FOOD

I have been in heaven over here, eating as many new things as I possibly can.  We have both been enjoying our new diets. There are definitely things that we miss dearly.  I think cheese is at the top of both of our lists. Don't get us wrong we've been eating cheese here, its just not the same...plus its super expensive. I would also pay A LOT of wons for a cup of Orange Pekoe tea, which seems to be the only thing that we have not been able to find.  Generally, if we want something, we are able to get it as long as we're willing to pay the exponentially higher prices here.  With that said, the meat here is SO good and we can scoop it up after work for reduced prices right before grocery stores close. Ben usually sticks to chicken and I usually go the fish route.  We routinely eat out at least once a day, as I've mentioned, its cheaper to do so if you're not eating at Western restaurants.  Many places only offer dishes that are shared so we can only order one thing.  We alternate choosing ... for the most part... let's just say we've had a lot of chicken.

Most restaurants that sell fish have these tanks out front...so you know the food is fresh!

This is Galbi, or Korean BBQ, probably the most popular style of eating out.  First is beef, second is pork and third is chicken.  The gentlemen with Ben are players from his baseball team.

Lots of soups!

Chicken overload.

This was seriously amazing!  The literal translation from the Korean name is "Soil Duck".  A friend of a friend took us for this fabulous meal that we had to order in advance.  The ducks are buried underground and a fire is built over them and that is how they are cooked for about 3 hours.  Delicious and weird and cool.

And of course we treat ourselves.

  XOXOXOOXXO :)

Our first Jimjilbang and the DMZ

Last weekend, we met up with our friend Scott from Guelph.  He's been in Busan teaching since September.  We joined him and his coworkers/friends a little north of us and we stayed at Itaewan Land, a Jimjilbang.   A Jimjilbang is essentially a spa, a public bath house and a hotel combined.  A 15 hour pass costs about $7.  Included in this pass are the mandatory change of clothes, 2 towels and a mat to sleep on.  We had opted to upgrade to rooms, 2 double beds and 2 single beds cost everyone about $10 a night and we were able to come and go as we pleased, unlike with the 15 hour pass.
Much of Itaewan Land was co-ed, including where we slept, ate and various other activity rooms.  If you are in the building, shoes are removed immediately and the baggy clothes provided must be worn... unless you are in the spa/pool areas.  In these places, it is not co-ed and you are expected to be naked.  Picture a very large and beautiful room with several pools and fountains.  The pools range from scalding hot to ice cold.  There are small shops with clothing(to be worn later???), beverages and a variety of other necessities and novelties.  Staff are wearing clothing, customers are not.  One can indulge in many traditional and non traditional spa treatments for very, very reasonable prices.  Ben chose to have a sports massage, I mostly just lounged around.  We both really enjoyed it.  Jimjilbangs are everywhere here and we can't wait to check out all of the other ones.
Obviously, we didn't get many pictures from our stay. No pockets for cameras...

It was a 4 day weekend, thanks to Children's Day and Buddha's Birthday.  On the Saturday we got up early, hopped on a bus and headed North for the DMZ.  We opted for a half day tour (still too long for some of us...) and we got as close as we'll probably ever be to being in North Korea.  We visited a total of 4 sites including museums of sorts, shrines, lookouts and the most interesting (and scary) ...one of the attempted infiltration tunnels.
Tunnel 3 is about 2 km long, 2 meters high, 2 meters wide and 72 meters (240 feet) under ground.  The North Koreans deny digging this tunnel, but you will see that the South Koreans have kindly marked the dynamite holes with yellow paint, which proves that the tunnel was build from the North to the South.
I personally hated every meter of it, but Ben was very keen and now we can say we've done it. For me, the lookout was the coolest part.  Travel up a mountain at the border and put 50 cents into binoculars and snoop around.  Theres a VERY strict no photo policy at this point.   Guards are everywhere taking cameras.

 The look out

We survived!  HAPPY MOTHERS DAY !! xoxoxo

Home, Sweet Korea

EVERYONE has been super curious about our place.  I figured it was time to give the grand tour.  When we were promised a furnished apartment I guess that basically meant that they were giving us a bed and a washing machine..that's it.  BUT now that we've made it a little more comfortable and functional ...take a look!
Some things we've purchased through Bundang Buy and Sell's facebook page...other things we've found on the streets on garbage day.  We are in a very wealthy neighbourhood and theres always the potential for some good finds.

Grand Foyer

Master/Guest Bath

Open Concept: Living Room/Kitchen

Formal Dining Area

Master Bedroom

This apartment style is called an Offictel. This is the most popular style of apartment to live in in Korea.  It is not uncommon for families to live in this size of space. They would just sleep on rolled up memory foam, from what I've been told.

We've just been pretending its been an extended stay in a hotel...so far so good!