My iphone tells me…
I’m obsessed with our cat, Bean,
I’m really trying to learn Hangeul, the Korean alphabet,
I have a handsome husband,
Korea needs to jump on the whole spring thing,
and food plays a disproportionately large part in my life.
the end. <3
Sunday we decided to take a stroll up Soyosan to the buddhist temple. The last time we had hiked up there, the temple grounds had seen better days. Yes, the flooding from the heavy rains last year really did a number.
The air was quite brisk, but the sun was actually shining through the bare tree branches keeping us warm on our hike.
Once on the hiking path, we were glad to see that the grounds were in full swing of repair. The park crew already had water runoffs dug alongside of the roadway leading up to the base of the mountain.
Now…all we need is the beautiful spring weather! We just might get our request later this week!
Woot-Woot!! Check out that weather forecast!! Okay, don’t look at the snow folks..it’s the 50’s we are digging!
Yes! A new restaurant to add to our will go positively go back to list!
We enjoyed dinner with some great friends and their cute little baby boy. Well, he’s not as little any more. We can’t believe how much he’s grown just in the short amount of time we have known them. Children really put life into perspective, don’t they? Yes, a constant reminder just how fast life goes by.
Okay, enough of the mushy stuff. Back to the real focus here! We Bees have walked past this place numerous times on our weekly walks and 7 Gram Cafe drop in. Each time we pass we look in and both say, “We should try this place”. Tonight we did just that!
We totally went into this meal blind. No recommendations, no idea what the menu consisted of. Little did we know we were in for such a treat. This place grills chicken! Yes!!
We asked the waitress what the most popular items were. The three suggestions consisted of the spicy chicken, the bbq chicken, and beef. We opted for the spicy chicken and the beef.
Oh GOODNESS! We cannot express how tasty this chicken was! Like we said… we WILL be going back again very soon! We think next time we will try the BBQ chicken along with the spicy of course. Stay tuned for feedback.
After dinner we went right next door to 7 Gram. Big surprise! ha ha.. No, really, The P’s suggested! We swear!!
We all sipped on drinks chatting. Then…we were introduced to the Humongous honey bread. Folks, this bread just melts in your mouth. Talk about dangerous! It was truly a wonderful way to end the meal. THANKS MR. P! Our bellies thank you, but our waistline hates you!
So, how brave are you when it comes to trying a new place out? Would you have went in and braved it? Or, are you more of a wait and see what everyone else has to say type?
Well, whatever the case, we hope you enjoyed dinner!
Until next time….
Grab the map coordinates here.
This weekend we were invited to grab a bite to eat in New City with some of our friends.
Of course we forgot the camera….sorry! However we were able to snap a few pictures with the good ole iPhone.
Our friends took us to a restaurant we haven’t tried out yet. We were pretty excited!
Sorry we also do not know the proper name for the restaurant…maybe some help from our Korean friends? đ the location is in very close proximity to the jihaeng station in new city. Look for the 7 gram coffee shop and directly across from it you will see the place.
(Inside. Floor and table dining available).
(oops…forgot to get a shot of the start to the meal. We will leave you with the dinner aftermath).
The night was still young, we went for drinks. Especially when our friends found out that we still haven’t tried Soju. Yes! You read that correctly!
Where does one go for some drinks? Miller Time, of course! Haha! Also a first for the Bees!
The bar was actually alot of fun! Great atmosphere. We REALLY enjoyed the cherry Soju. Lordy, that drink is seriously dangerous! You’ve got to try it out!
The bar features a nice selection of your typical bar foods.
Bonus….Engrish spotted!
You know Mr. B had a fint or two… đ
The bar keeps you munching on popcorn as you order drinks. They even brought out a free plate of tasty French fries. Score!
So now I’m sure you are intrigued by the fortunes, right? Well, the bar serves you fortune cookies with your first round of drinks. You match the pictures on the back of your fortune with the ones they have posted on the board. Free drink!!
Well, our group didn’t have a match.
But…
We did get to watch a group of Korean girls get completely annihilated celebrating a birthday. Fun times!! No, really! It was comical!!
THANKS GUYS!! Until next time đ đ
We had to share pictures of the blueberry chiffon cake from Paris Baguette! In South Korea we have a Paris Baguette on just about every street corner in just about every town. It is really hard to just pass by one of these bakeries without at least stopping in once and awhile and rewarding yourself.
So perfect I almost donât want to take a bite! Well, you know of course I did….. I couldn’t resist…I HAD TO! (no will power)
On the first bite I paused and just took in how super light, moist and fluffy, the cake was. Unlike most cakes I am used to in the states this cake was not overpowering nor sweet and had just the right amount of and light hint of blueberry flavor!
And I cannot forget to mention how the whipped cream frosting was delightful!
Ah, Paris Baguette, you did it again! You have officially won over this little girl with a sweets appetite’s heart <3
My friend Mrs. P and I have driven by the Co Op Cafe time and time again right before entering the city of Dongducheon. Each time we say, “Oh, I want to check that place out.” “Yeah, lets make some plans”. FINALLY, we set a date and time and we committed to checking this place out!
Final thoughts… CUTE!!! A light selection of tasty deli sandwiches, hand tossed pizzas, hot coffee and tea selection, and smoothies to boot. We both agreed that we will be going back to grab some pizza because the aromas coming from the kitchen were incredible. Bonus, they have an english translated menu.
We enjoyed looking around the little boutique (Hera) attached to the cafe and Bunny Deli. We also picture ourselves with the upcoming spring sitting on the back patio sipping fresh fruit smoothie drinks. Mmmm!
Check the place out! Located on highway 3 (The main) entering into Dongducheon, located on the left hand side right beside a gas-station.
Hip Hip Hooray! We FINALLY got some actual accumulated snow today. I looked out the window at work and saw large flakes slowly falling. I didnât think it would actually accumulate to anything really. We have had a few random snow squalls that end as soon as they begin.
This really wasnât anything major or really anything to write home aboutâŠwell, I will rephrase that⊠to us, itâs blog worthy! We were excited to see some actual snow! Mr. B on the other hand, driving home from Seoul = not so fun.
I snapped a few pictures to share our experience with you all. I want to try to snap some of the snow covered mountains that surround the community we live in because they are just so picturesque as a backdrop when we drive to and from work.
How is the weather where you are? Is it unseasonably warm or have you been getting hit pretty hard with snow?
Morning drive into work 7:30am, its pitch black dark and the moons still out! Brrrr Korea…you are so cold on this early Tuesday morning!
Just another reason we love Korea…
We have rotisserie chicken trucks on the side of the street!
We love passing this truck on our many night walks after work. We often said in the past we were going to stop and pick one up but always forgot or just ate dinner and were way to full to think about food at that point.
However, tonight we did it! Yes! We bought a chicken from the rotisserie truck!
We have to tell you the smell the chicken puts out is just torturously amazingggg and it’s only 7000 won for the whole chicken! They stuff them with a bit of Korean rice and garlic. Plus for free he throws in a nice little pack of water kimchi too.
So, now you are most likely asking yourself, what did we bees make with our chicken?…glad you asked! Actually keeping up with our healthy meal choices we opted for…
Chicken, neutari mushrooms (ëí늏ëČìŻ) and Wild Rice Soup!
Here’s the recipe we modified and threw together tonight.
1 tbsp butter
1 small onion
1 tbsp flour
8 cups (64 oz) fat free low sodium chicken broth
1 cups water
2 large korean chopped carrots (you can use any carrot)
3 garlic cloves
2 celery stalks
1 small cooked chicken
1 4.5 box of Long Grain & Wild Rice mix
1/2 cup Korean white rice
4 oz. neutari mushrooms sliced (you can use shiitake or button mushrooms)
salt and fresh pepper
**(optional) 2 tbsp light sour cream
First, Melt the butter in a large stock pot on medium heat, throw in the onions, sauté until soft but not browned. Next add in the flour and sauté about a minute.
Pour in the chicken broth and water. Throw in the carrots, garlic, celery, and cooked chicken. Cover stock pot and let simmer about 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, add in the box of wild rice mix along with it’s seasoning and white rice too. Throw in your mushrooms, salt and pepper to taste and continue to let simmer on low, covered another 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
** Optional: add in sour cream and more water if too thick, add to taste salt and pepper and serve!
(Remember the long soup sits with rice it will thicken up)
Hope you enjoy as much as we did tonight đ If you are in Korea, get adventurous and try it out! We know you are going to love it!
Happy 2012! It is now the year of the dragon in South Korea. What does the dragon stand for? It all boils down to representing the year of empowerment. (We like that!)
(At 2 pm today we got to watch Time Square drop the ball live in the comfort of our living room).
Since we’ve lived in Korea, we’ve been exposed to many customs and cultures of friends from all over the globe. We’ve learned that all of these cultures have various traditions and superstitions when it comes to the foods served in the first hours or day of the New Year.
The one thing in common all these cultures have is, they all say the best and luckiest of foods to eat, will help you to live long and prosper in the coming year.
Almost all Of these traditions surround foods that symbolize money in the hopes that the New Year will bring promises of new wealth.
Greens are popular because of their similarity to stacks of green paper money. We Bees are from central pennsylvania, our PA Dutch traditional food to eat on New Years Day is, pork and sauerkraut. We throw in some hot dogs (turkey to keep it healthy, and also because Mrs.B can’t stomach normal dogs) and of course mashed potatoes.
When we lived in the south we learned that they too eat a similar meal, but they throw in black-eyed peas. These symbolize the rich wealth of coins.
So what does our meal exactly mean or stand for? Well we’ve grown up being told that the cabbage (sauerkraut) represents money, but the pork also has significance as well, pigs are sturdy strong creatures, they root in the ground with their snouts, it is always in a forward direction, symbolizing a year of progress and moving forward. Yes, it really is as simple as that!
What is your traditional “good luck” food in the New Year? Well, whatever it is, we wish you good fortune in the new year! Cheers, and Happy New Year!