3 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed: Seoul Day 5: First full day with D. Suhbin

Suhbin slept pretty well last night and we actually woke up before him. A couple of times during the night I went onto the floor to comfort him a bit, but he went back down well. Once Suhbin was fully awake we decided to go downstairs and pay for the hotel breakfast. It's a buffet so we could try several things with him, and we know that they have Juk so we hoped to find food he would eat. His favorite ended up being eggs. He ate a little of the Juk (rice porridge) but now I realize it was too bland and I should have added some kimchi, etc. to it. We spent an hour or so at the buffet because he was really enjoying it. It was quiet and we could play with him there. After eating we headed back to the hotel room, as we passed by the doors to the outside Suhbin started asking to go out (pointing and putting his hands together for "jusaiyo") and saying "bahng" which means truck. He loves walking out there to look at the traffic! I'm afraid leaving the city life for the middle of nowhere AZ is going to be tough for him!

We went back to the room (with just a little crying) to get the carrier and the diaper bag packed to set out. We decided to head to the Coex and were hoping to meet our new friends and their little boy there to go to the Aquarium but their little boy had a fever and they couldn't make it out. We didn't end up going to the Aquarium b/c Suhbin was sound asleep in the carrier by the time we got there so we just walked around for a while until looking at things until he woke up. We enjoyed some coffee at 7 Monkeys which was a local coffee shop we saw several places. It was good. Our pictures didn't turn out too well though. We also exchanged a book. One of the books we bought didn't work (they're electronic and say certain words in both English and Hangul - fantastic books - I highly recommend them to other APs). The exchange was actually pretty easy which was a bit relief. When Suhbin woke up we saw a place that sold Bingsoo and I was so excited! I enjoyed Bingsoon in VA with my friends Sandra and Grace and couldn't wait to introduce Brian. Sadly they ran out just before we got there. We found another place that had it though it was a little different (no rice cake, red beans instead) and it was delicious, but I still can't wait to bring Brian to the Shilla Bakery in VA when we move back! Suhbin enjoyed some of the Bingsoo but he was getting restless so we decided to leave (after picking up some Mandu to go). We walked back to the hotel instead of taking the subway and it was a beautiful walk. Suhbin played on the steps outside of the Coex for a while, but wanted to be carried once we were outside the enclosed area which was great b/c it was crowded so having him walk would have been less than ideal.

On the way back we stopped by Paris Baguette (our new favorite) for some more food to go with our Mandu and figured we'd be in the hotel for most of the night. So we dodged more scooters/motorcycles on the sidewalks (I can not remember if I mentioned these earlier, but they drove on the sidewalks instead of the road to avoid traffic. McDonald's delivers and they have their whole set of delivery scooters parked on the sidewalk). They definitely made me more nervous once Suhbin was in the carrier on me and I felt more vulnerable wanting to protect him. Plus it was a bit harder to see what was around with a 1 year old in the carrier. I know it will become more natural, but right now it's something I have to get used to. Here are some pics, unfortunately they don't necessarily load in order and I'm not fixing them right now but enjoy!

Waiting for the subway (that's the subway glass, it's not real)

Daniel's first subway ride with us.

After the craziness riding the subway before - People pushing others out of the way to get a seat - I'm actually sitting, at least 5 people JUMPED up when I got on the subway holding Daniel and offered me a seat. I felt bad since we were only going one stop.

Running around outside is fun! :) I love his smile!

It's hard work playing, I'll sit and rest here.

Hyundai Department Store. WOW! Department stores are not what we have in the US. When you walk in, instead of being bombarded by make-up and perfume, you're greeted with FOOD!