You know that unexpected moment when a dear friend text’s you to see what you are doing, they are in need of a girls day, you end up meeting them while out doing your casual Saturday randomness? Of course they are looking smashing…and you on the other hand woke up that morning not thinking you’d run in to anyone you knew because let’s face it…your in Korea! You left the house basically keeping it real. Forget about really trying to tame your frazzles, that never even crossed your mind. Then, you are having so much fun chatting, warming up over some 20,000KRW Budae Jjigae,eating od’ing on sweets (come on folks FREE Krispy Kreme’s you know you can’t pass that up), walking around finding strange boutique with doll heads, arms, and legs detached, odd Engrish statements, and just plain laughing that you feel like you need to document it…no matter how hideous you look? Yeah, that happened to me today. Love you K! Thanks for the unexpected girls day!
I was scolded for taking pictures in the Too Cool For School cosmetic boutique. Reasoning was that this was their brand….no comment. Check out the oddly shaped mushroom puff to apply BB Cream.
We walked almost ran home once off the train because the sun set and the temperature dropped.
It took me very little time to snuggle into the rest of my Saturday night with a hot cup of chai spice black tea and some Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Whew! Weekend recap…. Sitting here with a nice cup of tea (complements to our friend Katya and her mother for sharing her garden herbs) and enjoying a tasty piece of toast with strawberry jam.
Rainy Friday, snow squall Saturday, and a Sunny but windy Sunday…
What are the Bees to do with themselves when their original plans fell to the wayside because of mother nature’s indecisiveness?
Well, of course we just don’t let it get us down! Ha, that’s right! (Enter in a judo-chop) Take that mother nature! 😉
We celebrated our good friends birthday this weekend with dinner and drinks at Zelens (Bulgarian cuisine). We walked around Itaewon, where they showed us a hidden little gem called the Hidden Address (no pun intended). The Hidden Address is a vintage shop with a little coffee shop too. It really is a hidden address, located off the beaten path of the main street flowing through Itaewon. We loved it! Everything from the look of the building on the outside to the clean style inside called out to us. Thanks for sharing with us guys!
Throw in a morning waking up and seeing snow on the mountain! Yes! Snow! Comeeee on paaaallleeeaaasseee! Where is Spring?! The grandparents told us it’s been in the 80’s (and don’t forget this is central PA we are talking about).
Back at our place, we met up with some more of our friends this weekend and filled our bellies with some Budae jjigae. We couldn’t not think of anything more perfect to eat with the craziness of the weather. (Double negative-our high school english teacher’s ears are currently burning). The soup was awesome! However be prepared to smell like garlic the rest of the day. It worked out well for us Bees, we both smelled pretty ripe, however we smelled ripe together so it didn’t matter. If you remember from an earlier post Mrs. B ate Budae Jjigae in Uijeongbu, where the soup is pretty famous. This soup is MMmmmmm Mmmmm good!
Ah! We are already well into the first weekend in December. Yikes! That means only 21 days left until Christmas.
Saturday afternoon we headed down to Seoul for Mrs. B’s work Christmas party. We made reservations at a nearby hotel, so that we could take the rest of the day and night to finish up our Christmas gift shopping.
We ate a nice meal with Mrs. B’s co-workers that consisted of a nice dinner buffet spread. We had a fabulous time chatting with everyone and getting to put some faces with the voice that had been on the other end of the line. You must to know that when any sort of party is planned in Korea, karaoke is an absolute must. What a sight to see! Many of Mrs. B’s co-workers had excellent voices! Mr. B hid from the microphone, saying that he had already flexed his pipes and filled his quota already this year.
While we were there a Korean women working the party at the restaurant approached Mrs. B wanting to see the back of her haircut. After chatting for only a brief moment she immediately grabbed her side and kept saying how thin and tall she was. This led right into the question, “how often do you go to the bathroom?”. Baffled we both had to have had this look on our faces, did she really just ask that?? Mrs. B, trying not to laugh and be rude, answered the best way possible, “I think as much as a normal person goes”. Something’s like this experience truly remind us were not in the US anymore…it’s Korea.. there is no personal or private questions here. She continued well into the next 10 minutes with probing questions about eating habits and using the bathroom. Yikes!
After the party we headed to our hotel, checked in, dropped off our overnight bags, caught a cab and started our shopping adventures. The first stop was to the Namdaemun marketplace where Mrs. B’s had visited the weekend prior. Mrs. B was super excited to share the experience again with someone new.
We haggled, shopped and met some very interesting characters, ha ha ha! You have to check out the photos if you haven’t already done so.
After the marketplace we headed off to Hello Kitty to pick up A good friends daughter something little. Mrs. B was in absolute hello kitty heaven!
Walking back to the marketplace we came across a street vendor selling egg bread known as, Gyeran Bbang 계란 ë¹µ, that Mrs. B had been looking for. It was soo yummy! With the cooler weather setting in you will find more and more of these warm treats being served up by the street vendors. So how can we describe Gyeran Bbang? Well, it sort of reminds you of french toast but with more egg. There is a slight sweet taste to this street snack but it’s very light. Yey! Another item to cross of her Korea to do list.
We decided to try to hail a cab to head back to the hotel to drop off our bags. We weren’t very successful at first we decided to take a break after being totally passed over by various impatient Koreans. We spotted Holly’s Coffee. The beans were pretty strong, just enough to pep us up and go back outside and give it a go again.
Much better this time. We got a cab! We headed back to the hotel and dropped off the bags. While Mrs. B waited on Mr. B, she played around with her camera and took various shots of the Seoul tower at night. We had a breathtaking view from our hotel of the tower light up.
The Greek souvlaki restaurant, known as Santorini is located in the alley behind Hamilton Hotel. Santorini is just a tiny piece of Greece located in the middle of Seoul. The owner is Greek and offers a traditional Greek menu.
Mr. B ordered the pork souvlaki (YUM!) and Mrs. B ordered the Moussaka. Appetizers cost between 8,000 to 15,000 Won, meat souvlaki dishes cost around 18,000 to 20,000.
Contact: 02-790-3474
Directions: From the Itaewon subway station exit #1, Look for KFC on your right, Make a right, walk uphill and make a left at Bliss. While walking keep looking for Santorini on your left, it’s located on the 2nd floor. It’s very easy to locate!
After dinner we were both pretty beat from the adventurous day. We originally had plans to grab some drinks at the various pubs and eat “the most amazing hot dogs ever”. However, our bodies suggested otherwise.
We walked back to the hotel. Along the way we saw some very interesting advertisements. Yes! Only acceptable in a foreign country, Ha ha! Check out our attached photos to see what we talking about.
We got back to the hotel and had to snap some cheesy Christmas photos in the hotel lobby. You know, just because! Besides, the lobby was decorated so beautifully and we Bee’s decided not to have a tree this year because we were not going be home to actually enjoy and admire it.
Lying in bed we started to talk about the holidays and how different it would be this year because we were both abroad. Mr. B is quite used to being away from family. Mrs. B on the other hand has never had these experiences. With that being said Mrs. B decided that Christmas does not have to mean a trillion lights and over-organized parties, or spending until your wallet cries out (unless, of course, you want to…that’s fine too). No, Christmas and the holidays should be about starting your own sort of traditions, your own ways of celebrating the way you want and that includes with the people you want to celebrate it with. It should be the time of year when you give everyone an extra hug, or tip the waiters more than usual, or spend quality time with your loved ones and close friends during the weekends, just because! Whatever you end up doing during the holiday season, do it with joy in your heart and everyone around you will brighter because they are in the presence of a joyful person.
Today was a bit overcast and gloomy, however that wasn’t going to stop me from getting out and about. It’s Saturday! Our weekends have been pretty jam-packed lately. I only have a few more days to get my act together before needing to ship out family and friends Christmas gifts.
I woke up, met my friend, and we headed to Namdaemun. This was the first time that either of us had the opportunity to check the place out, so we were both really excited for a new adventure!
For those of you who may not know what Namdaemun is, it’s Korea’s largest and oldest wholesale marketplace that spans over 10 acres. It’s located near downtown Seoul and is filled with over 1,000 vendors, stalls, and retailers. This place has everything! You can find adult/children clothing, shoes, material, cook-ware, fruits, vegetables, flowers, toys, jewelry, purses, cosmetic items, the list is just endless.
Namdaemun is a great place to work your bargaining techniques! After moving to Korean we learned very quickly that Koreans want and expect you to bargain for a good price. We scored some pretty awesomely priced items after working our skills. Word to the wise, don’t give up.. if you find something you like and the price just isn’t right after trying to bargain, walk away. We were really lucky in finding exactly what we were after at various places for better prices.
There are plenty of places to eat within the marketplace. We actually stumbled into an alley-way that had many options. We opted for soup to warm us up. Many of the restaurant owners would try to get us to come in and eat what they were serving by saying, “We have English and picture menu”. HA-HA! What a riot! We both settled on 육개장 yook-gae-jang, Korean spicy beef soup. Yum! Major emphasis on the spice part as well. Of course the meal was served with a few traditional sides and bop (rice).
We wondered our way around the marketplace for hours. It was starting to get dark so we both decided to call it a day and catch the train back home. We had a blast! I think you will too if you get a chance to check the marketplace out.
Happy shopping!
Directions to Namdaemun by Subway: We took line 1 to Chang-dong where we transfered to line 4 and got off at Hoehyeon Station. Follow the signs to exit 5 – Namdaemun Market it will bring you out right at an entrance into the market area. Simple!
Sitting here recapping my Saturday before going to bed.
Mr. B is scuba diving today, I woke up caught the 7AM bus with some friends and their baby G down to Songtan to do some shopping and eating. No real game plan, totally out of my norm, but it’s nice to have those days every once and awhile.
Fantastic find – Lunch! We ate at a quant little Japanese restaurant called
Izakaya.
Food was delish! (However, i may just be bias because i could eat sushi or rolls everyday of my life…Yes, I am indeed obsessed!)
Service was excellent and super friendly!
I was able to share with our friends From In, the coffee shop that Mr.B and I absolutely adore when we visit the area.
We all enjoyed my favorite vanilla chai. Mmmm! They loved it just as much too 🙂 Ah! I just love sharing good things and small finds with people!
Look! Now Mrs. P can cross eating bungeoppan off her list (Remember the little fish pastries).
Snapped some pictures of baby G. What a beautiful little guy! He’s such a well behaved and smart little guy. I loved that he was so trusting with me that on the way home he zonked out in my arms. Is there anything more peaceful looking?
“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.PÂ 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)
Woo-hoo! Yes, Costco is actually in South Korea as well! The address of the Costco that we went to is located at: 1312 Eaekseok-dong, Ilsan dong-gu, goyang city, gyeonggi-do Korea.
Of course there are definitely some differences when it comes down to product and prices. The membership price in the states is $100.00 but here it is only 30,000 won each or 35,000 won for the “gold household” membership. Once again Korea hands down has the better set-up!
Overall we felt like we were back at home taking our normal trip down the road to buy goodies at Costco. The experience was the same with the employees giving out free samples, large carts, huge warehouse feel, bulk sized products, and tons of cars in the parking decks.
We took a few pictures with our mini cam so the picture quality isn’t as nice but you will get the gist from what we have. We also took some video clips and hope to get that put together when we have some time and uploaded to the blog.
We had to laugh because every corner we took Korean’s were looking to see what the two American’s were purchasing. On the other hand, we were looking to see what all the Korean’s bought when going to Costco as well. Surprisingly it was candies like Hershey’s chocolates, frozen food items, skin care items, clothing, etc.
We bought some items we were used to from back home but mostly things that we have come to love from Korea. Our bill totaled 190,000 Won. We really did not buy much as you can see from our cart picture and they didn’t take our US Costco membership American Express Card. We found out that they will only take the Samsung Credit Card. So if you are planning a trip within Korea make sure that you have plenty of Won for your purchases.
We ended the trip with a tasty supreme pizza exactly like the ones that Costco serves back in the states. Yum-O!
This weekend it is Memorial Day Weekend in the United States, this is a time we pay tribute to the men and women who have lost their lives defending and protecting our country. Before I start the blog off, I would like to take a moment to thank the people who are currently serving or have served our country, those who lost their lives during their service, and I also want to pay tribute to the families of these truly amazing people as well. Thank you all for your selfless services that you have given us.
Ahh Memorial Day weekend, beaches, bar-b-ques and bright sunny skies! Okay, Okay! Not quite… we are in South Korea…yes, we do have beaches here and we did opt to head south for the weekend but not quite that far south.
This weekend we stayed over with some friends in Songtan. Songtan is part of Pyeongtaek and is located South of Seoul. It took us a little over 2 1/2 hours to get there but we all agreed that because we had such a great time laughing and talking that the time just flew by and did not feel like it was 2 1/2 hours.
Once we arrived at our hotel we checked in dropped off our luggage and headed for a bite to eat. We found ourselves in the Sinjang-dong shopping mall area. This area is very popular for bars, dance clubs, shops, and restaurants. It is said that approximately 230,000 tourist visit this area every year.
We have heard that many Americans like to visit this area to pick up handbags; custom-tailored clothing, shoes, mink blankets, DVD’s, etc. because the prices are incredibly low and can often be haggled even lower. Many of the Koreans that work in this location are bilingual or at least speak and understand some English. We were also greatly surprised that many of the businesses wanted US dollar and not won.
Of course we found many American staples like McDonalds, Baskin-Robbins, and Popeye Chicken, however, there were many, many small individually owned restaurants as well.
After shopping and walking all the many alleys and streets of the shopping area it was after dinner time and we thought we better make our way back to the car to head to the Italian restaurant located about 20 minutes away that Larry had recently checked out and loved.
Puffins is also located in Pyeongtaek, just outside of the US military base Camp Humphreys. Our bellies were eager with anticipation due to Larry describing how incredible his meal was there. Once we arrived at Puffins we immediately loved the style and atmosphere of the restaurant. The booths have large throw pillows and the tables have Patron oil filled candles, the lights hanging are tiffany style, the walls are covered in various shots of New York and Marylyn Monroe. It really was a 1940’s American feel throughout. However, then the sweet Korean waitress approaches the table and you snap out of the daze and realize that you are still indeed in South Korea.
We were impressed at the level of service throughout the entire meal. The waitress was quick and really spoke very good English. The menu is HUGE and features almost all American fair foods and drinks. I mean this menu covered everything from soups, salads, pasta dishes, to enchiladas and Quesadillas.
Larry was right! This food was out of this world, delizioso! We started off with an order of Bruschetta. Note that they do bring you fresh warm bread while you wait for your meal as well. We all ended up ordering the lasagna because Larry had raved about it. Larry had a Seafood Linguine Fra Diavolo both dishes were incredible and there was no Korean twist to the dish whatsoever. We cannot wait to come back and visit Puffins again!
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