Month: March 2019

Aussie Brunch in Seoul

2019/03/28 / Nic / 0 Comments

Summer Lane Cafe in Seoul

Sara (Hoju Sara) was the one who told me about ‘Summer Lane’ and I’ve been meaning to go for such a long time. Finally I got the chance! Hugh was busy working so I decided to have an “Aussie day” with Yul. We live in Korea so he is constantly in Korean culture, so it was time for some Australian-ness. So we headed to ‘Summer Lane’ with Sara and another fellow Aussie Kait.

The food was amazing and really tasted like home. Apparently they have a special supplier for the bacon… because that type of bacon is not easy to get in Korea!

I was so happy that they do babyccinos too. When we were last in Australia I would get a babyccino for Yul at cafes. A babyccino is just milk, milk foam and some chocolate powder, served in a little cup or mug. Before I was a parent I thought they were pretentious and parents were trying to make their kids like mini adults, now I realise babyccinos are lifesavers! Yul is fascinated by drinks and always wants mine, either to drink it or stick his hand in it. A babyccino means he is distracted because he has his own drink and I can enjoy my drink in peace. I wish more cafes in Korea did babyccinos.

There are other brunch places in Seoul, but not many feel Australian like this. If you are Aussie and wanting a taste of home, the food at Summer Lane is very satisfying. Even if you go for just desserts! The pavlova and lamington were great!

Summer Lane Instagram

Baby Mukbang!

2019/03/22 / Nic / 0 Comments

In this video we choose some food for Emart and prepared it for Yul’s lunch. Hugh chose the western food and I chose the Korean food. We tried to pick things we thought Yul would like. Yul likes both western and Korean food, so we were curious to see what he would eat.

We’ve let Yul use his utensils and eat by himself for a while now, though in Korea it’s more common for a parent to still spoon feed at this stage. But allowing him to do it himself means he chooses what he likes, and eats until he is full and stops when he wants to stop.

This is our final Emart video as our 6 month contract has come to an end. Emart were a really great sponsor and I’ve actually found many great products. I wouldn’t have known since we don’t have an Emart close to us, but we do use the Emart app to order these days.

Getting hair done in Hongdae: hairdresser for foreign hair in Seoul

2019/03/22 / Nic / 0 Comments

If you have hair like mine (western, dyed hair) it can be a bit worrying when you move to a country like Korea. How do you know which hairdresser to go to? Do they have experience with western hair? Especially dying fine hair?

When I first came to Korea and we were living in the countryside, I had some bad experiences with hairdressers. This wasn’t even for dying my hair, just a haircut! The hairdresser would automatically get out the thinning scissors and thin out my hair. My hair is already fine, it doesn’t need thinning out! Unfortunately there are many hairdressers in Korea who have no experience with nonKorean hair. My friends have had some dying disasters in Korea. It’s even harder if you are black, as the options are even more limited.

However, there are several hairdressers in Hongdae that are good with foreign hair. Today I want to talk about Dean who is at The Day’s Hair Salon in Hongdae. Dean reached out to me because is passionate about doing western hair and wants more and more experience. He offered to do my hair for me so more people will know about him.

It has been a while since I’d had my hair done (busy mum life) but I did want it a bit lighter, especially as we are coming into Spring and Summer.

This is the before:

During:

And after:

Dean was super lovely and I was really pleased with how my hair was after. If you’d like to go to him at The Day’s hair salon the info is below:

http://www.Instagram.com/thedays_dean

Facebook

The Day’s Hair Salon website

Address = 20, Hongik-ro 5an-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 2nd floor.

Marie Kondo-ing our small Seoul apartment (with a toddler)

2019/03/11 / Nic / 0 Comments

Most people will have heard of Marie Kondo and her tidying methods by now. I do actually use some of them! But I also know what life is like with a toddler… so we made this video for fun.

How to tidy up WITH a toddler? Yul needed no encouragement to be his “best” in this video. A small apartment with a toddler means lots of challenges. I’m constantly trying to organize things and tidy up. But I have to do it while he is sleep or at daycare, otherwise…. well you can see what happening in the video.

Reacting to South Korea in the 1970’s

2019/03/08 / Nic / 0 Comments

We look at photos of Korea from the 1970’s and talk about how much we think things have changed. Neither of us were alive in the 70’s, but I do know a bit of history and Hugh remembers what he was told, or experienced the things that carried over to the 80’s and 90’s.