My Family's First taste of Korean Food.

우리 가족을 한식은 처음 먹었어다

Mini Korean lesson before we start!!

우리 ~ My/Our

가족 ~ Family

한식 which is the short form of 한국 음식 ~ Korean Food
처음 ~ First time

I have been interested in the Korean culture for about two years now. It all started when a friend recommended the drama 'Boys Over Flowers' as a sort of "break" after a long study session. It was a nice distraction and the start of my love affair with Korea. My family eventually caught on to my love for Korea, well I guess it was pretty obvious because I couldn't shut up about it. Coming from Nigeria where there isn't that much Korean presence, my family wondered at how I ended with such fascination for this country. But they eventually got used to it.

I had always told them about Korean food but they never got to try it because you can't find Korean food in Nigeria. My mum however went on a business trip to Ethiopia and was delighted to come across a Korean restaurant, she then told her colleagues about my interest in Korea and suggested they have dinner at the restaurant. Unfortunately she didn't know the name of the dishes they were served because the waiter recommended it­— well except for the BBQ which by the way was served with lettuce, but they didn't know you were supposed to wrap the meat in the leaves so they left the leaves untouched ­— but they liked it.  Most Africans like 매운 음식 (Spicy Food) so there was no complain with that. I told my mum that I will take her to a Korean restaurant when they come to London so she could try my favourite dishes ­— and maybe know what she ate this time around.

Mum was hooked, time to work on the rest of the Family. 

My birthday was a few weeks ago, my only wish was that I wanted my family to go to a Korean restaurant to celebrate my birthday. Luckily my family was in London, I knew it was a rare opportunity to have them try out all the food for themselves rather than having to hear me gush about it. I decided on Kimchee restaurant because it was reviewed as a fusion Korean restaurant. I thought it will be more suitable for their palate and help to ease them into the Hansik flavour.

The first thing we noticed when we walked into the restaurant was this spectacular wall covered in Hangul

When my Sister Had a Life by Saudah

Heyy guys..... Kon'nichiwa ~ こんにちは (Hello in Japanese)

It's Saudah, Mi Ra's Sister :)

How's your weekend? I wrote this poem about Mi Ra and she made me share it on here....

When my Sister Had a Life

When my sister had a life,

She would dream for hours

About travelling to various cities

Like New york or Paris

Or Barcelona or Milan

When my sister had a life,

Together we would

Go crazy with laughter over funny Hollywood movies

Or cry ourselves silly over sad Bollywood movies

Or sigh with frustration over stupid Nollywood movies

When my sister had a life,

Eating out was an ordeal

Because we could never decide

Which cuisine to try

Is it indian? Or Thai ? Or Chinese?

Or italian? Or Maybe japanese ?

But now, All my sister does

Is dream about visiting Seoul,

Or watch Korean dramas all day,

Or get excited about Kpop artists

And all she eats is Korean food

Although it may be hard

For me to understand

I have to appreciate that

This is the life she wants to live

So it may seem that

My sister doesn't have a life

But that is not so

Just that the life she chose

Is a different kind of life.

Douzo yoroshiku ~ どうぞよろしく。 (Nice to meet you)

Happy Birthday M....

Dear Min Min,

It's been a year since I met you, and I have to say staying in Flat 22 was one of my best decisions because it brought me you and the rest of the guys.

It's been a year of friendship laced with laughter, fun and happy memories. But underneath there were trying times and you have shown me what a true friend means with your sound advice, caring words and steadfast spirit. And I can speak for all of us when I say this, thank you, terimah kasih mina, for being an angel to us all. We love you and wish you all of life's best gifts.

Some of my best memories of the last year has your smiling face popping out of it (with the most prominent one being you dancing around the statue of brunel in the H A P P Y video, LOL) and I'm glad about that. You've taught me a lot without you realizing and I shall hold on to those for life for they are important life lessons.

I hope you never lose your smile and you keep being exactly the way you are cos 
YOU IS AWESOME!!

Thank you for all that you've done and all that you are.

In the end I'd like to say 

with love,

meera