Mason Marley

October 18, 2025

A fall Saturday. Normally, my mother-in-law watches Mason and his cousins early on Saturdays. But Dunkin is short on part-timers, so it was a good chance for me to spend some the time with the wrecking crew.

We started by attempting to walk the dog but did not make it very far. I had to put Yunwoo on my shoulders, as she’s petrified of Dori. Apparently, Dori loves to eat Mason’s pants. When my back was turned, Dori took a slow motion flying leap at Mason and put a single hole in his sweats. He was in tears instantly.

Once I put out that fire, we rolled around in the truck a bit until we ended up getting a cheese pizza and some spaghetti for lunch from Dominoes. Then we headed to this small museum in Eecheon – they loved it. I also took them to Lotte Mart, so Mason could buy a birthday gift for his friend, whose house we went to the next day (also named Yunwoo). We bought him a Ninjago Lego set. I let my three goblins load up on 1,000 won toys from Daiso.

September 12, 2025

We made a quick decision to go to Thailand. I am happy we did. We left ICN in the afternoon after HK got back from work. The flight was only half full and Mason sincerely enjoyed his in-flight meal. We played some Mario Kart and I watched Point Break, the sequel unfortunately.

We arrived in Phuket around 10:30pm and stayed near the airport at Sugar Marina Aviator. That night we grabbed some food from an outdoor street food spot and got to bed. The next day we were picked up (after a swim) and had planned to take a trip to the Kai Islands. As it turned out, if we’d went, we would not be able to get a boat to Phi Phi Island that evening, so we opted to just go to Phi Phi.

The hotel in Phi Phi (for the first 2 nights) was the Phi Phi at the Pier. One night I walked Mason down to the beach after dinner and he met another little Thai boy. They played on the beach chasing crabs and building a sand castle for almost 2 hours, and of course Mason jumped into the surf with his street clothes on. The breakfast was memorable at the Pier because of the cats. Mason could eat and then play with the cats while HK and I enjoyed post-breakfast morning coffee.

On the second day, we went snorkeling around Maya Bay (although that beach was closed and there was some trash in the water) we found two good snorkeling spots and Mason had no fear about the water or its depth. My snorkel did fall to the ocean’s floor and I was surprised how fast with fins I could get down there to grab it (12 meters deep?) and on my ascent quickly pondered if my descent was a bad idea (considering the bends) but turns out I survived with the help of a quick beer.

We next stayed at Phi Phi Resort for a night on Long Beach. A beautiful little cottage was our home there, that we needed to ride a van up and down to every time we wanted to get to the beach or pools. The water was a little rough in the ocean, but the pool they had was a classic, ranks in my top 5 personal favorites on the planet. The resort also had the meanest breakfast staff on the planet. When we left, we boarded another long boat to get back to the Pier with about 12 other guest and all our luggage. The boat sank deep down in the water when it was said and done. HK cut off circulation in my hand during the ride back to the pier, but we did not capsize. Dinso Resort was all about their incredible breakfast, their pool, the kid’s café (PS5) and that burger I ate. Since we had 8 hours to kill on our last day we booked a resort room near the airport. Well we thought it was a resort, turns out their pool was out of commission and the room smelled like mold. The place looked like a perfect place for a drug deal. I haven’t had a good laugh like that in a long time. Our check-out came within minutes of our check-in. Back to Sugar Marina we went, thanks to Bolt.

April 26, 2026

Mason’s 7^th (western age) birthday party was a lot of fun. We had it at our house and the theme was – every kids favorite these days – Minecraft. We had Minecraft balloons and foam Minecraft swords for each of the kids. HK was in charge of food, which included kimbap, pizza, french fries and fruit bowls, along with an ice cream b-day cake.

After some time inside we headed outdoors for game with prizes, we lost 2 kids who wanted to go back inside and play, but 8 seemed to be a perfect number for 3 legged races, balloon tossing and relay races. Thank goodness Paul came to help, he is really incredible with kids. We ended the day at the playground where we ran timed obstacle course races. Even kids not part of our party joined in.

After coming back home Mason played with 2 of his judo friends (Jaeah and Heeso) at our house for an hour or so and then went back to outside on his bike to his see if there were any kids at the playground. To his surprise a heard some yelling from an apartment’s window from some of the kids that attended his party (I guess it was a private after-party party), so he went up their house to play for a few hours. A big day for Mason and a happy one for his Mom and Dad too. The next day was the Dad’s (LLL’s apartment first graders first meet-up which was also fun).

April 13, 2025

I got to sleep in today. Finally. HK and Mason were studying Korean at his new desk when I woke up. They seemed pretty tuned in to their studies, so I took some time to organise a few things around the house. HK’s new hobby is making sandwiches and I could not be happier. She made some roast beef vegetable olive oil masterpiece and it was delicious.

We got a taxi from our apartment and went to the Korean War Museum. I think this is the 3^rd time Mason has been there, so some similar pictures exist on this blog, I am sure of that. But it is a fantastic museum, the kind you wish you were alone at and could spend an entire day reading each exhibit  description. The last stop were the planes and boats outside. They have military patrol boat you can board, we did, and were politely kicked off, as it had just rained, and they were concerned it was too slippery for guests.

After the museum we hit The Baker’s Table, a German owned bakery for some brats and bitburger, Mason got a little game time. We played the Genie game together on my phone, and the Genie guessed Mason’s character correctly, a Villager from Minecraft. We then hit the Booth next door for a slice of pizza to go, where Mason got a free pencil sharpener. Mason and I went on a bike ride that evening on the bike he just got as his early birthday present (he smiled the whole time), a few tears during our English class at the end of the day, but nothing too major. A good day.

March 30, 2025

City-wide Judo tournament was held this weekend and lucky for us at a stadium that is about a 10 minute walk from our apartment. Mason weighed in the day before, so on Sunday morning we set off (Mason via kickboard) to the stadium at 8:30 am. Weather is still chilly in Seoul, but it was nice to walk through the budding cherry blossom trees on the way to the stadium.

When we arrived, there were so many judo players on the mats warming up and in the stands that we could not find Mason’s team. After about 15 minutes, we finally spotted them. Mason warmed up and was the first player from his team to compete. (Spoiler Alert) Unfortunately, he lost the match and was out of the tournament. In defeat, Mason walked over to me and sat on my lap. I could see tears welling up in his eyes, so I waited a few minutes before talking him through the loss.

Of course, he bounced back and we stayed at the stadium until 4pm so Mason could play with his friends and watch other Jamsil Judo players compete. His friend Jaeha also lost his first match, but Song June ended up winning a silver medal.

Win or lose, it was a great experience. I hope this little big guy keeps doing Judo for years to come.

December 25, 2024

Christmas 2024 was peaceful. Mason, of course, was first up to open presents. He got Nintendo Switch, which he was thrilled about. And also a drone and some other small gifts. HK and I both got sweatshirts, which was no surprise. HK also cooked for us all day, which included tacos.

The day was dominated by races between me and Mason on Mario Kart 8. Mason was the only one to pull off a first place victory towards the end of the night. We got a little tired of being home all day so headed to a local Izakaya for some snacks, including fish bread, which has no fish in it, it’s only shaped like a fish. The day was uneventful, so a nice Christmas in the books for our family of three.

December 8, 2024

Jae Hyung and Ji Hyun planned a trip to Sokcho, the east coast of Korea, that is known for fantastic seafood for the weekend. My father-in-law drove all of us, except HK who had to work so she made her own way there and arrived right in time for dinner. We stopped at a temple along the way that we had to ride a bus up a mountain to get to. We milled around there for a little bit there and had some expensive and interesting tasting tea.

The kids were thrilled with the 2 floor hotel suite we all stayed in, that had an unforgettable view of the ocean, from which the restaurant we had dinner at a spot only a few minutes’ walk away from the hotel. There is not enough I can say about the seafood, Korean style sashimi and shellfish.

After the dinner, we stopped at the beach to take in the air and view, but because of an early tee time we got back to the hotel fairly early. The next morning we had the first tee time and I must be making some progress because I only lost 3 or 4 balls. Our foursome then met up with the rest of the family and I treated everyone to grilled fish for lunch. It was a long drive back with kalguksu (noodle soup) for dinner. A great weekend family excursion.

October 26, 2024

Mason’s first Judo competition.

He was a little nervous, but not overly to be honest. There were hundreds of athletes there of all ages. Mason was in the youngest group and he had the first match of the entire tournament.

Before his match Mason sat peacefully in his chair while his opponent viciously warmed up. That worried me slightly, but in hindsight this kid knows when to turn it on and turn it off. So, I will just continue to keep my mouth shut and let him do it his way.

Once the match started, both Mason and his opponent smiled at each other while hand fighting and then Mason turned up the gas and got a Ippon (threw of the other little guy on his back, an instant win in Judo).

In his next match, he won by holding his opponent down for 20 seconds, but then lost his third match, which I don’t really know why – it seemsed like it was just going on for too long, so the referee just randomly picked a winner. Mason ended up winning a silver medal! (But honestly, his highlight of the day was just hanging around with his friends and playing.)

October 12, 2024

Our eleventh anniversary trip to Tokyo. We left Seoul very early in the morning on Saturday and left Mason with Grandma! (Sorry Mason). I love the parking at Gimpo, driver is there at passenger drop off and valets your car to the parking lot for us.

We stopped by our normal airport restaurant, and I had some Taco Bell. Once we arrived, customs did take a little while to get through, but it wasn’t awful. We were lucky enough to catch a train that was just departing to Tokyo, and it was a nice ride in – a little over an hour to Shinjuku Station. The weather was perfect. October is the time to visit Tokyo. 

We immediately had sushi and the freshest beer of my life. We spent the day walking from Shinjuku to Shibuya – and it was a fantastic walk. We hit multiple sushi shops throughout the day.

We did momentarily get separated on the busy streets of Shinbuya and HK’s phone was in my bag – so a few tense moments – but we reunited and regrouped. 

We hit an Izakaya, then beef barbeque and another Izakaya. We also shopped at a huge Pokémon store and Mason was able to pick the stuffed animal he wanted through video call. Our hotel (video check-in) did not have big rooms, but it was very modern and clean. Noodles and more sushi in the morning before heading back to Seoul.

August 26, 2024

Mason took Thursday off from school so we could head up to the mountains for a night. The day before we had hit Cosco (although I went to the wrong one (Yangjae) initially), but eventually got there, to pick up some steaks for the trip.

We made it to Kramer Lee first for some of their smoked bbq and craft beer in the early afternoon. HK bought 24 cans for pick up the next day as well. Mason and I got to play catch outside for a little while, which was great. Of course, Mason also brought his remote control tank and ninja sword.

The small pension (hotel) was called The Still. We checked in at 3pm. It seemed like it was empty, but there were a few other guests apparently, who we never saw but did hear. The highlight was their pool, we played volleyball, but Mason’s favorite new pool game is him standing on my knees and then me launching him in the air.

We enjoyed bbq that night, which was incredible and got to bed fairly early as we were all exhausted. Mason and HK got the small bed and I roughed it on the floor. In the morning, Mason and I ventured down to the large nearby stream and climb across it on a line big rocks. I even took a dip. We stopped at a coffee shop too on in the area called 2Black – which had an incredible view but average baked goods. We were back in Seoul by noon, and I was off to the office while Mason and HK took a nap before heading out to Eecheon.