One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

So, coffee always sounds like a good idea, right?

This evening we ventured to a new coffee shop just down the road from where I live, quaintly known as "Book and Coffee." It had a nice spa like atmosphere meant to allow the busy Seoulite to relax and de-stress with a book and a fresh cup of joe, or tea to your preference. It provided all this with a little bit more. When ordering off the menu, you are also able to order the 'fish' for an extra W2000. Our drinks were lovely, we were given a bowl of complimentary shortbread cookies, with an endless bread bar with jam and butter. Relaxing indeed, until we were finished and prepared for the hungry fishies that awaited us.

In the back of the cafe there are tanks built into the floor with cushions lying around for you to sit on. You have to wash your feet first to make sure that they are free of lotions and oils before putting them in the tank. After receiving a nice little bite on my thumb from  fish snorkeling in Cuba, I've been a little bit leery of fish. I sucked it up and stuck my feet in the water. What did it feel like? I'm not going to lie, it wasn't like fuzzy pipe cleaners. It definitely felt like fish, with little teeth scraping and pecking at my feet and legs, but after awhile when you finally adjust it feels quite nice. It tickled a lot, and sometimes made me jump but I would for sure go back. Can't beat a W2000 foot massage and soak with the added benefits of getting to feed some fish!
The results: Well, my feet are definitely smooth and they felt like I just had a lovely invigorating massage the whole walk home.

I'll leave you with the few photos I managed to take during the ordeal when I finally calmed down enough so that I could stop laughing and actually look at my feet.

Nibbling at my heels... 

They did a pretty good job!

Foot Fishies! I thought they were supposed to be smaller than this?!

Cheers for now, Sarah.

Cherry Blossoms and Living the sweet life...

Alright, so firstly I apologize for not blogging for almost a whole month! I didn't realize so much time has passed! For those of you that didn't hear though, I have a good excuse. Shortly before St. Paddy's day I ended up coming down with a really bad cold. I tried to treat it, got meds from the pharmacy and it didn't work. I ended up getting referred to an ENT who diagnosed me with a severe sinus infection and gave me some anti biotics to clear it up. My body wasn't used to the germs here, so the antibiotics weren't enough, and after they were gone, the infection returned 10x worse. So I went back, in fact I ended up going back for 'follow-up' appointments for 3 weeks 2-3 days per week! The severe sinus infection ended up moving into my chest, resulting in Bronchitis, which I have never had before. I don't even remember at this point how many times I saw the ENT, it was definitely more times than I have seen a doctor in Canada throughout my entire life. I ended up going on a 3 week stint of antibiotics that left me ridiculously run down. I had to get disgusting scopes done on my sinus cavities and down my throat and had tons of things sprayed in my sinuses to clear them, mucus sucked.. it was disgusting. Good Excuse for being MIA? I think so. Lets move on...

Recently, I got a membership to Costco. It has changed my life. I look like a gangster on my membership card (but really, who doesn't?) lol. The Seoul Costco is a lot like the North American Costcos. It has most of the same things with some Asian things thrown in too. The main difference is that this Costco is two floors. Yest TWO whole floors of Costco-y goodness! The top floor has all the random items - books, clothes, tools, laundry stuff, outdoor things, furniture, etc. The bottom floor has all the food stuffs. It was so nice to see American foods. I ended up buying bagels and cream cheese (I know boring right? but trust me, these things are a luxury here!). The canteen also has the same food, with get this - the same pictures! The prices were the same too... you can get a hotdog and pop for W2000 (i.e. 2.00 CAD). For a few minutes there, I forgot what country I was in. The main difference between Costco at home, and Costco in Asia is the people. Picture our Costco the last day it is open before Christmas... that's what this Costco is like on a normal day. I'm used to the insane volumes of people though, so it didn't really bother me.

I started taking free Korean classes through CLS. I really enjoy them so far, and it is SO nice to be able to read signs! I don't always know what the words mean if they are different in Korean, but when I can read signs walking down the street, it makes me happy! I'm miles above anything I picked up in China. Let's hope this trend continues...
This week the Cherry Blossoms are in bloom, so I brought my camera to school and took some shots before class in the morning and walked home by the river after school. I'll leave you now with some of the resulting photos. I still can't get over how beautiful it is here!

These trees are at my school - Gaepo PSA

Blossoms at Gaepo PSA

I love this view of the mountains, and I get to see it everyday! This was our walk home along the river. We entered it near Dogok Stn. Highly recommended if you're ever in the area.

Such a beautiful walk!

I wish we had these trees at home. 

the sun was starting to set through the trees

Cheers for now! I'm off to try and decorate some Easter Eggs, if it goes well you'll hear about it.
-Sarah.