Back to South Korea to visit the Horton/Kang family!

After spending two fun nights in Macau (the Las Vegas of Asia!) and taking a ferry over to explore Hong Kong for a few days - which you can read about in my two previous posts – we flew onto Seoul in South Korea.

This is our fifth visit to South Korea where our son, James, lives with our daughter in law, Sujeong, and our grandson, Aaron.

Our sweet grandson, Aaron Horton

Being based in Asia over the past couple of years (Malaysia and Thailand mostly) has been great for us as it has been strategically conducive to not missing out too much on our young grandson growing from a baby into a toddler.

During the past few trips, we have also managed not to get lost taking the high-speed KTX train from Seoul to Daegu. We have actually mastered the subway around the city - and we have even managed to do some unchaperoned shopping at the mall or the market too – utilising a few handy Korean phrases!

During this visit, we would get to meet the new addition to our family – Zoey the Beagle – who is an adorable puppy and new best friend for our grandson.

In early to mid-September, the weather is still warm (South Korea has very hot summers and incredibly cold winters) so we were able to take our grandson out to the play park and for lots of walks and even for a day out to Daegu Theme Park - which was great fun - so please excuse proud Jamma and Papa overload! (Aaron's names for us.)

Also, during this visit, we were able to discuss the BIG WEDDING PLANS for April 2018. Our son and his wife have been legally married for a few years but they have never actually had a traditional Korean wedding party for family and friends to attend. So, in April 2018, they will be getting married again with friends and family. The style of the wedding will be traditional, with Korean wedding clothes for the bridal party (white traditional gown and groom in a suit) and also a change into Korean traditional 'hanbok' for the reception and dinner.

It’s also a tradition in South Korea to have the formal wedding photos done in a photographic studio well ahead of the wedding date - and so these few I’m showing you have been recently taken – and don’t they look romantic!

While we were in Korea this time, I went with Sujeong and her mum and her sister to get measured for my traditional Korean ‘mother of the groom hanbok’ – handmade and in colours I have chosen for myself – complete with shoes and handbag to match. The photo on the bottom left shows the fabric I've chosen - and top right are my shoes! The middle photo shows Sujeong trying on a hanbok in the shop.

I’ll feel so privileged to be wearing this traditional outfit at our son’s wedding ceremony alongside Sujeong’s mother, who will be wearing her ‘mother of the bride hanbok’ for the ceremony when we next visit in April 2018.

My daughter-in-law's family - the Kang family - are so lovely and generous and hospitable and we enjoy going out for some meals together - Korean Barbeque food is amazing! On every visit, they have always managed to find somewhere interesting and cultural to take us. On this occasion, to appreciate the leaves starting to turn colour, we went on the Palgongsan Mountain Cable Car. The views over the forest were spectacular. There are two different cable car venues in Daegu – the other is the Aspen Cable Car – which we did on a previous visit and for the high panoramic views of Daegu it is an absolute must see.

We stopped off for lunch at a countryside restaurant. The Kang family had pre-booked this (we had no idea) and we had a private room for us all to enjoy a fabulous and huge traditional meal (with lots of kimchi of course!) with us all sitting on cushions at a low table.

Heading back into Daegu, on the outskirts of the city, we stopped off to walk through a beautiful flower field in the warm sunshine. It made for a fabulous and colourful photo opportunity!

We had a wonderful visit and we are now looking forward to April 2018!

Next on the blog – an unexpected twist to our travel adventures!

After applying online for a housesitting assignment for the winter months in South West France - from October 2017 to March 2018 - we got it! This meant flying from Seoul via Kuala Lumpur and via London to Bordeaux France to be the guardians of a 500-year-old French country chateau close to the city of Perigueux in exchange for looking after the house and the resident pussy-cat while the homeowners were back in the UK. 

What a fantastic opportunity and a wonderful place to live!

Our beautiful new home for the winter in SW France

The housesitting assignment is perfect in many ways because we really needed somewhere to settle down for a while as I had just signed a publishing contract with Harper Impulse – the romance imprint of Harper Collins publishers UK - for a book I had yet to write scheduled to be published Summer of 2018.

I needed to be somewhere to focus on my writing so that I could meet my tight end of January 2018 deadline. The new novel is to be called The Backpacking Housewife – a novel based on my own travel experiences.

You can read my author acquisition announcement on the Harper Impulse website HERE.

My husband, Trav, was also very happy about living in France for a while too because he knew he would be kept busy while I was writing. He would be responsible for maintaining the beautiful gardens and the swimming pool and any issues with the rented gites in the grounds of our château home over the wintertime.

So please join me here on the blog next time – when I’ll be in France!

Love, Janice

Horton-Kang family time in South Korea!

We are back in South Korea and it’s been a little over a year since we were last here visiting our son James, our daughter-in-law Sujeong, our grandson Aaron who is now two years old, and the rest of our Korean family.

Sitting in the springtime sunshine with Aaron outside Daegu library in South Korea

We originally booked this much anticipated trip as a visa run from Thailand - taking advantage of an Air Asia sale earlier in the year - but since then we’d had a big change of plan and now, after our week in South Korea, we were heading back to Europe instead of Thailand.

(You can read about this big change of plan by clicking HERE).

Our son James teaches English in South Korea and he and his family live in a big city called Daegu. Since our last visit they have moved into a new and bigger apartment, so instead of us having to stay in a hotel, this time we could stay in their home. It was wonderful to be able to help with Aaron, who is now two years old, especially at bath time before bed and in the mornings when he was full of energy and wanted to play. His favourite toys are his musical instruments and his play kitchen. He also has a great fondness for his small toy buses in the same way that James used to love his Thomas the Tank Engine toys many years ago.

Our grandson Aaron is now two years old

The weather was mostly dry and sunny for our visit and we had lots of opportunities to take walks out and about in the city and in the park – especially lovely at this time of year when it is cherry blossom season.

We also took several trips to Daegu traditional market – one of my favourite things to do - as the market is very close to the apartment and it is so interesting and colourful and has so many types of fruit and vegetables, fish and meat and yummy spicy kimchi and my very favourite dumplings.

Another highlight of the week was spending time with and having meals out to celebrate being with our Korean family again. Sujeong’s parents and her brother and sister - the Kang family - are so lovely and welcoming and hospitable and it was so great to see them all again.

The week went by so quickly and soon it was time for Trav and I to say an emotional farewell and take the KTX fast train back to the airport. The distance between Daegu and Seoul is about the same distance between Manchester and London in the UK and the train journey takes around two and a half hours.

Our flight back to Malaysia on the 5th April (our son Iain's birthday - who we were thinking of all day too) would take seven-hours. Arriving late in Kuala Lumpur, we would stay overnight in KL before taking a direct fourteen-hour flight to London early the next morning. Then after a night at London Heathrow, we had a three-hour flight to our destination of Bucharest Romania.

A total in the air/flying time of twenty-four hours with two quick stops!

Next time I’ll be chatting about our fabulous time in Bucharest Romania!

Until next time, please do consider signing up for my book news updates. I only ever send out a newsletter when I have writerly news to share, a new book coming out, or special offers and competitions with themed prizes to tell you about. Every new subscriber receives a free copy of my bestselling ebook 'How To Party Online' just for signing up using the form at the top right hand side of this page.

Love, Janice xx

To South Korea with Love…..

In previous posts, I’ve blogged about our fabulous four month long trip of a lifetime around South East Asia. In this post I’m chronicling the grand finale destination of our Grand Asian Trip - South Korea.

Our middle son, James, who is an English teacher, lives in the city of Daegu in South Korea with his lovely Korean wife Sujeong and our baby grandson Aaron. During this visit it would be our grandson’s first birthday – a big event in any case or place – but in South Korea it is marked by the hosting of a big formal party for friends and family.

Our middle son, James, lives in the city of Daegu in South Korea with his lovely Korean wife Sujeong and our baby grandson Aaron. 

So a function room was booked, catering was organised, a professional photographer was present, and gift bags for the guests were stacked on a welcome table that was set up as a wonderful showcase for young Aaron’s first year of life.

For Aaron's first birthday party a function room was booked...

Our son bought a new suit for the occasion. Our daughter-in-law, who looked stunning, had been to visit a hairdresser and a makeup artist to prepare for the big day. Aaron had a new outfit too. We, however, arrived from Bangkok (+32 degrees C) to Seoul (-5 degrees C) shivering in the warmest clothes in our backpacks. I’d been hauling a pair of canvas sneakers, a pair of jeans and my favourite cashmere sweater all around South East Asia for four months, as I knew it would be cold in South Korea in February. My husband wasn't so prepared and so, shivering in his t-shirt and flip flops, he garnered a few strange looks on the bullet train from Seoul to Daegu - where he bought himself a pair of socks.

My husband garnered a few strange looks in Daegu...

We arrived in Daegu in the afternoon and we were met by Sujeong and Aaron. We had seen lots of recent photos and video of him over Facebook Messenger - but I was still in awe of him walking towards us at the station wearing a warm red coat and carrying an umbrella. Last time we had visited he was only just learning to crawl!

Aaron at Daegu station wearing a warm red coat and carrying an umbrella...

We had an amazing time in South Korea, we ate fabulous Korean food and spent lots of precious time with our Korean family and cuddling Aaron.

We had an amazing time in Korea...

With Sujeong as our driver, we took Aaron to Korean Toys R Us and bought him some birthday presents. We bought him a car that he can be pushed around in that will be great for the park in the summer, a baby ‘laptop computer’ that speaks about colours and shapes and other interesting things in both English and Korean - and a ‘baby’ mock TV remote that makes interesting sounds and that might distract him from his current obsession of operating the real one.

Buying our grandson Aaron a first birthday gift at Toys R Us

The Birthday Party was of course the main event of the week and it was a great success. It was also a wonderful occasion for us to get to know Sujeong’s extended family and to meet Aaron’s Korean great-grandparents for the first time. James’s co-workers also attended the party and it was lovely to meet them too.

It was wonderful to meets Sujeong’s extended family and James's co-workers...

A movie had been put together of Aaron’s first year and when the room darkened and the images were projected onto a big screen at the front of the room, I felt incredibly proud and emotional and full of love. Then the rest of the week flew by and it was again an emotional time. Time to say goodbye. It’s hard to go away, knowing that they live on the opposite side of the world from us and it will likely be another year until we are able to hug James and Sujeong and our little grandson Aaron. But, thanks to social media, we take comfort in that we can see them every day through pictures and video clips that make us feel we are part of their everyday lives and that they are part of ours. We wept and hugged and left on the bullet train back to the airport. As we climbed aboard the fastest train in the world for our two and a half hour journey, Sujeong gave me a little paper bag, which she said was a gift from her mum. When we opened it later, I saw it was a tray of my favourite dumplings. They are so yummy and I had eaten so many of them during the week that she had kindly thought to provide them as a snack for our journey!

A snack for the train - a tray of my favourite dumplings!

We flew from South Korea to Bangkok and from Bangkok to Doha. We had two hours in Doha before we boarded our flight to Houston USA - a non-stop journey of over sixteen hours, during which I watched back to back movies, ate tray food and drank wine. When we reached Houston, after a total of over twenty-eight hours in the air and with a fourteen hour time difference, we headed straight for a steakhouse where we ate prime Texas beef and drank beer before crashing out for two days and two nights at an airport hotel – except for of course waking up at 3am a couple of times – as our body clocks were all over the place.

On the 1^st March, we flew from Houston to San Pedro Sula in Honduras and from there we took a small plane over to our Caribbean island home of Utila, where we intend to settle down for the whole of the summer and to relax back into island time.

After our Grand Asian Adventure we intend to settle down in the Caribbean and relax back into island time....

Although, to comply with our visa entries, we will need to do a couple of visa runs, which means there is sure to be a couple of (yet unplanned) exciting mini trips off island to look forward to during the summer!

On the 1^st April, we are looking forward to our eldest son Ben and our youngest son Iain coming out to join us here on the island with their girlfriends for a couple of weeks. Both our sons are certified scuba divers and so my husband is looking forward to taking them diving in the warm clear waters of the Meso-American Barrier Reef - which is just off the island – the second largest barrier reef in the world.

As my next post is sure to be all about Caribbean island life – do please join me again here next time - and if you'd like to be notified of future posts via email you can sign up for that on the side bar!

Janice xx

Our Snap Gap to South Korea

Our Journey to South Korea.  World Map - public domain

During the first week of June, Trav and I flew to South Korea to visit our son, James, who is working there as an English Teacher. We flew from Glasgow with Emirates and, having flown with this airline once before, we knew we were in for a treat with their complimentary drinks service and excellent on board entertainment system. As you can see from my photograph, taken as we waited to board, the skies over Glasgow were stormy grey as we waited to begin our seven and a half hour flight - but my mind was already on our first stop in Dubai – where we would board the new ‘double decker’ A380 aircraft to Incheon, South Korea.

Grey skies over Glasgow!

The last time we were at the airport in Dubai we passed through its elaborate main terminal. This time we were in the exclusive Emirates hub at terminal three, with all its hi-tech, high priced, eye-popping shops, sights and extravagances.

 Flying with Emirate Airlines and at the Emirates Terminal in Dubai

Eight and a half hours after boarding our second flight we landed in South Korea and made our way to the train station for an hour long journey to Seoul. From Seoul we took the KTX bullet train onto our final destination. It took two and a half hours traveling at over 300 kilometers an hour (185 miles per hour!) to get to Daegu. When we arrived it was night (eight hours ahead of BST) and we had been traveling for so long without sleep we were exhausted. However, seeing our lovely tall and handsome son walking towards us at the station immediately revived us. And yes, dear reader, as you can imagine - there were lots of tears!

The KTX Bullet Train at Seoul Station

James took us to the brightly neon-lit downtown area to our hotel where we dumped our bags so we could go straight out to dinner. We ate traditional Korean barbeque. At the restaurant all the tables had a brazier in the centre of the table and a ‘chimney’ above it to take away smoke and steam. Marinated uncooked meat was brought to us to cook ourselves and this was accompanied by a kind of soup, rice, shredded vegetables and ‘kimchi’ - the national dish comprising of chilli spices and various fermented vegetables, usually cabbage. Kimchi is a side dish that is reputed to be one of the healthiest foods in the world. I absolutely loved it but drew the line at eating it for breakfast!

Daegu by night.  Korean food.  James and Trav in downtown Daegu.

Over the next two days we had a fabulous time meeting all of James’s co-workers and friends, exploring downtown, dining Korean style and drinking ‘Soju’ - a deliciously smooth vodka-like, rice distilled drink. Another delight (and an experience exclusive to the city of Daegu) are the ‘bag cocktails’ sold by street vendors that enable you to sip your favourite tipple between visiting bars!

First pic - In the photo from the left - Brandon, Thomas, Sam, James, Trav and I

Second Pic: The Korean national drink 'Soju'   Third Pic: Crystal and James

 Trav, James and I at the Bombay Lounge Bar

 Daegu by day - taken from our hotel room window

Trav and I out and about in downtown Daegu by night

Thomas, Myself and James sipping our 'bag cocktails'

The weekend soon came around (James was working during the week but had the weekend off) and we had planned a trip on the KTX train to Busan, a city on the coast renowned for it’s beaches and its cultural sights. But when Saturday came, James wasn’t feeling well. He’d had a cold the previous week, which he’d caught from one of the children in his class. It had settled on his chest and he was feeling rather breathless. As he is an asthmatic, this is something he treats with his inhaler. James was doing his best not to create a fuss but we decided to do Busan the next day and to go and see the new Tom Cruise movie ‘The Edge of Tomorrow’ instead at the nearby 4DX cinema complex. The film was fabulous but the 4D aspect really made it something of an experience. 4DX movie goers wear the 3D specs but sit in moving seats and get sprayed, misted, vibrated and poked – all in sync with the on-screen action. Popcorn not recommended!

However, when we came out of the cinema, it was obvious that James’s asthma was getting much worse. We argued that he should go straight to hospital. We flagged a taxi and went to the emergency hospital close by where, thank goodness, he was immediately treated. I simply cannot praise the doctors and nurses highly enough. Despite the language barrier, they recognised what was happening and that James was in an asthmatic state. Within seconds of arriving they had him on oxygen, a nebuliser, several intravenous drips and a heart monitor. I can’t tell you how relieved we were to see him slowly getting some colour back to his face. Once stable, James managed to text his Korean speaking friend and co-worker who could help us with communication. He came over straight away as did James's lovely Korean girlfriend, Crystal. James’s headmaster at the school where he works was in contact on the phone, helping with translations and speaking with the doctors. Everyone rallied around to help. If this experience has taught me anything, it is that our lovely son is in good hands. He is living in an amazing country and he not only has a fabulous lifestyle - he has the love and support of a wonderful close network of friends. James was kept in hospital overnight and is now on an array of medicines to help him recover from his ordeal. To prevent his asthma ever getting out of control again, he has been prescribed preventative medication.

The morning afterwards, James was back in the classroom teaching. We went with him to school to meet all his co-workers and some of his pupils. I took these photos. Later the same day, James was told that he had been awarded Best Teacher for the month across all the branches of his teaching academy. James, we are so very proud of you!

 Teacher James in his classroom.  Rules for the end of class.  Best of Best!

During the weekend of worry about James, I was also in a bit of distress myself with a terrible toothache. I’d had a bit of pain on and off for a while and so had been for a dental check up before we traveled. I’d even had an x-ray to make sure nothing unseen was going on. My dentist assured me that I merely had a sensitive tooth. Well, that simply can’t have been the case (he is now my ex-dentist) as I had to find an emergency dentist the day before we flew home. At The Happy Dentist (translation) I had full root canal treatment on a molar, the tooth cut down and the nerves removed. If I ever need any radical dental treatment again I will certainly want to go back to Korea to have it done. They are so friendly, fast, efficient and professional.

At the Happy Dentist!

I have to admit that when we finally parted with James, I was once again in tears but he was quick to remind us that he’s not the only one to leave home for another country - which is true - as Trav and I are planning to spend the next three months as far away from Korea as we possibly could be – in the Caribbean!

Our journey back to Scotland was long, tiring and uneventful. Despite an initial delay taking off at Incheon due to a thunder storm, we managed to connect with our flight in Dubai. Touching down in Glasgow, I put my watch back eight hours and saw that we were being welcomed home with a dry, warm and sunny day.

Now that we have made the journey to visit our son in South Korea, it doesn’t seem to be as far away as it once did. Plus the fantastic communication links we now have such as Facetime and Facebook and Instant Messaging all helps to make the world seem a smaller place.

 James and his lovely girlfriend Crystal

Once over our jetlag, Trav and I will be packing for our next snap gap. In previous posts I’ve been teasing you by only giving hints as to where exactly we are going. Now I’m ready to tell you that our snap gap during July, August and September this year takes us to the very special island of Utila.

Where is Utila you may ask…? Well, Utila is the smaller of what is known as The Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras. It is located on the mesoamerica coral reef – reputedly the second best coral reef in the world after the Great Barrier Reef off Australia. It is a truly unique island destination and a scuba divers paradise. It is also a hub for whale shark viewing, which as a diver, is what most appeals to Trav. It appeals to me because it is said to be ‘the Caribbean as it used to be’. It has a quaint central town that is said to be ‘the Key West of twenty years ago’ and I like the sound of all that laid back unspoilt charm. You can find out more about Utila at: http://utilaguide.com/

Trav and I have rented a beach apartment and from there he will go out diving each day while I write. I’m told we will have an internet connection. I currently have three works-in-progress on the go - two full length fiction novels and a non fiction travel guide. The first of my works-in-progress is planned for release in November this year and is a romantic adventure novel set in the Caribbean. Where better to be inspired than on a tiny and remote Caribbean island..?

So next time here on the blog I’ll be chatting about and sharing with you all the planning of our next exciting snap gap adventure. I’ll be wondering what is best to pack for an extended trip. (as Trav’s bag will no doubt be full of diving gear!) and I’ll be charting our journey that will once again begin at Glasgow. From there we will fly to London and then onto Miami. From Miami we will fly to San Pedro Sula in Honduras, where we will stay overnight until we can catch a small plane over to Utila the next day, arriving on the 4^th July!

See you then!

Love, Janice