Wandering Wednesdays.

 

 

Now that the boy and I are back in the States, we decided that we would conduct most of our Wandering Wednesdays from places we love in the U.S.  So for our first inaugural stateside WW, we wandered ourselves straight down to a local Spokane watering-hole.  Twigs Bistro and Martini Bar is a great stop for anyone with an appetite and a thirst for a delicious martini. The boy's choice?  The well-mannered dirty martini.  That's really the name.  I opted for a refreshing huckleberry lemonade martini.  It was fantastic.   

Helloooo America!

Well, I'm officially back on American soil with a belly full of pad thai and hard cider.  So many things have happened since my last post that I don't even know where to start.

Let's go with what's the most exciting to me at the moment:  The boy and I (aka Captain and Clark) will officially be attending the Nomading Film Festival.  Yeah I know, that's nothing new.  We were always planning on going, however, we just learned a week ago that our Sak Yant video is one of eleven that will be screened at the festival!   That's HUGE people.  HUGE.  It is such an honor to be accepted along with such a high caliber of other travelers and film makers.  We could even win the grand prize- a trip to India!  I was in utter shock and amazement.  I was excited to just have the opportunity to attend (and eat from the taco truck) but now we'll be able to watch our work on screen.  We're incredibly grateful.

Let's see... what else is there.  Oh, the boy and I were also invited to submit a video for the Best of the Road contest.  We could win an all expense paid road trip around the U.S.  The good news is that they're accepting 5 teams for this awesome adventure.  The bad news?  We are so so soooo late.  The last day to submit is tomorrow and we're working on our video now.  Oops.  To be fair, we've been moving our entire lives from South Korea to the States and we've been a little distracted.  If you don't mind, we would really appreciate it if you could lend a few minutes of your time (and a few clicks of your mouse) to register and vote for Captain and Clark.  You can do that by clicking here. 

Other than that, we've been busy soaking up America the best way we can... by eating.  A lot.  I've indulged in various cheeses, deli meat, beverages, and a variety of food that I've missed the past two years.  I also experienced one of the best long distance international plane rides of my life.  Here's my little piece of advice for you...

... exit row seating!  Right by the boarding door.  There's more legroom that you can handle.  It was amazing!  No one to push my tray table into my gut, no slinking in my chair in order to stretch my legs.  Also, if you're friendly to the flight attendants, they might even slip you the 1st class wine and food.  My glass and stomach were never empty.  I was also the very first person off of the plane.  Bonus.

A lot times the airlines will let you choose or request your seat.  If you're fully capable of responding in an emergency situation I would totally suggest you take the exit row seat.  It was more than worth it.

Well, that's all the updates I (and I suspect, you) can handle in one post.  Hope everyone's doing well and I'll be sure to keep you updated on our up and coming adventures!

Wandering Wednesday.

Well, the boy and Ares kitten are officially on American soil as I type this.  I'm currently sitting in a nearly empty apartment sans boyfriend and cat.  It's been pretty weird, let me tell you.  The good news is I can watch as many episodes of Gossip Girl without any heavy stares of judgement.  The bad news?  I'm sans boyfriend and cat. 

I've slowly and begrudgingly started packing up my things and I just so happened to stumble across an old airplane barf bag (what's the politically correct term for those things?) crammed into a corner of my suitcase that had my messy handwriting scribbled all over it.  It brought back so many memories from my time spent in the Bolivian Amazon and thought it would be a perfect (and easy) entry for this week's wandering wednesday. 

After a harrowing plane ride to Rurrenabaque, a three hour canoe ride, and a one hour hike, we finally arrived at our destination:  A small ecolodge nestled deep inside the Amazon jungle.  We were warned ahead of time that all of the stops would be pulled out for a group of Amercans experiencing the wild jungle for their first time.  As we slowly entered the clearing and came out of the jungle, a man stood waiting for us, extending a silver platter topped with glasses of lemonade. 

I remember relaxing on a hammock right outside of the small wooded hut I was staying in.  It was hot and humid.  You could hear cappuccin monkeys in the distance and the swaying of the hammock was lulling me into a peaceful sleep.  There were echoes of laughter in the distance from my fellow travel companions cooling off in a nearby lake.  All of a sudden, it started to rain.  You could smell the floral fragrance of the rainforest and in that moment, everything was perfect.  It was undeniable

that God exists. 

Buddha's Birthday

Last year for Buddha's birthday the boy and I flew to Thailand to receive our sak yants and stuff our faces with pad thai.  We decided to stay a more traditional (and financially safe) route this time around and rented a car with some great friends and explored Korea.  We drove a few hours outside of Pohang to Cheongju, located in the center of the country.  There lies the biggest golden statue of Buddha located within the country. 

Our Saturday started off a little dreary but soon turned to a summer-like state as we traded our rain jackets for shorts and tank tops.  We had a lot of time to kill after our visit in Cheongju and we ended up making our way down to the beautiful town of Gumi where we went on a little hike and took in more stunning temples. 

The mister leaves Korea in a few days and the weekend was such a nice way to end his two year love affair with the country.  We were able to drive around freely, take in the sites that we love so much, and hang out with some lovely people.  And here, ladies and gents, is our weekend in pictures...

Twas beautiful, no?  Every year around Buddha's birthday thousands of lanterns are hung around the temples.  They're adorned with prayers and good wishes.   I wish I could have gotten a few pictures of them at night.  Most of them are lit and it makes for a beautiful sight.  Makes me wish they kept them up all year round.

And don't worry guys, I've still got a week and half left here and with the boy (and cat) leaving before me, I'll have more than enough time to catch up on my blogging.  So I'll leave you with these two pictures until my next post.  They absolutely slay me.

Some things never change.

One of my favorite places to NOM NOM NOM.

Shabu shabu is probably on my top 10 list of favorite foods.  Burritos and cheese being at the top, obvs.  It's actually a 3-course meal of delight.  Each course is better than the last and the owners of our local shabu restaurant will often prepare our table with extra pineapples (for moi) and 2 bottles of sprite- on the house.  This is one restaurant that I'll miss when we leave Korea... and it's not even Korean food.

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