Category Archives: Attractions

Walk in the Early Morning

Because it’s Sunday.

Because i’ve got two sleepy heads snoozing in the other room.

Because it was early.

Because it was raining.

Because there wasn’t a soul on the street.

Because I love any excuse to wear rain boots.

♥

Turkey Talk

How’s the weather where you are? Are you tuning in from the East coast? If you are, hopefully you are safe and sound in the comfort of your own home. We’ve been in contact with our friends and family checking in to make sure everyone is okay. Thankfully they are and didn’t even get a flake of the second storms snow. We only get to see the limited television broadcast of how much damage hurricane Sandy did. However seeing just that little bit makes our hearts ache. What damage…the amount of people that were affected…the loss…just the utter devastation. We keep you all in our prayers and thoughts.

Here? Well, mornings are lazy hazy and gray, not to be confused with the lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer. Once the morning fog rolls out the blueish-gray sky shines through. Then at nightfall the sky is so black but clear as glass. When the moon appears, it glows so brightly, it makes you feel like you can see endlessly into space. I cant help but stare up at it some nights when we are out walking. Maybe this is all the turkey season talk in me… making me all nostalgic, but I often think to myself how the moon makes me feel so small here on earth, how I live a small but beautiful life. It makes me appreciate so much of my life.

This will be my second Fall season spent in South Korea. I feel like this is just the way Fall gets all nestled in.

 

BTW, rakes… who needs them? Certainly not two determined elderly Korean ladies.

Wishing you all warmth, shelter, and sunshine!

Right Before the Trees Got Naked

Sharing a bit of Korea Autumn magic with you!

Hope you enjoy the colors and enjoy your weekend too!

Tourist

You know, we have been living in South Korea for quite some time now. There are still just so many different things on my list that I want to get out and experience while living on this peninsula. This weekend we had a change of plans, so we decided to tackle one of those touristy things on that little old list of mine.

I STILL love being a tourist! It just doesn’t get old to me.

We headed into Seoul and took a Han River cruise at night.

The river is such a beautiful part of the city of Seoul. There are various tours that you can take to enjoy the Han River. We ended up taking the hour and a half cruise at night for only 15,000 won per person, roughly $15.00. What a great option to admire the city and its lights in the reflection of the water.

Prepare yourself for some photo overload…

We were just taken away with all the bridge and building structures. Speaking of bridges, half way into the tour the boat goes underneath the Banpo Bridge. Once it gets to the other-side, it turns itself around and waits for a few brief moments. After those few moments pass, you get to see a spectacular water and light show. What a treat! The Banpo bridge fountain is the worlds longest bridge fountains in the world. Wait to go Korea!

The fountain is programmed to play various shows throughout the day and into the night. At night we learned that the fountain has 200 multicolored lights. These rainbow like lights illuminate the fountain and are synchronization with music. How peaceful!

After the show, once everyone got in the opportunity to snap pictures of themselves. Kimchi! The boat announces that it will be going back under the Banpo bridge. If you don’t want to get wet, move under the boats awning area. Some did not listen nor care and got soaked. You know me, with the cool Autumn night air coming off of the river, It didn’t take me very long to seek out shelter.

How long have you been in your city? Do you like to do touristy things too? What are some of your favorites?

Grab the map coordinates here

Follow

Today we woke up at 4AM so that we could get everything together and be out the door for the East Coast. Well, I’m not quite what you would call a morning person. I move…mmmm… what’s another word for slow? Snail speed, ah yes! Lets go with that.

I’ll be the first to admit, I was the cause of our lateness today. Oops..sorry Mr. B.

Once we got to the Rest stop to meet up with our group, I decided on my first ever grown up drink. Coffee! What were you thinking? Again, much to early for anything else. I ordered a Carmel macchiato. I have had a few sips here or there from the coffee aficionado, Mr. B, but never my own full cup. Growing up my family never enjoyed or appreciated a good cup of joe. The fresh brew just wasn’t part of our morning routines. I always thought of coffee as the crazy man’s drink. You drink it, you get hooked, you can’t function in the morning without it, repeat routine. I assume this is why I too never got excited for the stuff. Well, whatever the case, today marked an adult milestone for me. Did I cross over? Does this mean, I too am finally a “grown up”? Look out Mr. B!

We got back on the road fairly quick and departed for the coast.

Once we arrived, Mr. B set up his scuba gear, while I parked it on a beachfront park bench and Skyped with my grandparents.

 

Afterwards, I followed my bliss…

If you couldn’t guess…my bliss involves my two feet on land and my camera.

 

Hope you had a blissful Saturday afternoon too!

What Fall Looks Like in South Korea

Dear friends,

Isn’t Fall so enchanting? there is just something about fresh apples, pumpkins, the colorful mums, the fog around the mountain peaks in the distance when driving to work in the morning, breaking out my cardigans, getting to see the leaves change, feel the difference in the weather, cooking big batches of soup, sip on something pumpkiny or cinnamony, Charlie Brown, scarves, boots with knee socks, snuggling in my comfy goose down comforter to watch my favorite movie with one of the large living-room windows open in the evening, the fact the moon comes much earlier and shines so brightly.

I love reminiscing about my childhood in the fall. The simple days of scooping up a huge pile of crisp colorful leaves when they would fall, and jumping in them. If we were home right this very second I know what Mr. B and I would be doing, why going to the Bloomsburg Fair of course. I’d also be finding reasons to make multiple trips to Starbucks to get my hands on their sweet treats and autumn drinks. Unfortunately the Korea Starbucks do not serve either in recognition of fall. 🙁 (Currently open and willingly accepting donations) he-he-he! Just kidding, we will survive.

AH! Everything about Fall screams comfort to me. I just cannot get enough of it.

What’s your favorite season? The older I get, I realize more and more how much I enjoy getting to see the seasons change. I was so blessed to have the opportunity to grow up on the North East coast where I’d see and experience these magical changes every year.

The Sand, Sea, and Cool Ocean Breeze

I’m starting to realize now why people take photos of landscapes, sunrises, sunsets, etc. They take that photo because they are worried they may never see or get to experience another moment like the one they are in. They capture it to preserve it, and hopefully they are able to capture a smidge of the beauty the real moment possesses.

There is a point to all of this random rambling, I promise.

As I sat on the beach, feet dug deep into the sand I realized, i’m enchanted by the beach.

The sand, sea, and cool ocean breeze….

We are so blessed to have the opportunity to enjoy it so freely, as we do on most of our weekends.

Last, but certainly not least…I had to share our very rustic dining accommodations for this weekend. I know, I know, you are jealous. All joking aside, Allen’ chicken kabobs with pineapple and veggies are heavenly!

Grab the map coordinates here

Juice

Recently We took the plunge and purchased a juicer.

Let me rephrase, I got an extra early Christmas gift from Santa.

Yes, the Hurom Slow Juicer to be exact. The company is from here in South Korea.

I’ve got to let you in on this little gem, I am OBSESSED!

Obsession, pure obsession!

I already look forward to strolling around the local farmers market here in Dongducheon, this just takes that excitement to another level. This week we picked up cucumbers, peppers, broccoli, apples, plums, nectarines, and bananas. YUM! We’ve been juicing every other day since the juicer made its permanent home on our counter.

I used to think yadda, yadda, freshly squeezed juice. REALLY, there is such a difference. The taste is out of this world, not to mention how fresh and nutritious it is. Plus, there is no need to worry about all the sugars and additives that hideout in store bought juices. I’m sold!

Mr. B chuckled and said, “Uh-oh! Look out, juice snob in the making”.

What are your thoughts? Do you have a juicer? Any good recipes to share?

Labor Day Weekend

We survived the typhoon. I apologize for not updating and posting that in a more timely manner. Most of the storm took it’s toll on the southern portion of the peninsula. Thankfully it wasn’t nearly as bad as they had predicted it to be. Unfortunately there were some casualties, our hearts and prayers go out to their families.

I can’t believe I’m saying this already, Friday was the “unofficial” last day of the summer. Labor Day marks we Americans last chance to extend everything we love about the summer months, i.e. wearing white pants, throwing Backyard BBQ’s, doing yard work, watching fireworks, getting in the last beach trips of the season, and the best for last, just our patriotic excuse to get together with family and friends.

Labor Day is quite different in Korea… For starters it’s a US holiday and is not recognized in the Korean culture. The typical patriotic feel from past years being at home isn’t quite there as well.

That’s okay! We took full advantage of the downtime and extended weekend. We quickly realized that it’s you who creates the mood and feel for each holiday or celebration. Near, far, wherever you are. Hope you were able to make the most of it too!

We drove to the East Coast. It seriously looked like Seattle, don’t you agree?

Mr.B enjoyed multiple days of scuba diving.

I tagged along too, read the entire book my best friend sent me in my birthday package. (Thanks again B)

Dug my toes into the sand.

Played with this cute little guy on the beach, well..until it bit me…Eek!

Watched the surfers in the waves, secretly wanting to join…maybe ill work the nerve up sometime in my life.

Ahhh… there is just something so relaxing about the beach!

Speaking of summer lasts… I enjoyed what I believe may be my last potbingsu…

on the beach…

in white short…

Just kidding, I had jean shorts on. Talk about almost enjoying the apoditimy of summer in one sitting. All that was missing was the hum of lawn mowers, the smells of freshly cut grass and burgers on the grill lofting in the air, and fireworks lighting up the sky. For the moment I was reminded of home.

We did grill out the first night at the beach. Our friend Alan is a master grill sergeant! He used a rustic Korean grill..I should have snapped pictures to share with you. When I say rustic I’m talking really, really, rustic. No complaints here, he grilled up really tasty chicken kabobs and we are still alive to tell the tale, HA-HA! I think you would have enjoyed it too, perhaps next time you can join us?

The second night we “grilled” I use the word in quotes because techincally  yes we did grill, however we did it at a Korean BBQ restaurant. Hey! It counts, right? We had a blast story telling and enjoying good food with our friends.

The weather was much cooler these past few days. There is a real sense of Fall in the air. The humidity is slowly moving out of the weather forecast too. You think the weather stopped these diehard divers? Nope. wet suits and smiles is all I witnessed getting on and off the dive boats each day.

Happy Labor Day!

Grab the map coordinates here .