한정식 Korean Food

Hmm..It was one of the best nights to have dinner. My friend and I had a great feast. A feast so great that it soothed both my eyes and tongue. ^^

한정식: A Korean food served in all varieties and imaginable colors; served one by one, one dish after another until we felt so overwhelmingly and happily full^^ 

I could not keep up number of foods being served right in front of our eyes, let alone the names of them. 

But, one of the things that I loved the most was this rice. Being a vegetarian, this 한정식 really served my appetite. I surely could not touch the meat but luckily...most of the food were those of seafood origins: a plus advantage. 

It would be one of the best things of having a chance to crave over Korean food.^^

Alone at the Toys' Corner

It was not weekend. I guess it was on Tuesday or ...I forgot. But, that's not important. We just wanted to get out and had some fresh air..and it was so cold...that we we finally--again and again--decided to go to Lotte just around the corner where we live. As it was not weekend, not many people were seen inside the mall. As for Freya, this was surely a great time for her since she could just 'eat' every toys she could grasp and play with at the toy corner.^^

"신났다"

Iranian Day at our Multicultural Center

Indian Day, Bangladesh Day, Indonesian Day, Philippines Day, Nepalese Day, Iranian Day....well..we have numerous festive days held at our neighborhood Multicultural Center.

Last week we held "Iran Day" 

Sure, lots of people ranging from kids to adults and even halmeonies were there.With the looming spring is coming, this kind of festivity was held to celebrate the cultural diversities we have right on the very spot of our neighborhood. 

As we are also the member of the community, we surely did not miss this chance of getting to know what Iranian people do in their daily lives: it was through this endeavor that we learn and respect about others.

So, what's next in our agenda: which country?

Eyra's School Textbooks

 It's amazing to think that Eyra managed to 'survive' the first year of her Elementary year in Korea. She never learned Korean before prior to coming to Korea. But, amazingly she sort of managed to weave herself through the rigorous but cheerful learning at the Korean elementary school.

This is her 2nd year at the elementary school. 

And this is the 2nd Korean language textbook or 국어 that she has to master, again.^^

It's a relief that one thing this textbook emphasizes is how to 'lure' and 'make' the students be creative in expressing themselves.

Eyra is now used to using, learning, reading, writing in Hangeul than in English alphabets...: frankly speaking this is something that makes me puzzled+perplexed at the same time.

She's now exposed to all things Korean: either in math or language. She has to learn maths in Koreans' perspective. The environment where she is now living gives a somewhat an additional advantage to this phase. But surely, I have some worries as she will only be staying in Korea until her 4th grade...and by then..we'll have to move back to Indonesia.

Oh, well..I am sure that she'll manage it again.^^ 

I just love the books: first: my impression as I got these books was like" wow, this is what a book should be like: well, although we can't just judge the book by its cover...I think the colorful covers do indeed reflect the colorful arrays of activities being offered to the students."

What a Wonderful World...^^

These are the pictures we took when we were at Haneul Park or Sky Park..& Nami Island.

The blue sky is what makes it even more beautiful. 

The green leaves on the trees...the vast meadow...

gives a perfect backdrop for Freya's Gangnam Style-esque pose. 

A picturesque place to be....

What could be more picturesquely breathtaking than this?

Got lost in the midst of tall grass whatever-their-names-are:) :D 

 along the path finding her way out... 

Sunset over Haneul Park overlooking Seoul city with its Han river...

Selamat Balik ke Tanah Air, Pak Ikhwan

Mr. Ikhwan just officially finished his 2-year term of teaching Indonesian language at HUFS College of Malay-Indonesian Interpretation and Translation. I was surprised to find out about this. I thought that he would be staying here a another year or so. But I was wrong. So, the other day after Jumatan prayer, I bumped into him and that's the time when he told me that he would be leaving for Indonesia on Saturday, Feb. 23. 

This is the picture we took in front of Itaewon Masjid on Feb. 22, 2013.

Selamat berkarya di Makassar, Indonesia, Pak Ikhwan. 

From Autumn to Winter

Different time, same spot.

Winter and Autumn 2013.

On our way to go somewhere, at times we go through the campus leading to HUFS subway station. 

Got this idea of taking pictures at the same spot each time we go pass this road.

The CUFS building is being built. A good way to keep the memories alive.

The snow just been cleared...

What happened in the last few days...

- It's been a few days after my wife got back from Jogjakarta. She was in Jogja for two weeks not for a vacation but to see how Mom was doing. She was hospitalized due to her kidney problem --again. But, thank God that she is not back home . .in health. *Wait...I am sure that my wife also DID have a little taste of vacation in between. How could she be able to resist the temptation of all the mouth-watering local food available back home..? ^^
- The kids were so excited to find out that their Mom's back home now. I just loved to see the gleaming and starry eyes as well as the  unconcealable(?) excitement on their face:)

- The night we were waiting for their Mom, I made them some fruits salad of my own version. Since we just could not find what fruits we had in store, I just use the available fruits ...mixed them might as well...just to make it into a bowl of fruit salad: the courtesy of their Dad's unimaginative rendition of what a salad should have been.^^

COlor ClAy 방과후 학교

Since she 3 years old, back then in Indonesia, Eyra has been an avid lover of play-doh or color clay. So, it is  not surprising to see her choose 'color clay' as one of her extra curricular or after-class activities at 청량초등학교. Cheongryang Elementray School. These are what she made for the first five meetings.  

I think I got the point of what the purpose of this color-clay class: the students are taught to pay attention more on the details even to the smallest stuffs. Well, I guess that might be of help for the student's concentration skills. 

Then, on Xmas last year, the students were asked to create these lovely snowmen. What a cute little masterpiece it is. 

Not to mention, the one put on a frame like the family of chickens as displayed here. This year, too, she's signed up for the second term of this color clay after class activity. 

As a parent, I am glad that there are numerous activities that children could choose from...according to their taste and preference.

Multicultural Kids Gathering

After watching the Gayageum show, the kids seemed to be adamant of going back home. They thought that it would be too early to go home...so we decided to take them to a nearby playground where we (the parents) could sip some coffee while letting the kids play^^ 

We just let them play ...and luckily it was not that cold today. It was only 6 degrees Celsius and that was warm to our standard.^^ (Look who's talking, tropical suray:)  

We bought them some lunchbox for them to enjoy in between their playtime. 

Actually we did not buy the lunchbox at this Coffee Shop, but since we also bought some coffee here, the host just let the kids have their lunchbox there. 

The coffee-shop also provided one computer for the kids to play the games. I felt like this is intentionally designed so ..in order to let the parents do the chit-chat while their kids play some games...* not to mention the nearby playground where the Cafe was located.^^

All in all...today we did have a great time of taking the kids out..during the weekend.