Monthly Archives: July 2011

Under water

Okay, so Dongducheon is completely underwater, the rivers and streams are rising and the worst of the storm is ahead of us. Highway 3, 88 and all major highways around Seoul are closed. All roads not on high ground are under water; water is up to the bottoms of bridges. The side of the mountain by our apartment washed out and is flooded but we are on high ground so we are okay.

Now the city sirens are going off… We have to make it back home for Beanicus.

We are very lucky and pray for those who have been injured or killed by this massive storm.

Of coarse we had to risk it and take pics, so we will upload when we get home.

Back to Songtan with a stop at Memories

From our last post you know that we left off needing to go back to Songtan for Mrs. B’s suit fitting.
Wellllll… we went, unfortunately the tailor didn’t have anything started and wasn’t prepared even though she is the one who told us to come back this weekend for the fitting. We were pretty disappointed but ended up getting a discount as well as a better deal on some future design purchases.

The trip wasn’t a total loss. We originally planned on trying out a German restaurant that we saw blogged about in the same area.

After the tailors we walked up behind the Asia Hotel and next door to the Sun hair shop to Memories, the German restaurant.
We were told that Memories was opened and operated by the late Konrad Wermers, a native of Westphalia, Germany, who had worked for years as a chef at several major South Korean hotels. In the mid-1990s he opened Memories in Seoul, but moved it to Songtan about a year and a half ago due to the cost of rent being so high.

Today, the restaurant is operated by Mr. Wermers wife who still strives to uphold the same appeal and German cooking.
From the outside as well as inside there really is no glamorous appeal pulling you in. Everything ascetically was very simple. However we basically follow the theory that some of the best foods are served from the most off the beaten path places. Like normal, we wanted to try the place out and determine for ourselves.

Memories menu looked pretty promising. Unlike our experience at the German Haus the other week this place actually had offered German staples like the Wiener schnitzel, Jaeger Schnitzel, and Zigeuner Schnitzel.

The menu also features appetizers such as snails in herb butter, smoked Norwegian salmon (of course Mr. B had to order), soups and salads; soft drinks and a variety of German beers. Also unlike the German Haus, there is no bar, no home brewed beers, or mixed drinks.

What you need to know:

Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. (Closed Sundays)

Prices: Main dish prices are set at about 12,500 to 25,500 won. The appetizers are prices from 9,000 to 11,500. The German beers are 3,000 to 10,000 won. The sodas are 3,000 to 5,000 won.

The menu and staff both read/speak English. There are tables and chairs (no sitting on the floor options avaliable).

The phone number is: (031) 667-4249

Our final opinions about Memories are we recommend the Jäger schnitzel with mushroom cream sauce as a main dish. Perhaps the smoked salmon with capers and horseradish dipping sauce for an appetizer and while you’re at it, wash it all down with a nice cold bottled German beer.

We are glad we grabbed a bite to eat at Memories. We would have loved to chat with and experience the cooking of chef Wermers but what can you do?

After dinner we went back to our favorite coffee shop where we enjoyed our frothy delicious favorites and picked up the tea order we placed the prior week. (Mrs. B might have found something to obsess about just as much as Mr. B does with his coffee).

We wanted to include a map for you in case you are ever in Songtan around the Osan Air Force base searching for a chill place that serves up delish drinks and dessert.

Just sitting here reminiscing about the weekend and how crazy it is all the memories we have already made in this little coffee shop. We always end staying for quite awhile just talking and laughing until we cry. Ha-Ha this time specifically we had an audience. Our travel buddies were laughing so hard at our conversation it made the Koreans sitting behind us start to laugh. It was comical!

It’s been such an incredible journey up until this point. We don’t take anything for granted and we feel that we are incredibly blessed to have met such amazing friends from all walks of life from all over the world. We are thankful to these friends that have accepted us for who we are and welcomed us in like family. We wouldn’t trade the experiences in for anything in the world.

Hopefully we didn’t ramble on too much. Thank you for tuning in and we hope you enjoyed our weekend trip.

Friday Night Farewell

It’s F-R-I-D-A-Y!! Woot-woot. Can you tell we are a little excited for the weekend? What’s on the agenda you ask? Well we are planning to try a Korean buffet style restaurant located in New City. The restaurant is located on the second floor of a building directly across from the Jihaeng train station. We haven’t included the name because we still need to obtain the correct spelling to provide it.
We ended up walking because it wasn’t raining for once and it’s in rather close walking distance to where we live.

Anyways, our dear friend Brad will be joining us tonight. Brad is leaving Korea in a few days and will be reuniting finally with his family back in the states. We are going to miss Brad dearly, however, we are really glad that we got the chance to get to know him and become good friends with him. We know that no matter where our travels take us we will still maintain a connection and hopefully one day get to meet back up again. Brad, if you are reading this we are praying for your safe travels and awesome homecoming!

Well folks this post is going to be short and sweet. We will post pictures of our night when we get home later.

Holiday Weekend Getaway, Dr. Fish, Custom Tailored Suits, and Amazing Coffee!

“You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness.  You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism”.  Erma Bombeck

We are truly thankful that we are free to enjoy family and close friends picnics, watch our children do flips in the pool, take time to spend a day at the park and conclude the day of festivity by watching the dark night sky light up with a beautiful display of fireworks. This is all because of brave men and women who believe in in and love America so much that they are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice in the name of our individual FREEDOM.  While we are enjoying our freedom these individuals are protecting us all in the name of FREEDOM. We hope you take a few moments to reflect on the meaning of the 4th of July and what it means to you…

With that being said, we hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend this 4th of July. We sure did! We ended up heading down to Songtan where the Air-force base located. Mr. B had his mind made up that he wanted to purchase a custom tailored sport coat from a place called V.I.P Tailor that we had heard and seen amazing suits from.

Mr. B ended up picking out a beige linen material that looked really sharp! The quality was really impressive! HA-HA! I even ended up breaking out of my non-spending money shell and got measured for a suit jacket with matching skirt and pants.

We highly recommend the V.I.P  Tailor to anyone looking for a suit or business attire. Due to the weather our photos and video are a bit grainy because we decided to only carry our iPhones. We did capture a short video of the owner Song Ji Yun showing customers the difference in spotting quality hand stitched and pressed clothing from that of bad quality and glued and pressed ones (will post and share later). Once we learned we were pretty impressed and now are always looking to see what the tailors are selling.

Now we must tell you that Miss Yuns personality is a bit much  at times but she does know her stuff and her customers are always repeating and referring others.

After we accomplished ordering the suit, we had the entire weekend to do whatever without a set schedule or plan and that really felt nice!

As we said the weather wasn’t the most ideal but we made the most of it. The rain showers went and came all weekend so at times we didn’t need to carry around an umbrella and we did get lucky enough to go check out Asan Bay. The bay is located about 20 minutes away and has a nice little boardwalk that runs parallel with the water. When we say boardwalk we don’t mean the boardwalk like at the beach loaded with all sorts of vendors and eateries. There are some vendors and there are plenty of seafood eateries to pick from but it’s on a much sporadic level. We decided after snapping some pictures and walking around that we would like to come back and eat at the one restaurant.

So next we have to tell you about our Dr. Fish experience! We have reviewed a few blogs that suggested restaurants and things to see and do while in Songtan and a few talked about Dr. Fish. Dr. Fish is the

Garra Rufa  fish. The fish is a small species of freshwater fish that was originally found in the North and Central Middle East (we were told most commonly, Turkey).

Dr. Fish is commonly used for treatment of skin patients with problems such as psoriasis and eczema. What the Doctor Fish does is gentle nibbles and sucks on dead skin leaving soft skin underneath (these fish only nibble on the dead skin). As the fish nibble away at your dead skin it releases an enzyme secretion and Dithranol which helps skin regenerate faster. So basically it’s like a natural exfoliate.

Once we found the place and got there we all had thoughts of, “What do you mean the fish eat your skin? Are you serious? Does it hurt?!” soon enough our questions would all be answered.

First you scrub and rinse your little toesies off, roll up your pant legs and find a spot to sit around a hot tub shaped soaking pool (that is filled with cool water and the little fishies)…That’s it!!!

Next put your feet in the water and relax…You might giggle, scream, tense up, it all depends on how you react.

Mr. B laughed at first and said it felt like teeny bubbles, I thought it was a little weird for the first minute and sort of didn’t know what to think, but then it was quite relaxing (after getting past the fish sucking fast to my feet). Doris didn’t like the fish on the bottom of her feet and would say “get out of there!” and move her feet slightly. Hector was the same as me and didn’t quite know how to react.

We took some video with pictures to share our crazy experience. Again, we apologize for the quality.

The Nail Shop is called Escape Spa; the phone number is 031 – 665 – 9751. The staff members speak excellent English and are extremely helpful and professional. We only paid 6,000 Won per person for the Dr. Fish treatment (typically lasting 10-15 minutes) however our toesies were in the tub for a good half hour.

We ended up trying out the Meat House restaurant. Another suggested restaurant on numerous bloggers places to try. We all really enjoyed it! Priced at 12,000 won per person, all you could grill and eat meat, Korean foods, and choices of beer, wine, cider, and soda. What wasn’t to like?! We all agreed we would go back. However next time we found an authentic German restaurant that we will give a shot.

We want to end this blog post on a sweeter note. We found a quaint coffee cafe located in the tucked away streets of the Ville area in Songtan. The cafe is called From in. The space boast a rugged and cool feel with unfinished cement floors, walls, and celling.

The menu is hung high on a chalk-board with tons of drink choices that could appeal to anyone stopping in. Plus From in features delectable mini dessert pies, mini cheesecakes, and tiramisu.

Seating is a hodgepodge of cute wooden and wicker tables and chairs with pillows for extra comfort. When we were there for the first time at night the sliding glass doors were propped open to let in the cooled summer night air. The music that filled the air was a perfect fit with cafe mixed songs like unchained melody, fly me to the moon, and Ricky don’t lose that number.

Mr. B the coffee aficionado ordered a shot of espresso, and a caramel macchiato. He said that they were done perfectly and would go back. Of course we did end up going back the very next day. We much rather would give business to this little mom and pop shop than Starbucks any day. I ordered a hot vanilla Chai tea and I’d rank it the best one I have ever had.

We got to know the owners daughter after chatting with her a bit. She spoke fluent English and Korean. She told us that she is an American citizen but was only born there and lived there until the age of two. Her father is American and her mother is Korean.

She was so accommodating! She even told us how she made the Chai taste so good! We got a card and told her we wanted to give her a shout out on our blog. Please see below. (We will have to snap better pictures next time because the ones we have on our phones doesn’t give it justice)