license!


So this morning, Youngsu and I headed out to the Gwanghwamun area to get an affidavit for my license and to get my license.  After a little problem because of my visa type, we were rerouted to another location.  Tip* (apparently) if you have an E-2 Visa then you'll need to take the written test and need to go to a DMV office and not the Seoul Global Center... otherwise go to the Global center near City Hall station.

So we headed off to Map-gu Office area to the DMV there to get my license.  We walked in and headed to the foreigner area... which btw doesn't seem to have an english speaker manning the desk... soooo good thing I had Youngsu with me. (^.^)  *Tip2* since I'm from Texas... apparently I didn't have to take the written test (like the woman at the Seoul Global Center informed me... ㅠ.ㅠ) ... just an eye test and I was done.

After we were finished with our paperwork and testing and paying... we took our stuff back to the foreigner desk and were told to wait 1 hour and we could get my license the same day~

I was quite surprised how fast and easy it was to get and it'll last me 9 years!  I had to trade in my license and was informed that if I didn't claim it in 3 years, that it'd be disposed of.

Whelp... it expires next year so I think I'm good.  HAHAHAHAHA!!!!

anyway~~ here you go~~  a preview of my beautiful Korean license that I hope to put into good use soon~!



낙산 Beach- Revisited

So since Youngsu and I had an extra couple days for our vacation during Chuseok, we decided to go to Naksan Beach (again~~).  I'd been really bugging him to go to the beach before the fall weather or winter temperatures set in, so he finally caved in and we went off with our dog, Toto.

We left pretty early on and made it in time for dinner.  The roads were empty for most of the trip out of Seoul and back in.  After dinner, we walked to the beach with Toto and our fireworks and picked a great spot to set them off.  Toto did NOT like this part of the trip.  She kept trying to pull away and even after putting her in her bag, she tried to run away (while attached to her bag... >.<).  After fireworks, we decided to do some sparklers and unfortunately failed at making shapes... but they were fun anyway!

The next day, Youngsu and I went to the market to pick up some yummy stuffed squid... so yummy!  And we also spent some of the day in the sun walking around and finally sitting on the beach.  It was nice and sunny (and warm~~).  I even got a bit of a sun burn... from just walking around.  hahaha!

Afterwards, we headed back to Seoul and had dinner at Youngsu's house.  It was a great get-away and we plan to go back a lot in the future~~

check out the pics from our adventure~~











 Please put your pet in the right trash can... (ㅡ.ㅡ) lol




Chuseok 추석~

This year is my 3rd year in Korea to celebrate Chuseok.  The first year, I hung out with Foreign/er Joy and we went to the Suwon Folk Village.  The second year (last year), I headed back to America to celebrate my birthday with my family and this year I hung out with my boyfriend/ fiance (^.^) and his family for Chuseok~

I didn't really take any pictures but after stuffing our faces with food, Youngsu and I headed to a nearby park to walk it off.  So here are some pictures of the park and Youngsu.  ^.^  Oh and Toto... too tired to get up~  haha









식혜~~ Korean Traditional Rice Drink~~ How To~

Alright~  So on the latest episode of Gabi's adventures to becoming Korean, I decided to try to make a traditional Korean rice drink called Ssikhye 식혜~  It was a pretty easy process that just took a long time as you should wait a lot between steps~  Here's the steps but I have yet to completely perfect the process so please feel free to modify my instructions~~

What you'll need:
Barley Malt Powder 엿기름 가루 1 cup
white rice 1 cup
water 6 cups
2 slices of ginger (10g)
1 tbl sugar
3/4 cup sugar


 First, start by soaking 1 cup of Barley Malt Powder (엿기름 가루) in water (6 cups) for 2-3 hours.  The malt should sink to the bottom.  Once most of the malt has disappeared to the bottom, you should use your hands to squeeze the malt until the water becomes a milky color.  Then you can transfer the water to another bowl by running the malt water through a strainer.  I used a paper towel so that it wouldn't go through the strainer and squeeze more out of the malt.  You can throw the malt away after this step.

You will then leave the water to settle for 2-3 hours.  A clear top liquid should form at the end of it.  If it's not all clear, don't worry.  Then after the time has finished, you should again filter this water and put into the rice cooker with the cup of rice (this time use something on the strainer like a paper towel).  At the bottom you'll get a white residue that shouldn't be in the drink (hence the paper towel).   If you don't have a rice cooker, you can also put this in a pot and let it sit on low heat for the same time. 
 You'll turn your rice cooker on warm (NOT COOK!!).  we're not cooking rice... just keeping this warm through the process.  This part of the process takes up 4-5 hours.  You'll add the rice and liquid and 1 tablespoon of sugar and mix the rice, sugar, and liquid together.  Then close the lid and wait.
 After 4 hours (or 5), you should see several pieces of rice floating at the top of your liquid.  You're then going take this out and use a strainer to filter out the rice.  You will need to wash the rice with cold water to get out the extra starch.  You can store this rice in the refrigerator with a bit of water to later put in your Ssikhae for serving or you can put into the glass serving jar at the end.
 You're going to boil the liquid with some slices of ginger (I put too much in my first batch so ignore how many I have here... hahaha... in some recipes it's optional so I don't think it matters how little you put in).  You'll also add in your sugar.  I used 3/4 cup sugar in my second batch cause the first batch I used 1 full cup and it was tooooooo sweet!  but 3/4 cup seems about right or a little less.  It's all up to you~~  If it's not sweet enough, you can always add more later.  Or if it's too sweet, you can add water~~ ^^

And you can see that some rice went through but that's okay as well.  Boil for 10-15 minutes, taking out the white residue (foam-ish stuff) with a spoon.  After it's finished you should let it cool down and then place into your jar preference~  With or without the rice~


 Here you can see the white stuff I was referring to.  You'll want to take that out~  By boiling this, we are stopping the fermenting process.
Voila!  Our finished product~~ I hope you'll enjoy this Sikhye as much as I do~~  It's turning out to be a very cheap way to have my favorite drink in the house~~  but it certainly is a long process~~

Friends and Food~~~~

9.2.2011 Friday

Youngsu and I met with my friends at a meat buffet in the Gangnam area.  It was so yummy~  I didn't take many pictures because we ate so much so fast~~ 




















9.3.2011 Saturday

Met up with Youngsu's friends and had a yummy crab and samgyapsal night!~~ I love samgyapsal and it was my first time eating crab so i din't eat much but it was yummy~~  hanging with the boys was a great bonding moment.  and of course the night couldn't end without some ramen~~

 we went to the dongdaemun area to buy the samgyapsal meat~~






I hope you enjoyed the food pictures~~  hehehe~~