Category Archives: People Watching

Dongducheon Rock Festival 2011

10/01/2011 (Yes, we are a bit behind on uploading/ blogging) SORRYYYYY!!!

Tonight we made plans to grab a bite to eat at a restaurant very close to our apartment. The restaurant we decided to try out is called Shin-Hung. We finally had some free time to meet up with our good friend Mary G! We have to mention on our blog that Mary’s husband is incredibly sweet! Robert stayed at home (on his birthday, mind you) with their twins so that she could have some “adult-time”. Thanks again Robert!!

Okay, back to dinner…Shin-Hung is a restaurant located at the base of the Soyo Mountain in Dongducheon. Shin-hung is pretty popular and known for various dishes among the Koreans, so we are told. The restaurant is fairly large in size, the staff are nice, but do not speak any english. If that is a cause for concern to anyone, don’t let it be… you can simply point at the menu and they will know what you are after.

After looking at the menu we went with Samgyeopsal (Pork-belly). After dinner we all decided that we would come back sometime and try the mushroom stew. We got to see the mushroom stew at the table across from ours and it looked delish!

After a nice dinner with great company we continued our night by walking up the road just a bit to get to the Rock Festival. We were pretty impressed! The festival was FREE! There was a HUGE professional stage with lights and camera coverage! Plus, the music wasn’t half bad and we could people watch! Score!

Have we told you lately just how much we love Korea?!

Happy Chuseok!

Not sure what Chuseok is? That’s okay we Bee’s were culturally unaware ourselves until we moved and were quickly immersed in South Korea. Isn’t that funny how culturally unaware we are as Americans? Typically we take on the attitude of well this is America and anyone moving here should immediately embrace everything American because that is just the way it is. Sad, but we all know it is very true. We are rude sometimes and believe that if you don’t speak fluent English there is something wrong with you.

Living in a different country really opens your eyes and makes you step outside of your teeny tiny American bubble. We talk about this almost daily. We talk about how where we have come from in our small hometown people are so close minded and afraid of anything out of the norm. Culturally Asia really offers things to us that we would love to instill in our children one day. The importance of trust, acceptance, kindness, and just how important family really is.

Unfortunately, if and when we do move back to the states we will also have to teach our children the importance of not being able to trust to much because people will take advantage of you, that you cannot always accept kindness as a real kind act like taking a piece of candy from a stranger, and that family can sometimes turn ugly and be ruled by a fickle jealous bone due to money.

So back to our statement of what Chuseok is. Chuseok is known as one of the biggest holidays celebrated in Korea. Often Chuseok is known as the Korean Thanksgiving and get this, it last THREE DAYS! This year Chuseok falls on September 11th through the 13th. Yes, another thing the Korean’s know how to do! Chuseok is a time when Koreans travel back to their hometowns and celebrate together, share family stories, give thanks to their ancestors, and of course eat a delicious spread of food!

Yes Chuseok is known as the Korean Thanksgiving but there isn’t a turkey or pumpkin pie like the Americanized version. Koreans celebrate this holiday with Songpyeon. Songpyeon is a half-moon shaped rice cake that are filled with various things like sweet bean, chestnuts, even sesame seeds. Something really treasured and valued is when the Korean families are together making these treats. I guess very similar to when Americans get together and prepare the turkey and such.

You can totally forget trying to travel anywhere in Korea during this holiday! The roads are very chaotic…even more so! ha-ha! If you are trying to go somewhere, it is best to call in advance and make sure that the place is even open. Much of Korea is basically closed down on Chuseok (Including Mrs.B’s work). Well let it be said.. we warned you!

During Chuseok families will visit the tombs of their ancestors. We have tombs right behind our apartment. We catch ourselves almost daily looking outside at the beauty of the green mountain side. Today and the next few days we will see Korean families on the mountainside removing weeds and trimming plans that may have grown around the site. korean’s also drink or offer food to their ancestors while they visit.

We snapped a few pictures of our very own Italian version of Chuseok. Just kidding, we had a dinner with friends that have become our Korean family and celebrated each others company. What a great night!

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)

Sarah’s Trip to Dream Forest in Seoul

My traveling buddies and I decided to check out another green park called Dream Forest located in northern Seoul. This Park is the 4th largest in the city before Seoul Forest, Olympic Park, and World Cup Park. The park was built on the land, 660,000m2 in size where Dreamland was previously located. This park is beautiful because it is surrounded by thick dense forest mountains of Byeoksan and Opesan. The park is now known for the cherry blossom paths in the spring (as shown in the pictures) or the maple tree forests in the fall.

The park features a nice array of things to do such as, Wolyeongi (the moon reflecting pond), the Wolgwang falls (moonlight falls), a 49.7m tall park observatory, Arts center, Concert Hall, Museum of Art, Restaurants, Botanical Garden, Deer Garden, Changyeongwigung Ancestral Shrine, an iris garden, Water play parks, and playground. A great place for adults and children to relax!

I took some video of the children playing at the playground on this interesting play set. It was pretty comical! 

I got to try another Korean snack today for the first time thanks to my new traveling buddy! She introduced me to a triangle-shaped rice packet wrapped in edible seaweed 삼각김밥 known as Samgakkimbap or samgak kimbap. The shape is designed to keep the seaweed fresh by putting two thin sheets of plastic between it. The concept is awesome however I still need to get down unwrapping it carefully so that I do not rip the seaweed before getting to eat it. We had tuna and it was really tasty! The best part is you can pick these little guys up for about 700 or 800 won (that’s roughly 70 or 80 cents!). You can check out the pictures for yourself! Do you think you would try one?

Getting to Dream forest was rather easy too! We took line one to the Seokgye Station where we got off and followed exit 7 to get outside where we took bus #14 for 10 minutes and arrived at the park!

I’ve mentioned to friends on the phone about some of the vendors that try to sell you things when you are on the train. They hop on and roll through just as the doors are getting ready to close. On my last ride there was a woman who was used very aggressive sales techniques to sell packs of gum. She would place the gum on your lap or in your purse even when you told her “A-ni-e-yo” (meaning no in Korean). Sometimes there are socks, melons, super glue, you name it… On the way home on this trip I was able to capture a man dressed very nicely trying to sell toothpaste. Unfortunately for him no one in our car was buying or seemed interested. As soon as he moved on to the next car to sell in popped a women selling Oksusu (Roasted Corn). People were buying this up like crazy. Some purchased yellow ears of corn or Indian corn and munched away or saved in a plastic bag. What really surprised me was that in the states we typically use Indian corn as fall décor not to eat….hmmm… Guess the toothpaste guy needs to look into the Oksusu (corn) peddling business.

Our Weekend Buzzing Around Seoul

Of course we had to check out Itaewon while we were spending our weekend in Seoul. Yes, yes, we know that Itaewon is a major tourist section of the city catering directly to foreigners. We do respect this section of the city for that purpose and know that it is not a true representation of Korea. However it was close to our hotel and we wanted to go see what it was really all about.

Itaewon’s shopping area is 1.4 km in length, it stretches from the U.S. 8th Army Base eastwards towards Hannam-dong and has over 1,000 different little stores. The area is known for its night life scene with many bars and nightclubs to choose from. We noticed there are many street vendors selling shirts, jackets, and caps, scarfs, food, etc. trying to capture the late night buyer’s fancy.

While in Itaewon we checked out a few Irish pubs, grabbed a bite to eat, and strolled along the main street as well as some tucked away alleys, checked out various street vendors and little shops. We snapped a few pictures of the places that we were near or checked out and though we would share with all of you.

First stop Buddha’s Belly for dinner. It was Friday night and we were starving! We started out trying to find a restaurant called the Maple Leaf restaurant that was said to serve traditional Korean food (we are sure more Americanized) but after walking around and around for 20 minutes we figured it must have went out of business. Our bellies finally did the talking and screamed feed me when we were standing out in front of a place called Buddha’s Belly. Buddha’s Belly is located just above Ushmania restaurant (2nd floor) 673 Itaewon 2 Dong, Seoul, Korea; it’s located in the Hamilton Hotel Alley. In this area you can also find Indian, Italian, Korean, American, French, Greek and other nice ethnic foods.

The menu is Thai and the chef is actually from Thailand. We still noted a bit of Korean flair in the dishes we ordered but were really impressed with the overall meal.

We didn’t capture any pictures to share as the atmosphere consists of a smaller private sized dimly lit room. The décor had a sexy-sleek appeal to it.  The entrees are rather reasonably priced and cost on average 12,000-18,000 won. The service was really speedy and we enjoyed that because we were both starving!

We started off with some chicken skewers that had a peanut dipping sauce. We both ordered dishes of Pad-See-Ew and a glass of wine. Each dish at Buddha’s Belly Thai restaurant is accompanied by pots of wet and dry hot chilies and Thai fish sauce so you can season your food to taste.

Overall we both agreed that we would go back to this place if we had to.

After dinner we went grabbed a coffee at Paris Baguette (The Korean comparison to Starbucks – well if Starbucks served up tons of delicious baked goods) due to the fact that Buddha’s Belly doesn’t serve coffee on the menu. We then continued to Stoll the alley’s and found ourselves in front of the Wolfhound Irish Pub.

The Wolfhound Irish Pub is located in another small alley down from the Gecko’s Terrace. Sorry bloggers we don’t have the address to provide on this one. We will continue to research for a more direct location. We were able to capture a few pictures of the place for others reference.

We enjoyed the Irish Pub atmosphere. It didn’t feel like we were still in South Korea while inside. The crowd consisted of military, teachers, and tourist in the area. The bar has two levels and features a selection of draft beer as well as mixed drinks and foods.

We enjoyed ourselves, had some drinks and decided to continue checking out what else Itaewon had to offer.

We found ourselves at Baby Guinness and Sam Ryan’s Sports Bar and a hot dog vendor (mmmmm…that tasted more like Kielbasa) before we decided to call it a night.

The next day we headed to Gyeongbok Palace. The palace was one of the first places that Larry got to check out when he first moved to Korea. He was really eager to share the experience with me so we thought with the beautiful weather this weekend we should take a tour and snap some pictures along the way. The address to go see the Palace for yourself is Seoul-si Jongno-gu Sejong-ro 1-1.

The term “Gyeongbokgung” means palace greatly blessed by Heaven. We took an English speaking tour lead by a Korean college student. We captured the beginning intro of the tour for you to try to hear some of the facts she provided us with.

The palace was actually constructed in 1395, but was destroyed in the 1500’s during the Japanese invasion. However in the late 1800’s into the 1900’s the palace was completely restored. We couldn’t even imagine living here as a King and Queen the grounds are absolutely massive! Consisting of more than 300 buildings, 6000 rooms, and more than 4 million square feet and sits in one of the busiest sections of Seoul.

When we arrived to Gyeongbok Palace we entered in the gate (Kwangha-mun) protecting the palace from Seoul. We were able to get a picture with the guards that stand there.

Another interesting fact that we learned was that Sejong the Great was the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty, and ruled from 1418 – 1450 during this time he created the 28 letter system of the Korean Hangul alphabet. Today however the Korean alphabet consists of 24 letters.

Overall we had an amazing time with a very good tour of the palace.

After walking the palace we decided to needed to hail a cab and head to N Seoul Tower. N Seoul Tower is also known as Namsan Tower because it’s located on Namsan Mountain at Seoul-si Yongsan-gu Yongsandong 2-ga San 1-3. Private automobiles have been stopped from entering the mountain since the year 2005 so that they could more easily preserve the area. You really have three ways to get up to the tower and each does involve some form of walking. One, take a cab or bus but note that you can only go up so far with the cab or bus and then you will get dropped off and have to walk up a pretty steep paved road. Two, take the cable car up from the bottom of the mountain. Please note you will have to climb steps up from the cable car drop off point to get to the tower. Whatever you decide we think it’s worth it while you are visiting or living in Seoul.

N Seoul Tower stands 237 meters high, standing atop 243-meter Mt Namsan. It was remodeled in 2005, and has a rotating Western-style restaurant on top that we plan to possibly check out at night next time we visit.

Below is what each floor consists of:

1st Floor

– Olive Young (supermarket / convenience store)

– Coffee Shop

– Eatery with indoor and outdoor seating

– Food Court

– Gift Shop

– Ticket Counter

 

2nd Floor

– Viewing Platform

– Restaurant (relatively inexpensive with great view)

Basement

– Elevator Entrance

– Tous Les Jour (bakery)

– Ticket Counter

– Exhibition Area

 

Observatory Gallery

(360m altitude, reached by express elevator)

1/F : Hancook Restaurant

2/F : Sky Cafe

3/F : Observatory platform

4/F : Observatory platform

5/F : N Grill by Vips (revolving restaurant)

Tickets to get inside of Seoul tower observatory for two adults cost us 14,000 won.

We snapped pictures of the locks and tiles at N Seoul Tower. The locks are “Locks of love” and can be found on the fence outside of the tower. They symbolize lovers’ promise that they will never separate. The message tiles of love inside are something you could purchase to write a little love note on and then it is displayed on a wall within the tower.

The last day we were there we checked out Myeongdong still located within seoul for some shopping.

Myungdong is a selection of shops, like Zara, UniQlo, Forever21, ABC Mart but also features all sorts of street vendors selling shoes, scarfs, jewelry, food, etc.

We enjoyed some green tea ice cream and found a vendor who sells King’s Beard Candy. We were able to quick capture the vendor making the candy and bought some to try after we had heard great things about it. Final consensus….we LOVED it!

We can only describe King’s beard candy as a small fuzzy white sweet treat with a chewy inside and a crispy outer layer that just melts in your mouth. It’s so fun to watch the vendor create 16.000 honey strings in two minutes! They act as they are doing it too counting in English as well as Korean. Next time we see this vendor we will try to capture better video because it is really entertaining!

The last night we were there we decided to go back to Itaewon and check out Zelen’s for dinner. Zelen’s is a Bulgarian restaurant owned and operated by Bulgarians. The location yet another strange place – the same alley we were in when at Buddha’s Belly. It’s the alley right behind the Hamilton Hotel.  The address is the second floor, 116-14 Itaewon-dong, Yongsan District.

Talk about amazing food! We had no idea this place was going to be this fantastic! Get ready…you know we are going to rave about it in our blog now. In the land of red pepper paste and kimchi it’s nice to experience something different once and awhile.

Once you take the steps up to Zelen’s from the alley you open the door into the second floor restaurant where you quickly see a garden-esque room that is candlelit and features an open kitchen where you can see the chefs preparing the delish dishes.

The menu is quite extensive and it’s great because the meals are detailed and named in both English and Korean. We had a chance to grab the owner Mikhal Ashminov and ask him what he recommended. We were so pleased that we had done so because he turned our decisions to the stuffed peppers that were amazing.

We ordered stuffed mushrooms and the stuffed peppers for appetizers to our meals. (You can view all of our meal and pictures of the restaurant within this blog)

Larry’s main course was pork tenderloin stuffed with smoked Gouda, green onions, bacon and tangy pickles. The dish was plenty big and we think next time we will order this dish and another and split it up to try something new.

Sarah’s main course was the vegetarian moussaka. The dish was oven-baked layers of vegetables and cheese topped with homemade yogurt. The dish really reminded us of almost a shepherd’s pie but meatless. The dish was served alongside a small rustic salad, for 14,000 won.

We were so pleased with both of our dishes that we both agreed that we will be taking friends back there for dinner.

After we ate dinner at Zelen’s we headed to the Cheonggyecheon River Walk . We learned that this river walk is fairly new to the city. It was constructed in 2005 where previously it was just concrete roadways running through the center of Seoul. The address for the river walk is, 31, Taepyeongno 1-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul

One word for this place…calming! Once you are on the river walk path you slowly forget that you are located in the center of a huge bustling city. The walk features small waterfalls, various colors of lighting, stepping stones to cross from one side of the walk to the other, and amply amounts of greenery. We loved that we got to check this place out at night because the last time Larry visited he said it was during the day and people were everywhere!

We met three young Korean adults that were trying to snap a picture together but were not achieving the shot they wanted. We took notice of this and asked if they wanted us to get a shot of them so that they could all be in the picture together. They graciously accepted and kept thanking us! We asked if they would mind returning the favor so that we could also have a shot of the two of us. Of course they replied they were glad to do so. (Feel free to check out our various pictures of experiencing the Cheonggyecheon River Walk).

Once we got back home we looked through all the pictures we snapped and kept talking about how much fun we had on our weekend adventures.

If anyone else has suggestions on places to see or eat at please feel free to share with us!

Changwon Cherry Blossom Festival

This weekend one backpack bee packed up and headed to the Changwon’s Jinhae Gunhang Je (known as the Cherry Blossom Festival) with friends (Mr. B was under the weather). We took a private bus trip departing in Dongducheon at 6AM to Changwon. Our guide joking stated the best comparison she could provide distance wise is like when you are in the states heading through the four southern states to get to Miami Florida. The trip down was about 5 ½ hours South including three rest/ stretch stops along the way.

We enjoyed the bus ride and traffic was fantastic right up until we were nearing the festival location. Our friends packed food for an army so of course we munched on snacks, talked, relaxed to tunes, and munched more. We celebrated Hectors birthday with a cake, candle blowing, and song, along with an anniversary.

Changwon’s cherry blossom festival is the oldest known festival beginning in the year 1952 and is held annually April 1st to April 10th. This year marked the 49th year of the festival celebration! The town is best known as the world’s largest number of flowering beotkkot namu (cherry trees). The festival commemorates Korea’s famous naval hero, Admiral Yi Sun Shin. Closer smaller celebrations near Dongducheon will take place around Seoul later in the month when the blossoms start to open.

Last year over 2 million tourists came from all over the world to attend and walk along the beautifully tree-lined streets and take in the picturesque mountain views. At some points when the wind would blow it would look as if it was raining pink petals. Words really cannot express just how beautiful the sights were.

I snapped as many pictures to try to capture what the town and festival looked like to share with all of our bloggers. In the pictures you will notice that a new friend Mary and I tried beondaegi, or known as boiled silkworm larve. Yes, ewww! Ha-ha! It was something I said I was going to try and blog about once I had done so. The taste I can’t even put in words. It is definitely something that I have gotten out of my system and do not feel the need to try again….well until I make my way to Taiwan where I hear they are actually pretty tasty.

I snapped a few pictures of the various food vendors to include the little beans that one vendor was selling. Suk grabbed the sampling plate and told our group to try them out that they were very good. Surprisingly I really thought they were good! Suke went on to tell us that these beans were a local thing that the area prided themselves on. The beans are said to provide your body with a cancer fighting preventative factor. Next year if we go back I will definitely purchase a box or so because they were so yummy!

Okay, enough rambling! Go check out the pictures!

Walking Around Dongducheon & New City Area

We have had many request from Mrs. Sylar’s class and friends to show them pictures of various things such as, what local schools look like, Korean houses/ apartment buildings, the local markets on a busy day, Miss Bean, what the area looks like, etc. Enjoy the various snapshots and feel free to request somethings that you might like us to capture.

Ohhhhh and I almost forgot – We found a pretty neat little coffee and tea spot in downtown Dongducheon too! At first I am thinking hmmm coffee and hotdogs(look at the sign)?? However, Koreans really love their hotdogs and we thought we would just try the place out. 

Check out the Cafe. at pictures located in the 04-05-2011 “Walk through Market and Dongducheon”. They have a really nice coffee bean roaster located in the front window of the cafe, seating inside and out, and just a  really neat and inviting  atmosphere! Everything offered on the little menu above the cash register was really reasonably priced. What’s the verdict on the place and most importantly how’s the coffee? Mr. B really liked his coffee and I enjoyed a green tea latte. We Bee’s will be definitely making this one of our regular stops on our walks.

Korean Elevator Moving Trucks….They Really Do Exist!

Today at lunch I could hear some commotion outside so of course I had to see what was going on. I was SUPER excited when I finally got to see the Korean elevator moving truck moving the neighbors stuff out of their place. Larry had told me about these and I thought it was some sort of joke not really believing him….(Sorry Lar!). Much to my surprise these trucks really do exist and really do elevate your items into your place instead of having to climb endless stairs or cram into the elevator.

Sorry the video quality isn’t the best. I just quickly grabbed my iphone to shoot some footage. We will definitely post what it’s like when we obtain our shipment in a few months so stay tuned.

On a side note: Family & Friends who have helped us move in the past… where the heck were these in the states when we needed one?!