Mason Marley

September 24, 2023

After a grueling Saturday ­– two words ­– root canal. Sunday got off to a better start. I headed off to the office early so I could get home before noon. We left for Kramer Lee to eat Texan BBQ soon after. HK loves the air in the mountains, as do I. The beer never hurts either.

We hit a small coffee shop where Mson enjoyed a a strawberry smoothie and HK and I shared an iced green tea latte – at a table looking over the stream. We were the only customers except for an old man and his obident dog who sat alone working on fixing a gold watch.

After heading back to Seoul – we had spaghetti at an outdoor restaurant near our home that was Brooklyn-esque. Mason wanted to hit Daiso to buy a big plastic hammer afterwards, but I negoitaed him to a deal where I would pick him up from school and we would take the bus the next day to make the needed purchase. A late night for a Sunday.

September 16, 2023

One of the greatest joys of my life is hitting up playgrounds in Seoul with Mason. Seoul has so many playgrounds with character hidden all over the city. Today, Mason, HK and I had a great time that started with fench toast. We then wandered around our neighborhood’s playgrounds before heading to Lotte Gold for Shake Shack. That led us to a playground nearby backed up to a Mexican restaurant we like. It was a good spot for a rest. Mason kickboarded the whole way.

After splitting up, Mason and HK took the subway home (one stop) and I drove the car we had parked at Lotte after some quick shopping at Lotte Mart to clear our parking debt. I rejoined them for our last stop nearby our home, at hof that serves friend chicken on a platter Hong Kong style.

August 27, 2023

Got in the drink before it was too cool.

We left late Friday night after HK closed for the night. Arrived at the hotel around 12:30 with self-check-in. Mason loved the stairs, in fact, he said that was his favorite part of the whole trip! My better half and I loved the view. Although the rainfall shower wasn’t working properly.

The next morning had the best sangsung gui (grilled fish) of my life – four different types of fish. I had a beer and HK enjoyed the local Makoli. We found a small beach in between Donghae and Mangsang where we played in the ocean for a few hours. Then, hit the beach club at Mangsang, where Mason was quick to make friends and I convinced HK to stay another night. Mason’s plan to stay up all night – which he almost managed – until his folks had to call it a night.

Great pork bbq in the deep woods, a California inspired beach coffee shop on Sunday morning and, of course, the famous sauna at the Mansang Convention Center – where they checked Mason and my feet meticulously for sand before we could proceed inside. I will remember laying in the ocean with my eyes closed and seeing brilliant reds and oranges – peace at last.

A great weekend.

August 20, 2023

Korea’s outdoor swimming season last for about 2 months – July and August. This summer we have taken dips in our plastic pool at Sadongree and at Mangsang. 

But another pool we have been too twice now is Troy. Yep, and they have a giant wooden horse. Anyway between the kids slide pool, fully equipped with bubble machine gun – there’s also a large pool with makeshift cabanas down both sides. Mason and I arrived first and claimed a picnic table and shortly thereafter HK came. 

Mason’s highlight was meeting a friend whose family let Mason use a snorkel mask – first time I had seen one like this – but definitely a great design for little guys. Looks like I know what I need to buy next summer.

Unfortunately – not many pictures – guess that means we were having too much fun.

July 1-2, 2023

We are back. Both with the blog and to Mangsang.

Unfortunately, HK had to work, so me and Mason had to turn the weekend into a guy’s trip. Rain was forecasted all weekend, but somehow, we managed to escape it.

We arrived Saturday early afternoon, after a long drive and hit the beach right away. Mason loved playing in the surf and watching the surfers. We checked into Golden and decided to eat samgyup at the BBQ setup the hotel provided. We bought our own pork from the corner store, but the party next to us was also nice enough to give Mason a pork chop for free. 

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to do fireworks on Saturday night, but we were up early Sunday and at the beach by 8am, after coffee, juice and a sandwich. Back to the hotel, then on to darts, pizza for lunch, and finally ended up at a beach down the road where we spent the afternoon playing in the water and under HK’s enormous golf umbrella. We closed the trip with a spa trip to clean up and had pork cutlets for dinner at the rest stop on the way home. Not a bad weekend.

April 23, 2023

Mason’s birthday weekend! 

On Saturday we made our spring trip to the dinosaur park. It was a nice day to be there, not too crowded and not too hot. The spinning bumper car (has nothing to do with dinos) was probably Mason’s favorite – a family even paid for Mason’s second ride because they wanted their son to be able to ride with Mason. I think they were Korean-American because the son only spoke English. We stopped on the way home to buy my birthday gift to Mason (Bowser and Mario).

Unfortunately, later in the day, Mason said he was cold and had a headache – not too long after a fever and Tylenol. 

On Sunday morning, we (JK, HK, HK’s dad and me) played golf at the “The Ban” – HK’s first round ever and my first in almost 10 years. HK killed it for a beginner had some incredible shots. The caddie marked me as a 98, but she was being kind, it was more like a 110 I think, but I did legitimately par one hole.

That afternoon we had Mason’s party at SaDongRhee and he had recovered or at least Tylenol got us close. He has an ice cream cake and got some cool gifts. We drove back to Seoul at 10pm. Mason slept the whole way home.

April 16, 2023

Saturday was a good day but rainy. I have a photo below of Mason’s grandmother standard breakfast, so we can remember it. Mason and I hung out at Daerim and I cooked chicken breast, a little harder than I expected. Of course, we had beef and pork BBQ at Mason’s grandparent’s house before going to bed.

Sunday was Everland, with Yun Woo, Son Woo, Grandma, Jae Hyung and me. It was cold, cloudy and a little windy. Plus, I hurt my big toe again, so limping around an amusement park all day was probably not the best idea. I bought Mason a shark hat upon entry and Yun Woo was promised a princess dress on departure, but she was asleep at that point, so that never materialized.

Amazon Express was the highlight of the day, as all 6 of us got to ride together – although only me and Mason got wet. JH bought lunch – some sort of fried chicken package and I bought the 3 of us Erdingers later in the afternoon. It rained briefly and we sought refuge in a huge fake tree. Mason was scared to ride the pirate ship at first but quickly built up the courage to do it. Mario cart in the arcade was hard to drag Mason away from.

When we saw the log ride on our way out of the park, I said to Mason, “maybe you will be ready for that next year”, he replied, “maybe never.” He is witty.

February 11 & 18, 2023

Mason was lucky enough to get another present from his Grandma, a dinosaur digging kit. And in that kit, were the infamous safety glasses that went on and have rarely come off since.

Note: this post is for 2 weekends, and during that span, Mason and his safety glasses have been inseparable, even when sleeping.

They were worn throughout our day trip the East Coast of Korea with his grandparents and cousins, and as we made our way via his Grandpa’s van to Kim Il Sung’s old vacation home and the nearby raw seafood restaurant we ate at. Not to mention, the lunch stop along the way, and all the way through to his Great Grandmother’s 91^st birthday bash at a ribs restaurant the following weekend.

He was safe that entire time.

January 29, 2023

It has certainly been a while. I planned on posting for Christmas, but Mason was sick Christmas morning. He had a fever and we literally had to help him unwrap his gifts. 

This winter has been brutally cold, so we have spent a lot of Saturday nights on the 3^rd floor of Daerim. This Saturday was pasta night and Mason helped. On Sunday, we decided to make egg sandwiches for breakfast. Mason was telling me that his name is Orange all weekend, and I was Red apparently (from the Rainbow Friends who I am not too sure about yet in terms of the appropriateness of their content).

Late morning on Sunday, Mason’s grandfather called a lightning meeting. We made the trip to a fantastic seafood restaurant on the west coast of Korea, it was about 3 hours each way to the restaurant, but his Grandpa drove, so smooth sailing for me. 

Guess who Mason spotted at the rest stop? Orange (not the real guy but the stuffed animal). He refused to move until his Grandma caved in and bought it for him (KRW 18,000). It was a good road trip. We ate hotdogs at Shake Shack with HK on Monday night. I am full.