Hiroko and Nabe, Another Missing Camera, and the Blue House plus Yaletown

So, anybody who follows the blog regularly knows I have not updated in quite some time. Part of it is my sheer laziness. The other part, another disheartening event in my life - I lost another camera (this time without even being intoxicated). I had some great pictures of the Blue House (aka the Korean White House, called the Blue House because of its blue tiled roof). Thus, I will have to eventually make the trip back to the Blue House so I am actually in the photo. Also, sadly, there were a lot of great photos from when Hiroko, my Japanese friend, came to visit Korea.

This is just a quick post to hopefully get me started again. The pictures are in no chronological order since it has been some time and I forgot how to put them in the correct order. Of course, I could cut and paste but that takes way too long. So, here we go:

(Oka-san and Otousan - Mom and Dad with their gifts. I just love Hiroko's Dad and Mom!)


(Famous King Seojong the Great with gate in the background)


(Gate/Entrance where we saw the changing of the guard)


(The changing of the guard Part I)


(The changing of the guard Part II)


(Blue House - woot woot. Now, if you could only imagine me standing there...)


(Lunch with Hiroko and Nabe, as well as their Korean friends, one of whom is Ian, the guy sitting across from me. Great guy and I look forward to hanging out with him more in the future!)


(NANTA - A must see in Seoul. I had a blast and the show was great. I was actually chosen to participate and married some women. Overall, it was a great show and they really get the audience involved. It's a show about 4 chefs who need to prepare for a wedding feast and use the tools of the kitchen as percussion instruments. A great show!)


(The first night we went to Seoul Tower with Hiroko and Nabe. Neither Katrina nor I had ever been there at night.)


(Typical Korean Street vendor)


(Me before we go into Insadong. Katrina needed to do some B-Day shopping.)


(Fun photo in Insadong)


(Hongdae Saturday market)


(The Loving Hut - all veggie restaurant we found. I guess Katrina had been looking for one and we stumbled across one in Seoul. So, that was a great surprise find.)


(Yaletown - I had heard stories of this bar and twice before I had tried to eat there without any luck. Spenser informed me this place had unlimited curly fries with the purchase of a burger. This place had become legend like in my mind. I spent all of Saturday wasting time so I could eat there. Sadly, I had expectations. I was thinking of the deliciously seasoned crispy Arby's fries. Soft and flavorless could best describe these fries. The burger was delicious but nothing you can't find at any other burger joint in Korea, including McDonalds or Burger King. They do have wings but I'm not sure I'll venture back.)