Starbucks in Poetry

Hot chocolate or iced coffee , you cater for all seasons

No matter what time of the year, I always have good reasons

Full cream or low fat the choice is yours

Until around midnight when most have closed their doors

Cappuccino, Chai or just a Latte

It doesn't matter what size, but I wouldn't mind a grande

Good coffee, good service and super free wifi

The hours I spend with you just seem to fly by

On a rainy day in the city, I grace you with my presence

Your giant mugs also make for great presents

Starbucks I will miss you in my life when you are gone

Because back home you are nowhere in sight, a place Koreans call Namagong.

Oh Starbucks, I do love you so

I don't think I can ever let you go 

When my adventures in the east come to an end, I will depart

No matter how far apart, you will stay close to my heart

***THE END***

Photo courtesy of Catherine Stark

10 seconds and counting

A long long long time ago while back my friend Christine and I attempted to go hiking on a route neither of us had been on but she had gotten directions on how to get there. Not only was it a mission to find the mountain (there are millions of hiking trails in this country) but at one point we were hiking in the wrong direction and had to come down and start again (twice).  This, however, did not stop of us from having a good laugh or two at ourselves and just enjoying the breath of fresh air only available outside the city.

I thought I would share these few pictures that made me laugh a lot. You see, I kind of find self taken portraits clumsy- you know the ones I am talking about, where half the photo is the picture of your extended arm as you attempt to fit as much of yourself and of the background in the picture as possible. That's why the self timer on my camera is probably my favourite setting. Since there were not many people near us, this was the best way for us to take a picture with both of us in it, and our background minus the extended arm and double chin effect (also hate that a lot).  Luckily my camera has a 10 second delay option, combine that with multiple shots, one of them is bound to come out right...and ours did.

Christine waiting patiently while I set everything up

Christine having a good laugh at me as I chase time to get into the photo

they say 3rd time is a charm

I have been wanting to go hiking again for a while now but the summer is in full swing, its too hot now. I am going to have to wait for the temperatures to start dropping again in Autumn, which is a good thing because it is my favourite time of the year to hike anyway.

My love affair with markets

While traveling in Taiwan last year, I truly found what I enjoy the most when traveling in a new country or even city - visiting/shopping at the markets. In Thailand I had a ball at Chatuchak weekend market and in the streets of Surkhimvit with Raquel, despite the down pour of the monsoon season. In Phnom Penh, the Russian market did not disappoint with prices so low, you feel bad to even negotiate the prices any lower. Siem Reap was one of my highlights on our summer vacation last year. Great prices for clothes and accessories, phenomenal street food and luxurious foot messages for only $1, no jokes.

Floating market type shopping

don't these ever go out of fashion?

Street food/fruit - first holiday I have been on where I didn't pick up weight...

By the time I planned our trip to Taiwan with Catherine, I knew we simply had to visit the local markets there too, we ended up visiting 3 different ones and we went to one of them twice, thats how much I love them. I am not a shopaholic at all, not many women would dare say that out loud. But honestly I am not. I love the markets because I truly feel thats one of the places where you can really experience life like a local. You can sample delicious (and cheap) street food, shop for clothing and accessories which you can almost always bargain for, enjoy a free live gig or street performance and just soak up an amazing and bustling atmosphere.  

tasting the famous Dimsum for the first time- delicious actually

more delicious street food/fruit

Once you have been to a shopping mall or department store in one country, I feel like you have seen them all. The shiny tiled floors, the same franchised shops, over priced luxury stores that can sell one item and cover the months rent. No, thats not my type of shopping at all (with the exception of MBK mall in Bangkok, Thailand - that one is cool). 

MBK - the only exception to my rule so far

In Daegu, I found my own treasure dome, Seomun market and it fits the criteria of a great market. I haven't been nearly as many times as I would like, but the times I have been there, I have indulged in delicious Korean food (yes there is some), browsed around the great selection of quality clothing and accessories, picked up a few traditional Korean souvenirs to take home for gifts and just taken in the general sights, sounds and smells of Korean life. It's one of the places that makes me pinch myself and think WOW, I am an African living in Asia.  Seoumun Market never disappoints.

I was still new at using chopsticks as you can clearly see

but that didn't stop me from polishing it all up

The sweet couple that run this place-the food is so good, they have even been on TV

Unlike shopaholics, I hope my love affair for markets never ends. There is so much to explore, learn and take in. I am already on the hunt for markets for my next holiday. Destination soon to be revealed, still finalizing plans, can't wait :) I feel so blessed...

Question: What do you have to have to have to do when traveling to a new place?

Some photos courtesy of Catherine Stark.

Discipline and Disappointment

Last year I made the mistake of making super expensive phone calls to South Africa regularly and I paid dearly for them. My second year in Korea I thought I need to be smarter and limit my ways of communicating to texting and skyping and using a phone card if a call is necessary.  I had been doing so well up until last month. I let my guard down just a little and now I will pay dearly using some of my planned savings for the upcoming summer holidays. Discipline is so important. Even if the means to pay are there, it doesn't mean one should be wasteful and careless.  I'm probably being a little too hard on myself but one main theme that God is teaching me this year is discipline, in all aspects of my life - from being late for appointments to discipline around food and in this case money. But its okay, I will try to hop back onto the horse again next month.

Do not be alarmed - currency is in Korean won

Remember these?

we love you keke

We recently celebrated another awesome birthday, this time for our super energetic, bubbly and youngest of the pack, Keke. It was an evening of unique dining at a Japanese restaurant (not sushi), some Ice-cream cake for dessert (yum-yum), some gimmick gift wrapping, fancy lounging down town and of course our favourite, taking over the dance floor! This is how the night went down...

                                     

Notice the box says I love the body shop

well guess what - its not from the body shop haha

Its a wicked pair of earphones instead

Final thoughts:

Keke, you are such an amazing child of God and I am so blessed to have you as a friend. I don't know anybody that much younger than me but has that many stories. You make me laugh so so so much. Hope you had an amazing birthday. I pray that you may be blessed with many more.

ps: Thank you for the super sweet blog post you did for my birthday too, you are so romantic LOL.

my baby, baby, baby oh

Being on Facebook can sometimes feel a lot like Babybook instead. People don't even seem to post comments or pictures of themselves anymore. I have heard that some people have even created a separate Facebook profile on behalf of their kids. I am honestly not jealous because I don't have a kid of my own, but I do believe that there are some precious moments that should be shared between you and your loved ones only and not the masses, on a sometimes very creepy cyber world. An announcement of pregnancy is great, an ultrasound picture I can accept, a 3D version of it can be a little spooky for me but still incredibly fascinating - but when you post a picture of your pregnancy test stick that you pee'd on, WOW, I think that's over share right there! Totally my opinion. Maybe it will change one day when I have my own, we will see.

In the meanwhile, I have decided to use this blog to brag about my cousin's cute bundle of joy instead :) I hope you don't mind. He is the cutest thing you ever did see. He was born in December so I got the privilege to meet the little fellow when I was home in January., but it does kind of suck that I am missing his entire first year :( My sweet cousin has taken the liberty to send me a picture of him every month which I absolutely appreciate - Thanks darling. Without further ado, I would like to introduce my little champion Kwandekhaya....

this one is probably my favourite

Is n't he just precious :)

Don't get it twisted

I mentioned in a previous post that one of my biggest concerns when deciding to move to Korea was where I was going to do my hair. I have a head full of dreadlocks and am in love with going to the hairdresser. Anything requiring more than just tilting my head back in the shower, covering with shampoo and rinsing, is just too much effort. I attempted going to a hairdresser for ethnic hair here in Daegu but was not really impressed, probably because I was comparing them to the best Dreadlocks salon in the whole of Cape Town!!! So I decided since Koreans don't really know about dreadlocks, I could probably go a whole year without doing my hair and they wouldn't even notice and they didn't.  I had forgotten how bad my hair was until I landed in South Africa for summer holidays (well it was winter here) and my friend who fetched me from the airport, had barely hugged me hello before commenting on my hair emergency :(

On a recent trip to Seoul, I decided to visit the suburb of Itaewon which has a huge international community. There are super western restaurants and international food markets where you can get some imported products from home you miss so much. There is a community of African hairdressers there too so I thought I could give this hair thing one more chance. A recommendation from a friend led me to the Family Hair shop. I walked into the salon and I saw the usual, pictures of ethnic hairstyles, weaves, cornrows, the works. To my surprise, there waiting for me was a Korean lady who directed me to the sink to get my hair washed. At this stage I am still unsure about all of this, reassuring myself that she is probably prepping my hair for a Nigerian lady who will walk in any moment to actually do my hair. Boy was I wrong. Yes, true story people, my dreadlocks were twisted by a Korean. And in my time I was there, another Korean lady working with her was braiding another lady's hair with more African customers waiting to have their hair to be transformed, some were return customers. There you have it, there is nothing Asians can't do if they put their mind to it.... And I was very satisfied with the end result indeed and have been back again since. I can't believe after being here for over a year, Koreans still manage to surprise me.

Korean lady twisting my dreadlocks

Happy Customer is good for business :)

awesome things

This is the book that made me buy a kindle! I really wanted a copy and the kindle price was so irresistible, it made sense to invest in one. Plus I wouldn't have to worry about shipping any heavy books I buy when I relocate back to South Africa, right? Anyway, the book got me thinking of some of my own awesome moments that secretly brighten my day. I haven't read the whole book yet so maybe some of my awesome moments are the same as the authors, but these are honestly some of my favourite. Can't wait to read the whole book.

1. Licking the lid/seal of my yoghurt, don't want to waste even a teaspoon of it.
2. Getting my hair washed at the hairdresser because you get to sit on the tilted salon chair and the basin is perfectly cupped to support your head.
3. When I realize my hiccups are gone
4. Skype dates with boyfriend almost daily
5. When my egg is just perfect, the yolk is cooked just the way I like without even trying:)

Order your copy here

What are some of your awesome moments in your daily life? Think about them, and the next time they happen, take the time to appreciate!

Environment Day

This week (or rather 5 June) was World Environment Day so I decided to do a lesson about it. Last week, we played a game with environmental questions and key phrases like REUSE, REDUCE and RECYCLE. As a follow up from the lesson I thought the best way for students to display their new knowledge is with a bit of creativity and colour - environmental posters it was. Check out some of the work they did....

my girls hard at work