I want to be you

Seems like this is the week of the "I want to be you" - "I want your life" comments on my SNS', somehow this kind of comments make me feel uncomfortable rather than to make me proud of what my life is now, I don't want to judge those who have told me they wish they could have my life, but f'*ck it, this is my blog and I do what I want....

I guess I will have to explain why I feel uncomfortable with those comments, the only reason is, my life aint perfect and I've been through some though things to get where I am today, this is also not my ultimate goal, although I aree I'm closer now. 

You'll see, most of those comments come from young people, or maybe I'm getting too old and now I think everyone is very young, most comments are left on my pictures of Korea, noone bothers reading my profiles or my blog, so, I kind of understand they feel like I'm living the life if I post a picture of me and 2NE1's Dara, but how come a MEXICAN got to meet a famous K-Idol? 

If you are new to this blog I'll tell you a little bit more about me, I started this blog in 2009 as a cooking blog, by this time I was already into Korea (I've loved Korean language since 2008), but I started my blog after watching the movie "Julie&Julia", the story of Julie Powell's blog following Julia Child's cooking recipe book, shortly after watching the movie my mom got me a 365 recipes book and I wanted to challenge myself since I usually quit things 10 minutes after I start them, I started the blog and I had my fun cooking for a short while (lol), then I received the email that started this whole crazyness, an mail from the Korean Cultural Center in Mexico inviting people to joing their "Promoting Korea through SNS" contest, 2 seconds later my blog changed from being a cooking blog to be a  All things Korean blog, I submitted my application and got chosen, I was now blogging with other international bloggers and promoting Korea, each month we received points (I guess?...) and some months later I received an invitation to visit Korea, I was Ecstatic, I still remember I got the email while we were at the movies, my mom, sis and I were at the Opening of Harry Potter (5? 6?) at midnight when I got the mail, I couldn't believe it, ME, the mexican with a tiny blog was being invited to Korea!, of course I accepted, got my passport (with my mom!!!) and got ready for Korea, this was my 1st overseas trip and I was on my own, my mom was always very supportive, she would go with me to the KCC, Korea Town and pretty much everywhere, she was always looking for Korean related things for me to blog about, I would've loved to bring her with me, but I wasn't allowed to, my 1st trip to Korea was AWESOME, full of new things, new friends and until this day, there are things I still cant get over lol, I was even more excited about it because my sister was back from London and we were planning on openning a Coffee shop, a small business, something the 3 (mom, sis and I) always dreamed of, somehow while I was in Korea they planned the whole thing found a place, bought tables, chairs, and everything to open a Cafe, I would sometimes receive messages asking me what colors I wanted for the Cafe, I got lost in the process and felt like dreaming, you'll see, my goal was to decide what to do with my life, travel to korea and DO something with my family before my 27th birthday (I was 25 at that time), and got to do it!, I went back to Mexico on December 21st and after that we started working like crazy on the shop, I was still working full time as an Account Administrator so it was mostly my sis' and my mom's work, I still remember going to the shop on Dec 30th with my friend Beric to receive some things for the openning lol, the openning was on January 15th and it was a success, we worked a lot to get to that point and I couldn't be happier, "333 Cafe" was OUR thing, after that my sis and mom would open the shop and I would go there after work, but just 3 weeks after the openning, on February 7th something hit us, and it was quite a HIT, it was a Holiday (a monday), my sis and I were at home making Crepes when suddenly my mom came home running, she ran to her room and we didn't know what was going on, we 1st thought she was upset about something related to her work but it wasn't that, she was unable to speak, seemed lost and we got scared, VERY scared, as soon as she told us she was unable to speak/coordinate we got a cab and ran to the ER, can you imagine having to take your mother to the ER?, all I wanted to do was cry but I knew better than that, we had to be strong for my mom, once the doctor saw my mom she was admitted to the hospital for a check up, to make this story short, my mom was diagnosed with Kidney Cancer Stage 4, FYI Stage 4 is the worst, she had a tumor on her brain and that's what caused the episode on Fevruary 7th, she had surgeries, my sister and I decided to close the shop on march and started working from home, we took care of my mom, we basically became 1 hell of a close family (not that we werent, we just got CLOSER), we had family, but their support came and went, at the end of the day it was just the 3 of us, my mom got worse quite quickly, on August 2011 we were told she only had 6 months left, we decided to grant every wish she had, she had always wanted to travel and thats why she got her passwort when I got mine to go to Korea (Dec 2010), so, we planned a trip to Paris, it was her choice but we kept it a secret because we weren't 100% sure we would make it, the date came and the 3 of us flew together for the 1st time ever (Nov 2011), when we arrived my mom had lost more movement on her left leg and her arm, it was hard, she would cling to me or my sis to walk around, but everything was worth it the day we went to the Louvre, she was thrilled, her face was priceless (and still is), after the trip she got even worse, stopped walking and we knew what was coming, she became more dependant of our care, it was harder and harder each day, not because we didn't want to take care of her, but because we saw her suffering, something she would barely show to us, she became more like our child, 2012 came and we were happy to still have my mom with us, but things got (even) worse, by this time, most of our family was away from us, some would say it was because they didn't want to see my mom suffer, some others would give no explanation and we got to the point that nothing else matter, it was again just the 3 of us, "3 for 1 and 1 for all" as we used to say, on may '12 we made what would be our last visit to the ER, it was a friday and I left work early, I hate how can I still remember every momento of those days, on saturday my sis went out to meet a friend (after I kinda forced it to get some fresh air), I took this time to talk to my mom, I knew she was tired and sad and mostly worried because she didn't want us to see her like that nor to leave us alone, I assured her we would be fine and ask her to please take the rest she needed, later on I found out that my sister had almost the exact same conversation with my mom on that weekend, I say conversation but in reality it was just us talking since my mom stoped talking several weeks before that... and it was that sunday MAy 21st that we lost her, she decided to get the rest she needed... and as hard as (still) is to let her go, I was relieved she wasn't suffering anymore, I decided to change my (our) life on that day, decided to make her proud of us and to show her that she raised us well, I also detached myself from the people who decided to stay away from us for stupid reasons and to tresure those whom I trust the most... I guess that's how things started really....

Soon we realized we had nothing to attach us to Mexico city and decided to start a new Journey, we let go some people, things, the safety of living in your OWN country, leaving friends and things that make you feel at home, it wasn't really hard to decide what to do, and luckily me and my sister are more alike than what we'd like, we started our journey in Japan (my sister LOVED it) and next was Korea, where we are still learning, fighting, growing and still trying to understand why things happened.... I am so thankfull for the things we have, the people we've met and the friends we still have in our beloved Mexico (lol), a special Shout to our friends The Lalito's family because they became our family in the process :), we are having a blast in Korea and we know my mom is somewhere watching us and making this awesome things happen, although I would still change everything I've got to have her back...

I guess with this you'll understand why those comments kind of upset me, I can't stand when people can't value what they have in life, I still cry whenever I see older women, it reminds me how my mom always said "Can you imagine how will I look when my hair goes all White?", I still think it's unfair she was taken away from us, I still can accept the fact she is not with us, but that's how life goes, right?

I'm finishing up with that... as it makes me feel weird to go that personal on my blog, I'm sorry I'm not sharing stories about Korea or how Kpop-y my life has become, that would be a story for some other day...because luckily for us, we've been pretty busy in Korea :D

Thanks for Reading

Just a pic of my mom in Paris (Montmartre) being awesome <3 p="">

-Gisela V.
 

My 1st Korean Restaurant BiWon

Hi everyone, I feel like I've been very distracted from the blog lately....I just don't wanna bring all my saddness and worries over here...so Sorry for my random blogging.

Anyway... Last week I realized I never wrote about my 1st experience in a Korean Restaurant, the very 1st time I tried Korean food was with the people I love the MOST -My mom and
my sister-  they were always very supportive with me when my Korean-Crush started and I still feel they continue doing it, only my mom is now doing it in a whole different level...

It brings me happiness (and some tears) to think about that 1st time at the Korean Restaurant... it was sunday and I honestly don't remember how we chose that one but it was definitely
the right choice, the place is quite big, clean and one of the "prettiest" Korean restaurants I've visited in Mexico, plus they have very decent prices, I mean being able to eat a whole
meal for $100 Pesos ($10,000KRW-$10USD) is a pretty good deal when talking about "international" food in Mexico.

The 1st time we went there each one ordered a Dish but if I may say...the thing I was most excited to try was the Kimchi...I have read about Kimchi before, I have a book with different
kinds of Kimchi and well... it's Kimchi one of the 1st things you learn about Korea is Kimchi, right?

My mom ordered a Haemul Pajeon (Korean Seafood Pancake), my sister had the Bibimbap and I had Yukaejang (Spicy beef soup).

The Kimchi... I knew I had to be cautious because of the strong taste... but my mom adventured to try it in a second (aww!!), it was garlicky and spicy...I can handle Spicy but Garlic is
something I wasn't very used to...my sister? well she didn't want to try it really but at the end she did...a small bite but she did it and 3 years later she still can't eat it (lol), after
that 1st Kimchi I just fell inlove with it n_n

Okokokok,,,so back to the Food

The Haemul Pajeon was way to big for me mom so my sister and I had to help her (lol)...I had tried something like that in Veracruz sort of like a Spanish Tortilla but with seafood and less eggs...
I guess she liked it because she had that same dish on a different restaurant and everytime we visited the "Cultures Fair" (each May) she would have that at the Korean Pavilion :)
~Oh mom... how I miss you and your "I'm up for it!!" spirit~

My sister's Bibimbap came with the egg fried of course... she really liked and ate the whole thing (Weird thing is...she almost never finishes her food...) and now that I thinkg about it..it's
weird she never said anything about the Gochujang paste tasting "weird" or something... I'm very proud of you sis :D haha

As for my Yukaejang... I LOVED IT... it is actually the reason why we keep going back to BiWon, specially now that has been raining, it's the perfect stew to have on a cold/rainy day....I don't care
that everytime I have it I leave a new stain on my clothes lol (I'm not very good eating soups).

My top 3 fav dishes here are Yukaeyang, Samgyeopsal (Fresh! not frozen and very yummy for about $15USD) and Bibimbap :)







Besides the great food, the affordable prices and the general atmosphere of the place, I really enjoy going there because it reminds me of my mom :) and I'm glad everytime I go there I go with people
I love (or at least people who really do enjoy Korean Food).

For those reasons... BiWon is one of my fave places to eat Korean Food.

Oh!! I forgot... the Banchan is nothing out of this world but they have one of the spiciest Kimchi's I've tried in Mexico <3

-Gisela V. 

Ps. Here's the address: FLORENCIA 20  DELEG.CUAUHTEMOC.MEXICO.D.F

Mexico

2 Months

Tomorrow is my day OFF....
I will be OFF of everything.
Tomorrow is a day to remember my mom (even thou I do it every day)
Tomorrow is a day to do what she liked the most.
Tomorrow is the day I get to listen to my recordings of her singing (If I listen to them any other day I would cry my heart out all the time)
Tomorrow is a day I can only spend with the people I love (Hola Perritow!) and the only one who can fully understand what I'm going through.

Tomorrow will also be the worst day because it will remind me I don't have you next to me anymore :(

The good thing about all this is... Tomorrow is the day we celebrate you ate now in a better place where nothing will hurt you.

Love you Ma!

-Tu Chapis :)

Thank you

I just one to take a moment to thank everyone who's been with my sister and me in such a difficult time.

My mom is now in a better place and will always be in our heart.

"To live in hearts you leave behind is not to die"

-Gisela V.

Korean Folk Village

I visited the Korean Folk Village in the Gyeonggi Province on December 2010, I realized I never really posted about it so, this was a good time to do it. 

Here's some of the History of the Village:

About 30 folk villages were relocated and recreated in the approximately 200,000 pyeong (660,000 square meters) vacant land around the area of 107 Bora-ri, Giheung-eup, Yongin City, Gyeonggi Province on August 5, 1973 and opened to the public after completion on October 3, 1974. 

The Korean Folk Village isopen all year-round and nearly 1.8 million domestic and foreign tourists visit here throughout the year. The Folk Village is a venue where visitors can learn Korean culture in a short time. 

All year round there are Folk Performances performed twice a day like

-Fasmer's Music and Dance

-Acrobatics on a tightrope 

And a traditional wedding  (Mar-Nov)

(This might be canceled due to weather)

Entrance Fee 

Adults: 15,000 Won

Adolescents/Seniors 12,000 Won

Chil 10,000 Won

For more info visite the KFV website here.

But why don't I show you more about it with pictures? (I sure love pictures!!)

After the Music/Dance performance

You have to write a "wish" in those papers and make a knot to put it there

I took this picture because my mom is a huge fan of this Dorama.

At the entrance of the KFV

This lady was making silk out of the worms,,,very impressive, she was really nice and explained those can be eaten as well.

The Dance....awesome how they make that lace move only with the head.

This man was walking on that rope dancing and jumping... I failed to take a video thou :(

Are those filled with..... Kimchi? Soy paste?... I couldn't help but wonder....

Another one for my mom... The KFV was set for Dae Jang Geum

How to ger Silk Fabrics... Next t the lady we saw before n_n

And after that... we had a nice lunch at a restaurant inside the KFV!

Banchan.... loved it <3

There was a couple in one of those tables (sitting on the floor) next to us and the Ajosshi probably listened that I wanted Makgeolli and was kind enough to offer me a cup of Makgeolli.... Priceless... Thank you Sir!!! (You kind of made my day that day)

Well, I hope you get a chance to visit this Village, I know I want to go back and re-visit.

-Gisela V.

My 12 reasons to visit Korea

1- Food

I want to eat more Korean food, street food, drink Makgeolli, go to lots of restaurants, visit a Mexican food restaurant (I'm intrigued). Go to all thos mini marts and buy crazy snacks!

                                    
2- Busan / Incheon - Travel Around

I want to go to Seoul first and then travel around S. Korea. I would like to visit North Korea but that's going to be way to complicated for a little while.

3- Visit people I met on my 1st visit

I want to meet with the people I met last year (In Seoul and Mexico) and would also like to meet some of my fav K-Bloggers (stalker much?? Lol)

4- Noryangjin

On my 1st visit to Seoul I went to the 63 building and I could see the Noryangjin market from there but I didn't have time to go that day since I had to meet a friend and I still regret I didn't go back :(

5- Take my mom/sister

I want to show them why I fell in love with Korea :)
                                     

6- Do a Temple stay

Again I didn't have enough time to do this the 1st time but the 2 temples I visited felt so peaceful...I need to do this next time.

7- Do a Korea Home stay

You can read more about it here:

8- Go to the Kimchi museum

What else can I say? I love Kimchi ^^

9- Take cooking lessons

You know I love my Korean Food!!!
                                                 

10- Speak more Korean

This is a MUST... Meaning I also have to study more

11- House of Sharing

Would like to do some volunteer work at the House of sharing
                                    

12- Take a tour through some of the "My name is Kim Sam soon" locations.... I have to!! This show got me to love Korea!!!           
                                                     

-Gisela V.

Happy New Year

How to start?

Well... 1st of all I want to thank the (few) readers I have, you guys are the best!, thank you for bearing with me through this hard year, you made my days easier :)

2ndly I would like to wish all of you an excellent 2012, may this new year bring you many many blessings and happy times.

2011 has been a life changing year for me, as some of you know my mom has the big C and I'm thankfull she is still among us, I make sure I hug her and kiss her at least once a day so don't wait until someone you love is ill to show them you care about them.

Just in time to have a good end of the year I received the news yesterday that I have been selected as one of the WKB  (Worldwide Korea Bloggers) , if you want to read some great blogs about Korea go here and check the list of the winers (and look for my name there!!)
So, starting tomorrow I'm officially a WKB, stick around for more K-info, recipes because K-cooking is what I love the most!!. In addition to this I would like to ask you to help me, with more Comments about what you would like to read or just anything... Comments make me happy :P

So, 2011 was a BIG year.... with good and bad things but with my awesome family.
Hope all of you spend New years Eve with people you love and have a great 2012!

My pic has nothing to do with NYE, but may 2012 bring another family vacation for everyone! lol

-Gisela V.

Special thanks to my sister for all of the support and for still loving me even thou I can be a lil bit mean sometimes.... Love you Perrito!

Paris!

Oh la la!

So…we are back from Paris…actually it’s been almost a month since we came back *Insert SAD face*, even thou I was not crazy for Paris it was definitely a place in my “To Go” list and I’m glad we went there,,, it wasn’t a Crazy (in a Drunk-Fun kind of way) trip, it was a Family Vacation, only My mom, sis and I…. it was full of first’s:

1^st Time flying together

1^st Time for my mom to leave the Country

1^st Time for my sister and I to actually be in charge…. (scary)

1^st Time to meet the bro-in-law….. O_O (Ah veda!)

1^st Time to finally see/meet everything my sis has been talking about for AGES

1^st Time to be afraid of traveling (don’t ask why…)

I don’t want to make this a HUGE post so,,, I’ll do my best

The Good

*Family Vacation!! Yay!!!

*Paris!

*Tour Eiffel

*Boulangeries (read…Huré)

*Bread

*Franprix!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (LOVE IT!!! And miss it SO freaking much)

*Outdoor Markets!

*Friends (new friends!!)

*Macarons

*Sleeping ‘til 11am J

*Morning Breakfast with Perrow and moomin!

The Bad

*LONG flights

*Aeromexico

*Way to heavy luggage

*My mom feeling tired and not so well L

*Not enough money

*Not enough time (haha)

The Ugly

*Pick pocket!! Gubai 600 EU L

So all in all…it was a GOOD trip…. Love it there!, I’m not a Museum Fan but I like it and maybe next time we’ll get to see/do more J

Next Destination…………. Korea!!!!!!!!!!! 

Here are a few pics from the trip…. Enjoy :)

-Gisela V.  

Back!

Hey there!!!

We are back from Paris!, we had a great time, we got to relax, eat and just live like a real Parisian (minus the work part!).

Since we came back we've had some hard/long days and it's time to really appreciate what we have when we still have it. And this is why and Pausing my blogging, I have lot of things to blog about but it's not time to do it, hopefully when I come back you'll still be ere reading me and who knows.... I might be writing from a new place ;) .

Thank you all for your support and specially thanks to those who have shown your support to my mom!!

-Gisela V.

Time off

It was about time, my mom, sis and I were in need of this time OFF for a while now and the day is finally here, we are currently waiting at the Airport to go on a much needed vacation to Paris, Rome and Florence :)

It's time to ceebrate my mom being so strong and just spend as much quality time together as we can, so I will see YOU in a couple of weeks!!

So, have fun!!! and don't miss us too much!!

xOXoXooOoxxXxoXoxoO lol

-Gisela V.

Changes....

So many changes, so many challenges....so many things
But I'm still around.... hopefully in a couple of days I'll be giving you GREAT news...at least for my mom, sis and I :)

Things are a bit more complicated these days, but as long as we are together I think we are gonna be fine.

So, see you around.... and hopefully I'll have to update on my Korean lessons soon! :)


-Gisela V.

To be a freak or not to be a freak???

That is the question.....

I've been thinking about this for a couple of days... Thanks to my Korean lessons and my love for Korean Culture I am being catalogued by some of the people around me... I used to fight it....until today...when I decided to embrace it because let's face it...F--k'em!

I really do

I'm tired of giving explanations to all those who keep asking me if I want to be "chinese" or why am I so obsessed with Asia.... REMEMBER it's different if someone comes to me and genuinley ask me "Why my interest for Korean Culture".... Just a few days ago someone asked me "Do you have like a chinese ghost??".... HUH??? seriously?? wtf is that?.... 1st...it's not Chinese culture I like...is KOREAN culture,,and 2nd...what do you mean?...Ghost like Demi Moore's movie?? ..I really don't get it... O_O (If someone understand this...please let me know!!)

Is this 2 much??....

Nop, I'm not inlove with every Korean I've met, NO I don't want to marry a Korean men, NO I don't listen to K-pop all day (I only have like 20 songs and most of the times I don't know the name of the song/group), NO I don't watch Dramas all the time (I do sometimes thou... hehe), NO I have never said "I'f I don't marry I Korean I'm gonna die.... :(" but YES, I like learning Korean, I like listening to some songs or watching some Dramas and being able to understand 1 or 2 words, YES I like reading Korean, YES I want to go back to Korea sometime, YES I have met a few Koreans and I like their personality (and NO I'm not in love with them) ...so... Freak??? yea, maybe ...a lil bit, we always consider someone a Freak or a weirdo when "they" (we?) are into something that's not quite popular, right?? ...So yea, I'm a bit of a Freak....and loving it <3

And by the way... No, i'm not the kind of people who wants everyone to join her "Freaks-clan" ... I recently took a couple of friends to have Korean Food and HATED IT.... it was Awkard...some of them had asked me to take them to try Korean food before but this was their 1st time.... and OMG it was awkward and annoying, I recommended the Bibimbap because I believe it's a very KOREAN food but it's not as strong as Kimchi, I warned them about Kimchi  being a bit strong and some will call it and Acquired taste since I know Korean Food is not for everyone....but No I had to deal with the "Don't they give you salsa for this blend rice??", "This is weird", "I don't like them", "Is all korean food that bad?" ...ok ok ok I GET IT!, you didn't like it... next time we'll go for some Sushi O_o  ...WAIT!.........not all my friends hate Korean Food.. Some of my friends and family DO like Korean food and had asked to take them for som K-Food...those are the friends I love..........lol jk!! ;)  I love them all


So, am I the only Korean freak over here??............am I?  u_u 

Oh!! by the Way... My lessons are going well :) ...I have tons of Vocabulary to learn ...plus Work plus...a trips in the next 3 weeks (OMG!!! So excited!!...i'll let you know more about it later!!),, 2 weeks ago I had the worst class ever!! I had a rough week and I didn't study and I honestly wasn't worried about it since the teacher said we were not doing TESTs every class...but tan tan taaaaaaaaan!!..we had one!!! I only asnwered 3 out of 10 "questions" ...and only got 2 of those 3 correct :'( ...I spend the whole class feeling guilty and dumb (let me remind you I'm int the Top 5 of the Oldies of the class...), so last week I was better prepared and even thou I don't think i'll get a 10 (A+) on my test...at least I know it won't be a 2... This time I know I have to study harder if I want to make it............Any advise????? :)

-Gisela V.

Anybody home??

Hello??

Seriously!... I know I've been absent for a while, it's been a few rough/complicated weeks... As some of you know my mom had to go back to the Hospital a bit less than 3 weeks ago... it took us all by sorprise but things are....getting better?... well..I'm not sure what's going on, I don't know if I'm really understanding things or if this is denial.... to be honest I DON'T KNOW!!!!, but right know we have to focus on what happens NOW... we have to live day by day the best way we can...
I know I'm not saying much, but it's hard for me to talk about this... So for now... all you get is this lousy post :S *sorry!!*

So... Hola Corea... it's been a Month since I started my Korean Lessons...and NO I don't speak Korean yet... everyone keeps asking me if I speak Korean now.... why don't YOU try taking 1hour a week of a new language and let me know if after 4-5hours you can actually speak that language.... ¬¬ 
Good thing is.... I can read!!!...Awesome, isn't it?? I started learning Korean 2 years ago but I dropped it about 1 month later...I knew some of the vowels ans consonants, but this time I know much more!, I'm still having a bad time with ㅐㅔ ㅗㅓ  .... Specially with the O's since we only have 1 O sound in Spanish....but I'm happy I'm learning to read, the sounds and new study techniques!
Next saturday I have class #5 (there are 8 classes per Level....i'm still on Level 1) and each week we have a lil test.... next week's have me a little nervous, I have to learn 20 words and even thou it's not hard I still have a full time job and it's been a bit hectic at home because of the big C.... so, we'll see how it goes :)


What else??.... I have 2 things I would loooooooooooove to talk about, but it's too soon u_u

I promise I will upload a recipe soon!!
Meanwhile,,,, here are some pics taken this month :D

Charlin...aka The Cats whisperer

Con Joss @ Carito's

Beric & Joss

Chillin' @ Reforma :P

Ah veda!!

<3 <3 <3

Jessy's Bday

Jessy's Bday2

You guys are MY everything.... Love you!

Well... I'll be back... SOON!! I promise!! and I'll writte something good next time!

-Gisela V.