Tag Archives: South Korea

Saturday

Do you ever wake up in the mornings and think how blessed are we to wake up with a view like this? The sun was shining in so big and bright this Saturday morning. Had to snap a picture and share with all of you.

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Enjoyed lunch with a great new friend today at a little restaurant beside our place. We didn’t know what was in store for us. We have walked and drove past this place nearly everyday since first arriving in Korea. At this point we were going off purely what our noses led us to believe.

We plan to go back again after filling our tummys with spicy kimchi filled mandu, a noodle-seafood soup, and some typical Korean sides.

Wowie! The kimchi mandu had a kick to it, but were super delish!

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Going into the meal blindly, does this look like something you would try out?

Sweet Korean Fall Finds

Anyone living or visiting Korea ever tried Bungeoppang (붕어빵) ? When Mrs B arrived in March she immediately started to compile a list of things she wanted to do or try before she ever left Korea. You guessed it, these delightful little fish pastries made the list.

We Bee’s were out an about on Sunday afternoon and we found a vendor selling them! Plus they give you three for 1000 won, STEAL!

So what is Bungeoppang? As you can probably see from the above picture, the outer layer is a batter consistency that has been cooked in a metal fish-shaped iron. The outer layer taste much like a pancake or waffle. Now what you cannot see by looking at the picture is what bungeoppang is filled with. The center is sweet red bean paste, come on… this is Korea…what else would it be filled with? It’s funny to say “sweet” because it’s really not a sickening sweet taste, but rather a mild sweetness. (Struggling to describe the experience in exact words).

YEY! We get to cross another item off the list 🙂 If you are out and about and see a vendor selling these, try it out! Let us know what you think.

Beijing or Bust!

Nihao! nihaoma? (Hello, How are you?) Yes! We Bee’s are writing to you from a different part of Asia! Beijing, China to be exact.

Day One:

We woke up at O-Dark 30 to catch the bus down to Gimpo International Airport. We flew Korean Air (Oh-Yeah buddy!) and were served an inflight lunch that consisted of chicken, rice, and some sides. The flight time was about an hour. The great part about it all is that China is behind Korea in time by an hour.

When we landed we had to make our way through customs and baggage. It took our group a bit longer because we consisted of 15 people and two babies. Once the final person cleared baggage claim we caught our tour bus and got to meet our tour guide Shelly.

Shelly was outstanding and if we ever do any more trips to China she will be the first person that we link up with for suggestions or private tours. Shelly was given her English name when she was much younger because her Chinese name sounds so similar. Shelly spoke excellent English and really knew what Americans were into seeing and trying out while on a trip in China.

Once we left the airport we went directly to grab lunch at San Shi Jian a Cantonese Style restaurant. We took some pictures. We felt that the place was a bit touristy but all and all we enjoyed it. We were excited to be eating real chinese food from China and in China! Come on folks, it’s the little things in life, right?

Driving through downtown Beijing we quickly noticed how clean everything was. The streets were much wider, and people actually obeyed and followed the traffic signals, imagine that! (cough, cough, Korea). Most of the streets are also lined with weeping willow or poplar trees. Shelly stated that on March 12th (known as National Tree planting Day) China will plant tons of these two types of trees because they grow rather quickly and also help to cut down on the yellow dust.

After lunch we took our first tour at the Forbidden City. We were warned to keep our handbags and backpacks close to us when we were in large groups of people due to the pickpocket’s. Luckily our group didn’t encounter any issues with this.

Forbidden City, also known as the Palace Museum, is one of THE have to do when in Beijing destinations. The grounds are enormous covering over 720,000 square meters! There are a total of 9999.5 rooms (Our tour guide told us because only heaven could have 10,000 rooms). Forbidden City was home to the Ming and Qing dynasties.

We were told that construction of the Palace began around 1407, with a million construction workers helping to construct the site. More than 20 Emperors were said to have lived in the Palace and overtime an incredible collection of treasures and artworks were able to be preserved. Sadly, the Palace burnt to the ground when Manchus evaded it in 1644 as well as being looted on a handful of occasions over history. Don’t worry there is still a ton to see.

Our tour guide Shelly said that “forbidden city” translates into a Chinese term 紫禁城- Zījĭnchéng, because ordinary people would be punished by death if they found their way into the palace uninvited. The Forbidden City is also referred to as 故宫 – Gùgōng.

Walking through courtyard after courtyard we ended by coming out of the palace and walking along the moat that is towered by a 10m high red wall. Simply incredible!

After touring Forbidden City we made our way to Tiananmen Square because it serves as the main entrance to Forbidden City. Tianamen Square was built between 1368 and 1644. When it was first built it was referred to as Chengtian Square. The word Chengtian means that the emperor was appointed to govern the nation by Heaven. The square has gone through many changes over the years.

Today Tianamen Square serves as a symbol of China, so much so that it was designed into the Chinese national emblem.

By now our group was lagging behind the tour guide and legs were staring to ache. We loaded up the bus and went to a theater where we got to see a Chinese acrobatic show. Everyone enjoyed the performances. The most impressive act was when 4 motorcycles drove into this small cage one by one and were able to keep driving without running into each other or wrecking. Not the traditional Chinese culture but still very entertaining.

By now the theater was warm and dark, the perfect napping environment. Mrs. B’s eyelids were heavy but impressively she made it through the entire show.

Again, we loaded up our group onto the bus and went to the Rainbow Hotel Restaurant for a famous Chinese dish called the Peking Duck Special. Mr. B and I were very curious to see how the peking duck stacked up against the Korean duck dish. Our guide Shelly tried to explain what the dish would be like and how you were to eat it before getting to the restaurant.

I think at this point the group was just saying, “give me food! I don’t care what it is, i’m just hungry!” ha-ha! The lobby of the Rainbow Hotel as well as the restaurant area were very nice. The service was quick, because our large group had a reservation and pre-ordered the foods.

The peking duck had a pretty crispy skin, fairly juicy meat, and was sliced neatly on the plate. To eat the duck, you take it with the sliced cucumber and hoisin sauce and wrap it in a thin pancake. Honestly and disappointingly we have to report that we were not impressed. To be brutally honest, we would have preferred Korean duck. We have not totally written off the peking duck and if we come back to China we will surely give it another go, just someplace else.

After dinner we checked into the Beijing International Hotel. Everything on our first day was at most 30 minutes away from the next spot on the itinerary. We took the elevator up to the 5th floor where our room was, opened the door, and immediately were drawn to the downtown view of the city, traffic, and lights. We couldn’t have asked for a better room and view!

Day 2:

We cannot believe it’s already day two of our vacation in Beijing! I guess it’s true what they say, time flies when you’re having fun! We had a wake up call from the hotel at 6am. got ready and went downstairs to the hotel restaurant for the breakfast buffet. Outstanding food! There was something there for everyone. Asia is not a breakfasty culture like America. We enjoy our milk cereal, pancakes, eggs, sausage, ham, etc. Nevertheless the restaurant did a great job at covering everything in between.

After breakfast we loaded up the bus and went to a Jade carving museum and factory. Mr. B talked Mrs. B into purchasing a Jade bangle for herself. In China, Jade is said to be a gift from heaven that links earth to it. The green color represents loyalty, and the Chinese culture wears the pieces for good luck to keep them away from harm.

The sales representatives really did a great job telling you how amazing a piece looked up against your skin tone. When parents and children entered into the showroom they would explain how if they bought a bangle they could do as the Chinese parents and give their daughters and sons jade bracelets to protect them. Parents also would give the piece as a symbol to remind the young of their parents’ eternal love and protection.

Once back on the bus the entire group was talking about how much revenue this place must take in. There were busses pulling in and out of the parking lot the entire time we were there. We learned fairly quickly that the Chinese government had some sort of cut into the revenue these places took in when foreigners came for a tour in the city. Pretty smart!!

Eagerly our bus headed for the Great Wall. Again, not much of a drive from where we were when visiting the Jade museum.

For starters, we were told that the month of October is one of the best months to visit the wall, and we arrived with nice fluffy white clouded skies, absolutely perfect temperatures, and a crystal clear view of the wall that was twisting and towering over the mountain ridges. There was a bit of wind, but we embraced it as we started to hike our way up the wall. It was in a word, stunning!

We were told there are sections of the Great Wall that you can take a chairlift or gondola up. Neither of these options were available where we started hiking. The two options to our group only consisted of the easier or harder route of the wall. We Bee’s are glutton for punishment and took the hard route and proudly huffed and puffed our way up and through three towers of the wall.

At last! It felt so good to witness in person something so incredible! We jokingly said that we remembered sitting in an American-Chinese Restaurant looking at the Great Wall map on a placemat never quite imagining that we would actually see it in person! We hiked up, and up, and up, and up. We just kept saying one step at a time. Our Legs were stinging a bit and knees were cracking…but we can finally say, WE DID IT! WE HIKED THE GREAT WALL!! (Special note to Mrs. B’s Grandparents, no flip-flops were worn while hiking).

After the Great Wall we were all beat! At this point our group was ready to relax and take it easy. Shelly our guide made us press on with the itinerary. Next stop was for lunch at the Friendship Store where we enjoyed a mixture of Chinese foods. Once again our group was ready for a feast because of all the energy we used hiking the wall.

After lunch we went to the Summer Palace of the emperors. This is where the royalty used to stay during the high heat seasons. Just when we thought we had seen all the best things that Beijing had to offer we pulled up the Summer Palace. The guide quoted the grounds as, “A masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value.” We would have to agree with our guide, the grounds were breathtaking.

The palace construction started in the 1750’s. Of course the structure was destroyed by a fire and was rebuilt in 1888. Our guide stated that it is said Empress Dowager Cixi used the Summer Palace to embezzle navy funds to reconstruct it into a resort, so she would be able to live out her life there. Unfortunately for her in the 1900’s Summer Palace was attacked yet again, by the Eight Power Allied Force. Afterwards it took China only about two years to recreate the structures.

Today the grounds stretch an area of 742.8 acres. When visiting you will be able to take in over 3,000 man made ancient structures, each one more incredible then the one before. We walked through corridors, pavilions, towers, and the seventeen-arch bridge. The entire vibe of the place is calming and peaceful. Walking around Summer Palace we took in the sun beaming off the lakes smooth waves, and the wind blowing the weeping willow leaves so gently.

After feeling calmed by the Summer Palace we loaded up the bus and were on our way to the Pearl Factory and dinner. There wasn’t much to say about the Peal Factory. We learned a few new things about the pearls that could be purchased in China. There were some beautiful things that some of the group purchased but we Bee’s just weren’t into it. Dinner was at Tai Yi Chun and it was a lot like the first day of the trip. Nothing special to write home about. We even actually missed our Korean cuisine. Funny how that happens, right?

After dinner we went to Wangfujing street. When we were getting off the bus our guide warned us of young girls approaching the single men in the group asking if they wanted to practice english with them. Our guide told us that on a few of her tours young men fell into the trap. These young girls would seem very nice and well educated and would say they want to learn more of the english language and would invite the person to go to cafe or bar, the young man agreed and they took him to a bar near wangfujing. After only one hour they drank a little and they want the young man to pay, the bill ends up being 2000 yuan for a small order of drinks. A total scam! Shocked and half laughing we were walking down the street together and Mrs. B went off to purchase fruit on a stick covered with a clear thick hard sugar. Like Bee’s the young ladies approached single Mr. B and wanted to practice English with him. He told them they better run because Mrs. B was on her way back over. HA HA! Only us!

Wangfujing was a street that our friend David said we absolutely had to try to see for him. So now you are wondering what is so special about this street? Well, for starters it’s a very popular vendor tent lined street where one can eat all sorts of crazy “things”. Starfish, testicles on a stick, scorpions, seahorse, whole crabs, corn, worms, crickets, dumplings, fried ice-cream, noodles, snake, whole coconuts, millipedes, lizards, liver, heart, cotton candy, larvae, etc. Yes, a plethora of crazy odd “foods”. We played it safe only going for the sugary fruit. A few of our daring group members ate the scorpions. Of course we took pictures and got it on film for all of you! After our adventures on Wangfujing street we went back to the hotel and crashed.

Day 3:

Day three of our Beijing adventure we woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed. Kidding, we crawled painfully out of bed! We started the day off with our morning breakfast at the Hotel breakfast buffet. Loaded up the bus and went to the Temple of Heaven.

The Temple of Heaven also known as TianTian is where the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties would make offerings to the heavens and pray for a bountiful harvest. What we enjoyed most about the grounds was the three tiered round shaped building. beatifically colored with a blue tiled roof. We were told that the number three and number nine repetitively recurred in the layout of the design of the building. The number three because it is the square root and has a natural resonance in terms of the beginning, middle and end. The number nine because it was the highest value digit associated with the emperor.

Outside of the park we went into a traditional tea house by the name of Qing Shan Ju. Qing Shan Ju was located out the East gate of the Temple of Heaven. Very close walking proximity. We were treated to a tea tasting session. We ended up purchasing entirely way to much tea. However, we figured we may never get back to China to purchase it again. Sadly, Mrs. B’s fruit tea didn’t make it into the bag…and we paid for it… 🙁

The teas that we sampled and purchased are as follows:

*Ginseng Oolong Tea- For one person, put one teaspoon in the cup, pour in the boiling water and you can reuse 5-6 times throughout that day. The tea is good for memory, energy, and helps prevent kidney issues.

*Pu’er Tea- For one person, use half of the tea piece, pour in the boiling water and you can reuse 7-8 times throughout that day. It is good for loosing weight, lowering blood pressure, blood sugar, high cholesterol, and diabetes.

*Litchi Black Tea- For one person, put one teaspoon, pour in the boiling water and you can reuse 3-4 times throughout the day. It is good for anemia and warming the stomach.

*Jasmine Tea- For one person, put one teaspoon in the cup, pour in the boiling water and you can reuse 3-4 times throughout the day. It is good for your eyes and liver. Jasmine tea is also good for sleeping and headaches.

*Green Tea- For one person, put one teaspoon in the cup, pout in the boiling water and you can reuse 5 times throughout the day. It can clear the mind, and can help prevent cancer.

After the tea splurge we went to the silk quilt factory. We learned the process of how silk is made. Very interesting but we won’t go into any detail on it. We ate lunch at a local restaurant that was Sinchuan Style. Again, nothing major to write home about. We did favor some of the side dishes, again missed our korean cuisine.

After lunch the rest of the day was our free time. We had our guide write our various spots that we were interested in going to see. First we visited a marketplace that was total trademark rip-off. You could purchase any brand under the sun. Incredible how crafty the Chinese are. Oh, and prepare to haggle a price…start off at least with 10% of the asking price. These marketers see you a mile away but stick to your guns and you can walk off with some pretty great deals!

After the marketplace we went to Hard Rock to pick up a keychain and tee-shirt for our dear friend Scott. We continued on with our taxi ride to Hou Hai. Our guide said this is one of her favorite areas to see old Beijing meeting new. At first it didn’t click. We started off very excited with the man made lake area and lights and saw a Starbucks. We just didn’t see how this was old Beijing. Surely we misunderstood? Nevertheless we stumbled upon an awesome stone brick pizza place. We ordered gorgonzola and honey pizza, A-MAZING! Our friends ordered a traditional pizza with meats, veggies, and cheese, E-XCELLENT! The men washed down the meal with a ginger-beer. Mr. B was so impressed and asked the waiter how it was made. He let us in on the secret……come on… we have to save somethings.

After dinner we walked around the lake more, grabbed a huge cotton candy, and walked more. Eventually we came to an area that started to look more like restored traditional Chinese structures. Ahhhhhhh, so this is what Shelly meant by old Beijing meeting new!

After the lake we wanted to see the Olympic Stadium Bird Nest Structure. Sadly, we didn’t make it to the structure in time to see it all lit up. Luckily we snapped pictures during the day of the structure. So that made two things that we didn’t get to accomplish on our Beijing list. The first being catching a rickshaw ride, and the second being seeing the Olympic Stadium up close.

Day 4:

Day four concluded our Beijing adventures in China. We woke up ate breakfast at the hotel and packed our belongings into the bus. We had a wonderful flight back “home” on Korean Air to Gimpo International Airport located back in South Korea. The flight wasn’t packed and it allowed our group to spread out all over the plane.

Hope you enjoyed reading our blog as much as we enjoyed doing and reporting back.

Until our next big trip….. stay tuned for the video to be posted!

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?!

JeJu Day Two Video FINALLY uploaded!

We finally (thanks to Mr. B) were able to create and upload our video from our vacation to JeJu on day two. If you haven’t had the chance to read and check out the blog posting and pictures here is an easy link for you to check it out!

JeJu Island (Day Two)

What is everybody up to this weekend? The Bees are buzzing around Korea in various locations… check back with us soon!

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!

Hiking Soyosan

The weather in South Korea has been changing ever so quickly. Each morning and evening seems just a littler cooler then the day prior. We Bee’s are originally from Central Pennsylvania so we are used to experiencing four seasons. To us there is nothing like being able to go to sleep in the evening with crisp cool fall air creeping in through your bedroom windows. In all the places we have lived or traveled to, we both agree that Pennsylvania has some of the most breathtaking fall scenery. However, we are giving Korea a fair chance and will await to see when the leaves start to turn on the mountains what it has to offer up.

With that being said, today we woke up to another cool September morning here in Dongducheon. We decided that we were going to take advantage of the weather and try to hike our way up and over Soyo mountain located only a few minutes away from our apartment. The weatherman was calling for showers but the sun was still peeking through the clouds and really didn’t look like it was going rain. We decided to take our chances and just go for it.

What we both like about Soyosan is that you park and have to walk up a beautifully tree lined paved road until you reach the base on the mountain. A few posts back you can see where we messed around with the camera and snapped some pictures of us together on this road at night. Along the tree lined road runs a crystal clear stream. During the spring and summer months it is a very popular location for Korean’s to be picnicking and dipping their feet in the water to cool off. Today, as we mentioned is a bit cooler so there were not as many people spotted along the stream.

Before you can continue walking to the very base of the mountain where you begin your hike you have to pay a 3,000 won admission fee. Unless that is, you have have a Dongducheon Korean license, then the admission is FREE!

As you know from prior blog posts we have visited Soyosan numerous times. However, we have never actually hiked the whole trail.Typically we only go up to the Buddhist Jajaeam Temple snap some pictures and turn around. This time…we were ready!

Looking back on the hike we determined that depending on your physical physique you can basically reach the top of the first peak within 30-45 minutes. Now we took our good old sweet time, snapped a ton of pictures, rested for about 45 minutes, and ate some snacks along the trail, so it took us roughly an hour and a half to reach the first peak.

As we mentioned, we snapped tons of pictures and they are included within the post at the top. We also snapped pictures for various Korean couples along the way too! We met a sweet couple that insisted we try their Korean cake. Mr’s B enjoyed it but Mr. B was not a fan. We encountered many couples and each tried to share whatever they had with us including Makkoli the Korean-rice wine. Uhhhh yeahhhh we didn’t tell you that we were very bad and didn’t start the morning off right with a nice hearty breakfast… wine would have made that hike really interesting.

After reaching the first peak we were pumped and moved fairly quickly to the next two peaks. Along the way in between each peak there are areas where you have to crawl over some rocks, use a rope to guide you along narrow stretches of trail, and go up or down a lot of stairs.

Because of the time and our plans to host dinner for some friends we had to get a move on it and truck it back down the mountain, and unfortunately that meant missing the last peak. Again, looking back we should have just hiked the last peak because the path we took to get back down the mountain was insane! The path was totally washed out from all the rain and flooding South Korea experienced in July and the trail was full of rocks that just tumbled down the side of the mountain. We were part of the way down and there wasn’t a person in sight. Ms. B started to say what in the world were we thinking?! How did we get ourselves into the mess… It was a bit to late to turn back so we just had to commit to the rest of the hike down. It ended up taking us a little over a hour just to get down because of the unstableness of the rocks and lack of actual tail. At last we spotted some Korean hikers climbing their way up the path and we heard a family not to far behind us. Okay, we were not the only crazy people on this trail…Mrs. B’s feeling better. Well, that was until Mr. B said make sure you are watching for snakes! Snakes?! Ah! that’s not even a thought that crossed my mind as I was crawling down the rocks (Mr’s B.) Luckily, no snakes were spotted, the rocks didn’t crumble down and crush us, and we eventually made it. Mr. B would like to think this is all due to his advise of “three points of contact”. Mrs. B would like to think it is due to her uncanny direction capabilities ha ha! Nevertheless, WE MADE IT! In one piece… well, not quite, Mrs. B ended up falling due to sliding on the steep slick dirt and catching herself by putting all her weight on her arm and shoulder (she’s a bit sore). Mr. B’s knee gave out a few times on the rocks (needless to say he will definitely be feeling that in the morning). But again, WE MADE IT and that is all that matters!

We understand if you are dreading the initial thought of a hike or might be unsure about trying it after reading over our post. In all seriousness we had a blast and we promises that the picturesque views overlooking the US Army base Camp Casey are worth the hike alone! Not to mention spotting multiple Korean war era bunkers (how cool is that!)!

Cheers to all the baked ziti with sausage and caprese that we will consume tonight without feeling guilty!

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!