Tag Archives: Tourist

Beaches of Normandy

After spending a few days in Paris, we decided to get out of the city and booked a tour to visit the Normandy D-Day beaches, museum, and American cemetery. The tour was very informative, yet a rather emotional adventure for the both of us.

Landings on the beaches of Normandy took place over 80km of coastline that are divided into the five separate spots of attack. The beaches each named after the local men that fought on them. American forces landed on Omaha and Utah, British troops landed on Sword and Gold and Canadian forces took Juno beach. I thought it was a neat little part of history learning the reasonings behind the names of the beaches.

The weather was perfect that day! The sun was shining and the wind and sea gave off a gentle calming breeze. I remember walking along the coastline among the wild flowers thinking to myself just how beautiful this place was, how serene the countryside was, and how that very beauty of the surroundings made it quite difficult to imagine or comprehend the acts of war that occurred on the very steps we were talking. However seeing the bullet holes in the ceiling of a remaining bunker at Point du Hoc was evidence enough to quickly snap you back to reality and make realize just where you were.

Backpackbees

City Discovery Website HERE
Facebook page HERE

Views from Arc de Triomphe

Paris truly is a walking city. It’s incredibly convenient and very easy to get navigate on foot, or public transportation…well….Unless your iPhone compass gets messed up due to a magnet on your phone case and leads you 5 miles in the wrong direction. Oopsie…. Did that really happen? If you see the Mr. Casually ask him how his 5 mile excursion For his wife to grab some salt went. The below is a screen shot that shows you the spike in steps that we took while in Paris. It was really awesome to see our progress once we got back to Korea just how far we covered on our entire trip.

image

To give our legs a bit of break we did purchase 48 hour hop-on hop-off bus passes through the Big Bus tour company. I know, I know, our friends teased us a bit and gave us some wise cracks on our age, lol we hear you! The hotel helped us arrange the purchase, the closest stop was very convenient to our hotel as well. It actually worked out quite nice because the day we decided to use it, the morning and early afternoon it rained. We liked that there were free headphones to take and grab and plug into and listen to the audio as it provided a guided tour through Paris. This gave us more background and history on different buildings, monuments, etc. We also enjoyed the fact that it was a great way to explore Paris and enjoy the unrestricted views of architectural beauty from the upper deck. We captured some awesome photos and video this way.

image

There is also a Big Bus Tours – Interactive City Guide App. The app has maps for various other countries and tours that you might decide to do in the future as well. Super user-friendly too!

We hopped off the bus and took the underground tunnel up to the Arc de Triomphe. the Arc stands at the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle, also known as the “Place de l’Étoile”, and is located at the western end of the ever popular Champs-Élysées shopping district. We caution not to be that guy that tries to jet across the heavily traffic congested roundabout, there are NO crosswalks. To give some perspective, 12 roads converge here and there is a lot of horns blowing. There are two entrances and exits you can use to directly access to the Arc in the center.

A bit of history we learned about Arc de Triomphe was that it was commissioned by Emperor Napoleon to recognize French soldiers, unfortunately Napoleon never had the opportunity to marvel at it because he died before it was completed.

The Arc de Triomphe is just a magnificent structure. Travel photos and magazines just do not do the monument any justice when showcasing the size. Standing there in person we felt like ants! We just couldn’t get over the size of this monument! It depicts and represents not only history of fallen soldiers and wars, but pure elegance, incredible beauty, and just outstanding design, symmetry and detail.

We purchased our two tickets for a small fee and ascended over 280 round steps up the inside of the monument to the very top. There is an option to take an elevator if need be. Many travelers provide reviews and say that this is a must do and see when visiting Paris and we absolutely agree. Once we stepped outside we were swept away with the 360 degree birds eye view of the city of Paris. Stunning! After seeing the views from high above in the bell towers of Notre Dame de Paris, I thought how could there be any better views left for us? Much to my surprise and delight the views were just as moving and breathtaking.

Backpackbees

YELP reviews on Arc de Triomphe HERE

More information on Arc de Triomphe HERE

More information on booking tickets for the Big Bus HERE

Kuala Lumpur Day 2

Day 2 we woke up, ate breakfast and headed for Batu Caves. For the trip I used places and points of interest that my Uncle recommended from his recent visit to Malaysia, as well as my, “36 Hours Travel Guide” published by Time.

Ever since viewing the photos that my Uncle sent me, I was memorized by Batu Caves, Tamil: பத்து மலை. I knew it had to be on our list to see and do. Luis was our faithful driver and tour guide, he had already seen and done Batu Caves, but decided to join us anyways. All 272 steps up and all 272 steps back down.

In doing some research I learned that, the cave is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India. The limestone forming Batu Caves is estimated to be around 400 million years old. Some of the cave entrances were used as shelters by the indigenous Temuan people a tribe of Orang Asli. To be honest even looking at the photos now I couldn’t get over how small the place made me feel. The cave and steps leading up to it are just massive and endless.

Fortunately because my Uncle had recently visited, he let us in on the secret that once you climb up the first set of steps you might think that you are done, but ohhh no you are not…there are three more sets to climb if you want to get into the entire cave to see it all. I wished I would have remembered to grab my Fitbit off the charger before we had left S.Korea because I know we killed it on steps that day.

Outside of the Cave there the world’s tallest statue of Murugan, a Hindu deity. The status stands 140 ft and cost approximately 24 million Malaysian rupees. Murugan is made of 1550 cubic meters of concrete, 250 tons of steel bars and 300 liters of gold paint brought in from neighboring Thailand. WOW! Again with the feeling ever so small standing below or beside this status on the steps.

In respecting the Batu Caves Temples as a religious place of worship, there is a dress code to follow. Basically anything above the knee is not acceptable. Certainly not my white shorts that match my freakishly tall white legs. I had to pay a small fee to borrow a wrap to cover my legs to be permitted up the steps of the Cave. Once I got back I returned the wrap and was given my fee back.

We took multiple photos of the monkeys that live at the Batu Caves. Let me tell you, these monkeys have a prime setup with all of the tourist in and out of the caves. These little guys look so cute, but in reality these things are crazy! They swoop down so fast and grab anything that you’ve got in your hands. Bags, cameras, food, flowers, all fair game for the monkeys. We witnessed one monkey trying to take a yellow bag from a women and her husband as they tried to leave the caves. The woman made a huge commotion while flailing her arms and yelling, “NO!”. We then saw a small child with her parents carrying food that the monkeys immediately took without any hesitations. I read afterwards that these monkeys can be quite territorial and visitors needed to watch for biting. Again I read this afterwards. HA-HA so if you are visiting now you know before hand.

Backpackbees

Whew! That’s ALOT of steps! Do you think you’d make it up them?

Doenjang Jjigae 된장찌개

The past few days we can really feel the days are getting shorter now. The mornings are darker and the evenings after work the sun is setting much earlier. Soon it will be time to turn the clocks back in the states. Luckily these shorter days here are still fairly mild temperature wise. We are able to get away with a light fleece or light scarf and sweater while being out and about.

Today we got home from our touristy weekend and decided that we needed to warm our souls. What better way than to make some soup! Soup is just so comforting in the fall and winter months. Did we mention this soup is not just any soup… Hands down its one of our all time favorite Korean soups. Think of this soup as Korean comfort in a bowl.

Doenjang Jjigae 된장찌개

We simply cannot help ourselves, we see this savory little number on any menu and ordering it becomes a MUST!

It’s sweet, its spicy, it’s just perfect, not to mention it’s incredibly good for you too.

We’ve been told that most foreigners are turned off by the smell and sight of the traditional soup. We really must be an exception to the rule.

So what is the soup made of? Mom, Dad, are you ready for this? Fermented Korean soybean paste.

Doenjang Jjigae –Korean Soy Bean Paste Stew
Adapted from Tofoodwithluv
Ingredients
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 strips of dried seaweed (kelp)
2 tbsp Korean soy bean paste (doenjang)
2-3 tsp Korean chilli pepper powder (gochugaru)
6  Dried anchovy
5 Cups rice water broth (from the water used to rinse rice, ssal ddeum mul, and use for stew)
1/2 Green onion, thinly sliced
1 Green chilli pepper, sliced
1 Large zucchini, diced
1 small packet tofu diced into cubes
1 pack of enokitake mushrooms

Lets Get Cooking!
Toast the anchovies in your black bowl, Rinse your rice, making sure to save the milky rice water, that you plan to eat as a side with your soup. Add the broth/water to the anchovies, throw in the seaweed and bring to a boil. Boil about 3 minutes. Take out the seaweed and anchovies, discard them. Next mash and stir in the soybean paste into the simmering broth. Add in your chili powder. Cover and bring to a  boil on medium to high heat for 5 minutes. Add onion, chilli peppers and zucchini, boil for 8-10 minutes. Add mushrooms, tofu in the last 2 minutes. Serve immediately with steamed rice.

ENJOY YOUR DOENJANG JJIGAE!