Just in time for Christmas! New products at Little Seouls!

We just added and will be adding lots of new products just in time for Christmas! Here are some that are available now! Supply limited! If you have any suggestions, please email us at info@littleseouls.com.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Korean Alphabet Song

Little Seouls is featured in Asian Buzz!

We were blogged on Asian Buzz. Check them out!

How do Koreans celebrate Thanksgiving?

Korean celebrates Thanksgiving very much like the rest of the Americans except they have a few more dishes on their table, like rice (a must!), kimchi (many different varieties), japchae, sashimi, mandoo(fried dumplings), banchan (side dishes) and they eat on paper plates with chopsticks.

Korean Number Song with Subtitles

Three Bears Song

Here is a clip of a scene in Full House where the Korean actress sings a popular Korean children's song with motions. This movie is hilarious! If you're into Korean dramas, Full House is one of the most favored of them all.



If you want to learn it, we also found this on youtube.

Little Seouls Sale Thanksgiving sale!

Little Seouls is having a special sale for our blog readers! Ends November 30th!

For every $50 you spend, you get 10% off*. Coupon code: Spend50

For every $100 you spend, you get 20% off*. Coupon code: Spend100

*Coupon code cannot be used towards iHosa, iPhyeonhae and hanboks.

Coupon code must be used at time of checkout. Sorry, but we cannot give discounts once your order has been processed.

Happy Birthday Song in Korean

Listen to this cute little girl singing Happy Birthday in Korean. I think I'll teach my kids to sing this for my daughter's upcoming birthday!

Mongolian Spot

Does your baby have blueish, brown/blue markings on him that were present since birth? Those benign discoloration of the skin are called mongolian spots. Did you know that over 80% of Asians (especially Koreans) have them as babies compared to only 10% of Caucasian babies?

If your baby has these, make sure your pediatrician takes note of them on your child's medical file. As there have been some people who mistake them for markings caused by abuse.

Dooly - Another Popular Korean Cartoon

Dooly is considered by many as one of the most popular cartoon characters in Korea. We felt it was necessary to post a clip of Dooly so that you all can meet this famous little dinosaur performing to the Noodle song.




By the way, we have Dooly Pajamas Size 3 years old for both girl and boy for only $9.99! Its in our clearance category at Little Seouls. Also, if anyone is interested in ordering a Dooly video/DVD, email us as we can special order it for you.

Cute and funny dolls from Japan

I recently saw these dolls and thought they were actually cute and a good idea! I know my kids would love seeing their face on a doll! If only I knew how to read Japanese I would order them...

Tomorrow is the last day to order!

These are great unique gift ideas for your kids! They're just like Legos. The left one is based on the Korean Im Jin War...great way to introduce the Korean history to your kids. The right one is Hello Kitty...now what girl doesn't like Hello Kitty??

Please go to Little Seouls and click on Special Orders.

Due to the size of these toys, we will not be carrying them in our store but will be able to purchase them under Special Orders. Our special orders are placed every other month, so this order will be our Christmas order. Also if you have any suggestions, please let us know! We can order almost anything from Korea!

Our Baby of the Month Winner

Here's Hudson wearing the pajamas he won!

Thank you Jane for sending us this picture!

Popular Korean Baby Names in 2007

Here are the top 5 most popular Korean baby names according to urii parenting site.

Girl Names

1) Suh Yeon
2) Yeh Eun
3) Ha Eun
4) Min Jee
5) Jee Min

Boy Names

1) Woo Jin
2) Joon Hyun
3) Gun Woo
4) Do Hyun
5) Joon Hyuk

To win these products, please enter our next Baby of the Month Contest!

To enter, please email us at contest@littleseouls.com with the subject "Baby of the Month Contest." Winner will be announced on Dec. 1st! Please include with your picture, a statement saying that you authorize Little Seouls to use your picture on our blog. Thank you!

Korean Mink Blankets...A Must-Have!

Now that the weather is starting to get cold, it's time for the mink blankets to come out of the closet! The Korean mink blanket is a must-have, especially during the winter. Now don't get confused with all the "Korean mink blankets" you see for sale out there. Majority of them are made in China. The ones from China are definitely not as nice as the ones from Korea. I've heard the ones from China tends to fray after a few months. Make sure if you do purchase one, that it is made in Korea. Little Seouls carries Stellamor, a very popular Korean brand.

They also make a great gift! They come packaged in a nice box with a handle. We got a few of these as gifts at our son's dol.

Soda Alternative....Milkis

Milkis drink has been around for some time. However, I finally decided to try it for myself. Its quite an interesting drink. It tastes like root beer without the root beer flavor if that makes sense. It comes in various flavors. Ingredients include: carbonated water, corn syrup, sugar, skimmed milk powder, artificial flavor, citric acid, phosphoric acid, natural food color, vitamin-C, vitamin-A, vitamin-D, milk. So, it seems to be much more healthier than drinking a plain soda. If your kids love soda, why not try Korea's Milkis drink as the "healthier' alternative.

You can find them in almost any Korean grocer.

Get your free Snap Fish Photo Book!

Click here to redeem. Offer ends Friday at 11:59 pm PST

You need to go all they way to review order to see your credit.

Korean Chicken Soup

Just like Americans, Koreans have their own version of Chicken Soup called "Samgyetang." The ingredients include cornish hen, garlic, sweet rice, jujubes, ginseng roots, green onions and water. I would recommend http://www.maangchi.com/recipes/samgyetang as she has a video on how to cook it.

According to an article written by Jane Han in today's Korea Times, Korea plans to export "Samgyetang" in a processed and packed form starting early next year. Meanwhile, you can try to cook it yourself or find a Korean restaurant that makes it.

Sometimes I don't have time to purchase all the special Asian ingredients, so I make a simple version just using the cornish hen, garlic with salt and pepper. My kids love it this way too.

What a typical day in class looks like in Korea...

Baby of the Month Contest

Next month the prize will be a play mat and Korean music CD. Enter now! Email us at contest@littleseouls.com with the subject "Baby of the Month Contest". And please specify that you give us permission to use your baby's photo for the contest.

We will now be calling it "Baby of the Month" since all babies are cute! The winner will be randomly picked.

Enter now and get something FREE!

Kimbap...the perfect meal!

Picture from ZenKimchi.

It's got everything...protein, veggies and carbs. Koreans like to make this when they go on trips or picnics since it's easy to eat. It also makes a great dosirak!

Our mom loves to make the kids mini versions for their small mouths! She usually puts bulgogi in it. They love it!
For recipes please go to ZenKimchi.

Kimchi

photo from chosunilbo.

Children participate in a kimchi-making event at Namsangol Hanok Village in Seoul.

I really want to learn to make kimchi. Although my mom makes it for us all the time, I never asked her to teach me. It just looks so time consuming and complicated! Plus she always makes it so there never was a reason for me to learn! :-)

Now that she's getting older I need to learn because I LOVE kimchi...all types of kimchi. It definitely is my comfort food. I can eat just kimchi and nothing else. The smell of it makes my mouth water.

The best I ever had was when I was about 10 years old. The very first Korean market in Los Angeles was called Olympic Market. There was a grandma that made this kimchi called chong gak kimchi (aka young bachelor radish pickle) for the market. It was the best tasting EVER! If I close my eyes, I can still smell and taste it to this day. I remember each time I went to the market with my mom, I would run to the kimchi section to see if there was any left (since it sold out all the time) and begged my mom to get it (it was quite pricey). I wanted it more than candy!

Anyways, the market eventually closed down and to this day, I have yet to find chong gak kimchi that good and I don't think I ever will. I also found out the grandmother that made it passed away not too long after the store closed down. So sad. What I wouldn't do to have that again...


picture of chong gak kimchi

-written by E.M.

Typical lunch menu for Korean school kids

It probably doesn't look good to most of you but to a die-hard Korean foodie like myself, it looks yummy! Wish I had that when I was growing up...

The top one looks like soy bean paste soup (dwen jahng chigae), radish kimchee, galbi jim, and pickles.
The second one looks like chicken soup, kim, kimchee, banana and pickled radish.
The third one looks like curry, tempura squid, kimchee and melon.
The last one looks like seaweed soup (mee yuk gook), spinach, kimchee, and kimchee chigae.

These are my guesses. :-)

Choi Jong Il, creator of Pororo

Jae-Hyun Kim for TIME

Pororo

By Jennifer Veale

DREAMER There was a time when it was awfully hard for South Korean preschoolers to see Korean TV. The big winners on the local channels for the very young demographic were English-language shows like Teletubbies and Dora the Explorer--hits, sure, but imported ones. It took Choi Jong Il, 44, creator of Pororo the Little Penguin, to change all that.

Pororo first appeared on Korean TV in 2003, and kids immediately swooned. The lead character is a 3-D penguin who lives with six animal friends on a snowy island with no adults in sight. Unlike most kids' shows, which are vague about the characters' ages, this one makes clear that Pororo is 4--putting him squarely in his viewership's developmental playgroup. And Pororo, like the kids who watch him, has a rich fantasy life. In this case, that means he dreams of flying--and wears an aviator hat and goggles to prove it.

Choi, the CEO of Iconix Entertainment, writes all the scenes himself from his office in downtown Seoul and says he got his inspiration for the show by watching his then 1-year-old daughter at play with her 4-year-old brother. "One minute they have all these differences. The next minute, everything is resolved," he says. Rather than push moral instruction on his audience, Choi gives his characters the freedom simply to play and learn.

Pororo has expanded well beyond South Korea in just four years and is now seen in 80 countries, its characters adorning everything from diapers to dishes. Still, it is the success at home that may be most surprising, since the show is not about learning ABCs--which is what Korean moms, eager to give their kids a leg up in the country's ferociously competitive education system, usually want. Choi's next big goal is getting a piece of the lucrative but highly competitive market in the U.S., where kids still do not know about Pororo and his playmates. If history is an indicator, they will soon.

Pororo Dosirak

Baduk for Children

I always grew up with my dad going to baduk clubs and watching the men in the family play baduk with each other. Similar to chess, baduk is a game of intellectual and analytical skills. Koreans say it is great for one's mind and discipline. It is far more popular than Chess in countries of Japan, China and Korea. There are many baduk schools in Korea that teach children and you can even find them in the US.

Here's the link for children baduk clubs, camps, and schools http://tigersmouth.org

Baduk is also known as "Go." More information can also be found at American Go Association

First Birthday "Dol" with Paul Frank Theme

I thought I'd share some photos of a dol party I attended this past Sunday for more dol ideas!



Birthday cake



Picture of head table and Paul Frank Backdrop



















Table Centerpiece

Check out Little Seouls Cafe Press products!

We can even customize them for you! We have ornaments, tote bags, shirts for adults and kids, mugs, teddy bears, mousepads, caps, clocks, aprons, and much more! Go here.

Hanboks with a Modern Flair

I hear hanbok designers are being less traditional in their styles. I like this little girl's hanbok but I think the traditional hanboks are much more beautiful.

And I never knew there were matching hanboks for the whole family. Quite interesting!

Prizes for next month's baby of the month contest

To enter, please email us at contest@littleseouls.com with the subject "Baby of the Month Contest." Winner will be randomly picked on Dec. 1st!

Cutest Baby of the Month Winner!

This cutie's name is Hudson H. Yang.

Cutest Baby of the Month prize

The prize for this month is a pair of Korean pajamas.

Next month the prize will be a play mat and Korean music CD. Enter now! Email us at contest@littleseouls.com with the subject "Baby of the Month Contest".

We will now be calling it "Baby of the Month" since all babies are cute! The winner will be randomly picked.

We now have Google Checkout!

Some of our customers have mentioned to us that they do not like Paypal and if there was another way to pay. We have now added Google Checkout! We still accept checks for those that are not comfortable buying on the internet.