So Monica came to visit this past weekend. She was in Asia for work and decided to take a detour and come visit her college partner-in crime. We had a great time and I loved showing her my new country. You’ll have to forgive the short postings, I am still trying to recover from lack of sleep from the weekend. Monica arrived late Thursday morning and we relaxed and chatted for a while. After lunch at Golden Gate Korean Restaurant with Ally and a much needed trip to the Coffee Tree for some caffeine, Ally and I showed Monica around Songtan.

After a long afternoon nap, I took Ally and Monica on base to Chili’s where we enjoyed some margaritas and “Mexican” food in Korea. As Ally would say, “Of course!”

After Chili’s we went back home to have some wine and play Go Stop, a traditional Korean card game. The game made no sense to Monica and me and Ally was hysterical thinking we were idiots for not getting it but we had a great relaxing night at home laughing our asses off.

On Friday we hung out for a bit and Monica met up with another friend from PSU that is stationed here at Osan. Jason also came up Friday night so we had the house full for the weekend.

Friday night we went to dinner at my favorite restaurant, aptly named Bulgoki House. We love it there and take all our friends who have never tried Korean food there. The prices are great and the food is wonderful. Monica loved her first Korean barbecue experience.

After dinner we met Monica’s other PSU friend and his co-workers at a bar called Xanadu. Monica danced her ass off as always and Ally and I enjoyed the Crazy Kettle shots.

On Saturday, Joe, Jason, Monica and I headed to Seoul for the day. Joe and Jason went to check out the Walker Hill Sheraton Hotel & Casino to play some poker while Monica and I perused the fabric market in Dongdaemun. I was in heaven and poor Monica had to follow me around from stall to stall looking at thousands of different fabrics.

After Dongdaemun we headed to Insadong, my favorite Seoul neighborhood, for some souvenir shopping. It was freezing so we had to take a break at the Beautiful Tea Museum.

Monica had Green Tea with Soy Milk & Pumpkin which came with Green Tea Cookies.

I had Chinese Quince Tea which tasted like a cross between grapefruit and pears. Nothing like a $10 cup of tea to warm you on a cold March day. It was money well spent catching up with a good friend.

After walking up and down Insadong-gil, in the unseasonably frigid temperatures, looking for the perfect souvenirs and knickknacks we decided to sit down at Starbucks. Ally had been in Seoul that day with other friends and decided to meet up with us for dinner so we waited in the warmth for Joe and Jason.

We found a cute traditional Korean restaurant in Insadong for dinner. I love the Korean style of eating small dishes and sharing, like Spanish tapas. All this food cost just $10 per person, amazing!

This was us on the train on the way home from Seoul – tired, full but so happy to be spending time with friends and experiencing a new place.