Happy Quilt: a fabric paradise

There are only a handful of stores, closeby anyway, that you learn about very quickly upon your arrival to Osan: Dream Depot, E-mart, HomePlus and Happy Quilt. 


I visited the first three within the first few weeks I was in town but it took a while to have a need to visit Happy Quilt. Owen, Cooper and finally drove the short 20 minutes to take a look around. 


Happy Quilt can make just about anything for you - curtains, pillows, bedspreads, etc. - at amazing prices and they have hundreds of choices like...


Anthropologie look-alikes:

I adore the middle roll of fabric - very Anthropologie. It actually reminds
me of the Finnia and Mantadia curtains I've been admiring for a while now. 

I think my Anthropology-loving friend Holly even has a shirt in this exact print.

Polka dots:

I love these pretty grown-up polka dots. They remind me of
my friend Jentry - sophisticated but stylish and girly. 

Stripes & Script:

Paisley & Flowers:

I think of my friend Kriste everytime I see this paisley - or maybe
it's because she has 3 girls and this is nothing but girly!

And more:

These modern railroad tracks would be sweet in a little boy's train room.

Plus all the extras you need to DIY like this batting (with a side of Cooper):

So, yes they have hundreds of choices but I actually didn't find what I wanted* so my next trip will be to the Fabric Market in Seoul where they have 5 floors and literally thousands of fabric choices. 


*Wish me luck on my ongoing quest for large horizontal chocolate striped fabric (for living room curtains) and yellow or gray zig zags (for the new baby's nursery). 

Yeosu World Expo 2012 Photo Diary

This post is a photo diary of our visit to the World Expo in Yeosu (pronounced yo - sue). If you're looking for the deets on travel, lodging and Expo info check out the logistics post here. 

Expo site | Expo map | Expo Food | Expo Lodging

When you arrive through Gate 3 one of the first sights you'll see is this magnificent 50,000 LED screen ceiling display. The scenes ranged from ocean waters to other cultural videos and were mesmerizing! Made us want to layout a picnic blanket and just gaze.

Our 14th floor hotel ocean view at The Ocean Hotel. Actually, the theme of this World's Fair is all about the ocean and how we can learn, utilize and save it. 

This is called the Big-O and it is the main landmark for the Expo and the backdrop for various shows on the open sea - including the nightly show that utilizes water, fireballs and lasers coming from the huge device. Note: The show also was truly Korean as it included a fairy with a coffin, Superman, a fat French man and a crazy man at a desk - no matter how hard we tried we couldn't deduct the storyline (reminds us of the Lotte World production we saw that included the cast of Wizard of Oz... and Pinnochio). 

Besides all of the main pavillions and displays there was also an impressive collection of street entertainment including this 4 story tall wooden puppet. The puppeteers on the backside could maneuver him to walk, sit, stand, and move all of his limbs and head. The puppet even had a new outfit on each day!

Another example of street entertainment were these terrific illusions. Yes, this is a real man seemingly floating in mid-air. Another illusion was of a man that looked as if he was floating high up on the support posts - his only contact was by hand.  If I wouldn't have (unfortunately) seen how they performed the illusions I still would be scratching my head!

The Expo includes several zones that include pavilions of every kind. We weren't able to go to every one but we were able to go to most. The only dissapointment was that we weren't able to go to the Robot Exhibit because of the 3 hour wait time. If you are unable or unwilling to wait in line as well here's a YouTube video we found documenting the exhibit. 

This one is the Hyundai pavilion. Inside was a large room with thousands of blocks that made up 3 sides of the walls. Each block could move independently and they were also screens. The show was made up of images being made from the blocks and a abstract video utilizing the screens and blocks along with music. It was like candy for your eyes - very intriguing.  (No photography allowed inside.)

The Lotte pavilion was a kid-friendly exhibit with a carefree atmosphere. Pictured is the "holding pen" area before the main show. All of the flowers opened and closed and there was a Korean show put on by actors on a little stage to the left. Cooper didn't care for the show or the moving flowers but he was into the balloon ride to come. 

At Lotte they had one of only a couple of "rides" that was pretty cool! The hot air balloon ride included a moving platform and a simulated burner (pictured above) and all worked in conjunction with the 360 degree display of different environments including the Expo, forests, oceans and more. Cooper looks so tired here because... he is - after 10 hours so far at the Expo we were trying to hold out for just a bit longer to catch the finale fireworks and water show!

The POSCO pavillion is definetely worth it for older kids. It was like a kid party with a colorful light show, acrobats coming down from the ceiling and tons of bubbles. It was kinda' Coopers worst nightmare - I had to back up with him all the way into the Exit until we were far enough away from the acrobats. 

The aquarium is one of the most sought after exhibits. Pictured here is one of the largest single aquarium windows we've ever seen. And inside this larger tank is another viewing area you can see in the middle here. The wait was typically 2-3 hours long  but  for some reason we were rushed all the way in front of the line right to the entrance. Could be the stroller, or the cute baby but we'll take a 30 second wait over 2 hours any day! For our non-stroller/cute baby toting friends they agreed that an hour was the longest you should wait. Also, once inside it was extremely packed with (literally) pushy Koreans at every turn.

Inside the main aquarium were fish of all kinds, small and large sharks and Giant Turtles. Pictured is one of the turtles on a turn only a foot or so from the glass. He was at least 3 times bigger than Cooper. 

At the aquarium was this fun little display. Cooper was so interested in the fish swimming around his head that  we couldn't get him to look at the camera once!

The Aqua Planet wasn't our favorite exhibit but the solar panel trees running the building were very cool indeed. 

Another Theme Pavilion right on the ocean. 

In addition to the dozens of pavilions and exhibits there were hidden pieces of art every where you turned - all with a common theme. This was a large waterfall wall between the international pavilion area and larger exhibits. 

Cooper's well-earned break at the waterpark. He played for an hour  straight and had the best time. We took a ton of Cooper pictures and so did every other Korean there - actually, a little unsetteling when you look up and there are 10 people video'ing your child. He is a Korean rockstar.

Here's one of him right after a stream just missed his face - ha! He loved every second!

We didn't anticipate to love or spend as much time at the International Pavilions but they were our favorite part. Each country had their own exhibit that included displays, videos, entertainment, interactive elements and even dance parties!  Some of the pavilions also had their own restaurants. It was also impressive that people from each country worked their own pavilions and almost all also spoke English - a nice change of pace! Most every exhibit did not allow photos or videos so we don't have a lot but we did sneak just a few. 

France was one of our favorite exhibit - several really interesting displays made for a cool experience. This is a shot of a large aquarium housing robot fish. Daddy and Cooper are on the other side where you can also see walls made of tiled mirrors.  

Russia's exhibit was one of Owen's favorite. This is a life-sized ship  and all around is an LED ocean. The entire exhibit was chilly and covered in faux ice - very well done Russia! Note if you go to this exhibit make sure you get to the front of the pack for the best view.

Thailand did a great job bringing people into their exhibit with an impressive entrance . The statues move and talk and every 15 minutes there is a traditional, live singing and dancing show. 

Cooper was a trooper - with a 12 hour and then 13 hour day, no crib, only Korean milk (which he doesn't like) and constant Korean oogling - he did great! 

Bye! Bye! Yeosu! Thanks for hosting a great World's Fair! 

Bathtime Fingerpainting

I found these fingerpaints that start off as a play-doh, turn into a fingerpaint that doubles as a soap, and rinses away clean in the bath. Owen went to a going away party so Cooper and I had all evening to play - it was a perfect time to have fun with our new paint!


Here's Cooper drawing on the wall with his pallet of fingerpaints. (It makes him giggle when I draw kitties on his chalkboard so he, of course, had to have a couple here too). He also gets a lot of chalkboard drawing practice and has just started drawing circles so he did some practicing.  

Then we moved from the wall to drawing on Cooper's arms, legs, belly... and Mommy's face.

Cooper was in the fingerpainting zone but stopped to pose for one more shot with his faltering faux-hawk. 

The showerhead took care of the rainbow-colored soapy residue super quick (thank goodness... I might have been a little worried). Then Cooper was finally ready to get out so I wrapped him up in his alligator towel and he checked himself out in the mirror while we cleaned ears, combed hair, trimmed nails and brushed teeth. 

Bathtime success! Which can always be measured in wrinkly toes...

Yeoso World Expo 2012 - The Logistics

We took off this week for a 4-day weekend to head to the World Expo in Yeosu (pronounced yo - sue) from Osan Air Base. We've already had several ask us all about the trip so this post is also a bit of a guide - feel free to ask us any additional questions in the comments below. I'll be posting the fun post with pics and such soon!

Travel: Yeosu is on the southern coast South Korea so we took the train and utilized taxi's while in-town. There was the option of the KTX fast train but we would have had to take a train to the fast train and it only saves 40 minutes so we just took the regular train out of the Pyeongtaek station. Tickets were purchased online at Korail. The train ride was about 4 hours and drops you off right at the entrance to the Expo. 

Lodging: We would have liked to stay at the MLV hotel on the Expo campus, and even considered it but with a price tag of about $260/night before taxes it was just too expensive for 3 nights. The next best options were all about a 15-20 minute cab away but well worth it for 4 and 5 star hotels - in Korea you don't really want to stay in anything less. 

We stayed at The Ocean Hotel & Resort but also strongly considered HiddenBay but we were a tad late on the booking. Reservations can be made online via the Expo site. Our hotel was new, clean and Westernized which were important factors for us. The ocean view is worth the extra $25 - we were on the 14th floor and the view was absolutely stunning. The amenities were something to be left desired but we were in Yeosu for the Expo so that really wasn't an issue. The cost with taxes for 3 nights was $560 USD.

We only had a couple of semi-complaints that might be considered: 
1) They didn't have a playyard/crib for Cooper and they said it was "impossible" to give us one extra blanket for a pallet on the floor - so we had to get creative on his sleeping situation. 


2) Also, the restaurant breakfast buffet is 22,000 each and is mostly comprised of Korean breakfast - kimchi, salad, bulgogi, etc. but they did have a live egg/omelet station, bacon, scrambled eggs, fruit, cereal, and toast so it was just fine and really the best bet for anything close to a Westernized breakfast. And the dinner menu only included about 8 choices as well. 


Notes:

• The Ocean Resort talks up their waterpark but it was closed while we were there.  
• When you arrive The Ocean Hotel is on the left and the resort is on the right - unless you paid and exorbitant amount for the resort's condominiums you'll be on your left at the hotel. 
• Make sure to have your hotel's address ready to show your taxi cab. The fare is about 13,000 each way. 

Expo
Check out my upcoming Yeosu World Expo 2012 post for specifics on places to go and things not to miss. 


Notes:

• You can purchase your tickets right at one of the 3 gates. 
• We found that the most convenient gate/entrance was Gate 3 by the train station.
• Any of the information desks will provide you an English map and for the most part those working the desks can speak English. 
• Bathrooms are abundant and for the most part clean which is a bonus!
• We were able to do almost everything in a 2-day period - note: our days were 12 and 13 hour days - but in 3, during the week, you could do it at a much more leisurely pace.  
• If you bring your children just note that the attention they will draw can get daunting by the end of your trip. For example at one point Cooper was playing in the water spouts and there were at least 10 people taking his video or picture and another 25 watching him while ooing and awwing at every move... They won't ask permission to touch them (even while sleeping), give them food, eat their food, or take their pic/video so just be prepared. Our best defense the further along in the trip we got was to not make eye contact with those "tracking" us. 

Food/Drink Notes:

• There are snack, icecream and drink stands throughout the park on almost every corner. The most Westernized snack item you'll find is hotdogs and for Western fast food there is a Lotteria (food similar to McDonalds), a Baskin Robbins, Starbucks, and Dunkin' Donuts. Also, many of the international pavillions have themed restaurants - we had Vietnamese Pho and Italian that were both excellent. There was also German, Chinese, and Uruguay as well as a sleu of Korean choices. 
• Water is only 1,000 so don't worry with dragging bottles into the park. We did make sure to carry plenty of snacks with us - especially for Cooper. 

Clothing Notes:

• All of the pavillions and attractions are inside buildings so there is little time spent outside. The most you'll spend in the sun is walking from attraction to attraction. Even the waiting lines (which can sometimes be quite long) are covered and some are misted. Still sunblock, sunglasses/hats, and layers are recommended. 
• If you stay for the 9 or 10pm Big O finale show (recommended) then you might consider bringing light rain ponchos or an umbrella - it is a water show and depending on the wind you can get quite wet with sea water. 

Exhibit Notes:

• Aquarium: It's worth an hour wait, maybe, but typically the wait time was 3 hours. If you have a stroller though make sure one of the worker's find you - we were automatically taken to the very front of the line without even waiting a minute. The aquarium was absolutely packed with people touching us on almost all sides, in every exhibit. Take a deep breath before going in! 
• Robot Pavillion: I don't think there is anyway around a 3 hour wait for this one. We just couldn't do it with a toddler (but we really, really wanted to). If you can't make it there are some great YouTube videos. 
• International Pavillion: Some of the most popular international pavillions are Germany, China, and Japan - if you can catch these during the week or first thing in the morning you'll minimize your wait time. If there is a wait at the USA pavillion and you are military you can show your ID to move to the front of the line. 
• Big O show: There is a Big O that creates a fireworks, water and laser finale show at night. On Friday there was only one show but on Saturday there were 2 shows - your best bet is to check with information in the morning for exact show times. Also, people started getting there seats 2 hours ahead of time - 1 hour ahead on Saturday wasn't enough for us so plan accordingly. We had to wait for a taxi after the show for about an hour - so either rush back or take your sweet time. 
• Lotte: This exhibit typically had a 1-2 hour wait. It was worth an hour wait, especially if you have kids, as it was the only exhibit that actually takes you on a ride. You stand on a moving platform and it simulates a hot air balloon ride through different environments and situations.  

Have fun! 

Breakfast Picnic and Outdoor Fun

Me and Cooper often have breakfast on the patio but this morning I thought it'd be fun to take our breakfast with us and have a picnic. We headed just around the corner to this little secluded picnic area where I snapped a few iPhone shots. 

We set-up camp with a blanket and a breakfast spread. First, Cooper devoured this banana - his current favorite food.

And then munched on a few other goodies.

Normally by this time it's already starting to get a little warm but today it was gorgeous. So, I let Cooper do whatever he wanted to do. He wanted to play in the leaves (and pinecones, seeds and such). 

Here he is smiling at the birds snacking on our leftover Kix. 

And waving to the pool maintenance man. 

He had so much fun - he kept squealing and flashing this cheeseball smile. 

By this time it was after 10:30 but it was still beautiful out so we found a big open field and played some ball. 

And found more flowers, grass and pinecones to explore...

And it was STILL beautiful so we headed to the playground where he played for another hour before we headed home and he napped for 4 solid hours. 

We're Expecting Baby #2!

Our New Year's Eve should be especially special this year - we're expecting baby #2!

We had fun creating our baby #2 announcement using our chalkboard wall - take a look at a few more of the pics including a few silly outtakes below!

And for the knitty-gritty, first trimester details read on here including a peek at the ultrasound and heartbeat video.

Bubbles, a laughing daddy and an upside down baby make for a fun shot! 

We set-up the tripod and put the camera on a timer to get the shot.
The blinking light did a great job of keeping Cooper's attention.

Our blog URL includes a plural 'Peas' and now finally the plural makes sense!

We were really happy with our chalkboard art -
but I have to admit that most of the credit goes to Owen!

Yup! That's a pic of our ultrasound and the day we heard the heartbeat.
You can read up on our Korean ultrasound here. 

One entire wall in our kitchen is painted in chalkboard paint so we took advantage
of almost all of the real estate to create our baby announcement.