Thinking Out Loud.

Have you ever had one of those mundane mornings and you find yourself on Facebook, stupidly ogling at pictures and reading statuses of your so-called 'friends'. You don't know what has gotten into your head, but your fingers started typing the name of a person you knew long ago, hoping to find some juicy details of how his life turned out to be. The thing is, this isn't your long lost friend, and not a person you knew from school or work, but an 'ex' whose memories you tried to push to the deepest, darkest pit of your temporal lobe. Your reason tells you not to click that search button, but you did anyway as silly curiosity got the best of you. And there it was, a tiny profile pic the size of your thumb glaring in front of you, and all the bitter memories came back like a tidal wave, swallowing and hurting you beyond comprehension, and you wish to hell that there is such thing as "undo" in real life...

Italian Night at Il Mare.

Present day living is dictated by dense urbanity, a landscape of high rise units and fast paced lifestyle. But the city life, no matter how good it sounds or how colorful Carrie Bradshaw cunningly puts it, could sometimes makes us feel like an embattled heroine in a crappy telenovela. Sure it would be nice if we could get whisked away to exotic places and take a breather, but we all know that rarely happens. So what do you do when the city life gets too tough? I say explore what the city has to offer, find interesting spots and plunge head long to it, millions of people didn't choose to live here for nothing. You don't have to always get away from the city to unwind, for all you know, the next adventure is literally right around the corner.

Say for example the case of Il Mare. We've been seeing this restaurant for years, but somehow, it never occurred to us to actually try it. One Saturday evening, for lack of better place to go, we decided to pay this restaurant a visit. "Il Mare" roughly translates as "the sea" in Italian, and unlike your quintessential restaurant hiding under the pretense of 'authentic Italian cuisine', Il Mare is way ahead of it's competition.

Outside, Il Mare looks no different from any other restaurant.

Inside, walls are adorned with paintings of famous Italian actors and panoramic view of the streets of Italy.

I love the casual, laid back vibe of the restaurant. The interiors hinted that young people frequent this place.

Light fixtures mounted on each table are muted and easy on the eyes. I particularly love it's design.

Dinner is their busiest time, so expect to wait a little for the food to arrive. These heavenly bread would keep you occupied while waiting.

It's always good to start off with a glass of wine, it gets the conversation flowing. Chris got a glass of "Villa M" Italian white wine, while I got myself their house wine.

I always thought good food is about balance of flavor, texture, and appearance. This Seafood Pasta in Cream Sauce, an Il Mare Special, has it all.

Their charming Pizza creation tastes divine! One bite and your hooked forever!



Because of it's classy and quaintly-decorated interiors, you'd think it's a snobbish, steeply-priced restaurant. You'll be surprised to know that everything is reasonably priced here. And with music so cleverly-chosen playing in the background, it creates a relaxing ambiance fit for a nice romantic meal.



I'm closing this entry with a phrase that best describes the experience you get at Il Mare: "It's love made edible."

Here's to Fall!

A change of season brings with it great anticipation over all that is fresh and different. Now that the summer heat is long gone, and Autumn is once again upon us, I look forward to more ethereal escapes and creating wonderful memories that will last a lifetime.

Like no summer sojourn is complete without a trip to the beach, no Autumn travelogue would prove fit in topping off this memorable season without photos of trees glazed with vivid hues of fiery reds, crimsons, and golden yellow colors.

Here's to Autumn, and to a lot more enchanting memories to come!

Autumn Travelogue: Jeongseon.

Burdened with zest to uncover more of Kangwondo, we trekked to the county of Jeongseon, and arrived mid-afternoon when the sun was high above the mountaintops. An overwhelming sense of peace and tranquility permeates the atmosphere there.



Vivid hues and painterly splashes of color from the landscape stands as the perfect backdrop worthy of a million photographs. The scenery is truly a sight to behold, and once again I'm floored. I loved every inch of the mountainous terrain that overlooks lush vegetation.

Other than soaking in the beautiful scenery, I didn't know what we're about to do next. Chris kept me in limbo saying our next adventure is one, big secret. A quick visit to an old train car which they turned into a store for snacks gave me a hint that we might do something strenuous (if not why the need for more carbohydrates? ^^).

The store sells organic stuffs and well-being food grown in the quiet county. Everything's all good and top-notch quality, but prices are way too steep!

The place seemed like an old train station, and that hinted me that we might ride the train and tour the area. As I predicted, a train came, but with it came the rail bikes (I wasn't expecting that part).

A guy wearing a police uniform ushered us to our designated seats.



After a brief introduction from them, and making sure everyone's securely fastened to their seats, we started pedaling the tracks.

We ran thru the 7.2 kilometer riverside stretch, passing several tunnels, bridges, rice fields, and small villages.

We exhausted our leg muscles pedaling, but as the bike build momentum, it became easier, and we were able to concentrate looking at the scenery. For most part, we didn't have to move a muscle as the bikes ran down a gentle slope on it's own at a maximum speed of 20 km/h. It's the most awesome part, and as the cold blast of wind touched my face, it cleared all the aches away! The spectacular view soothed our minds from all worries and filled us with exhilarating insouciance like no other.

Below is the video I took while we were on this rail biking adventure. Enjoy!

Autumn Travelogue: The Twin Waterfall of Mureung,

If a place, subject of so many tales and legends exacts a price, we're willing to pay for it. The price came not in form of money, but hours of laborious hike that left us sweaty and exhausted. But by all indications, this wasn't just another of the many travel jaunts we often took.

At the top, there lies the Twin Waterfall, heralded by glorious bask of sunlight, birds chirping, and breaths of exclamation from awed tourists. A waterfall standing beside an equally glorious, seemingly identical one, and water gracefully cascading beneath spectacular rock formations. We spent a good hour soaking in the scene, hearing nature's rendition of music, and breathing the rarefied air you could only get in the most isolated, pristine places.

To sum up our journey to Mureung, I included the small video I took to show the others how divinely everything looks up there.