All posts tagged: south korea

Donghae | relax east coast style

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The east sea has beautiful blue water and sandy beaches. Our trip was very quick and the days were mostly overcast. But, the peace of being away from Seoul made the trip to sleepy Donghae worth the bus ride out there. where to stay We booked a room at the Hyunjin Tourist Hotel. It was spacious, clean and has lovely staff. This was a picture of our view from the room. It was about a block from the quiet and calm Hanseomhaean Beach. It’s a block a different way to many restaurants and stores. They could not find my reservation so we were upgraded. Terrific end to a moment of panic. I booked through Agoda here. what to do Besides the beach, in particular, Mangsang Beach, there are actually several things to do in this small coastal city. Sea Train: take a ride up and down the east coast to see great views, drink a beer and listen to music Cheongok Cave: a large, cavernous limestone cave in the middle of the ctiy Mokho Harbor: …

Magnolia Bakery | A Review

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Life is short, eat more cupcakes! I have to admit that I get a lot of baked goods as gifts. It’s wonderful to receive them but, at times, there is far too much for me to eat in my singledom. Very often, I share the gifts with friends or coworkers simply because if I bring it home, I will eat every crumb by myself. Then I will be in a happy/sad food coma we all know too well. But these little colorful babies were all mine. You may recognize the name Magnolia from the epic HBO show, Sex and the City, as Miranda and Carrie stuffed their faces with cupcakes in front of the shop and all the women watching swooned at the sugary goodness. The original spot was founded in New York in 1996 and is known for these adorable, pastel cupcakes that are handmade. I even got the “Carrie” cupcake, which is the little pink darling. So exciting! The most important part? They’re delicious. Sugary sweet and a perfect cupcake size. It felt like …

What to Eat | near garosugil

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By far my most popular blog post to date is a little list I made about a year ago called, Garosugil: Making a To-Eat-There List.   The post is simple, I just took pictures of random restaurants and cafes around Sinsa dong that I found one day while aimlessly walking around.  Then I posted them altogether for prosperity. Good thing for me that the area is so popular because it’s really brought a lot of traffic to my little blog! And this is one of my favorite areas to just walk around aimlessly. Yes, the main street is simply atrocious, but just one street over on either side and it becomes just pleasant and fun. So, as a thank you to those who’ve checked out the previous post, I’ve decided to do an update with a new list of restaurants, addresses and maps. You know, helpful things that I didn’t bother to include in the first post.

A Tunnel of Persimmon Wine in Cheongdo

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Let’s just get this out there…the wine tunnel is not what I expected. Let me take you through my dreams of what the wine tunnel would be. There would be staff to greet my friend Phil and I at the  “door” and they would show us to a table in a vast cavern of the tunnel. We would have proper menus and table service. There would be adults in attendance, each quietly enjoying the selection of persimmon wine and it would be glorious. Glorious. You know, more like a vineyard or winery. Now I’ll explain what it was actually like.

Brew 3.14 | A Review

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Saturday night is reserved for pizza. Most nights can be reserved for pizza but I decided that it was Saturday last week. Phil and I headed down to Brew 3.14, which just happens to be owned by the Seoul Eats founder, Daniel Gray. Seoul Eats is the blog for info on all things related to food for us expats.  There are food tours and reviews galore on the page if would like to peruse it. Phil and I didn’t have any pizza off the standard menu, which is quite short but I like that in a restaurant.  We ordered the special, white spinach pizza and a cheese calzone. The pizza is on fire.  The crust is thin and crispy, the ingredients are well paired and I really enjoyed it. We got a bruschetta freebie to dip our crusts into and it tasted fresh and aromatic. It was a really great addition. We washed it down with a couple of craft beer Namsan Pilsners which were de-lish. If I lived on the north side I’d be there once a week. Sadly …

Rubber Duck Project 2014 | Seoul

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The Rubber Duck knows no frontiers, it doesn’t discriminate people and doesn’t have a political connotation. The friendly, floating Rubber Duck has healing properties: it can relieve mondial tensions as well as define them. The rubber duck is soft, friendly and suitable for all ages! Florentijin Hofman: Artist If ever there was an art project with no real message, the Rubber Duck Project is one. And that is not me being hypercritical. The Rubber Duck has one purpose and it does it’s job very well: It makes you happy. As soon as I beheld the giant, yellow duck I was instantly happy. I wasn’t alone. I watched site-goers faces as they came down the hill to the duck’s temporary home and they were just lit up by the friendly duck. It was wonderful. This was something I really needed. It’s been a rough few weeks with too much drama. As soon as I went down to the pond and saw how happy everyone was there, I felt better.

Daegu Arboretum

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What’s better than a festering pile of waste? A park, of course! The Daegu Arboretum used to be a landfill and now its a quaint park with many types of plant life to suit your aesthetic needs. This is a beautiful place to visit in beautiful fall weather.  It’s on the outskirts of Daegu so plan transportation accordingly. It was a bitch to get a cab on the way back into town. More information can be found here: Daegu Arboretum 

Apsan Mountain | Daegu

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Up on top of a mountain I had no idea I was climbing that day, is a very nice view of Daegu City in South Korea. But, you have to get there by cablecar. I have to admit I didn’t really want to do it. I wasn’t prepared to hike up even part of a mountain. I was wearing inappropriate clothing and unsupportive shoes. I was lugging around an overnight bag. And, more importantly,  I am now uber terrified of all safety procedures, measures and faux precautions taken in Korea as there are WAY too many deadly accidents. Right before we went up in our tin-car of terror, 12 poor souls had just died at a concert in Seoul by falling through a street grate to a parking garage under the ground.  It’s all I could think about. I am just not that convinced Korea knows anything about safety. So the trip up was dramatic for me. Luckily it was uneventful.  The view is of the entire city of Daegu and it is quite nice.  It …

Julio’s Mexican Cuisine |A Review|

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After a brief hiatus from updating the blog, I’m back with a food review because, well, they’re the easiest!  I’ve made it my personal mission to get out and explore something new this weekend but, as of now, I’m sat comfy in my bed watching old episodes of Black Books and drinking a heavy dose of coffee to get through writing this simple review :D. I’ve already gone over my affinity for Mexican food in my review for Vatos Tacos. To sum up my Vatos experience: I was disappointed. When I asked for recommendations for other dishes at Vatos I was told to order mostly Korean Fusion Mexican food (like the kimchi fries…fries? At a Mexican place?  Meh.) .  I don’t mind fusion food at all, I cook it often in my own kitchen, but it had left me with no restaurant to call my own Mexican sanctuary. Julio’s is in my neighborhood (sort of) and without realizing it when I planned to go there, it’s owned by the same person who owns Pier 17.  So, I visited both …

Jusangjeolli Cliff | Jeju Island | 주상절리

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Cliffs formed by lava and viewing spots with picturesque oceanscapes…lols… makes Jusaangjolli Cliff a real nice spot to stop on by.  It’s a big tourist destination and it costs 2,000 won to enter. But you will get more than that in beautiful pictures, it’s pretty impressive. You may even be lucky enough to run into one of the famous diving women called Hanyeo, like we did. She was busy slicing and dicing some super fresh abalone. It was pretty amazing to see.  And its a sight that might not be available in the future as culture changes and the average age of these amazing women grows. From the Jeju Weekly:  Hanyeo, called the mothers of the sea, can holds their breath without any equipment and collect marine creatures such as abalone and top shells to sell and feed her family. Hanyeo dive without any equipment for more than 3 minutes. Many people think that the Hanyeo have their own special technique to hold their breath. But it’s not true. Hanyeo have been able to hold their breath for long time due …