Friday Letters 45

Happy Friday Y'all

This is Matt writing today, just to shake things up a bit. I'll be writing some of Alex's thoughts as well as a few of my own. Let's see if you know Alex well enough (or me) to spot which letter belongs to each spouse.

Dear Rainbow Rowell,

You are an amazing author. I have thoroughly enjoyed everything I have read so far (Eleanor & Park, Fangirl, and Landline). I have stayed up far past my bedtime the past few nights getting lost in these wonderful words.

Dear Entitled Commuters,

The bus is not your personal chauffeur, taxi, or mom. The bus driver is not obligated to pick you up or drop you off wherever your foolish little heart desires. You should not be surprised when the driver refuses to let you on half a mile away from the bus stop. It's a crosswalk, not a bus stop you cotton-headed-ninny muggins. Don't yell at the bus driver like he slapped your newborn just because you forgot to press the I need to be let off at the next stop button. Stop acting like a clown, thanks.

Dear 9th Doctor,

We really liked you, you were honest, quirky, witty, brave, noble and selfless. You made hard decisions and made them with honor. You will be missed. Dear 10th Doctor,

You are quite strange, and always seem one tiny step away from full blown madness. I think we are going to be great friends.

Dear Battlestar Galactica,

I didn't think I was going like you or your one and a half hour season premier, but I did. sigh.

Dear Matt's obnoxious cough,

GO AWAY YOU ARE DRIVING US CRAZY!!!

Dear Summer,

I barely tolerated you and your heat when I was able to frequent any number of beautiful beaches on an almost daily basis. Now that I am not near a beach of any kind you just seem rather pointless, and to be honest a bit of a show-off. We get it your hot, now will you go away so the lovely Autumn can visit?

Dear Ben's Cookies,

YUM. 

Dear Itaewon,

Thank you for having not one but four (that we know of) mexican restaurants. Me gusta mucho.

Dear J.K. Rowling,

Thanks for writing such wonderfully magical books and thank you for letting and helping them be turned into great movies!

Happy Weekend Y'all! 

Love, Alex and Matt 

War Memorial of Korea

Happy Happy Tuesday Y'all! 

Today I wanted to take a quick break from Cambodia (man was that trip a long time ago) and share with you a pretty cool place in Korea. 

While my Dad was in town for a visit, we took a trip to the War Memorial of Korea in Seoul. Guys! If you are in Seoul- you need to visit this memorial/ museum. It is amazing. The museum had amazing exhibits- it was interactive- and it was really well done. We only had a little over an hour to explore, so I know we will be back. 

Walking around this memorial made my little history loving heart pitter patter. While most of the museum is dedicated to the Korean War- there are a few floors that show the past history with Japan and other countries that wanted to grab Korea. It really is worth a stop if you have some time and you're in the Seoul area. 

I can never pass up an opportunity to pose with the props. 

Our favorite part was finding Great Uncle Tetsuo's name on the memorial wall. 

I loved the bronze statue that sat in front of the memorial. 

Anyway, like I said before- amazing memorial and museum. I'm so glad we stopped off here. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday. 

Basic Info: 

Cost- Free (donations welcome) 

Hours- 9:00- 18:00

Closed Mondays 

Friday Letters #43 and #44

Happy Happy Friday Y'all! 

I didn't get to my letters last week, so I guess today will be a catch up week. 

Dear Fourth of July, It was a little anticlimactic this year to be honest. Shocker- but the 4th of July doesn't really mean anything here in Korea. There were no hot dogs and fireworks for us this year. We did go to a church breakfast activity and had yummy pancakes to start the day, but that was the extent of our celebrations. 

Dear Family History Work, Man are you fun. The last couple of weeks I've been digging into some of my family history, and it's been fun. At times it's beyond stressful, but I like looking at all those old census records and seeing names of my ancestors. I also started indexing a bit, which is taking old records and typing the basic info from each document, and that also as been a lot of fun. Maybe I should have been studying harder for the upcoming GRE, but it was a nice distraction. 

Dear Korean Lessons, So far- so good. For the last couple of weeks, Matt and I have been meeting with one of his co-workers for weekly Korean lessons. We spend an hour learning different conversational and grammar aspects of the language. Then we spend an hour helping her with writing assignments for an English class she is taking. It's been nice studying and brushing up on Korean. I feel like it's really helping. 

{Sometimes you have to watch Harry Potter and study Korean} 

Dear Mom and Dad Ho, Thanks for the wonderful birthday package. We love all the yummy treats. And I love my new skirts. (My MIL made me two skirts to wear, and they've been a welcome addition to my limited wardrobe.} Matt is really excited about all the candy. Thanks for making his birthday so special. 

Dear The Selection Series, For real- so good. I bought the first book Wednesday night, and I am already finished with the trilogy. I can't get over how much I enjoyed reading these books. I recommend them to anyone looking for a fun summer read. And for anyone looking to not study in the last days before they take the GRE. Dear Jenny, Thanks for recommending the books to me. 

Dear GRE, Well- as I entered into my last week before the big day- I couldn't bring myself to really study. I reviewed my notes, and read over a couple of things, but I am done. I just want to take this stupid test. I'm ready to catch up on my ProjectLife. I'm ready to not feel guilty when I binge watch a show, or read a new series. I'm nervous for the test, but I'm ready for it to be done. I just have 5 hours to get through on Sunday and then I'm finished! Wish me luck. 

Dear Matt, Happy Happy Birthday lover. I know you were sick with a  fever that wouldn't quite go away. And I know I kept telling you to stay away and not get me sick for my test, but I still love you. Today might not have been that exciting, but just think- in a couple of weeks we will be in Vietnam! 

Have a wonderful weekend y'all! 

Love, Alex 

Ta Prohm: Cambodia

Happy Happy Tuesday Y'all! 

Today I want to share Ta Prohm with you guys. This was Matt's favorite temple, and a close second for myself. It is easy to see why it's an Angkor favorite. 

To see these massive trees that have somewhat taken over the temple remains is pretty impressive. If you are making the trip to Angkor- make sure Ta Prohm is on the top of your list. 

Isn't Ta Prohm AMAZING!?! 

We went around 11:00 am, and the temple was packed with people. It was really frustrating because there were so many people all trying to get the same pictures as you,  so it made it hard/ impossible to get pictures without people. But I guess that's what happens when you visit a high tourist area. 

If you want to explore Ta Prohm without all the other tourists I would recommend going there first thing in the morning. 

Regardless of all the people milling around, Ta Prohm was amazing. The trees were just unreal. It was truly one of my favorite stops along our circuit tour. 

I just have to end this post with the picture below. It cracks me up every time I look at it. We were trying to get a good picture of the tree in the background without getting in the mess of people in front of it. So we stood further away and zoomed in. We didn't realize till we got home that we had snapped this really awkward picture of this woman. 

I hope you enjoyed taking a peek at Ta Prohm!

{Linking up for Travel Tuesday}

Ta Keo: Cambodia

Happy Wednesday Y'all! 

I woke up today and felt like throwing up a post, so here we are back in Cambodia. I am so far behind on my posts, so I am going to try to get all caught before we head out to Vietnam at the end of the month. 

Today I am sharing the temple of Ta Keo. This was one of our stops along the small circuit tour we took the first day of exploration. Ta Keo is thought to have been the first temple to be built entirely out of sandstone by the Khmers. 

Ta Keo is currently being restored, so there was a lot of scaffolding around the temple. There were also a lot more piles of stone waiting to be put back in place. 

Stairs. Stairs. Stairs. So many stairs! If you ever plan on going to Angkor- be prepared for the stairs. At times they are brutal, but they are always worth it in the end. 

It was nice to walk around Ta Keo and see how it differed from the other temples we had made it too. It was really beautiful even with all the scaffolding up and about; I'm sure it will be even more wonderful when the restoration is finished.