Month: March 2024

March 24, 2024

Spring has started. It is always nice to wake up together on a Sunday – as there was no hockey practice today. We got the chance to read a book in bed, have a leisurely breakfast and then hit the playground.

One the way, we stopped for a little putting practice. And once HK showed up, we then hit the greens again for a putting contest. 

After that we had Baskin Robbins and then pizza, spaghetti and some beer. HK bought some pork from the butcher next door and then Mason and I broke off to go bowling. The lanes were packed – so we hit Daiso instead and bought a Velcro ball game that we played at 2 Slides where Mason made 2 new friends, an 8 year Hyung who loved to speak English and a little girl Mason’s age who was chasing him to tickle. Mason and the little girl also argued over whether the velcro ball should be thrown underhand or overhand.

HK had left us dinner at home – grilled pork belly. Playground days are my favorite days.

March 9, 2024

Late Thursday night we decided to make a trip to the East Coast of Korea to celebrate Mason’s Mom’s birthday. We left Seoul around 10 am and enjoyed a hip hop DJ via YouTube (Japanese DJ) along the way. HK also had prepared some salmon sandwiches, so there was no reason to stop for food.

We arrived in Yang Yang, hit the local mart, the beach for some seashells, and then a little café that had a house cat – Mason liked her. HK a kalua and milk, me a beer and Mason an orange juice. 

We stayed at the Carallo by Josun – very nice hotel – with a lot of pop art paintings. The room was fantastic and Mason and I made about 8 trips to the ice machine. The outdoor pool was great – heated so even on a chilly day in early March we could swim. And swim we did. In the afternoon, the evening, and the next morning. There was a brief episode where Mason went under for a few seconds that reminded me – he still can’t swim – but eventually I taught him how to stop plugging his nose underwater and he learned to touch the bottom of the pool with his hand – progress.

We ate the buffet (plus all you can drink wine, beer and highballs) at the hotel for dinner. They had some good chicken covered in black (soy?) sauce and decent pasta. Mason enjoyed the pineapple the most. After dinner, we hung out in the room, but everyone was pretty exhausted.

The next morning, Mason used all the pillows in the room to make a blockade at the stairs, which also served as a fort for his morning breakfast. We played his favorite game too, me dropping his penguin from the second floor and him trying to catch it.

The next day, HKs birthday, after leaving the hotel, we hit a beach restaurant that had awesome views of the surf and surfers for some fried shrimp and seafood. I drove us back to Seoul while my passengers slept. HK went to Dunkin that evening, where her employees surprised her with a delicious cheesecake that they had decorated with a picture of her in icing. A pretty good b-day for HK.