Seolleong Tombs and Kimchi Museum

Yesterday we went for an outing. First we went to Royal Tombs right in the heart of Seoul.

Since Judah is a little bigger now, we can use the Baby Bjorn carrier

The tombs are called the Seolleong Tombs. King Seongjong and his wife Queen Jeonghyeon are buried there as well as their son.

You can walk on the King's path on the right but you can't walk on the Spirit road on the left.

King Seongjong's tomb

 There's a reason why Koreans bury their dead in a mound on a hill but I can't remember why. Good thing Korea is 80% mountains because they have a lot of people to bury here!

Queen Jeonghyeon's tomb

After we got nice and hot outside, we headed to the air conditioned COEX Mall, which is apparently Asia's largest underground shopping mall with an area of about 85,000 square meters.COEX Mall holds the Kimchi museum. We knew we had to visit it!

This is what we think of Kimchi. Actually it's reversed...I'm ok with Kimchi...Taylor hates it.

Cabbage Kimchi is not the only kind. There are dozens of varieties of Kimchi.

My favorite is the white cabbage kimchi because it's not spicy and not fishy tasting.

Taylor's favorite is cucumber kimchi

 

Most Koreans have a Kimchi fridge. It is very necessary to separate kimchi from everything else
in your refrigerator. If you don't, it will flavor everything in the fridge with its nasty kimchi taste.

COEX Mall has an awesome nursing moms room

Lastly, we went to TGI Fridays for dinner. Judah didn't really care about it too much.

The War Memorial of Korea

We've been busy! Now that I am feeling better and Judah is older, we have been going out more. On Sunday, July 15, Judah, my mom, and I went to the War Memorial Museum of Korea. There are a lot of cool statues and things to see on the grounds of the museum but it was raining so we really didn't get to check them out.

going out for the day

When in Korea...do as the Koreans do! Normally we wouldn't touch museum artifacts but everyone else was sitting on it and
taking their picture so we did too.

these are all artifacts from the Korean War

Judah liked the Korean flag on the ceiling.

Judah is getting a passport!

Today we went to the US Embassy to apply for Judah's passport. Getting his passport photo was a monumental task. It had to be on a white background, fully facing the camera, baby's eyes open, and no parents' arms or hands showing. Geeze! It took about 100 different photos to get one that worked. Here are some of the funniest shots we got.

And here's the one we finally settled on.

We also had to bring lots of documents: passport application, photo, birth certificate, report of birth abroad application, social security application, and our marriage certificate. We only had a copy of our marriage certificate. They wanted the original but thank goodness they accepted a copy. We should be getting his passport in 2-3 weeks. Yay...Judah gets to come home with us!

Our little family in the taxi on the way home

Mom is here!

My mom arrived safely in Korea. She made it all the way to Japan without any problems but then when she tried to get that last connecting flight to Korea, she found out it was cancelled. We made calls on our end to airports and airlines in the States, Korea, and Japan. We didn't accomplish much but she miraculously was able to get here. They told us on the phone, and had originally told her in the airport that she would have to stay in a hotel and wait 24 hours to catch that same flight the next day. I really believe God was looking out for her and His hand of favor was upon her because she didn't have to stay, she made it through all the craziness of bag checking, customs, being told she had to pay to recheck her bags (which she didn't), changing airlines, getting through the airport to a whole new terminal (keep in mind, she doesn't travel like this!), etc..... and her flight only arrived in Korea 1 hour after the original arrival time with the previous airline. All the bags made it and everything worked out. God is good!

Starbucks on the first day- we split the food; both those plates weren't mine!

Bulgogi and Rice Burrito for Breakfast

Mom got to go to my Dr.'s appointment. Baby is in a great position and ready to go!

I had a hard time standing up after posing for this picture.

We went grocery shopping at E-mart

She just had to taste test all the Korean side dishes

Yuck! We never eat this stuff. She got the green stuff (middle)
and seaweed stuff (bottom right). Gross!!

Cute pastries in the bakery

We found this guy just relaxing outside of the grocery store..ok he was fast asleep actually.