Category Archives: Restaurant Reviews

JeJu Island (Day Three)

We are now on Day three of our JeJu vacation. Happy Labor Day! We woke up again to amazing sunny beautiful weather. We cannot express enough how blessed we feel to be able to take in and enjoy the beauty of Asia.

It’s 7:00am and it’s time to hit the hotel restaurant buffet, get completely packed, and check out of our hotel by 9:00am.

Our group all piled back onto a tour bus and hit the road for another jam-packed day of places to see while on JeJu. The first stop was Oedolgae. Oedolgae is two giant stone pillars standing out at sea by themselves. The one standing upright is known as the grandmother and the pillar that is laying down is known as the grandfather. (Mrs. B could insert a snarky comment here but will refrain).

Oedolgae is located at: Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Seogwipo-si Seohong-dong 791. What was most impressive about this rock pillar is the size! The pillar standing alone in the sea is 10 meters in circumference and about 20 meters in height. The location is also very popular among the Korean and Chinese because of a well known Korean TV drama using the location to film called Daejangguem.

After Oedolgae we headed to Jeongbang Waterfall. This waterfall is the the only waterfall in Asia that falls directly into the ocean. The waterfall is 23 meters in height and is located at: Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Seogwipo-si Donghong-dong 278.

Our guide Ms. Kim said that the reason the waterfall is so popular is because the wall of the water fall has an inscription written “Seobulgwacha”, referring to Seobul. Seobul was a servant of the Chinese Emperor Jin (BC 259~210) who was ordered by the Emperor to find the substance that would make him immortal. Seogwipo is also said to have gotten its name to mean Seobul headed back west. We enjoyed the waterfall and think that the rest of the group did too.

Next we headed to Jusangjeolli Seashore at the Daepo Coast. HA-HA, yes another rock formation! No, really, this place was really neat! Many people believe that this place is manmade, but it’s not. The Jusangjeolli took formation when the lava from Mt.Hallasan flew to the sea of Jungmun. In the pictures you can see that the rock pillars are shaped like cubes or hexagons of various sizes. How cool is that?

After looking at rock formations and craters all day… one tends to get hungry! Whew, luckily it is time for lunch. We ate at Hans Family Fusion Buffet Restaurant. Ms. Kim stated that this place was pretty popular among vacationers. Once again we enjoyed trying out new dishes and enjoyed this restaurant experience! We forgot to take down the address for the blog and thought we might be able to search it once we got home but out attempts were not successful. Sorry about that!

After lunch we headed to Sanbangsan and Yongmeori Coast. We are now on the southwestern margin of the island and are going to see the gigantic lava dome that rises 395 meters above sea level. You will have to check out our pictures to get the full effect of what we got to see!

After getting to see Sanbangsan our group went to O’Sulloc Tea House. Mrs. B was pretty excited! O’Sulloc is located at: Jeju Special Self-governing Province Seogwipo-si Andeok-myeon Seogwangseo-ri 1235-3.

At O’Sulloc we got to learn about Korea’s traditional tea culture. The letter “o” in “o’sulloc”, means to appreciate and enjoy, and it also stands for the origin of sulloc, only sulloc, and of sulloc tea. The entire building is in the shape of a tea cup and is surrounded by lush green tea fields. Quite a sight!

The following information was taken directly from the visit Korea website on O’Sulloc.

* Tea Culture Room – Exhibition Hall
Here, you can learn everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the culture surrounding green tea. Explore exciting topics such as: Korean tea culture, tea history, how tea came to Korea, tea gardens of the world, how to make tea, and how we use tea. Take a step back in time at the O’sulloc Tea Museum, learning the secret of the ancients, who used tea to increase longevity and ensure soundness of mind.

*Tea Culture Room – Masters of Tea Vessels
A true art gallery, this place exhibits the works of ceramic masters. The display includes over 30 beautiful works of art, including pieces from artists Cheon Han Bong of Mungyeongyo and Kim Jeong Ok of Yeongnamyo. Cup styles range from chic and sophisticated to rough and earthy and reflect the artists’ varying interpretations of the simple tea cup theme.

* Tea Culture Room – Tea Life Center
Long long ago, Koreans retreated into the great outdoors to enjoy a cup of tea with guests at Jeongja or Daecheongmaru, places that are as close to nature as you can get. There are no records specifying tea room sizes or outlining any rigid set of rules regarding tea drinking, but historical records imply that people preferred a more natural and free-spirited atmosphere while drinking tea.

* Tea Culture – Types of Tea
Everyone has their own favorite type of tea. Tea can be categorized depending on when it was picked, how long it’s been allowed to ferment, the shapes of the leaves, the species of plant, where it was grown, and so forth. The most scientific way to categorize tea is by fermentation period. The exhibition hall presents over 60 different types of teas including those from Korea, China and Japan.

* Tea Culture –Tea Cups of the World
Here, visitors can appreciate a beautiful selection of tea cups from all over the world. The collection includes tea cups from over 100 countries and includes everything from traditional Chinese teacups to European demitasse cups. The cups are not only beautiful works of art, but also stand as a reminder of the exchange of ideas and culture (and of course tea) between the East and the West.

After O’Sulloc Tea House we went to the Tropical Hallim Park. Hallim Park is known for its strongly scented exotic sentiments and famous Hyeopjae and Ssangyong caves. While we were visiting the park we had the strange feeling that we were back in our home state of Pennsylvania. We are not sure if it was all the green or at this point we were just delirious from all the crater/ rock pillar looking. All and all whatever it was, it was a nice familiar feeling.

Hallim Park is located at: Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Jeju-si Hallim-eup Hyeopjaeri 2487. The park is known as one of the most popular tourist destinations on JeJu. The park was established on barren land in Hyeopjaeri, Hallimeup, and covered with tons of earth and began planting assorted subtropical plants in early 1971. This place is HUGE! Make sure you are wearing your comfy walking shoes while you visit the park. Hallim Park, almost 100 thousand square meters and has a variety of gardens. We especially loved checking out Palm Tree Road and the Bonsai Garden! The park also features a Water Garden, Subtropical Botanic Garden and much more! We were told the most famous tourist sites in Hallim Park are Hyeopjaegul and Ssangyonggul Caves known to be the only two-dimensional caves in the world. In addition, a folk village, children’s amusement park and outdoor resort facilities are very enjoyable for both children and adults.

Hallim Park was the end of our scheduled itinerary. At this point we loaded up the bus with our group and went to the airport where we checked in and dropped off our luggage. We enjoyed our very first fast food meal at the Loteria. Loteria is Asia’s versions of McDonalds. Except this place was way better! I mean as better as any fast food joint can get. We ordered the European Frisco burger and the half shrimp burger half bulgalbi burger. Plus the french fries come with your pick of cheese or chili flavored seasoning! Exciting, right?! Actually, it was pretty good and did the job.

Now….time to relax and wait for our flight to board at 7:55pm. See you all back in Dongducheon! Hope you got to enjoy what is left of your Labor Day weekend!

JeJu Island (Day Two)

Day two of the trip we woke up to the most beautiful sunny day! The sun rays were beaming off the ocean waves, the clouds looked like gigantic marshmallows, we just knew the day was going to be amazing.

We woke up at 7:00am, ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant buffet, and took a cab to Mini Mini Land. Mini Mini Land is located in Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Jeju-si Jocheon-eup Gyorae-ri San 56-4.

So what is Mini Mini Land? Mini Mini Land is a large park that features 116 famous miniature replications from around the world. To name a few, we got to see the miniature Bulguksa Temple, the Statue of Liberty, the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, etc. Each replication is constructed at 1/15 or 1/30 of the actual size.

The Cost per adult person is 7,000 won. The hours to the park were displayed as follows: December to March 08:30 – 17:30, April to June 08:30 – 18:00 , July to August 08:30 – 19:30, September to November 08:30 – 18:00 (* Open hours of the park are subject to change depending on circumstances).

After Mini Mini land we went back to the hotel and back up with our friends and decided to grab lunch together. Waiting for them at the entrance of the hotel we ran into some other friends that gave us the address of an Indian Food Restaurant near by. We were pretty excited about the sweet information they gave us and thought we would stick that in our back pocket in case we were in need of a place to go. It turned out that the couple we met up with for lunch were all about trying out the Indian Restaurant and we all decided to grab lunch there.

The trip to the restaurant was interesting because the cab driver had no idea of where the place was. However unlike the Bee’s past experience of the cab driver trying to give the boot out of the cab because he was frustrated with not knowing the exact address this guy was pretty determined with finding the location for us to enjoy a meal at.

After about 15 minutes or so and a few phone calls later the cab driver took an alley and sure enough there was the Indian Restaurant, Bagdad Café! We laughed and said we didn’t quite understand the cafe name connection to the Indian culture. The cafe’s kitchen is actually ran by a Nepalese chef, and was named after the film not the city, features cool rustic music and an outside terrace.

Wow-We! we cannot express enough how delicious the food was at this place. We all shared each others dish so we had a chance to try everything out. Mr. B ordered a lamb curry, Mrs. B ordered a chicken tangri kabob stuffed with cheeses, cream, and indian spices (cooked over charcoal to perfection), and our friends ordered chicken curry, and chicken tandoori,of course we each had garlic naan.

The café atmosphere was quaint and very comfortable. The waitress spoke English and Korean and was very attentive to our table.

Hours after eating at Bagdad Café we were still talking about how great the food was! The café is located in the City Hall area of Jeju City. The address is Korean to give to your cab driver is: 바그다드 대한민국 제주특별자치도 제주시 이도2동. The address is english is: 1186-16 Ido 2-dong, JeJu City. The phone number is: 1188-16 064-757-8182‎.

After lunch we were on our way to Love Land. We found this place in another bloggers blog so we decided to go there. This theme park is for ADULT’S ONLY (in our eyes and according to our standards). However once were at the park we couldn’t find anywhere that had ANY warning or restriction for minors. We have password protected this post titled JeJu (Day Two) Love Land Adults Only. The password to view this blog post is iam18orolder . By typing in this password You must be at least “18” years old to view. By typing in this password you are certifying that you are at least “18” years of age and Backpackbees is not responsible for any of the photo images you are about to view. Thank you for your understanding : ) The link to the Love Land post is Here.

After a stroll through Love Land we headed to E-Mart to see what was there and made dinner plans with our friends to meet up at 7:30pm. We Bee’s wanted to see what JeJu had to offer on the streets and ended up in a huge underground shopping market (Jung-ang) located only minutes away from the hotel. The market was pretty cool and featured a ton of tiny shops offering all sorts of clothing, food, etc.

At this point our legs were really tired and we still wanted to get cleaned up before going out to dinner so we went back to the hotel and got ready for our dinner date.

We met up with our friends again at the hotel entrance and they picked the White House restaurant to go to for dinner. We were game! Eagerly looking forward to checking this place out after Ms. Kim provided an excellent review of the place. We caught a cab outside the hotel and the cab driver was pretty cool! This guy was originally from Seoul and spoke very good English. His appearance and style was very western and his hairstyle was like Elvis HA-HA! We had some good laughs with this guy! The best part was along the ride to the restaurant he called and made reservations for us and when dropping us off he ran in and asked for them to give us a discount. Talk about service!

We pulled up to the White House Restaurant and were immediately taken back again by the beauty of the ocean. The sun was moments away from setting and the breeze coming off the ocean was just perfect. All we could think and say was, “Do we really have to leave this place tomorrow?” We walked up and down along the ocean and just took it all in before heading into the restaurant.

Okay, back to the White House review. We were all really impressed yet again with this restaurant selection. The White House opened its doors back in November 2004. The intent behind this monstrosity of a place was that they wanted to sell a lot of kids of foods like a buffet, spaghetti, steak, and pizza. At the time there was no wood-fired pizza on the island so they decided why not!?

The first thing you will notice when pulling up to the restaurant is that the place is HUGE! The interior and menus are intense but in a good way. There are different levels each catering to what you are in the mood for that day. An article we read about the place said it best, “There are two spectrums, with everything in between. All budgets and people are welcome. The bourgeois meet the proletariat. An abalone steak meets a paupers dinner roll. Expensive red wine meets a students Coke. Louis Vuitton meets Hello Kitty”…I think you get the point, right?

We ended up on the third flood by accident. However the accident turned out to be a blessing because we found and smelled the 65-item buffet. The average price of the buffet is about 27,000 won. Once again we filled up on delish foods and ate until we were stuffed!

The restaurant address is as follows: Yongduam 3 dong 2572-4. Telephone number is: 064-712-3200. We highly recommend the White House for dinner when you are vacationing on JeJu.

Once we got back to the hotel our heads were ready to hit the pillow yet again after another adventurous day in JeJu.

JeJu Island (Day One)

Day one of the trip started off fairly early. Our flight was scheduled to leave Gimpo airport located in Seoul at 9:55am. This meant to beat traffic we had to get on the road at 7:00am sharp. Surprisingly our group did just that and was on the road on time bound for Jeju!

The best part about Jeju is how close it really is. The total flight time was only about 55 minutes. Very quick! We all laughed and said it was just enough time to get comfortable in your seat and then you were ready to land.

We had a lot of kids on the plane and they were all troopers! We hardly heard a peep from any of them. Honestly looking back they all deserved a huge treat of some sort because during the trip they missed nap times, walked, were exposed to the hot sun, and had to eat Korea food.

When we landed at the airport we were met by our guide Ms. Kim. We cannot praise this women enough! She was an absolute hands down fantastic tour guide! Plus she put up with all of us winy Americans. Ms. Kim is was born and raised in Jeju and speaks English incredibly well. We both agreed that if we find ourselves back in Jeju we will be giving Ms. Kim a call again.

We didn’t go directly to the hotel to check in. We loaded up our luggage on a large tour bus and we sought out for our first destination point. Cameras in hand we were ready!

First stop, Seongsan, also known as “Sunrise Peak”. Sunrise Peak is a plateau-like basin which is the crater of an extinct volcano. Eek! That’s right, we said volcano! Don’t worry it’s not active so we were safe. We didn’t get to see the sunrise here because of the flight times but we did get to see the panoramic views that this crater offered. This was after we hiked up a ton of stairs (just a warning). If you get to visit, take the time and hike it! You will not be sorry.

After hiking the crater it was time for lunch. Our group had reservations at a Korean style bi bim bap restaurant. This place was outstanding! They were fully prepared for our large group and had our hot stone bi bim bap ready to go as soon as our bums hit the seats.

After lunch we had a few moments before having to board the bus so we walked down an alley right outside of the hotel and got to see some scuba divers coming in from a dive trip. Mr. B’s heart skipped a beat and he was in awe watching them unpack with all of their gear. Of course for the next few moments he repeated that he couldn’t wait to get the rest of his PADI certification completed.

It was now time to leave the restaurant and be on our way to the next stop on the itinerary. It was another crater known as the sangumbury Crater. The steps were not nearly as rough at this spot. I am sure you are asking why in the world are we going to see yet another crater? Well, the cool thing about the Sangumbury Crater is that it is the only extinct volcano on JeJu island located at ground level. It really is pretty crazy when you think about it. We were impressed by how green everything is on JeJu. The crater had lush forest growth and animals inhibiting it. We were told by our guide that the crater is being studied for that very reason. Interesting, huh?

After we were done at Sangumbury Crater our next stop was the JeJu Folk Village. The village exhibits a comprehensive collection of traditional folk articles from the island ranging around the year of 1890. We met a couple on the trip that were from Panama and he tearfully said that the JeJu Folk village really reminded him of growing up in Panama. It blew our minds getting to look at the village houses and cultural items. By now the sun was scorching us all so luckily there was a snack stand along the trail that served ice-cream. Most of the group bought ice-cream and the other half bought a cool drink. We were all starting to drag so the cool treat was a definite pick-me-up. Ms. Kim finagled a deal that allowed our group to take the tram the rest of the way through the village and back to the bus. Whew! Not a single soul had an issue with that.

We loaded up the bus and the next stop was to transfer to the hotel and check in. We arrived at the Ocean Suites hotel at about 5:30pm. The staff treated the group very well and had the check-in process set up so that we were all able to get to our rooms quickly. We L-O-V-E-D the hotel room! Everything about the hotel was new and fresh. The decor was very modern and sleek, and the view was of the ocean and an outdoor performing arena. Ahhhhh…we didn’t ever want to leave. Our tour group package included breakfast every day at the hotel restaurant. The restaurant featured a large buffet of both western and korean dishes. We would highly recommend the hotel to anyone planning on taking a trip to JeJu. The hotel location is: #1-1260 Samdo-2Dong, JeJu-City, Telephone: 064-720-6000, and website www.oceansuites.kr .

After a long day of fun filled events we took showers and got ready to find some place to grab dinner at. We ended up linking up with a couple and had a blast! We ate at a Korean style restaurant that served Samgyeopsal. We have mentioned having this sort of a meal in past blog postings. Anyways the thick slices of pork with the sides really hit the spot! We were stuffed when we left and all agreed it was an excellent choice.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel but along the way we heard music and singing coming from the outdoor performing arena that we could see from our room. Of course we had to go check what was going on out. The performance was a song that described a story. The only thing we really could take away from it was that it was about fishermen with large casting nets.

With bellies full and eyelids heavy we all decided we were going to head back to the hotel and get some rest. Day two of the trip is a free day with lunch and dinner on your own. Wow does time fly when you are having fun!

Sushi, Sashimi, on Saturday -Oh My!

Today we woke up to one of the most beautiful days since summer had begun in Korea. Nearly no humidity, sun not scorching, and NO RAIN. The statement of NO rain is pretty big in its self.

We Bees had another hectic week. This time we both suffered an unfortunate visit with food poisoning. We will let the surprising culprit remain anonymous from our blog. Maybe eventually they will redeem themselves…in a year or so?

We set out with the only intention of scoring some good grub. Along the way we took a bit of a detour to stop at Bukhansan National Park and visit Jinkwansa Temple and take in the sights and play with the camera. Jinkwansa Temple is well-known for temple stays. On a side note, we will be blogging about our temple stay experience in a few weeks at another well-known temple here in Korea.

Now onto the good stuff, sushi! After a few days of eating plain white rice and plain jane toast for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, one finds themself wanting and craving something different and flavorful! Sushi!

Recently we were let in on a little best kept secret that goes by the name of Fuji Restaurant. We were delighted to finally get to check this place out and like we said it could not have come at a better time.

Fuji’s menu features an assortment of roll’s and sashimi. the rolls had names such as the Caterpillar, HOT Night, Crunch, Alps Mountain, and Las Vegas. There were plenty of others but we are not going to spend time typing them all out. Plus we don’t want to give too much away if you go and check out for yourselves. Sashimi menu options are tuna, white tuna, salmon, tempura, and udon.

Sushi or sashimi more of your partners thing? No worries, Fuji’s menu also features dishes like Bibimbap, fish cutlet, rice, fried dumplings, salads, bulgogi, etc.

We Bees shared a combo of eel, tuna, salmon, shrimp, the green dragon roll, crunch roll, and crazy roll. For dessert we each had mochi ice cream. Final verdict, we LOVED the food! The prices were much better than what we would have paid in the states.

After dinner we messed around with the camera some more but of course all good things must come to an end…RAIN! Luckily it was just a passing shower and it went as fast as it came.

Please feel free to view our pictures from our Saturday and let some comments.

We hope you enjoy the rest of your week!

VIPS

After a pretty eventful and exhausting weekend of scuba diving lessons we find ourselves already well into Sunday evening. Really, where does the time go?? Do all of you feel that the weekends come and go in the blink of an eye? Hopefully you do get to take some time to yourself and think about all of the blessings that you have in your life.

Today’s Mrs. B’s birthday! To celebrate we decided to try out a more “westernized” restaurant called VIPS. VIPS comes highly recommended from a close “foodie” friend so naturally we are eager to try it out and possibly score some comfort foods reminding us of home. The restaurant is located right on highway 3 in downtown Uijeongbu. VIPs is known for pretty tasty steaks and a HUGE delicious saladbar! After enjoying our dinner there we have to agree.

If you can’t find something at this place to eat…I’m not sure you will find anything, anywhere, in South Korea. They offer just about everything on the saladbar! We are talking pizza, cook to ordered pasta, fruits, soups, various veggie dishes, various salads, make your own tacos, make your own bibimbap, frozen green tea and vanilla yogurt, an espresso bar, an assortment of seafood, and so much more!

Right off the bat this place is a bit pricier, however you can opt to just get the salad bar buffet and truly you will leave just as fat and happy. The steak prices range depending on your preference and cut. The saladbar price might seem a bit steep but like we said, they offer just about everything on it!

We really enjoyed the family atmosphere of the restaurant. There were so many families dinning together and it made us think of home and our families. We miss you guys and wish you could all be here to enjoy all of our special moments in South Korea. Part of the way through the meal a younger Korean family was sat next to us with the sweetest little girls that entertained us with their VIPS balloons. They also were incredibly generous and snapped a quick picture of our group for our blog.

Here is to another great dinner down in the blog!

Interested in checking out VIPS? Feel free to check out the website: http://www.ivips.co.kr/

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)

The German Haus in Uijeongbu

We have been hearing mixed reviews about the German Haus restaurant located in Uijeongbu. Everything from people love it and raved about what we were missing to others saying they were not impressed. Well finally we decided that we needed to give this place a chance and see what our take was on it.

The restaurant is very easy to find in downtown Uijeongbu. You won’t miss the place because it really stands out among all the taller hotels and other businesses. (Feel free to out the pictures to see what we mean).

Immediately entering the first floor of the restaurant we were greeted and welcomed by a Korean woman that was fluent in English. She said we had our pick of sitting downstairs or upstairs. Of course we were totally nosey and headed upstairs.

Upstairs a Korean man that spoke broken English greeted us. He took us to our table and gave us menus. A few seconds went by and our waiter a young Korean boy appeared to take our drink orders. You could tell he was a bit uneasy about the language difference but tried his hardest to communicate and get the order correct. We asked what the popular items or more desired items were on the menu and he struggled to understand. He went to get our drinks and then came back with the women from downstairs that originally greeted us.

We were told right off the bat that the restaurant was more so known for the German brewed beers on site as well as bottled. This really made sense after looking over the menu. Typically you do not see items like honey pizza on a German menu. Nevertheless, we were told the German sampler was a great choice to try a bit of everything.

The German sampler was tasty! It wasn’t absolute German foods but it was still really good. We enjoyed the wings a lot so we ordered more to munch on while we listened to the live Korean karaoke entertainment on stage.

We didn’t know the songs but that didn’t keep our group from enjoying the music and bobbing our heads

We had a blast! We all agreed we would go back again knowing that it wasn’t a real “German food” place.

We suggest that you go with an open mind and try it out for yourself! The phone number and address is as follows:

Telephone: 033-855-1000

Uijeongbu Si, Uijeongbu-Dong, 500-2

Eat Drink and be Merry….

That is exactly what we did tonight. If you are familiar with our past blog posts you know that we really enjoyed the food and experience at the Dino Meat Restaurant the last time we went. The past two weeks have been a bit of a blur with travel, trips, anniversaries, birthdays, and new ventures to come. To officially kick of the weekend we dined at Dino Meats with some great friends!

We were sat towards the back of the restaurant due to it being a busy Friday night. We ended up in a section that had tables reserved for a large party. We basically had the entire back part of the restaurant to ourselves until the large party came towards the end of our meal. We loved it! We had plenty of room to stretch out and just enjoy ourselves.

The large party consisted of various aged Korean’s celebrating with a lot of grilled meat and a lot of soju. We loved to watch the ladies as they all started with their hair down but as they continued to drink the soju they would pull it back into a ponytail. Each time they would take a shot of the soju their cheeks and faces would take on a rosier shade.  It was incredible to watch how they effortlessly shoved the different types of meats wrapped in lettuce and other sides into their mouths. We all got a kick out of it because no matter how hard we would tried to shovel leaves into our mouths the same way it never quite worked out. Although this time I was prepared with a tide-stick just in case.

We ended up selecting some new types of meat this time. Doris and I were on a search mission for meat that we had loved the last time we were here. It was thinly sliced meat that reminded us of a cheese-steak minus the cheese from the states.  There was much debate around who thought what meat it was. In the end everything was amazing and we left with our bellies very full.

After dinner everyone came back to our place to enjoy some coffee and strawberry shortcake. We ended up calling it a night before eleven because we knew we had to get up bright and early the next morning for the DMZ Tour.