Happy Birthday to me!!!

Two weeks ago I celebrated my 28th birthday (a little late on the post, I know).  Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am kind of obsessed with my birthday, and I usually throw myself some sort of party, no matter my age.  I didn't really have any plans this year, so needless to say, I was homesick for the very first time, really missing my family and friends.  Adam did step it up, and a last minute invite from friends turned into one of the best birthdays to date.  It is up there with the animal masks.

Friday Night: Dinner with Adam

Adam and I went to dinner at Tao.  It's focus is on western food, and we wanted to give it a try after hearing good things.  I ordered roasted duck with mango chutney, and Adam got a margarita pizza.  Presentation A+++.  Food itself, B.  My duck was slightly over cooked, but  still was tasty.  They also gave us complimentary bowls of potato soup to start; who doesn't like free food?!

They say it's your birthday!

potato soup

Mmmm pizza!

How pretty?

Ran into another birthday boy!

Birthday flowers

Heart Balloons

Saturday: Part 1
I woke up early to skype with my mom, and to my surprise Alexandra and Billy were also there.  They had a piece of cake and sang Happy Birthday to me.  Being a true McNellis cryer, I cried.  It was so sweet, made my day, and made me miss home even more.  Later that day, a friend from work invited us to a Kia Tigers game.  They are Gwangju's baseball team, and one of the best in the country.  I have heard many great things about the games, but nothing prepared me for the actual experience.  Let's start with the fans, they have more spunk then back home.  It sounded like thunder as we approached the stadium, as almost everyone there was banging their inflatable clappers together.  Next, the stadium itself, a true piece of crap, BUT it's a BYOB and BYOF.  Could you image bringing in coolers and sarcones hoagies to a Phillies game?  Talk about amazing.  They don't have hoagies here, but they love fried chicken; almost everyone was eating it.  And don't worry, if you run out of beer, they have concession stands where you can buy 6 packs.  Giddy up.

I love them

Kia fans

The girls

The boys

Cute girl

Saturday: Part 2
The party continued after the baseball game.  Next stop karaoke.  In Korea, the karaoke bars are called Norebongs, and they are filled with private rooms.  The rooms are about 3 times larger than Yakitori boy, but basically the same deal.    There was about 8 of us there, and not a shy singer in the room.  The reverb on these machines made my voice a little bearable.  My confidence juice really kicked in when I decided to rap "Baby Got Back," which I have to say wasn't that bad.  Jacob also surprised me with a delicious white chocolate birthday cake from Paris Baguette (which deserves its own blog post one of these days)!!!

Maneater

Bohemian Rhapsody

Birthday serenade 

Delicious

The End

It was around 1am that my body needed some rest, but no downtown night is complete without a Kebob (picture a gyro).  Adam and I stopped at the cart on our way home.  All in all it was an amazing birthday!  Thanks to my friends in Korea for making it sooo special and my friends and family back home for all the birthday wishes!!!

One content birthday girl :)