One of our very favorite treats of all time. Try these delicious chocolate and almond dipped cookie sticks by Lotte and you’ll be hooked. Pre-wrapped and ready for gifting!
Regularly: Single $16, Double $26
Special Introductory Offer: Single $10, Double $20
New gift items have arrived and we are so excited to give you a first look.
1. Ladies Who Lunch, Insulated Lunch Tote with Bamboo Handles
A lunch tote elegant enough to use as a purse!
2. Almond Delight, Chocolate and Almond Dipped Cookie Sticks
A favorite snack in Korea, these crispy delights from Lotte Confectionery are simply heavenly.
3. My Own Lunch Bag, Cotton Reusable Lunch Bag that You Decorate Yourself
Colorful Fabric Markers are included to make lunchtime an eco-fun activity.
4. Sushi Snacker, Sheets of Roasted Savory Seaweed
Everyone who loves sushi knows that seaweed is an amazingly delicious and nutritious food. Now enjoy the crispy savory goodness anytime with these roasted seaweed sheets. Just cut with scissors and enjoy alone or with steaming hot rice. Yum!
Business, Family, Food, Green, Health, Holiday, Korea, Uncategorized | 
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Making a proper cup of tea from loose tea leaves is an affordable luxury that can add so much pleasure to your day. However, with all the extra equipment and hassle, you might often find yourself reaching for that lower quality tea bag instead. Take a look at this!
I first discovered the ingenious 3 piece tea mug years ago in Korea and marveled at the beautiful marriage of form and function. A matching ceramic strainer actually plops right into the tea mug and the lid goes right on top of that for proper steeping of the tea leaves.
Loose green tea leaves are hand picked and unoxidized. They contain life-giving nutrients such as cancer fighting anti-oxidants called catechins, theanine, chlorophyll and Vitamin C.
When making tea bags, lower quality leaves are crushed and chopped into small particles called Fanning and Dusts. No wonder tea connoisseurs are only interested in loose-leaf. Loose leaf has so much greater aroma, body and nutrients.
This tea mug set makes it so easy to brew loose tea. When your are finished steeping, you just flip the lid upside down and convert it into a holder for the strainer that will now sit and drain mess free. After enjoying your tea, you can plop the strainer back in the tea mug and steep the leaves for a second cup. Many tea lovers actually like the second brew better! So peaceful. So wise.
Don’t you love discovering great design that functions as beautifully as it looks? The beautiful crackling of the celadon porcelain is a topic for another day but you can read a bit about it here.
These celadon tea mugs are our Spring Special and are available now pre-wrapped and ready to delight you or any tea lover in your life. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!
Going green can seem more than a little intimidating sometimes. Solar panels sound wonderful and as I look out at my laundry drying in the sun, I dream of the day I can harness that same great energy to power up my home. But for now, I 
reach for the lower hanging fruit on the tree of eco-living. Wrapping with fabric to reduce senseless garbage? That’s like fruit on the ground!
Giving gifts is one of the great pleasures in life and the suspense and mystery in unwrapping a gift is the icing on the cake. But did you know that during the holidays alone, Americans create 5 million additional tons of garbage and that 80% of this garbage is just wrapping paper and gift bags? These are crazy numbers and there’s a lot we can do about it without eliminating the joys of beautifully wrapped gifts.
The ancient Korean people really hated waste and considered it bad luck. They created the concept of the wrapping scarf or wrapping cloth called bojagi (boh-jah-kee), which they used to wrap and carry everything from gifts to bundles of merchandise for the market. The great thing about wrapping with bojagi is that it adapts to the shape being wrapped for a custom fit and then can be reused countless times. This was my inspiration in creating my own line of reusable wraps called BOBO.
BOBO wrapping is a lot like origami in that a square shape works best. Try the bow tie wrap technique for wrapping up your next gift with a square scarf or hankie. If you like the contrasting reverse effect, try using 2 scarves put together with a bit of light spray adhesive.
If you are crafty and have fabric lying around your home from old projects, you can make your own BOBOs by taking a square piece of fabric and finishing off the edges. Just make sure the fabric’s not too thick by grabbing a corner of material and tying in a knot. If it doesn’t knot easily, it’s probably too thick.
Stanford University Recycling Center says ”If every American family wrapped just 3 presents in re-used materials, it would save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.” Now 3 presents a year is a number we can all commit to.
I wrote The Wrapping Scarf Revolution to teach a new generation of Earth citizens a great old way to be kinder to the planet. Join the 
Wrapping Scarf Revolution and take the pledge to wrap at least 3 gifts in reusables this year. Send me a picture of your fabric wrapped gift and you may receive a nice a little gift certificate from yours truly. Happy Earth Day everyone. Let’s hear it for the low hanging fruit!
For more information and video demonstrations on how to wrap with fabric, visit the How-To Page at BOBOwrap.com. To enter a great book and wrap giveaway, check out the original site of this post at galtime.com. Write a comment there by tomorrow and be entered.
For a nice 15% off discount to try our products, use this great coupon by the Eco Diva. Code: DIVA410 Expiration: 4/30/2010.
A selection of our favorites for all those special Moms out there. LOVE the new Celadon Tea Mug set from Korea. Steep loose tea in the ceramic strainer then just lift out and place on the lid while enjoying all the health benefits of a great cup of tea. All lovingly pre-wrapped with Earth friendly reusable BOBO wrap. We’ll even hand write your message on a beautiful BOBO card. Check out all the great wrapped gift items in stock now.
Sadly, one of my most memorable moments in college has nothing to do academics but everything to do with the toilet. A few of my best friends were international students from Korea and weren’t too keen on the finer points of American etiquette.
Having missed a few days of class, my friend HJ went to the instructor and started to explain that she had had a VERY serious case of diarrhea.
Just to make sure the instructor understood her correctly, she earnestly went on and on to describe everything from the severe stomach cramps to the constant running to the bathroom.
The instructor was stunned speechless. Obviously embarrassed by this lengthy explanation, he told HJ that everything she missed could be made up and hopefully she was feeling much better now.
When I saw this video of Korean pitcher Chan Ho Park explaining that “a lot of diarrhea” was the cause of his poor performance on the mound, I died laughing remembering my old friend HJ. Oh how I love Korea. Park is bewildered by the laughing reporters as would be many a Korean!
Koreans are very upfront about the functions of the body and talking about BMs has always been a common topic of conversation. The consistency, how much, how often, color–the whole nine yards.
The funny thing is that Americans are now starting to follow suit with Dr. Oz and Oprah trailblazing the road to talking more openly about what’s going on in the toilet. BMs are most certainly a very good indicator of a multitude of health conditions and apparently the perfect “S” shaped BM is what we should be striving for (his words not mine!). Dr. Oz says that this topic is actually so important that we should actually be talking a whole lot more about it.
Back in college, when my friend Younny and I witnessed HJ’s now legendary teacher meeting, we howled about it for days. We joked about trying out this fool proof method the next time we got in a tight spot but never dared.
We may be laughing now, but Korean culture is very old and wise and Chan Ho and HJ may have the last laugh yet!
We were a few days too early to see any real cherry blossom action but what a night we had in DC last week. So many wonderful people came out to the Korus House of the Korean Embassy to hear my little Bojagi to BOBO presentation. Even the overflow room was full to capacity and it ended up being standing room only.
It was one of those lucky nights when things just seemed to click. DC/MD/VA traffic can be murderous but it was smooth sailing all the way from the highways to the triangular mazes that lead to Embassy Row. The audience was also amazing and we were so on the same green colored wavelength. Heavenly!
Main Presentation room at the Korus House of the Korean Embassy in Washington DC
Speaking to a room full of DC intellectuals was daunting but the guests were very warm and engaged in the topic of the night. A 25 minute presentation with slides was followed by a demonstration time.
Then we had a very lively Q & A with many great questions and comments by the audience. Wish we had more time to hear from everyone. Here’s a sampling of what was asked:
Q: What is the Korean etiquette with using a bojagi (wrapping scarf)? Is it rude to take the wrap back when giving a gift?
A: There are many correct ways to use a bojagi. Many people choose to give the bojagi to someone as part of a gift. Others use the wrap as a personal accessory much like a bag and use it to transport a gift of wine or food. They unwrap the gift, hand it to the recipient and put their wrapping scarf away.
Q: What are the best fabrics to use as a wrapping scarf? I have a lot of cotton fabrics at home and would like to try the techniques.
A: The beauty of wrapping scarves is that you can use so many different fabrics and materials depending on what you may have available. My book, The Wrapping Scarf Revolution, goes into more detail as to what fabrics and sizes to use for specific projects but one easy test to see if your fabric will work is to hold a corner of the fabric and tie a knot. If you can’t tie a knot easily, the material is probably too thick.
Some of our lucky raffle winners.
We gave 7 lucky winners a BOBO wrapped and signed copy of The Wrapping Scarf Revolution.
I loved seeing my friend and eco-warrior Reena Kazmann. Thanks for coming Reena!
Reena Kazmann of ecoartware.com
A mini exhibit of BOBO lovelies.
Before and after the presentation, everyone had a chance to check out the small exhibition of BOBO wrapped goodies. Here’s some of the great feedback we got from the guests:
“Intelligent, poignant, impressive!” -Soojung K.
“Excellent: very informative and comprehensive also greatly appreciated the historical research.” -Peggie D.
“Excellent presentation. Clear and concise, your vision is ecologically appropriate.” -Beth C.
“Absolutely wonderful! I know what I’ll be playing with next week!” -Peg H.
“Well presented, well organized. Enjoyed every moment and learned a lot.” -Regina C.
Many thanks to the Korean Embassy and to all the people who came out for a fun and memorable evening. Cheers!
BOBO Wrap, Green, Korea, Luck | 1 Comment »
I’m getting ready to head down to DC for my Bojagi to BOBO event at the Korean Embassy and all I can think about are the cherry trees and how for the very first time, I may get a glimpse of the famous blossoms that majestically adorn our nation’s capital once a year.
I am a few days early but I hear that there are some sunny spots where the trees will get an early start. In 1912, 3000 cherry trees were given to the city of Washington by the Japanese mayor of Tokyo and the trees have flourished ever since. Most Americans assume that the cherry tree is originated in Japan but it is now know that they actually probably originated in Korea. From wikipedia:
“In 1933, the Japanese botanist Koizumi Genichi reported that the Japanese Sakura (Somei Yoshino) is of Jeju-do island origin.[14] In 1992, Takaki Kiyoko[who?], another botanist specializing in sakura, also claimed that the Yoshino sakura hails from Jeju Island. According to Invest Korea journal, more evidence supporting this claim is that while this species of cherry tree is indigenous to Korea and can be found as part of the natural flora of Mount Halla, it cannot be found anywhere in Japan”.
Koreans gather for the annual cherry blossom watching. Zyrtec anyone?
Interesting! Well kudos to the Japanese for recognizing the amazing beauty of these trees and sharing it with the West. The cherry blossoms appear in Korea about the same time they do here and Koreans flock en masse to see these natural beauties in action. Wish me luck and if you’re in the area, come on out to Embassy Row tomorrow night and join me for a fun evening of discussion, sharing, and perhaps most importantly, some great Korean refreshments!
If you can come to the event please click the image above as rsvp is required. Hope to see you there!
It hasn’t been too long that we’ve had a blog here at BOBO, but I never imagined that there would be another blog out there with the same name. Well I did a little search and lo and behold, there it was: the BOBO Blogger. Last post was from 2005 but far from being outdated, I found myself spending way too much time on the site reading all the hilarious posts. Most had to do with rednecks in one form or another and the funniest thing was that the author was half Korean. Here are a couple of the preciously unPC images I found there.
White Trash Penthouse
Responsible Hands Free Cell Phone Use
Some other Bobos I’m aware of:
Here’s to all the Bobos of the world. Cheers!
