Here’s a fast food place with a difference: You can eat your hotdog and make a wish! The walls are covered in notes with customers’ hopes and dreams. We stumbled over it this weekend in Chuncheon. (one hour away from Seoul by ITX)
소원성취 소원 (so-won) means ‘wish’ 성취 (song-chwi) means ‘fulfil’ Continue reading “Is this the cutest fast food shop? Eat a hotdog and make a wish!” »
As a new week begins, I always ask my students “what did you do at the weekend?” So I’ll answer my own question for a change! We went to Yangyang county which is on the east coast of Korea – about three and a half hours away from Seoul by express bus. Visitors go to Yangyang to hike in the Seoraksan mountains, chill out on the beaches, or visit nearby temples such as Naksansa – an impressive temple right on the sea cliffs looking out over the East Sea.
Continue reading “What did you do at the weekend? I went to Yangyang.” »
Here are some bits and pieces I found interesting on our walk around Gunsan on a very windy Saturday in November.
Along the waterfront rope is wrapped around and around like noodles. The bracing wind reminds me of home. Continue reading “Trip to Gunsan part 2” »
Last weekend we decided it was time to get out of Seoul and go on an overnight trip. But we wanted to go somewhere we hadn’t been before, somewhere not too far away, and somewhere we could get to easily (within 3 hours) from the express bus terminal. After looking at the map we decided on Gunsan. Yes, some of the information I found on the Internet said things like “there is nothing there” but undeterred we planned our trip anyway.
As food is usually first on my agenda I wanted to plan nice places to eat. We discovered that in Gunsan there is a ‘very famous’ noodle shop called 복성루 (pok-song-ru), a Chinese Korean restaurant which specialises in 짬뽕 (jampong) – Chinese style spicy seafood noodle soup. So we planned to go there on arrival as it’s near the bus station. The very first bread shop that opened in Korea is also located in the city so I thought we might pop in there. And we wanted to try some of the local delicacies which include raw crab marinated in soy sauce as well as sashimi – the city is a port after all. Continue reading “Trip to Gunsan part 1” »
Usually we have to hike up a mountain if we want to have a look around a temple in Korea. But not in the case of Silleuksa temple in Yeoju – this is the only temple in Korea that is by the riverside. Yeoju is about an hour away from Seoul by bus and there are other places of historical interest that can be seen in a day trip including the tomb of King Sejong the Great and the birthplace of Empress Myeongseong.
It’s thought that Silleuksa was built by Monk Wonhyo (around A.D. 580) during the reign of King Jinpyeong in the Silla Period – anyway, it’s very old. Silleuksa was made a prayer sanctuary to the royal mausoleum of King Sejong the Great. It cost us 2,200 won each to get in (a lot more expensive than the entrance fee to King Sejong’s tomb) and a group of adjummas arrived at the same time as us and were also muttering over the pricey entrance fee..
The tomb of King Sejong the Great (Yoengneung) is in Yeoju, about an hour away from Seoul by bus. We went last weekend and even though it was coming to the end of March, it was still cold – minus 2 and very windy. It even snowed for a bit on the way too. But while we were there the sun came out. It seems to be a popular place for school / church trips and there was a constant stream of people arriving – families, adjummas, groups of kids. And as we were leaving, a huge (and I mean HUGE) party of children and adults with megaphones arrived. But we were on our way out by then. Good timing.
The tomb is up on a hill surrounded by pine trees following geomantic rules Continue reading “Tomb of King Sejong the Great in Yeoju” »
We had another of our eating extravaganzas in Jeonju last weekend. Jeonju is one of my favourite places to visit in Korea – It’s so calm and such a contrast to Seoul and I appreciate this while I’m there.
Jeonju is very famous for its food so I always look forward to eating there! This time we naturally had the typical must eat Jeonju dishes – kong namul kukbap 콩나물 국밥 bean sprout soup and bibimbap, but we also went for a traditional set dinner…
