...more..

...the first full day we spent with Phil we joined him at his football match. He helped manage the team and they are very skillful -

                                      Phil overseeing the match!
 - it was an amazing match but we didn't bring any luck unfortunately - a 3-2 loss! After the match we met up with his mates at the park, and then went for a pork galbi. This is a traditional Korean way of eating and it was so sociable. We were all (about 14 of us) sat around two big tables with a hot cooking plate in the middle

there are many side dishes and an abundance of meat. There was a lovely relaxed atmosphere and despite our jetlag, it was a lovely experience.

Some of Phil's footy mates, Alec on the left is travelling S America with Phil.

 We found that a routine soon emerged. We slept late each morning getting up about 11am, and then staying up till late at night, with me going to bed about 1.30 and Bridgie following about 4am! Once we were up, one of us would go and visit the local bakery "Paris Baguette" and buy a croissant or similar, and then we would set off exploring.

Gun mandu

There were several places we enjoyed eating, and this particular place was a real favourite where we were made very welcome. Gun mandu was delicious and if all else failed we would revert to this tasty bite!

This became one of our favourite watering holes.

One of our earliest days was spent in Suwon walking the fortress walls. Nick, one of Phil's good mates, offered to take us there on the bus which was brilliant and gave us confidence to get about on our own afterwards.

The Hwaseong Fortress Wall

...more soon :-)

Haven't got used to the new Blogger layout and tools so bear with me - I've added a jump break by mistake! Sorry! 

Korea - a taster!

Well... here you are.. first some pictures from the flight which was amazing - flying over the Himalayas. I was fascinated that on the screen in front of me I could see a map of where we were;
views forwards and down... and then I would go wandering from our seat and peek views through the little porthole windows at the back. Bridgie was in the window seat and in fairness, there was limit to the number of times I could lean across to look out!
The flight went via Abu Dhabi, which made it a little long, but it all went smoothly and Phil was there to meet us at the airport. Despite it being very late at night the place was alive and vibrant, with neon light everywhere. After a longish taxi ride we put our stuff down in the hotel and went out to meet Phil's friends in a local bar.
View from hotel window.
It was brilliant to see Phil and meet his friends and feel so welcome.
Here is an assortment of pics including an evening view over Yeongtong where we were staying, a wonderful cake-shop, and Phil and Bridgie chilling with all his mates in the park. It was the place to go after their football matches and many a happy hour was spent sitting chatting here.
More soon I hope ...

Christmas

Hello!

Such a long time since I wrote and I haven't written about Korea or Slovenia... I will but thought you'd like this little update.

Phil arrived safely back in UK on Friday afternoon, he will be home for 3 weeks and is then off travelling in S America, probably about 6 months then home for a bit and a possible return to Korea.

In fact, Friday 17th was such a lovely day - Bridgie and Tim have both had temporary jobs..
... first Tim heard he has got a job with Hy-pro a sports franchising company in Dunsatble. He has a few weeks trial and then if all goes well it will be permanent.

Within 15 minutes Bridgie received a phonecall from the CEO of a company (in Manchester) who she had contacted and had had an interview with the previous week... and they offered her a job too!

So we were almost walking on air!
Bridgie is now flat hunting; Tim will stay here for a bit longer; they both start at the beginning of January - can't think of a better Christmas present for them!

keith and I are fine, Meriel came down on Sunday so we now have a house full!

All for the moment...