestly such a blast and I hated leaving. I had that same thought when we left Houston too. We only spent three days in each city but I really loved the time I spent in both places. I found myself thinking ‘why couldn’t we have been posted here!’. It would’ve been so great to live in the states for 18 months, which was what we originally thought was going to happen. BUT I can’t dwell on it and there are worse places then South Korea to be posted and really we are so fortunate to be in this situation at all, regardless of where we are. I think I’m just suffering from post-holiday blues! I think no matter where we live we’ll always see the bad things about a place when we’re in that frame of mind.

Write soon xx