And Then There Were Three…

Through this blog we have posted entires and photos of our journeys from our life in Seoul to our new life here in Mount Pearl. We have let you all see some of our travels from Cambodia to Singapore. We are now officially on a new journey as of last Thursday. Our latest adventure is parenthood. Our little girl was born on Thursday and since then we have been wrist-deep in diapers, spent hours rocking and have been obsessed with a feeding schedule. This blog will now involve the adventures of the three of us.

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Mini Golf: Golf For the Rest of Us

Serious golfers go to driving ranges and courses. Serious golfers buy golf shirts and shoes. Serious golfers have a whole set of clubs and keep them in an oversized bag. For the non-serious golfers, there is mini golf. You may call it miniature golf, goofy golf, crazy golf, mini-putt, Putt-Putt golf or mini golf, but it is basically golf for the rest of us. No clothes to purchase or clubs for that matter. Just come as you are, pay a small fee and receive one ball, one putter, one scorecard and a tiny (mini) pencil. We recently participated in the low-stress version of golf at the mini golf range at Pippy Park here in the city of St. John’s.

We wanted to have some good old-fashioned fun. We didn’t want to watch balls disappear into water hazards and sand traps. We didn’t want to have to dress in certain attire. We didn’t want to lug around a heavy bag full of clubs. We wanted to play the miniature and less stress version of golf. Our afternoon of mini golf was a success because we had fun. Oh, and by the way…I won!

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Summertime in Bowring Park

Summertime is here. To me it seemed to take awhile to get here, but the hot days of summer are here. There is nothing better than getting outside and enjoying the warm weather. One of the best places to do that in St. John’s is in Bowring Park.

The park was officially opened in 1941 on land that was donated to the city by Sir Edward Rennie Bowring on behalf of his company Bowring Brothers Ltd.

The park has plenty of grassy areas with picnic tables for family and friends to get together. It also has a number of recreation facilities such as a swimming pool and tennis courts for people to pass the time.

There are several trails that make their way through the park. They provide a way to exercise and a place to escape the city and enjoy nature. These photos were taken from the trail alongside the Waterford River.

The statue of the caribou is a monument to the battle the Royal Newfoundland Regiment fought during the Battle of the Somme in Beaumont-Hamel, France. Another monument sits at the battlefield in France and also includes a statue of a caribou.

There is nothing better than getting outside on a summer day. If you are in St. John’s or planning to visit make sure you spend some of that time outside in Bowring Park.

More information on the park can be found here: http://www.bowringpark.com/

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Dandelion Seeds

As she walks along the wooded path something catches her eye. There by her sandaled feet is a dandelion. Suddenly, her mind is taken back to her childhood,  a past when she had the time to pick many dandelions and distribute their seeds by gently blowing on them. “Why not now?”, she thinks. Why couldn’t she take the time to pick a dandelion now and send its seeds flying into the wind?

She pauses…there is nothing to stop her. She bends down and chooses the seeded flower. With a gentle pull it comes out of the ground. She looks at it, smiles and then begins to blow.

The seeds take flight. Some of them go to the left and some to the right, but all of them end up falling to the ground below.

She twirls the flower as she gently, but precisely blows. She is careful to make sure every seed breaks free.

She smiles as looks at the now naked stem before dropping it. Her childhood memories begin to fade as she continues to walk on the wooded path.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Hands

First of all, sorry for my absence. I was away last week at a conference, but I’m back with two photos for this week’s photo challenge on hands.

Our tour guide slicing open some fruit at the fruit farm in Penang, Malaysia.

My mother-in-law looking for some colored thread.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Together

My inlaws standing together at Namsangol Hanok Village in Seoul, South Korea.

Pigs huddled together in a small village in Cambodia.

My expectant wife and our unborn child together.

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Important Announcement!!!

Please check out the following photos for a very important message!

Our Christmas (in pictures)

Our Christmas starts with the Christmas Eve tradition of watching a Christmas movie and pigging out on junk food. We always watch Elf and this year we also watched It’s a Wonderful Life in our Christmas movie double-header.

Before we open any presents on Christmas morning we make sure to remember the real reason why we celebrate this important holiday. We read the Christmas story found in the book of Luke in the Bible and we also pray. Reading the story has been jazzed up this year as we read it on our iPad 2.

Then someone plays Santa (myself) and hands out the presents one-by-one, as everyone else watches what loot they have been given.

Next, comes the opening of the stockings. The stockings in our home are usually stuffed with chocolates and various candies. Basically, more junk food!

Of course, Christmas Day wouldn’t be complete without a stomach-full of delicious food. Later came the after-dinner coma which hit us all pretty hard.

I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas!

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Hidden

Here are some of my interpretations of the this week’s Photo Challenge: Hidden.

This photo was taken from our hotel room in Boracay, Philippines.

A cell door in Seodaemun Prison, Seoul, South Korea.

 

My father and I walking through a low gate at Deoksu Palace, Seoul, South Korea.

Care Packages From Home

For the most part I can get everything I need in Seoul. For everything I can’t get here in this mega metropolis, I can rely on getting them in care packages from home. These packages are filled with the things I can’t purchase here. These little boxes (and sometimes rather large boxes) contain the things my wife and I sometimes crave. Things like Swedish Berries, my wife’s favorite candy or an issue of The Hockey News, my favorite magazine about my most-liked sport. Around Christmas time, these packages contain gifts, cards from family and homemade Christmas cookies from my mother-in-law’s kitchen.

Homemade Cookies

Yesterday, we received a package from our dear friends who are currently back in the States. This care package was filled with things they knew we would enjoy because of the time we had spent together. It had Pop Rocks because of my most-liked ice cream flavour from Baskin Robbins called Shooting Star. It had nice-smelling hand soap for my wife because she complains that she is unable to buy nice-smelling soap here. There was a “Get Smart” DVD in there because we love Steve Carell. There was a Yankee Candle for my wife because, let’s face it, those candles fall in the “epic winning” category. To top it all off, there was a recent issue of The Hockey News and a bag of Swedish Berries. A box filed with the things we enjoy.

Cindy holding a care package from friends

I’m able to buy pretty much everything here in Seoul. There is of course the rare thing I can’t purchase. Maybe it’s a good thing I can’t buy those rare things here because one of the best feelings as an expat living in a foreign land is receiving a care package from my homeland. I do enjoy what these packages contain but, what’s more important is the thought and love (and money) that went into sending these packages to me in my foreign home. If you have sent us a care package before, then I thank you. If you ever want to send one, they are always welcome.

Check out more pics here.