Buddha's Birthday Lantern Parade in Daejeon!

 This is the covering over a bridge. I love the architecture! 

 High school students were walking in the parade and they gave us their lanterns to keep. 

 My friends, Laura and Olive, and I

 My friends, Daniel and Olive, and I

 My friends, Abner and Nonke

A Mix of Adventures in Seoul!

Take a glance at all the different floral/pattern prints here...wow!

Here is ancient palace of the Josean kingdom, Changduckgung (창덕궁).  "Gung" means palace.

 We saw a traditional music show at the palace. Notice the beautiful clothing and unique Korean instruments.

 My friends and I took a ride in a cable car to the top of Namsan (Nam mountain) to see the N Seoul Tower.

 These next three photos are the view from the cable car. It was a cloudy day, but it still was enjoyable.

At the top of the mountain near the tower are trees and fences filled with padlocks, but not just any padlock. Couples place a lock and often write messages on them.

 In the evening, some of us went to the Lantern festival for Buddha's Birthday!

 These pictures are on the wall along the river path.

 Look closely at the lanterns hanging over the water.

 Check out the shape of that building!!

 After the festival, while walking, this is what I encountered.  I don't know if this would be fun to ride in or if the lights would drive me crazy! LOL Either way, it was neat to look at for a bit.

 While in Seoul, I visited a huge bookstore and decided to check out the children's section for a bit. Many of you will recognize this...Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

 Here's another familiar one!

A Variety of Tastes!

Let me introduce several of my favorite foods and/restaurants in Korea.  This, by no means, is all- just a few.

Restaurant: "TAKOREA" 
Get it? Taco-Korea. Takorea!

My friends and I love visiting this restaurant.  A Mexican family opened it and they served reasonably authentic Mexican food. It is so delicious and hits the spot when I am looking for something "non-Korean." However, this restaurant, like most, has a slight Korean twist to it.

Restaurant: Otaru

This restaurant is really neat! It's a great place to have sushi with other fun side dishes like potato wedges and cheese sticks!  

Check out the conveyor belts of food circulating around the restaurant. 

 Choose which plates you like, take them off the conveyor belt, and enjoy! Then add up the total bill based on this plate wall diagram.  

 Per my request, a special order or avocado veggie roll was made!!! Amazing!!!

Check out the other selections!

 Tuna, vegetable, kimchi roll = so delicious

 Here is another version of the avocado roll, which I have asked for on many different occasions.

A Great Dish: Duk calbi (spelling?)
This meal is a nice blend of rice processed into a cylindrical shape called duk, vegetables like cabbage, carrots, and sweet potatoes, cheese filled duk, sweet potato filled duk, rice, sometimes ramen noodles, and a sweet spicy red sauce, typically served with chicken as well. Being a vegetarian, I don't have the chicken, but people say it is really good.

Here is the grill on which they place the pan at the table.  This whole meal is cooked in front of you. If you try to cook it yourself the waiters and cooks notice, then come over right away to take over for you. 

 Here are my friends Laura, her Uncle Chuck who came to visit Korea, Ben, and Carol waiting for the meal.

 YUM!!!

Below are side dishes including pickled yellow radish (very good) and a type of kimchi drink/soup.

An Amazing Dessert to Replicate: Bingsu
This dessert is a mix of shaved ice flakes, fruit, sweet red beans, condensed milk, gelato, and other toppings!

A Favorite, Easy, Classic Dish: Tuna Kimchi Stew/Deep Soup, 참치(Chamchi) 김치(Kimchi) 찌개 (Jeegay)
This is served with rice on the side, which I love adding to the soup.

 Vegetable side dishes that come with meals