Ending of a Great Year Dec 2014

December...

Is always bitter sweet, the end of a year and the beginning of a New Year.

We fill up our December with Holidays celebrating with Friends and Family!

Here's Hadong in DECEMBER.

I love capturing the different seasons in Hadong.

December is also filled with birthday celebrations! 

Young Ju!

Not year older, just wiser...

Happy Birthday.

My days in Hadong, cannot go wrong with my lunch dates!

So Yeoun, now a married woman sneaks in lunch with me, when she can!

I need to do a blog about this restaurant.

They use all the healthiest ingredients and no msg.  It's cheap, delish and filling.

The side dishes are the best part of this place!

Dinner in Hadong with Friends.

Gihoon, Kou, Bren, Patrick, Bernard, Jason and Doyle.

 My friend, KATE!

When in need of great conversations, STARBUCKS, and shopping talks...go see KATE!

Our conversations are endless and we talk about everything and anything.

We want to see the world and drink coffee in every town we go to, esp STARBUCKS!

We could spend our entire day there, we went to 2 different Starbucks that day!

Merry Christmas!

Friends become your family when you live far away from HOME.

Christmas EVE dinner at Beaver's in Jingyo.

My sisters on Christmas...missing 2 and ME, the most important sister. haha

 Pahoua is expecting and will be due soon.  I seem to always be away when the new babies arrive.

I get to go home to new babies..,Our family is growing and only more to come!

Christmas time...chatting with family at home!

It is always a good time to chat and see my kids.

xoxoxo,

Phumee

11 ♡ 2014

November flew by so fast!  Didn't do much.....Just loads of wedding talks, friends, and food.

2015 is exactly a month away!

My DECEMBER favorites BIRTHDAY month! 

ONG and KALINA.

We shall celebrate when we see each other.

♡

What to do a on night in? Eat and why not go sing our hearts out!!!

These ladies are one of a kind, each special in their own way!

(I WANT IT THAT WAY, BARBIE GIRL, HOTEL CALIFORNIA, MY HEART WILL GO ON, LOVE STORY, OPEN ARMS)

When I miss HOME, I can get a piece of it by eating breakfast at McDonald's & coffee @ 

Starbucks.  (Just a bus ride away!)

Mid month of November and my friend So Yeoun was competing in an ART contest, I decided to go and join in on the action!

The children are so talented.  Some of them are already little Van Goghs.  

In Korea, kidnapping is rare.  Kuv mab nyiag nws!  But I love these kiddos! 

Especially the shorter one!  

After a long day, it was a nigh out for our friend, So Yeoun.

Her last few outings as a SINGLE lady!

Finally, November 29th.

Wedding Day

Congrats SO Yeoun and Dave!

Pre Wedding Get Together at Lin and David's.

Thank you, you two are the best!

Self timer with the Hadong Gang!

Hadong LOVE

Missing some of Hadong's Finest.

(Nicole, Martin, Melinda, Jason, Brandon and Josh)

Love the Photos! 

Some of my favorite people! 

My Shengmee!!!

I can't wait til we celebrate you and Chinhoon Oppa! 

It will be filled with LOVE, JOY, HAPPINESS and more LOVE.

Countdown til Jan 2.

Happy December and My Winter is looking soooo good!

Old friends, New friends, Forever long friends.

I miss everyone at home!

xoxoxo, 

-Phumee

October 2014

One, the number, is almost everyone's favorite number.  I mean, it is the start of a new month and who doesn't want a new month?  One, can also mean FIRST, doesn't everyone want to be the first as in the first place winner??  Whatever the reason, ONE, has become my favorite new number.  I may be babbling here and make no sense, but haha oh well, you get the point! (I hope!)   October was a busy month for me.  I am gonna chill in my town for a bit until....Who knows...When I need a getaway to visit Sheng or Brother Kou!

Day 1 (BUSAN)

October came, I was excited because it meant GIRLS Getaway Weekend to BUSAN!  I had the whole day planned out, Pho with everyone at 1130 and then off to the LOTTE GIANTS game at 2.  I missed the first bus of out Hadong to Busan because I woke up late!!!  May I add, in 2011, I was also late to meet up with Friends!  (Same reason.) I couldn't believe it happened again, but it didn't matter because I got there.  Plus, the party don't start without me! JK! I love you two, Sheng and Khue and you two are the party as much as I am! 

After the game, we had some amazing HMOOB food with Brother Kou! He did most of the work, we showed up and ate! He even cleaned! He's a keeper, Ladies and looking!!! Don't tell him I blasted him on here! I don't think he reads my blogs.

See...Proof that he did most of the work! We, the ladies, rolled and I fried! 

Our Lovely Motel, right on the beach and for a great price! We came back to the room and it was cold and windy, but we couldn't resist the beach night life!  We took a stroll along GWANGANLI BEACH.  Then we had a cold and delicious dessert! Can you tell who ordered which dessert?  

Day 2

Busan Tour Bus day and BUSAN FILM FESTIVAL!

Had breakfast at SHARKY'S and it was way delish!  I had the bacon roll or something similar and I will go back to have that! Waited forever for the Tour bus! Went around Busan for a little bit and ended up at the Film Festival.  Saw a celebrity there, the main girl from BOYS OVER FLOWER.  Never saw that drama so I didn't care, but there were some crazy fans there!  After am hour we headed back to get ready for a NIGHT OUT! 

Dinner! 

My chingus, Sheng and Khue! 

Great weekend!

A fun night out in Busan.  Busan, you never seem to fail me from a memorable night! 

Drinks. Good Company. Food. Beach. Thursday Party. KSU, "The Ghetto," according to Renita. Nothing else matters!  

Whatever happens in BUSAN stays in BUSAN!

Renita, Her BF, Kou, Youngju, Khue and Sheng.

October 11th 

My dear, Shengmee, had to take her pre wedding photos that weekend in Jeounju, so I went to support her and be her maid.  I didn't do anything, just took some photos and videos.  She may fired me, but that's ok with me.  I am not a good photographer! A good experience, but also different from the STATES.  They don't have a wedding shoot the day of, they do it months in advance! There is one more photo shoot before the big day in Feb.  And I am included in that one, so Maychee and I are working on our "HEALTHY LOOK."  Whatever that means...

Can't be October without going to the Latern Festival in Jinju.

I have gone before, but not all around.  This time I kind of did and saw alot that I haven't seen before! Some were hilarious, they are mainly about Korean History.

They also have a section of displays that showcased each country from around the world.  From the US, they had the Statue of Liberty! 

Seoul Getaway! 

I don't have any photos from the Clifton's Anniversary Dinner in Osan, but we went to Chili's again.

The next day, we went to the Han River for a goodbye Summer Picnic.  Had some good laughs, food, drinks, friends, Hmoob talks, and definitely a must again.

Here it is, Beautiful Hadong!

No filter, no photo shop, just form my plain camera phone! 

I always go up this trail to the park, but everyday, I discover something new.  There are so many trails that leads up and down to the park! This is where I live and will always come back to as it it my HOME in KOREA!  Small and cozy!

Being away from home is hard, but I am so thankful for technology this day and age!  I am always online and talking to family and friends.  Feels like I am home without me being there physically.  There are times when I wished I could just drive home and hang with the kiddos or eat my parents home cooked meals, but I can't...SK is too far! I am going to miss all the soccer games, school pick ups, Holidays and time with my kids at this cute age, but I will be back soon enough to be SUPER AUNTIE again.  That is the best JOB in the whole wide world, other than traveling!

My MOM is so funny, she is halfway around the world, but still telling me not to eat and travel alot.  MOMS, gotta love them!

The cold winter months are quickly approaching us, I am not sure if I am ready for Korean Winter???

I hope everyone had a great Halloween.  I love Halloween and I got the chance to share a little of the HOLIDAY Spirit at work!

The kids enjoyed it.  I wanna take kids from all over the world to trick or treating countires! 

The kids asked if it was really true! People passing out candies to kids..haha

My friend, So Yeoun, did my make up! 

Which one is the REAL PHUMEE?

I can't believe we are starting 2015 in less than 2 months.

Stay Beautiful.

Here's a quote:

It's fine to have social media that connects us with old friends, but we need tools that help us discover new people as well.

xoxoxo,

Phumee

September 2014

It's always, "Wake me up when September ends!" And now...it has!  Can you believe that Christmas is around the corner?   Halloween...Thanksgiving...Christmas and the the most important Holiday of all for us Hmoob,    

                   HMONG NEW YEARS!

September started and I finally got my "magic perm." It's the opposite of a perm, instead of curls, it is to straighten your hair!  I have gotten it before and loved it, this time, I wanted to wait until for someone who would do my highlights, as well.  Due to the coloration, it was impossible and some hairstylist will turn you away.  Finally, I found a local, the same person who did my hair 3 years ago. She started and didn't say much about the highlights until the second step, she wasn't happy.  She asked if it was ok to chop like 5 inches off my hair, I agreed.  She wanted to cut more, if I let.  I didn't because I would be hairless!  (I don't have a before and after because it'll look exactly alike!)  Just think, never of having to straighten your hair again for a few months!

My MOM's Birthday!!!

9-7

OOvOO and SKPYE dates.

Lunch with my Lovely SoYeoun!!! 

Lemon Table in Gwangyang!

Chusok Week (Korean Thanksgiving)

Eating lunch and hanging out with So Yeoun's family for Chusok.  A 2 day event!  Many relatives visited her house and brought gifts.  I got a gift from my Boss' family and gave away a few gifts to my fellow Hangul Friends and their family.

Mini Day Trip to Haeundae Beach with Lin and Youngju!  Renita and Brother Kou met us there! A day in the sun was much needed!  A day full of eating and relaxing!  Our day started at STARBUCKS, lunch at a THAI restarant, and we ended our day with dinner at TGIF! 

 Our Beach Day!

Since we were just on vacation, that work week was super short! And off to BUSAN I go again!  Gotta have my PHO...It never tastes like home, but it makes a little piece of my heart happy!  Off to the LOTTE GIANTS game we go!  4-3 GIANTS dominated!  Korean baseball games are a little different from the STATES.  The game is played the same of course, but it's free for all..meaning we can bring our own food and drinks inside the stadium.  In my opinion, it's way better than paying for over priced beer and food!  The tickets are way way way cheaper! We sat in the front and paid 12 bucks, in the States, I went to a SF Giants game and paid 30 bucks for standing tickets!   Yea, yea...Americans, we over pay for everything especially when it comes to our professional SPORTS team!

The gang and my DIY nails!

BEAUTIFUL GWANGANLI BEACH!

 After an afternoon of BASEBALL, we went to dinner at SHARKY"S!  Oh so gooooood!  They had RANCH!  Korean don't use ranch and it's not easy to ask for ranch with salad.  It also made my tummy happy!

Finally, weekends at home! My little Korean brother Chris came to visit me in Hadong.  Went bowling for Patrick's birthday!  Patrick is one of my Hadong friends!  I don't have any photos from that night!

Then the next weekend was Bren Kennedy's birthday!  We stayed in town and went to our neighborhood park to play beer pong.  The photo doesn't do justice of how beautiful that day was!!!

 Decorations by yours truly, ME!!!

And So Yeoun helped! (She had no choice.) 

Won Chel and I testing out the props before everyone else!

Sunday Funday in NAMHAE!  A short hike and BEACH day again!  I do live in the SOUTH of South KOREA!  SO really really close to the BEACHES.  How lucky we are!  

 Nugee this is the beach that we went to from above!!!

Patrick and I

There will definitely be more hiking this Fall.  It is beginning to get cold here.  But yes, we do get bipolar days, Hot one day, Rain one day and then Cloudy one day! 

The days, weeks and months are going by so fast!!! Only if we can stop time, and make it stop where and when we want to!  These are the moments we are supposed to be living for???  Take it day by day and one day...one day...it'll all be worth something!  

3 months down 9 to go! On a happy happy note, I can't wait to see some beautiful faces this weekend and winter!  I love weekend getaways and trips!  

xoxoxo, 

Phumee

Collect moments, not things!!!

Summer Part II in SK

As June ended, I was headed for South Korea!  I know I know... again, some people wondered why there again?  But there are reasons behind this...No, I am not in love with anyone there, but everyone! haha

One of the EE's (Shengmee) is getting married!!!  I couldn't be happier, since Maychee and I did hook them up.  Let me count, one...two... I think this is couple number 3 or 4 for me! I need to step up my game and become a professional matchmaker already.

I arrived and Youngju picked me up! Sweetest Friend award!  Went to Sheng's place and took it over.  I was super tired!  She gave me things I needed and off we went to dinner.  This was so embarrassing, but I am gonna blog about it anyway.  As I pulled out a chair to sit in, I fell.  Like a complete idiot!  But it's Korea and no one knew me...Plus I was still new.  (Technically not, but o well I had been gone for almost 3 years.)  The chair was like 3 legged...Trust me anyone would have fell in that thing.

Went around Seoul...Things have changed, but yet I remember everything that I was used to.  Sheng's subway station and those massive stairs up like 5 floors...Nugee and I would always ride the elevators up and down, even the elevators were confusing!!! Maychee, remember the first time you picked me up to go to Sheng's...I was tired and out of breath.  I didn't use the elevators then, now I always use them coming up!  Another Friend Award goes to SoYeoun.

At last, I arrived in HADONG again!  Same smell, same scenery and same people!  New buildings and new foreigner friends!  I smiled. I think I even teared up a little.  Why did I come back? What am I doing here again? All these questions going through my brain.  I wiped that little happy sad tear drop and smiled.  12 months, I can do it.  I mean if not, I can just get on a jet plane and leave!

It rained almost everyday after I arrived.  I took this photo after it cleared up and literately an hour late it poured again!  Who doesn't want to live here?

Seems like ages ago, I can't even remember.  It was just over whelming the first few days...weeks...and finally now it has started to feel normal.  The first few weekends were super HOT so we did a lot of swimming in Hawgae (the valley) and went to Namhae Beach.

My River.

The Valley

(where we go swimming)

Another crazy thing happened, I went to Seoul for training and came home, but realized that I had bought the wrong date ticket to come home! My luck, this only happens to new comers! Why me?? Lesson learned. I just took a detour and went to Jinju to meet friends and got a ride home. 

Kou and Sheng came to visit towards the end of July!  Swimming...Singing...Eating and more Eating.

The gang after a day of swimming and eating!

August 23rd

Went to Seoul and then Sheng and I went on the train to visit the Clifton's.  We had dinner on base at Chili's. Didn't get to do much, long story, we missed our train so we were about 2 hours late!  We will make our train next time! I enjoyed being on based.  (An American Army Base.)  Got American toothpaste and chocolate there!

Kimchi!

New Faces.....New Friends.

Hadong isn't the same without the old gang, but the new gang is just as cool!  Sunday fun day with the Hadong friends!! Bren, Soyeoun, Patrick and Barnnard!

A lot has happened, so I shouldn't postpone these blogs...It's almost time to write the September blog...I hope...I will remember to blog sooner so the events and memories are fresh!! I am so excited for FALL, WINTER and MAYCHEE.  I cannot wait for all the crazy events along with the HOLIDAYS!!!  

I wanna end with a quote! 

Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while pursuit of something else. -L 

xoxoxo,

Phumee

Summer 2014 USA

I forgot how important it is to blog once a month!!! As I am getting ready to blog my summer events, I saw my NY posts.  Of course, I went through it and read it like ten times!!!

 I MISS NEW YORK!

I will go back soon and visit.  I met some pretty awesome people.

Plus Cousin XDY is already cool!

 

Summer came and so many things happened!

 

First, My not so little brother GRADUATED COLLEGE!!!

Bachelors of Arts in COMMUNICATION.

This was in MAY.

 

SIBLINGS

 

MY FAMILY.

 

Threw him a big party and he went off to MONTANA.

We all grow up and go our separate ways, but we will all come home eventually.  He will be home after 6 months.

 

A night with my crazy cousins and friends.

 

My cousin PK's After Grad Party!

Congrats PK!!!

 

Carra lost her first tooth!

The Tooth Fairy gave her $20.00

 

 

 

June came around and time for HIGH SCHOOL graduations!!!

My Niece,

 CATALEENA SHIA SHEE THAO,

CEHS C/O 2014.

 

Cat with the AUNTIES!

DREAM BIG...AND GO GET THEM!

 

End of the school year and events after events...MONTEREY BAY with Stone Soup.  I was an Aunt Volunteer!  Always a good time with these kiddos.

 

Fun day, Carra enjoyed STONE SOUP PRESCHOOL a lot. She talked about school everyday and would attend it again if she could!

 

Guess who turned the big 1-6??

BRANDON OCHI THAO

We threw him a surprised WORLD CUP PARTY...The first game aired on his BIRTHDAY!

 

So many birthdays...Leah turned 5!

My friend LINDSAY'S daughter and now Carra's friend!

Great party LINDS!!!

Miss you much!

 

 

OUR WORLD CUUP FIX!!!

 

We must have watched all the SK, Brazil and USA game! Or basically any good teams that we wanted to watch!

 

Hung out with the KIDS and took them places.

 

CHUCK E CHEESE

 

JOJO's

 

The Park.

 

And Maleficent!! Such a great movie. 

Loads of things happened and it was only the end of JUNE.

 

Little did I know, my summer was just about to begin.

 

xoxoxoxo,

 

Phumee

 

TBC Part II IN SOTH KOREA