I know, I know...

I know! Long time no posting! Well, we've had a lot going on. We've just been hanging out with friends mainly. The weekend of the 13/14th was pretty laid back. We went to see the 99 band again in Songtan on Saturday night. And Sunday was a BBQ for the Expat Moms Club Korea. There were quite a few moms and kiddos there. Got to meet several new people. The BBQ was held on the roof of an apt. building, and it was very nice. After the BBQ, my friend Debra hosted a Naked Lady Party. It is kinda like a clothing swap. You bring any clothing, books, electronics, accessories, etc. that you no longer want. It gets sorted and organized, then everyone "shops." It was also a great turnout. I got a couple great nursing tanks and some tea!

Last week was VERY boring. Just hung around the house. But Thursday started my "vacation". I know, what am I vacationing from, right? How bout this: KOREA. Hehe. So I went up to Incheon on Thursday evening and spent the night with Debra. We had some sushi buffet for dinner, got absolutely no sleep, then got up early to head to the BEACH! Yay! We caught a cab to the ferry terminal, then got on a "sea plane" (whatever that means. looks like a regular ferry.). It took about an hour and 15 min on the ferry to Deok Jeok Do. Awesome island that is technically still in Incheon. Very rural. No neon. We took a little bus to Seopori beach. We were dropped off at the minbok (kinda motel). We dropped off our stuff, took a 20 min. lay down, then walked to the beach. We had an escort too. We named him Gizmo. Scruffy little beach dog. It was beautiful. They have the most awesome little shells in all sorts of colors. We weren't able to stay out very long because it was noon, and the sun was directly overhead. So after walking in the water for a little bit, and hanging out on the mat with Gizmo, we went back to the minbok for a nice long nap. I slept SO hard. It was wonderful. We woke up hungry, so we walked back to the beach for a bit and then looked for food. The tide was out, which is so completely different. The restaurant the Debra had been to before was closed, but we just kept walking to see if we could find something else. There was a Beach Love Motel/restaurant/corner store. Debra was able to ask the guy sitting outside if he knew where to get food. He had food!! Our choices were pork and rice or beef and rice. We ordered one of each. As our food was being prepared, the guy showed us his garden. There was a trellis with grapevines, bell peppers, and lots of lettuce. He offered to pick some lettuce to go with our meal, so of course we agreed! The meal was actually very good. My pork and rice was very spicy, but I still liked it. When we were done, his dog cleaned up our leftovers.

We were SO full, so we went back to the minbok for more relaxing. Around 10 pm we started to get antsy though. We went for another walk. We found several more restaurants and corner stores. There were a few people out on the beach, but nothing really major going on. A few fireworks to watch.

The next morning, we woke up to pouring rain. By 10:30, we decided that it was NOT going to stop. So we called Justin, who was making his way to the ferry to meet us out there. He changed course, and went to Kkachisan (In Seoul, about 30 min away from Itaewon). He found a motel for us there. As he chilled in the motel, Debra and I made our way back to Incheon. It was very sad having to leave early. I really wanted more time on the beach, and we had planned to stay until Sunday afternoon. Luckily, it all worked out to get back to Seoul though. Debra went home, and Justin and I got to spend a night in a different tiny room than the one we live in! It did have a widescreen tv, cable, and a computer though. The next morning (Father's Day!) we went to Itaewon. It was mostly a good trip. The only thing that brought it down was halfway to Itaewon, my hip stopped working. I have had troubles with it in the past. Between sleeping on the floor for 3 nights, plus having gained weight with the baby, it was bad. I was not able to walk for a while. I did get it loosed up a bit though, and we made it to Itaewon. We got some amazing burgers at Smokey Saloon (of course). We met up with Debra again, did a little shopping (got some books for the trip home), and then went to get massages. They do such a great job at Healing Hands. Sadly, I didn't have the best time due to my hip. I had asked for extra time on my feet, because that is and add-on. Justin had also asked for a hot stone massage, which was extra time. They did the regular massage on me. First one side, then the other (preggo massage), then put me on my back to do my neck/head/arms. Then she left the room. I figured she was going to get the hot towels for my feet. But when she didn't come back for 10/15 min., I got worried. I asked the woman doing Justin's massage if she was coming back. She brought her back in, and she had no idea that she was supposed to do extra time for me. She said that another client was waiting. I was SO UPSET. I needed my feet done. I got so upset, she went ahead and did my feet! She did a wonderful job, but I was still laying on my back. Even I didn't realize how bad that would be. When she was done, I couldn't move. She told me to sit up, and I freaked out because it was so painful. I tried to explain where the pain was, but she couldn't even get to it because I couldn't move. I almost agreed to go to the hospital. I was stuck!! She did help me get on my side, and she rubbed everywhere she could to loosen it up. I moved my leg around to stretch it out. Finally I was able to sit up and then get dressed. As I was sitting there, the next client had come into the room. I can only imagine what she was thinking with me sitting there in tears. She said, "so how was it?"

The people at healing hands handled the whole thing very well. They were not able to understand why I was in so much pain, and what I was explaining about it being like that before the pregnancy. They figured it was just because I was pregnant. They didn't even charge us for the extra time though. Not even Justin's! I would still highly recommend them to anyone looking for massage in Korea.

Justin and I were SO ready to go home after that weekend. We grabbed some Sultan Kebabs, and got on the subway. Thankfully, an uneventful ride home. It was a good weekend, in all.

Go to my flickr account for more pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweet-caroline/page2/