The Avengers

If you haven’t already seen The Avengers, I highly recommend making plans to do so.

(click image for source)

I’m not really much of a comic book gal, nor do I really know the back story on most of the comic book heroes but I still thoroughly enjoyed seeing The Avengers in 3D at the IMAX theater today.

Back in December, when we visited Brian’s parents in Alabama, we watched Captain America and just recently here in Korea, Iron Man was on TV and I caught bits and pieces but other than those two references, The Avengers meant nothing to me. I’ve heard of Thor and knew that the Incredible Hulk is a man who gets angry and turns green but again, not much background.

(click image for source)

Regardless of knowing the characters stories and how they came to be, the movie had a great story line, awesome acting, an all-star cast and was extremely well-directed and put together.

(click image for source)

I loved watching all of the characters play off of one another and have a new-found love for Iron Man and his quick one liners. And the love-hate team he makes with Captain America.

(click image for source)

Seeing the movie in 3D definitely added to the overall experience, even though I’m not really a fan of the 3D experience. It’s hard for me to actually see all of the effects clearly, without having to squint, not to mention the glasses and the different 3D effects coming towards me from the screen never fail to give me a headache. A headache well worth it today though!

Brunch

Before we headed to Say Two Department Store to see the movie, we went back to The Mill for brunch. The last time we visited The Mill was before seeing The Hunger Games. Maybe The Mill & a movie could be a new Monday tradition?!

After our first meal we both fell in love with the restaurant but not a week later it closed for renovations till the end of April. When he saw it was opening again on May 1st we both were pretty excited and made plans to go back ASAP.

The weather was great today so we sat on the front porch of the restaurant while enjoying our meals.

I ordered the waffles with fruit and every bite was amazing.

The ice cream served on the side along with the mounds of whipped cream were the perfect topping for the waffle when paired with the fruit. It’s been awhile since I’ve had a real waffle and it was worth every single bite. I was apparently famished from my long run this morning and devoured every last bite in no time at all.

A-ma-zing!

I’m already looking forward to our next visit to The Mill!

Question:

Do you like comic books? What about comic book movies?

Do you like movies in 3D?

Two Birds, One Stone?

I planned my workout this morning around black beans. I mean, I plan the rest of my life around food so I guess this was bound to happen eventually.

Breakfast

Since my planned workout couldn’t start till a specified time, I started my morning with breakfast first. Original oats with soy milk, water, honey, frozen blueberries and a scoop of cinnamon raisin swirl peanut butter.

I love how tossing frozen fruit into your hot oats instantly thaws them and cools your oats to the perfect temperature. Yum!

A cup of coffee on the side completed my morning.

Workout – Part I

After breakfast had settled and it was start time for my workout, I headed out the door for a run, focused on black beans. I ran the 1.25 miles to the park by Home Plus and then used the track path that circles the grassy area to complete 3 miles.

I was impressed with my run stats yet again, even though I forgot to stop the timer when I stopped running so my under 8 min/mile pace ended up as an over 8 min/mile pace but I’m still not complaining. I’m loving that I’m back to feeling good with multiple miles at 8 minutes. It has been a long time since I last felt this good on consecutive runs.

After I hit 3 miles, I took a little cool down stroll through the park and took in the weather and the beautiful flowers. I love how everything is blooming and the trees and grass are getting greener.

It’s definitely getting closer to summer time! 🙂

After my cool down, I walked the one block to Home Plus to hopefully get some black beans for Brian’s pre-game burrito bowl tomorrow (he’s pitching again in tomorrow’s minor league game!).  After completely scouring every aisle in Home Plus, it became apparent that black beans aren’t on their inventory list either. Womp. Womp.

Luckily, Say Two Department Store is right next door and has a grocery store on the basement floor. I hopped over there with my fingers crossed for some black bean luck but unfortunately it was another disappointment. If only the Incheon Bus Terminal where i found them the first time wasn’t a two-hour bus ride away!

My idea to kill two birds with one stone, running to the store to complete my workout and then grabbing black beans, didn’t quite work out as planned. Looks like B is having a black bean-less burrito bowl tomorrow!

Workout – Part II

After I cabbed it home with the groceries (that weren’t on the list) that I did end up buying, I got right down to the second part of my workout. Body Revolution, Phase 3, Workout 12.

I can now say that I have done every workout in the program!! And, as usual, I won’t lie and tell you this one was easy. Some parts were definitely challenging. Brian got home from practice as I was finishing it up and as soon as he walked in the door I looked at him and said, “some of this *crap* is crazy”. Like bridge pushups. Wow.

Now that both of us are finished with our workouts for the day, it’s lunch and relaxation time. No plans on the day so we shall see where that takes us!!

*****

And before I go, another birthday shout out to a favorite from home!!

Happy Birthday, CB!! Follow this picture’s lead and do it up double time for the big 2-9! xoxo! 🙂

Question:

Do you ever plan your workouts around other errands or to incorporate them into your workout? Originally, I planned to run to Home Plus and then back again but then realized stopping at the park to finish out 3 miles before shopping and having to run home with a bag of grocery was probably the better option!

I Heart Off Days

I absolutely love off days during the baseball season. They mean I get to spend all day with this handsome fellow.

And we’ve had a great day so far and it’s still not over!

Brunch

We started the day off with brunch at The Mill.

A cute little coffee and sandwich shop not far from our apartment that has been luring me in with it’s french toast pictures since the first time I walked by it. Inside The Mill, we found a cute little place.

With flying coffee beans on the ceiling.

And a generous drink menu to choose from.

Along with the wide variety of coffees and teas, they also offer sandwiches and some breakfast items as well.  While we waited for our food to be cooked on the spot on the grill behind the counter, we helped ourselves to self- service complimentary water.

This is something that is offered at a ton of places – even the food courts at the mall.

Another thing that is common at restaurants here is small, cocktail sized napkins.

No place gives cloth or larger napkins. You can just always find a basket of the little guys on your table. I feel like I use a million of them. I guess I’m not the world’s cleanest eater…but I’m definitely not the messiest either (::cough:: Brian ::cough::).

For our meals, Brian ordered the teriyaki chicken sandwich (which came with a scoop of ice cream on the side!!!).

While I ordered the french toast, that came with a side of caesar salad with sweet chili shrimp, flavored jam and whipped cream topping.

And a caramel cafe latte.

We also shared a chicken quesadilla.

All of the food was absolutely amazing and we will be definitely be visiting this little gem again. I noticed a free wifi sign in the window so I’m thinking some blogging and studying could be happening from there in my future.

CGV Cinema

After brunch we headed to Say Department Store to see The Hunger Games at the CGV Cinema on the sixth and seventh floors of the building.

The movie theater lobby was spacious and very nice.

When you enter, you first get a number from a touch screen machine which is your number in line to be waited on to purchase your tickets at the counter.

While Brian bought our tickets, I got in line at the concession stand for some popcorn. I stuck with a small butter but had options of garlic and caramel as well. Next time, next time.

Yeaaa this was taken post movie after I killed the popcorn but good news is that a small popcorn (that was of good size) and a bottle of water was only about $5.00. Try getting just candy at a movie theater at home for that price – good luck!

Inside the theater was very similar to any theater you would visit at home except that when you purchase your movie ticket, you purchase it for a specific seat. So every aisle and chair is marked just like at a sporting event or arena. Pretty cool.

I absolutely LOVED the movie and thought they did a great job transitioning the book onto the big screen. Even Brian really liked it and didn’t think there was one time in the movie where he thought things were dragging on. He also followed the storyline and felt he got all of the background information he needed, even though he didn’t read the books.

Two thumbs up for the Hunger Games from both of us!

You leave your movie theater through a different door than you enter from so when we came out of ours, we were lead directly to an arcade full of games.

Obviously we had to get some change and join in the fun.

We chose to play the basketball game and my pitcher showed me up at MY sport.

However, he hoarded all of the “real” basketballs!

And stuck me with…dodgeballs?!?

They didn’t even have air and were clanking off of everything before I got into a rhythm. Maaah.

After I was over my loss, we headed back into the mall to find the food court area for a snack.

That’s when we found another Dunkin Donuts. I obviously had to go in to browse and see what flavor donuts they had.

Such fun options, especially this banana creme guy!

You know that was calling my name! After Dunkin Donuts we came across another favorite of mine…Baskin Robbins. Check out how their ice cream cakes put ours back home to shame!

Now that’s what I am talking about!

Brian ended up finding another wine store to browse so I lost him to the “cellar” for a while.

After seeing the rest of what they had to offer in the food court (besides the free water and metal glasses – told ya it is everywhere!), we finally made a decision.

Afternoon Snack

Steff Hotdogs.

I had a bite of Brian’s cheese on bulgogi hot dog, which was awesome! They sell Steff hotdogs at the stadium in Incheon, so I’m glad to know now that I like them. 😉

I also had a cheese stick and a couple cajin french fries.

And then I gave in to the banana donut calling my name from across the mall.

Chocolate cake donut filled with banana creme.

That (and off days) make me one happy girl!

We just got back to the apartment and are relaxing for a bit before heading to the track when it opens back to the public this evening. I think I definitely need to get some exercise in after today’s shenanigans!

Question:

Did you like The Hunger Games?

Would you eat a banana creme donut? I won’t lie, the clear creme kind of threw me off but I couldn’t resist. So good!