Trip to USANA Korea Headquarters in Seoul.......

Well......It's nice to know that USANA is open in Korea and I will be able to work my business here and build internationally. What an exceptional company. Looking forward to sharing the vision of Dr. Myron Wentz worldwide.
So.........I received an email from USANA Korea with a map of which subway station to get off and where they are located. It's not a bad trip.....about an 1hr. from my door in Jeongja (part of Bundang).


After getting off the subway at the Samseong Station, pretty upscale part of Seoul.....cool art work along the streets.....this pic goes out to Vanessa....the statue of the Violinist. (statue on the left). If you do not know who Vanessa is, she is a professional Violinist living in Denver that I had the privilege to know in the last year.

I'll let your imagination run on this one........

Found the building....first impression...wow..maybe I should be dressed a bit more professional...not to worry, USANA is about well being....and I am all about that.......
Photo of looking into the office area....


Products and info on display.....I was given a warm welcome to USANA Korea and was able to sit down and talk details about building the biz here. The potential is huge, Korea is all about well being right now and are on a health kick...looks like I have come at the right time.


OK..you can laugh. I had to take a cheesy picture by the front desk area.


Walking back I noticed a Mini Cooper car dealership. Pretty cool Mini above the door way...

Well, it was a nice morning trip to USANA Korea. I figured out the procedures, picked up some product for my first Customer here and also picked up my monthly autoship. Unfortunately they do not carry all the products that USANA U.S.A the "mothership" has....but I'll make due. Thanks mom for sending me some Peanut Butter Crunch Nutrition Bars. Love them! I will increase my in-take of optimizers while living here, I figure it couldn't hurt with a bit more pollution, living in a city, and teaching little kiddos. Long term health is key, especially the lifestyles we all lead....I know I want to be healthy like my father when I am older.....

Thanks again for visiting....stay tuned, hopefully tonight I will be updating with my trip to Japan for my 'Visa Run'.......All the Best!!!

Well....after 3 weeks, time has been flying by....I have a new MTB "mountain bike"

Here is a pic of my new ride. I bought the frame/fork/bars/stem/seat/seat post off my friend/neighbor, Erin. He gave me a sweet deal and then the local shop "SAY mtb" built the rest of it up. It's a hard tail, fairly light, and as time goes on I may lighten it up with some better parts. Overall, it's a pretty nice ride for the $$!


One of the first of many rides in the mountains. There were about 7 of us all together. Fun times & Good riders. They were all a bit amazed at my skills, but I guess after living in Colorado for over 15 years, that's what happens. What can I say, "I LOVE TO RIDE!" It is sure nice to be riding. Especially nice that I can ride out my door and hit the trails within 5-15 minutes of pavement.

This is before tackling my first Korean single track. Here we go. Yahoo!


Taking a break at one of the major view points. Re-fueling. Ready to hit the 2nd and 3rd mountains.
Say Cheese! Here's one for the boyz back in Boulder, Colorado. Wearin' the colors of the SG (Sports Garage) Militia!


Here's a view of some of the local Single Track. Not bad.....it's a bit blurry, I'll try and take some better shots as the rides go on. This was a fun descent...started off a bit technical then turned into some nice smooth buff goodness. Time to go Fast!

A view from the one of the many ridge trails.......


This was interesting....any one need any beef to chew on? Korean butcher shop.


Local shop riders.

I keep seeing these spiders, hoping not to ride through a web rides or take a spill and be looking straight into one's eyes. Gotta be poisonous. Need to look that up!

A rider's breakfast....well, my breakfast before this mornings 4.5 hr. ride. It lasted most of the ride, until having a recovery USANA shake. A little Ethiopia Sidamo Blend French Press Coffee, some Thin Egg Noodle Pasta, Two Eggs, Exotic Mushrooms, Garlic, and little Sausages. mmmm....pretty tasty. Prepared on my little two burner gas range.

Our new friend and tour guide Ken. He has lived in Portland, Oregon for 14 years and is a native Korean. Really nice guy. Why I say tour guide, he showed us some new trails. Trails keep on coming. I really did move to a X-country mecca in South Korea. Yahoo!

Riding past some graves. This was one of the wealthier individuals in Korea. It's amazing, there are graves all over the lands of Korea.


Top of the mountain, chillin'.....

A view of one of the largest cemetery's that I have seen. It is a holiday right now called Chusok. It's like our thanksgiving. We saw a lot of people having picnics at their family's grave site.

Another break, they like to take breaks....It's funny how we just hammer the whole ride back in Colorado...which I prefer...I guess that's why I am riding so well here, and we're at sea level with an Elevation from 0' to 2000'. I prefer less breaks so the legs keep loose. None-the-less, I am enjoying every moment of it.....can't complain....a little over 3 weeks and I am riding in S.Korea.
Although, they do have these cool frozen milkshakes that are pretty darn good.

A local drying out the Korean red pepper....these are not the hot ones....

Well that's all the single track for the day. We headed back next to the Tan Chan River, the nice riding/walking paths. 15 minutes and we'll be home. I did notice this outdoor climbing wall, in the bottom left part of the picture. I'll have to ride down the bike path some day soon with my climbing shoes and meet some climbers. Something to look forward to.

More to come...STAY TUNED!!!!

3 weeks spent in S.Korea.......

Well, it's been about 3 weeks since stepping on Korean soil. I have to say, I made a good decision. It was about 230am last night as I dropped into bed and started to recap on the day, days for that matter....so relaxed, a consciousness of comfort....I think I am feeling settled.

Well, here are some more pics for you to enjoy. One of my many walks around Bundang....I am enjoying the trees amongst the Concrete Jungle.

This is kinda cool....an interesting piece of art.


Enjoyable walk in between two of the stations.....I was on the hunt for a French Press. Since my addiction to the taste of coffee goes on, (just cannot seem to get that 'monkey off my back')

For you peeps who like to shop, it can be a paradise!

I notice this coffee and dessert shop....it caught my eye and brought me back to Boulder with the word "Organic".
I'll have to try this one out sometime. Desserts here are pretty fancy....it's nice to see that they take pride in tasty treats....kinda like European Desserts.....rich, creamy, melt in your mouth morsels.....not like the sugar loaded sweet crap.


A view of the many restaurants in the shi...shi...part of Bundang!

Well, I am experiencing the Typhoon Season. How about Shanghai, China...major Typhoon the other day. Luckily, it's not that bad up here. The southern part of S.Korea...Jeju-do (one of the bigger islands) was hit pretty hard. It's been raining off and on......And this is on the TanChan River near my place....if Only I had a little play Kayak. There are two holes, the water quality is not the greatest...probably similiar to Confluence in Denver, but a place to throw down. Maybe one of these days....Still have quite a bit of the year left. :)

A few cool Lilly-pads....


This is outside of Seoul. North of Bundang. I went on my first bicycle ride. About an hour ride up the bike path. And I saw the Hangang (Hahn) River. It was running high....This is kind of a cool shot with the glassy looking water and railway bridge in the background, where the Subway comes out of the earth and across the rio....the subway train is actually on the bridge as I am taking the shot....hmmm, just noticed that. Cool!


To those of us that kayak. Check out this low head damn....I don't know about you, but just looking at this gives me the creepy death feeling. What a washing machine that would be.....just look at the amount of backwash and the boil after the backwash.....



This goes out to my good friend Patrick, back in Boulder. You would love skating here. The addiction to speed and being in the flow......


A glimpse of the Olympic Park Stadium. I'll definitely have to check that out one of these days. That's worth the hour bike ride....for sure.....

A view of the bike path on the ride back to Bundang. And the green section is that rubbery surface running path....Nice flowers on the side....not bad!

This is cool, it's part of the little parks in between the bike path and running path. It's a golf course...but it's more like a combination of golf and croquet. I'll try to get an actual pic of people playing sometime. Looks like fun, a must on the list of things to do.

That's all for now folks........Hope you enjoyed it!

a fair bit of nature around Bundang followed by some delicious Korean food!

Well, week 2 has flown by....where did the time go? One highlight of the week....I was able to check out some of the nature that surrounds Bundang. Thurs. morning before work Erin and I met a few of his co-workers, Min and Brad for a hike out the door of our a place. About a 15-20min walk and we hit the trail. This is also one of the trails I'll be rippin' through on the mtn. bike. Yahoo....hopefully real soon.

Anyway.....we saw some cool flowers and some interesting looking insects. Below a pumpkin/squash flower with a insect climbing in for some goodness....


Mushrooms galore. Not sure if these are edible, most likely NOT, because Koreans love to go mushroom hunting. I've been noticing how cheap mushrooms are at the market, those high $ shrooms at WholeFoods are way less expensive here. I'm stoked to eat a lot of fungi.

Check out the trail...for the most part, a mix of smooth single track, wooden stairs, rocky descents (some pretty techy sections) May I'll need to strap on some Armour for the descents for when I'm flying down on my future mtn. bike.

Notice this itsy-bitsy spider. There were 3 close by, mackin' on some other insect. Could be poisoness by the color and size. I know I do not what to find out.

At the top, there was a nice overlook. Unfortunately, the sky was hazy. Oh well, I'll be back! This is a view of where I live. "Bundang"


So, many of you may know this little critter. They make a high pitch noise. I hear they are starting to take over Korea, hopefully the birds will recognize that it is another insect on their food chain. The "Secada". I hear they come out of the ground, out of there shell, look for a mate, have sex, then die.....now that's a pretty simplified life.
This photo is of the outer shell, time to get it ON!


Well 2.5 hrs. later we ended up near the Ori station (subway) about 2 stops south of Jeongja station, which is my stop. Min is Korean American and he was able to find us a great place to eat. We were all kinda starving. So delicious....I am really enjoying the food. It is spicy, fresh, and finding it to be very healthy. Except for those cow parts (organs). It was about $10 meal with a beer.

Taking the subway home, hit the shower and off to teach the Korean kiddos. 1st Korean subway experience. Nice system.


Until next time.......thanks and annyonghi kyesipsio! (goodbye)

Afternoon trip to Seoul......

Soon, I hope to have a bike....anyway, just walking with a friend to catch a bus to Seoul. About a 30 minute bus ride and a bit longer for the train/subway. Cheap transportation, about 1.80$ for the bus to Seoul.


Cool looking apartment building in Bundang (my area) on the way to the bus stop. Kinda cool cut out in the building. Bus stop is about a minute walk, next to the bike shop "SAY MTB" where I will have my new mtn. bike built up, hopefully real soon. The shop guys are cool. I have a feeling it is the local shop after visiting some others. Kinda like the SG in Boulder. Cool to be apart of in my hood. Erin goes on weekend rides with them, so something to look forward to.....
Cool looking flower on the way......there is some natural beauty to this big city! Over 10 million people, damn that's a lot.........

A statue of one of the rulers who defeated Japan due to the boats he constructed (model of boat is below him) . Huge palace at the end of the road that I will check out at some point. In the distance, looks like a cool mountain. I see a big rock face...excitement builds......

The reason for an afternoon trip to Seoul. A new friend, my neighbor Erin, is meeting a couple of friends to check out the Monet "from instant to eternity" exhibit at the Seoul Museum of Art. Happy to tag along to meet some new friends, check out Seoul and some art.....My first week in Korea is really shaping up.

Cool water fountain, sure my nieces and nephews would love to play here....

This is the location of the Bosingak Bell Tower. The bell was rung to tell the time. Built in 1396 during the Joseon Dynasty. Also rung to signal the opening and closing of the city gates....some history for you....


One of the may modern looking buildings in Seoul. I hear there are quite a few, this one caught my eye. I hear there is a fine dining restaurant on the top, on the list to check out. The name of it is the Jongo Tower.

Picture below.....
Nice River walk in Seoul. I guess there was a show done on this where they wanted to cover up and re-route the river to be able to build more, expand the city. The Cheonggyechon Stream. A long park about 5.6km runs along both sides. Read Below.....I found this on Wikipedia....very interesting!

Cheonggyecheon was covered over with concrete for roads and, in 1968, an elevated highway was built over it. In July 2003, Seoul mayor Lee Myung-bak initiated a project to uncover and restore the stream. It was a major undertaking as not only did the highway have to be removed, but years of neglect and development had left the stream nearly totally dry and 120,000 tons of water had to be pumped in daily.^{[citation needed]} The stream was opened to the public in September of 2005 and lauded as a major success in urban renewal and beautification. However, there was considerable opposition from the previous mayoral administration of Goh Kun, which feared gentrification of the adjacent areas that housed many shops and small businesses in the machine trades.

The restoration helped Lee become a nationally renowned figure, making him a serious contender for the presidency, but did not come without controversy. In May 2005, just a few months before the project was to finish, Seoul vice-mayor Yang Yun-jae and local politician Kim Il-ju were arrested on bribery charges related to the project.^{[citation needed]}

The project is estimated to have cost over 900 billion won (approximately US$ 900 million). In addition, about 12 trillion won (US$12 billion) is expected to be invested to re-develop the 792,000 square meter region near the stream into a major commercial and residential area over the next five years.^{[citation needed]} Some Korean environmental organizations have criticized the project for its high costs, calling it purely symbolic and not really beneficial to the city's eco-environment.

Watch out for scooters cruising the walkways.....


Thanks for viewing.....until next time...............