Lords Park | Elgin, Illinois

Markus and I currently live in the far west suburbs of Chicagoland in Elgin. It's quite a bit of a drive to the city and it's super suburban. It's not a bad place if you want to raise kids and settle down, but for Markus and I, it's not where we want to be. After living in a city like Busan, I've started to crave the city life. Growing up in Tampa was enough suburbia for me. I've had a lifetime of it and now 'm dying for the city life. 

Despite being in the burbs, there are still some really nice pockets. The other day, Markus and were driving around and we saw Lords Park. It's really close to our house and I've always wanted to visit. For some reason or another, we never stopped. Every time I've wanted to visit, it was in the fall. As we were driving by, I saw that it was completely covered in snow. It was so beautiful and we couldn't help ourselves.

There wasn't a single person at the park and it was wonderful. I spent the whole time frolicking in the snow. It was really peaceful and actually quite beautiful. I'm pretty sure if this was in the city, it would've been overrun with people and kids. It's times like these that I'm okay with temporarily being in the suburbs!

Mommyo's Grand Tour of Chicago

I don't know how it always happens, but mommyo always ends up visiting us just when we've moved to a new place. When we moved the South Korea, she was there two months after we arrived. This time she came three weeks later with my older brother Chris. I left my car in Florida and my brother kindly drove it up to Chicago. My mom needed to go to the Philippine Consulate, so in the end it all worked out quite well. It was quite lovely having them so soon after we moved. There's nothing like having a bit of family in a new place.

The first morning she was here, Markus and I took her to the Philippine Consulate so that she could be sworn in as a citizen again. About the same time Markus and I moved to Korea, she retired in the Philippines. When we were at the consulate, everyone was speaking in Tagalog and I had no idea what they were saying. I kept asking Markus to translate and that surprised a lot of people. Tita' are always telling me that it's a shame I don't understand the mother tongue. Trust me, I regret it too. If I had my way, I would be fluent in French, Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese and Korean. Sadly, I don't have a knack for languages, which totally stinks. 

After she was finally sworn in, we spent the rest of the afternoon in the city. We visited a few sites and ate way too much food. The highlight of the day was when we went to Magnolia Bakery and had red velvet cupcakes. I live for those cupcakes. I still remember when we went to NYC in 2008 and ate them for the first time. Of course my mother defied convention and ordered a cheesecake. She always does what she wants, which makes sense because I do too. I'm glad that I was able to have this one day with her in Chicago. I missed the times when it was just me and her, so it was nice being able to explore a new place with her!

Goodbye Korea Series | Gloria and Seulhee Unnie

One of the things I miss the most about Korea are our friends. We met some amazing and wonderful people while we lived in Busan. I never thought that I would meet people that would become life long friends. Two people I miss the most are my unnies (Korean for older sister), Seulhee and Gloria. I met them through Markus, when they all worked on the Magic English Bus together. I really think they were the best thing to come out of that experience. When I met them, we instantly clicked and I knew I found my true unnies.

We would meet once a month, usually on Wednesdays, for dinner and drinks. I was always excited, because we would stay out really late eating delicious food, drinking too much soju and talking about life. They were more than just friends, they became like family. They knew everything about us and we knew all about them. We never ran out of things to talk about and they always had great advice. Sometimes, I wish that we could go back to our Wednesday night dinners. I truly cherished the time that we had with them and I'm anxiously waiting for the day that we can meet again!

Oh Korea Quote #3

Despite the fact that I don't live in Korea anymore, I still have heaps of material for my "Oh Korea" series. I took a little break, but now they're back!

I really miss hearing all the random things that Korean people said. It was definitely a highlight of my life in Busan. For the third installment of "Oh Korea", I chose a really strange one. I've had loads of weird conversations, but this one was really out there. I was talking with a male coworker and I we were talking about health and sickness. Basically the conversation went like this:

Me: I get sick really easily.
Him: Oh really? You didn't drink mother's milk?
Me: ..... I'm pretty sure I did.
Him: Until when?
Me: I don't know, until I was 1?
Him: I drank mother's milk till I was 13. Plus I really like... * he put his hands in front of his chest.*
Me: Oh.....

At first I thought he was joking, but after a few more minutes of conversation I realized he wasn't. He was dead serious. I don't even think it's possible for someone to drink breast milk until that age, but I could be dead wrong. I asked a few of my Korean friends if this could happen. They said that because he grew up in the countryside, anything was possible. Apparently things are really different in the country. Either way, I'll always remember when a grown man told me he drank mother's milk until he was a teenager. Oh Korea, how much I miss you. 

Koh Rong, Cambodia | 1 of 3

After Markus and I trekked through the ruins of Angkor Wat, we traveled south and went to the island of Koh Rong. It's a nice little isolated island and definitley gives off a Robinson Crusoe vibe. As many of you know, I'm not a huge fan of the beach, but even I can't pass off an opportunity to sunbathe on a nearly isolated beach. Not very many people travel to Koh Rong, so we were guaranteed a nice relaxing five days. When we go on vacations, we tend to fit in everything we can and rush from place to place. Sometimes we forget to relax and we planned for our time on Koh Rong to be a nice holiday from our holiday!