JiSung Park… the fist asian (and korean) to play for the famed Manchester United! Me at the Press Conference. I’m quickly becoming that Korean looking foreigner standing next to that famous guy!
I’ve been in Korea for about a year and in that year my team has had big dinner outings, small gatherings but we’ve never done the traditional “Korea Workshop”. This practice of taking your whole team out for a day or two to bond and consumer liquids has esacped us… till now. We decided to do it a little differently.
We started the day with a nice, relaxing hike through the park and then a soothing lunch. From there, it got interesting. We suited up, grabbed our helmets and loaded our ammo… PAINT BALL WAR!! What a way to bond with your fellow co-workers than to hunt them down and shoot them :)
/ Jackie demonstrating how it’s done
/ The Blue team wins the first game with 3 standing!
/ A slaughter! 3 games to None. Blue take home the First Cup!
and from there, it was off to dinner, soju (korean liquor) and singing…
/ Our intern chillin’ with the crew
/ The Girls
/ SoonKuk with the Ladies
/ M-A-R-K-E-T-I-N-G
/ EJ gets a Kiss
/ Me and the Boys playing cards
/ Jackie and I at Karoke
/ The Crew Jamin’ to Karoke
DAY 8. Our last day in NYC and a great ending to a fabulous vacation. To start off we made sure that we would return home as relaxed as possible and hit the Silk Day Spa (90 minutes facial for her + deep tissue massage for me :). From there we enriched our minds with some culture at the newly unveiled Museum of Modern Art.
/ Rainy Day Lines at MOMA
/ Memories of our third date with a Chegall
/ JiYoung ponders the Stary Night
/ Me and the Hopper
/ Matisse
/ JiYoung Deep in Thought
/ Checking out the new building
/ JiYoung by the window
and then the day got really interesting. What started off as a typical nice dinner at One if by Land, Two if by Sea took a turn…
It started with an after dinner surprise and a question.
Which happily lead to shock and a smile…
…and a memorable moment to share.
Crazy enoguh, a couple celebrating their 35th anniversary took our picture afterwards.
And we capped it off with a ride in the park.
So much going on. So many details to work out. So happy for the future. Keep an eye out for details on the overseas gala coming this fall!
DAY 7. Just another regular day for the two new New Yorkers. We started with a nice helicopter ride over manhattan and down the hudson river and ended it with a night of chilling with the bleacher bums at Yankee stadium.
/ JiYoung on the helipad
/ Ready for Take-Off
/ Us in Flight!
/ FROM THE SKY: USS Intrepid
/ FROM THE SKY: Yankee Stadium
/ FROM THE SKY: Central Park
/ FROM THE SKY: Empire State Building
/ FROM THE SKY: Lower Manhattan
/ The Yankee outfield
/ JiYoung with the bleacher bums
/ Us in right field
/ JiYoung stikes a pose in her new Yankee hat
DAY 6. A slightly gloomy day in Gotham so it was time to cover some of the basics and take those pictures that prove we were actually in NYC. We toured uptown reaching the heights of the Empire State Building and walked the sidewalks between 5th Avenue and Times Square. And to top it all off, we sat upfront and close to a showing of Phantom of the Opera (JY’s first time).
/ The two Bad-Asses getting out…
/ JiYoung at the Empire State Building
/ Cool at the Top of the World
/ I strike a pose
/ Chillin’ on 5th Avenue
/ Us at Rockefeller Center
/ LA Palm Trees or Midtown Skyscrapers?
/ JiYoung in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral
/ Us in St. Pats
/ Us at Phantom of the Opera
/ JiYoung sympathizing with the Phantom
/ Soaking up Times Square Flavor
DAY 5. A new start after the incident we now refer to as “the boat”. Roadtrip. It was time to bust out the Pontiac Aztek and hit the hometown of Woodcliff Lake, NJ for a little walk down Marvin Chow memory lane. JiYoung and I visited famous sites such as the Old Mill where I used to lifeguard, Dorchester Middle School, Fusco’s and Casa Del Sol for a Yummy Sandwich!
From that short tour, it was off to the primary agenda of the day… SHOPPING at WOODBURY COMMONS… woooo! Not much to say here except that it was a most enjoying 6 hours of walking and holding stuff. For JiYoung though, it really was a thrill, walking away with dreams come true packages…
/ The infamous BOOGIE BAG!
/ Dream Come True. Mission Accomplished!
/ Me with my cool new Shades! Thanks JiYoung
/ JiYoung ending her day sporting her new shades and happy scarf.
DAY 4. The 4th of July. America’s Birthday. The day started off beautifully with a nice stroll/tour of every New Yorkers sanctuary… Central Park. From the John Lennon IMAGINE tribute to the famous Disney statue it was a spectacular visit. We walked the A LOT of the park, saw some interesting people and caught some sun on the Great Lawn…
/ Andy our cycling tour guide
/ Heaven in the middle of the city
/ JiYoung catching some more rays
/ Us at the Great Fountain
/ JiYoung taking a dive at the Boat House
/ Chillin’ in the Park
Later that afternoon, it was off to Pier 47 for a Circle Line Cruise of lower Manhattan and a great view of the fireworks. It really sounded like a great idea and the first 30 minutes of the 5 hour tour were great. Wind in our hair and sights to see… but then we parked under the Manhattan Bridge.. and we sat there, and sat there, and sat there. 4 hours of just sitting around was rough… but eventually the fireworks came and they were spectacular but in all honesty, not really worth the investment. Probably the lowpoint of our trip but the MOST memorable :)
/ JiYoung and the USS Intrepid
/ Pre-Boredom Smile
/ Taking a look at the city
/ JiYoung and the Brooklyn Bridge
/ The Sun Sets but the Fireworks are still hours away
/ Fireworks…
/ and more Fireworks!!
/ JiYoung at the end of a loooooong night.
DAY 3. A beautiful sunday in the tri-state area and what better way to start off the day than with some delicious dimsum straight from the hood in chinatown. After downing the tiny morsels it was time to pack up the dog and head to jersey… SeaSide Heights baby!
/ But first their was traffic!
/ And over the 3 hour drive, their was sleeping
/ as well as a little dog drool!
/ Finally at the Shore
/ JiYoung chillin’ on the sand
/ Us at the beach
/ The golden tan.
DAY 2. The illustrious wedding of shirley and dan… the driving force for our 4th of July travel date. For those of you know shirley, it was her to a tee. For those who don’t, let’s just say that none of us knew that you could do a wedding from scratch. Homemade invitations, tea cup takeaways and more food than even JiYoung can eat!
/ The outdoor ceremony
/ The traditional Chinese band
/ Us with the Happy Couple
/ Shirley and Dan do the Tango
/ My beautiful girl takes a sip
/ Us chillin’ on the couch
/ “happy” at the end of the night…
but before all the wedding hoopla their were things to do… city to see, discount stores to visit and cute puppy dogs to walk.
/ A ride through the city
/ The Century 21 goods
/ Catching the 1 train
/ Mocha and JiYoung strike a pose
/ Dancing down the street
DAY 1. It was the long awaited birthday vacation to New York City. JiYoung’s first trip to the east coast and second trip to the states. Nothing much to report but a 20 hour travel trip and random hotel lounges.
/ JiYoung’s first ride in Business Class (with the good food)
/ There was a lot of Zzzzzz’s
/ Chillin’ in the United Lounge Tokyo
/ Us at the car pickup
and when we landed, we had just enough time to check in and chill in Little Italy.
/ JiYoung taking a taste of 5 liqueur coffee
/ Streetside with the masses
/ Us in the heart of Little Italy
