Well, maybe not so manic. lol More manic for John who had to be at work by 9 than for me and definitely not for Natalie who is still sleeping (thank goodness!). I'm just sitting here drinking my second cup of flavorless, freeze dried (with creamer and sugar added) coffee. I REALLY need to get a coffee pot and some REAL coffee. *sigh* Anyway, yesterday we took our big trip to Ilsan to do some shopping since we know where everything is there and we're still trying to figure out where things are here and sorry to say, this area is just majorly lacking in a lot of things compared to Ilsan, like a decent outside mall! I got seriously spoiled there, I'll admit because Yongin (at least where we live) is just not set up the same way and just about every time we go out, there's something I'm not able to find that I can find in Ilsan very easily. The problem is is that it's two hours to Ilsan by subway. So, for me, timewise, it's the equivilent of going from La Crosse to Madison. But for me, it's totally worth it for those few things we just need to have and it makes my life a little happier in a strange foreign land (though I'm REALLY hoping we can pull off a way for me to make a visit to the states in November).
Unfortunately, even with lavender lotion, Natalie was not all that keen to go to bed early Saturday night and John and I both got to bed even later so getting all of us up at 9am didn't quite work out. And then, there's all the getting ready stuff that tends to take forever no matter how much we don't want it to but finally, we're ready to take off and we take our long walk to the subway because there are no bus stops between our apartment and the subway stop (one of the BIG things I hate about living here compared to Ilsan). The walk tends to be a little dangerous at times because we have to cross a street that is NOT run by traffic lights. There are lights there but they are permanently set to flashing orange and therefore worthless because the drivers here do not heed them AT ALL which makes crossing the street kind of similar to a game of Frogger. I'm convinced someday, SOMEONE is going to get run over hopefully, NOT one of us! The little street (which has a light) was a little better to cross but that has been known to be hard to cross too because people do not always heed the red light. We cross that, head up the footbridge and into the Emart. I like going through the Emart and the department store because it means less time for me to be outside (since it was already pretty warm afternoon) and I can go down the escalator (actually more of a conveyer belt thing you can put your cart on too) and not have to do quite as much walking. We go through the Emart and take the shortcut to the department store that's right by it (the largest department store in the world--IE: most branches). I grabbed a couple of snack things for me and John and Natalie get some pinapple on a stick. We made a quick bathroom stop and we tried to get Natalie to go too but no such luck. I prefer using the department store for that because not only is there a regular potty in one of the stalls, there's also a potty that's Natalie's size. It's SO CUTE! It's her size but it's also attached to the plumbing so it flushes like a real potty! No, this is not a typical bathroom for Korea, there are still some toilet stalls that have floor toilets (basically the female version of a urinal) but newer places do tend to have better bathrooms. From there, we go to the subway station. I put some money on my card since I was low on funds (both John and I have a card to use to get through the machines at the subway stations, Natalie is free) and we head upstairs to catch the subway. We had a few minutes to wait so we all sat down. This one guy near us tried to offer Natalie a BUG! I don't know what it was but it was some big fly/bee/roach looking thing. I wouldn't let Natalie take it and I was kind of freaked out by the fact that this guy was even offering some large dead bug to my daughter. Yuck! It was after 1pm before we finally got going and the plan was to get back on the subway in Ilsan by 9pm so that we can get to Suseo and on the yellow line before it closed (since we got stranded the LAST time we did a large trip because we didn't get to the yellow line in time and therefore, we didn't get home until after 1 in the morning and John had to work the next day).
So, we're on the subway, and we're trying to get Natalie to actually sit down and behave and not run around mooching off of people (she's really into that and it doesn't help that people here LOVE her and want to give her ALL kinds of stuff including candy, gum, and other things John and I don't want her to have). I set her up with my old MP3 player, the headphones and Abba playing. That lasted about four songs before she got bored. Finally, I just put my headphones in and sort of zoned out which was easy since I had gotten maybe six hours of sleep the night before. In Suseo, we got out for our transfer. We climb up a bunch of steps (never a favorite of mine) and pick up the subway for Madu station, our stop. John also bought Natalie a waffle to munch on. There's not much to see on the subway because it is mostly underground. Sometimes, it comes out and you can see part of the city it is going by. I really like one of the stops because it is near Seoul and the subway is outside crossing a bridge. The air conditioning was on and I was almost cold which was nice because it definitely was warm outside. Natalie was enjoying herself being doted on by three older ladies who telling us in pantomime that Natalie needed her bangs cut. There was also a younger child on the subway that Natalie went over to look at since she's got a bit of a baby obsession going right now. Natalie was also squeezing herself in next to people and talking to them in the hopes of getting some little trinket in return (which is her usual MO when she's on the subway).
John and I start to make plans for the things we're going to do. We already had plans but John wanted to get off at an earlier stop, catch a bus, and go to the bakery near his last place of employment and pick up my bread (they have the best baguettes in Korea as far as I'm concerned). I wanted to get off at the subway stop near the Krispy Kreme and pick up a little treat for myself and maybe for Natalie. John wanted to take Natalie with since she likes to ride the bus. Natalie wanted to go with me and get a treat. That got resolved pretty quick one subway stop earlier than planned. Natalie, who wasn't able to go potty before we got on the subway, had to go potty. So they got off and I stayed on until my stop which was three stops from Madu. I went over to the Krispy Kreme, picked up a few donuts, had mine and put Natalie's in a bag. I stayed long enough to eat, then went back out. I was going to go to the subway right from there but backtracked when something caught my eye outside of a little store. I went in and found a few cheap items to buy including a couple of purple baskets (we need baskets to help with organizing here) and a set of marker stamps for Natalie. That was around 7000 won. I got back on the subway and got off three stops later at Madu.
From Madu, I crossed the street then headed for Newcore which is where Kim's Club is at which was where I needed to pick up some (EXPENSIVE!) parmesan cheese and my chicken broth. On the way, I see bags of potatoes at a stand for a reasonable price (potatoes are not easy or CHEAP to find in Korea) and made a mental note to mention it to John when we caught up (which I completely forgot to do). I get to Newcore and made a stop at the Skin Food on the way to the escalator. They didn't have the foot lotion I was looking for so I didn't pick up anything though the sales person kept trying to help me (I really need to learn "I'm just looking!" in Korean). I got to the escalator and took that up to the 7th floor where Modern House is. Modern House has a lot of home type stuff there and there's also a kid's section that's really nice. I've been able to find some stuff for Natalie there on clearance including her purse. I walked around, found some nice things but nothing I wanted to get and nothing to get for Natalie. I left that section of the store and went over to where the hair bows and things were and found a headband for Natalie for 2000 won. I hadn't bought her any headbands yet so I figured I get her one. Saw some other bows I liked but they were more than I wanted to spend at the moment. I went over to the small stationary area but didn't find anything there I wanted to get. I got back on the escalator and went down one floor to the children's clothing area. Looked around there. I saw some shoes that I wouldn't have minded getting Natalie but passed because I couldn't find anything smaller than 180. She wears a size 170 here and that fits but I would really like to find something between 170 and 180. The 170 is starting to get small but she can still wear it, the 180 is way too big (I'm guessing she's at a half size and above 160, Korean shoes for young girls do not have half sizes) so until she really grows out of her Strawberry Shortcake shoes, I'm not getting her new shoes because shoes are stinking expensive here! Not to mention, since she ended up getting TWO pairs of crocs (because one pair was stolen while she was at a play place) and another pair of shoes that are currently too big, I've spent more than enough money for shoes at the moment for her and I refuse to buy her shoes that would either be way too big or close to being too small especially with winter being about three or four months away. When she grows out of the shoes she has now, I'll look for new shoes for her though I may get her dress shoes before that.
I spent a few more minutes looking around on that floor then got on the escalator and worked my way down to the market section. John called me on the cell phone while I was heading down. He was just outside and would meet me inside. I told him to meet me by the dairy section where the parmesan cheese would be. I get down there, pick up my items, and stand around waiting for John. I found everything I was going to get there which was about five items (not cheap items though, that's for sure!). I finally see the two of them and catch up to them. John wanted to pick up a few more things so he grabbed a basket and I sat down just outside the checkout lines because my legs were starting to get sore. While I was waiting, I grabbed a cappicino blast from the Baskin Robbin's that was right there and Natalie and I shared that. Since we were also by the area that had several fish tanks, I told Natalie to go look for Nemo. It took her a few minuts but she was able to find a tank that had a bunch of clown fish in it. She was very happy to find "Memo". While we're sitting a young girl and her mom come over and the girl tries to talk to Natalie. The way they were looking at her made me feel a little strange and when John finally came back and they had left, I mentioned to him that it seemed like they were looking at her like she was some kind of a zoo animal. It's strange the attention she gets here and she doesn't even have blond hair! She had blue eyes though and is definitely not Asian so that gets quite a bit of attention here right there. Still, Ilsan has a fairly large foreign population and I have seen other kids here so I'm not sure why she seems to draw so much attention there.
We all take a quick bathroom break. Natalie, of course, doesn't have to go. We decide to head over to Western Dom which is a large outdoor mall area. That's where we're planning to have dinner and was also where I was going to take Natalie to get her first professional hair cut. She was well overdue for a bang trim and I also wanted to get the rest of her hair done professionally as I really don't trust my own cutting job. We walk, crossing the two big streets (since at this point, we're downtown). When we get there, we see the fountain is one and Natalie of course wants to go right in and get wet (thank goodness we packed another outfit for her). Unfortunately, before she gets in, she starts squatting down because she has to go potty. John takes her to the bathroom and I sit and watch all the kids getting wet in the fountain. They finally get back and Natalie spends the next five to ten minutes getting soaking wet before the fountain shuts off. John takes her back to the bathroom to change her clothes. In the meantime, the fountain comes back on only now with colors. They get back down but we don't let Natalie get wet again but head over for the Skin Food store which is on the way to the hair place. There, I pick up the peppermint foot lotion (which this store at least has), the avacado conditioner (part of my no-poo routine) and a Grape Seed Oil body wash. That wasn't too badly priced and the sales person added in a bunch of samples too which was nice.
From there, we walked to the hair place. I wanted to get Natalie's bangs cut and the back of her hair cut a little so that it was nice and even and I didn't have to worry about it for a good year or so (except for the bangs unless I decide someday to let them grow out). They get a stylist who knows English and we wait a few minutes while he finishes up and prepares for Natalie. The hair cut itself didn't take too long though it took a little bit to get him to understand how short we wanted the bangs (just over the eyebrows) and I had to hold Natalie's head still a few times because she kept moving. She didn't seem impress with the experience. She was sort of glum about it the whole time and looked a little anxious. John had planned to make a quick run to La Fiesta where the Olive Young is for the face wash and Dr. Bronner's we were going to get but I had him stick around because it seemed like it was going to be over pretty quick and I was having trouble understanding the hair stylist, even with the English. Without the hair washing or blow drying (I'm particular when it comes to Natalie's hair and my own hair drying fiasco was not something I wished to repeat with Natalie), everything got done in a short amount of time and the price was okay though it was not something I would do more than once a year, if even that, especially since her hair is pretty much one length.
After that, we walked down to the Croc store since I wanted to get a pair of crocs. I found a pair just like the ones my younger sister had and got them. They were a little on the expensive side but they'll last awhile. From there, we walked over to the elevator that would take us up to Uno's, where we had planned to have dinner. Dinner was pretty good. Natalie was a little restless but no more than usual and she wasn't too difficult. We got done with that and started heading back down stairs when I remembered that I needed to replace my coin purse so I walked down to the little store that carries the coin purses I liked, picked up one quick, paid for it and walked back to where I last saw John and Natalie and they weren't there. I had told them to wait for me because I was just running over to the other store real quick and would be right back. No, they didn't wait and I had no idea where they went. I spent several minutes looking for them around the area then finally decided to walk over to the Olive Young that was in that area (there's two of them, one in Western Dom, one in La Fiesta but the nearby one doesn't carry Dr. Bronner's, only the one at La Fiesta does). I walked over there and found them. I found the facial scrub I use (one of the things I CANNOT find in this area for some stupid reason) and picked up two of them hoping that that will last me for a little while at least and had John pay for them because I had no cash at this point. We still had to go to the other Olive Young AND we were hoping to stop at Costco's all before getting on the subway by 9:30. I didn't look like we were going to make it. John was going to make a quick dash to the Olive Young while Natalie and I had a quick frappe at A Twosome Place. One problem, they were no longer carrying the frappes I liked. Grr, I HATE when companies change the things they offer! So I decided I would walk with them to the plaza near the subway stop and rest there while John made his run. By then, my legs and knee were KILLING me. I rested while John made his run and Natalie sat next to some guy and talked to him (she's an equal opportunity moocher). John gets back and we walk to the subway stop. It's almost 9:30 by the time we get on and I get nervous because we don't know when the last stop is and I'm afraid we're going to be stranded again. It didn't help that Natalie had to go potty not even half an hour into our trip home and then it took the two of them FOREVER to get that done causing us to miss the next subway. Fortunately, even with all of that, we were able to get on the yellow line and it did take us all the way to our station. From there we caught a cab and we got home just before midnight. Whew! Long day all around and we didn't get over to Costco's but we did get quite a bit done.
