A Surprise Package

Part I: The Package

Phil and I received a package yesterday from his mother in Charleston. She just returned from a trip to Japan and Korea last week, and she brought back a few things for Phil and me. We get one or two packages from Korea each year, and they almost always include dried seaweed and squid. Fortunately, this was no exception, but it also included a few bonus goodies and gifts that I'm excited to share here.

From left to right: seaweed, microwaveable fish, and two different kinds of squid. 

I don't know if you can see it, but there are two small boxes at the top of the photo; one red, the other yellow. They are Morinaga's Milk and Azuki caramels from Japan, and they're freaking amazing! Phil and I lay in bed this afternoon sucking on a couple of pieces, seeing who could make theirs last longest. I won, for the record, and since they're only 35 calories a piece, I was able to enjoy them without feeling guilty.

Little wooden figurines and a postcard from Phil's mom. :)

Phil's aunt and uncle also purchased these wooden dolls for us in Kyoto. I'm not sure what they are exactly, but they're cute, if you ask me. It's a shame we don't know what the placards they came with say, but maybe we will find someone who can translate for us one of these days. In the meantime, I think I'll just leave them on display with the dolls.

Part II: A Day Away from the City

We made another trip to H-Mart this morning! For those of you who don't know, H-Mart is a Korean supermarket/mini-mall in Niles, Illinois. We try to make it over there every couple of weeks to stock up on authentic Korean foods. Phil could probably spend an entire paycheck in one trip if he wanted to, but there's only a handful of things that we absolutely cannot leave the store without: 

Brown rice green tea, bulgogi marinade, kimchi, and HooRoo Rook instant noodles.

I'm not a fan of kimchi, myself, but it's hard to pry Phil out of the kimchi corner empty-handed. He can't get enough of the stuff!

No, this isn't our fridge.

That about covers our Saturday outing! It's really nice to get out of the city every now and then, even if it's only to go grocery shopping. I think now we'll spend a quiet evening at home. Have some brown rice tea and go for a walk, maybe.

More later...