Horse Racing in Seoul 11/10/2009
Just when I think I have done about everything there is to do in Seoul a friend tells me about the horse races! After she told me about the races, she decided not to go. (That guilty mom thing.) Well, after much talk, I talked her back into going (that guilty friend thing). So one Saturday in late October Amanda and I boarded a bus with International Women's Club of Seoul and headed to the races! For those of you that know the area, the racetrack is by Seoul Grand Park, AKA - the zoo. To get there by subway, take subway line 4 to Seoul Racecourse Park station, leave by exit 2 and follow the crowd down the covered walkway to the track. Races happen most Saturdays and Sundays from 10:30AM to 5:30PM. The entrance fee to the park is 1,000 won. Just so you know, H1N1 is in full force here in Seoul, so it was no surprise to see these guys at the entrance.....  They were equipped with mask, hand sanitizer and thermometers, checking and squirting those coming into the race park.  A little fall foliage going into the park. We got to hang out in the foreigners lounge. The benefit to sitting in this area is that you get a little extra help....and trust me, we needed a little extra help. (And no, we did not plan our outfits even though we do look cute together!)  We had to laugh when we were handed this "Simple Introduction to Betting on the Horse Races".  We were not sure what this sign was saying to us...  Amanda placing her first bet.  Figuring it all out....  Parading the horses -  And they race...  Since you can bring coolers anywhere you go here in Korea, I made up a batch of Basil-Lime Martini's to share.  Here we are having a little celebration after our horses won!  Amanda and I both did pretty well at the races, especially for not knowing what we were doing. We had a great day and it was fun making new friends! Thanks to the International Women's Club for allowing us to hang with you!  Hiking Namsan Tower With the Kids 09/03/2009
On Sunday, the weather was perfect for a hike, so we gathered the kids and headed for Namsan Tower.  Preparing to hike to the tower. Before we get started, the kids need a drink of water; thank goodness no one was standing in the way of Girls water fountain, the water shot over Boy 3's head and almost hit people sitting on a bench. Oops....  Boy 2 - being the character he is had to get in on the action of the 'shooting' water.....  On the way up to the tower, we took the stairs, and HOLY COW there are a ton of stairs! I wish I had counted them all! All in all the hike to the top was not too exciting, but everyone made it without complaint, Boy 3 made several comments about how many stairs there were, but he kept climbing!  Hubby and Boy 3 at an overview, Boy 3 was terrified that his Daddy was going to drop him. During this picture he was yelling "I don't like it!"  And we made it!!  Once at the top the kids spied the Cold Stone Creamery. And this is how they enjoyed their first break. After a brief stop at the top for ice cream we started down the hill when we happened upon a lady selling dried squid.  In the 16 months we have been here, we have never tried dried squid, then Hubby reminded me that I had told him the next time I saw someone selling dried squid I would try it. Well, personally I do not remember telling him this, but just in case I did, I purchased a bag of that scrumptious looking dried squid. See the rounder ones on the left end, the ones beside the ones in the bag? I got one of those.  Oh baby, I can't wait. Here she is heating it up for me!  Oh boy, I can't wait!! She even cut it up into bite size pieces and put it in a bag.   Here is Girl enjoying her piece! OK, seriously, it wasn't THAT bad! It tasted like fish jerky with a little bit of sweetness to it. It wouldn't take that long to get used to it. However, the kids all agreed that this was much better.....  After eating our way down the hill, we took a trail back down to the bottom. It is hard to believe these next pictures were taken right in the middle of such a busy city!     This was a great way to end summer vacation! Splish & Splash Water Park 08/21/2009
I don't know about you, but I LOVE water parks. However the thought of taking ALL my kids to a water park by myself frightens me. The big one, Boy 1 is fine, no worries there, but the others, OH MY GOODNESS. They are all different levels of swimmers and they all want to do different things, plus Boy 3 thinks he is invincible. I am so afraid of losing one of them, or one going under and no one noticing. Therefore, I have not once taken my kids to a water park here in Korea, which is a shame because there are some great water parks here. So when my friend M came over last week and invited us to Splish & Splash Water park at Camp Humphery's I took her up on the invite. Camp Humphery's is another military post here in Korea. On Tuesday, we met our LARGE group at gate 19 & walked over to the train station where we bought tickets for Pyongtaek. The cost was only 4,200 won per adult & 2,100 won per child. The train ride takes just over an hour and my kids LOVED the train. This was Boy 3's first train ride & let me tell you, he was super EXCITED!! Here we are on the train...you can rearrange your chairs so you can face each other. Coolness.  Once we arrived in Pyongtaek, we took a cab to Camp Humphreys. If you are going, ask the cab driver to take you to K6. (This is the gate you will need to enter through.) Once you arrive, walk through the gate, and it is a pretty straight shot...between buildings, only about a 1-2 minute walk. Here is a picture of our group before entering the park.  Upon entering the park, all my fears were diminished. This is the PERFECT park for small kids!     See the pool in the background of the picture above? The deepest part was only 3 feet deep. I LOVE this place! This park wasn't only for little kids; there were a few things for the bigger kids to do. There were a couple of big water slides, and the high dive......  Girl wants everyone to know she went off the high dive ELEVEN times!!  Boy 2 finally worked up the nerve and went off the high dive 4 time! (I didn't get a picture of him on the high dive though).  Boy 3 couldn't get enough of the water slides.....  The kids and I had such a great day, we can't wait to go back next week. Thanks to Boy 1 for being such a great help to me! (Notice how much taller he is than I am!)      FC Seoul VS.Geongnam 08/19/2009
Saturday night my wonderful husband took me to dinner at one of our favorite "merry-go-round" sushi places, then to see a FC Seoul soccer game!  Upon exiting the subway station, the concessions were out! To our surprise the sales were not kimbap & dried quid, they were selling DUNKIN DONUTS! Now don't get too excited Twin, this is as close as Hubby got to them...taking a picture of me. ;-) (Notice the stadium at the top of the picture?)  I just love the entrance to World Cup Stadium from the subway. Here is a picture as we are going up the escalator.  Getting ready to go in....   One thing I can say about FC Seoul fans is they have S P I R I T ! ! !  I don't know who these guys are, but I love their spirit!   OK, get this....anytime FC Seoul scores, the fans light flares!! Seriously! When I saw the 'fire' I thought for sure this fan was going to get thrown out, but no! They even sell the flares....go figure!   Twin, Hubby ask me to take this picture for you..... This was on the board right after he scored.  In the end, FC Seoul pulls it out!   Lotte World 08/16/2009
 This was our 2nd trip to Lotte World, an amusement park here in Seoul. This park is great for the young and old alike; it is good on rainy or sunny days, hot or cold. Lotte World a pretty good size park that has rides inside and out. Inside is geared more towards the little kids, where outside more towards the big kid in all of us. The day we went it was raining cats and dogs so we stayed inside, this was fine though as we had the three little monkeys with us. This is them on Boy 3's favorite ride.  Having fun while waiting in line.  One thing I love about Korea is that when you go to an amusement park, sporting event, zoo, just about any place, and you are allowed to bring your own food. This is great especially if you have a family our size, or if you have picky eaters. With that being said, we did not take our own food. We love experiencing what Korea has to offer in the food section, (well sometimes) and the prices are so much more reasonable than in the states. For example...Peanut Buttered Roast Squid is only 2,500 won, only about $2 USD! What Peanut buttered Roast Squid? Next time I find this I promise to try it and give you guys a full update, this time we skipped it. Sorry guys.  Peanut Hotdog? We had no idea what this was, but had to try it. Girl LOVES the peanut hotdog. It is just like a corndog, but instead of corn bread on the outside they use peanut bread. Yes, peanuts in the bread, and oh so greasy.   Taco & Burrito set? No thank you, I will pass.  This is why Korean children are so well behaved.   Boy 1 was such a trooper this trip as it was all about the little ones. He helped me so much, and seemed to have a good time doing it. Here they are in the 'hot air balloon'. Boy 1 loves to ride rollercoaster’s, the scarier the better, but put him in this 'hot air balloon' and he wanted to cry. He is so cautious, and over thinks things. He was worried about a cable snapping and us all falling to our deaths. He cracks me up. I love that kid!  This picture was taken from the 'hot air balloon' ride. See the 3 little dots (yellow, blue and orange) just under the blue ledge? Those are the balloons.  We were trying to figure out how to get into the Ball Battle pit....this sign wasn't much help. After a little while I realized it meant the entrance is on level 1.  Boy 3 & Girl on the 'Merry-Go-Barf'.  After hanging out at Lotte World for most of the day, the kids and I headed upstairs to Toys-R-Us for a little shopping! Waaa---hooo!! The kids were totally excited to see this place!  Noryangjin Fish Market 07/22/2009
I'm pretty sure most of you are tired of hearing about the fish market. Sorry about that, but I feel it needs to be mentioned one more time. You see, I really thought my SIL would never in a million years want to go to the fish market. I thought I was going to have to drag her there kicking and screaming. To my surprise, she went willingly, and even seemed to enjoy herself (ok, that's a stretch). She never once pinched her nose to keep the smell away, and the only time she flinched was when she saw a fish monger "taking care" of a fish.  Oh, and check out what we picked up for dinner.....this was heavenly. All this tuna cost 20,000 won. That is only $16 USD. You can't even imagine how fresh this tuna was....there was NO SMELL to it AT ALL, OH BABY!  Paging Dr. Fish...... 07/17/2009
It has been over a year since I have been wanting to meet Dr. Fish and have him nibble on my toes. A couple of days ago while shopping with the in-laws in Osan we ran across Dr. Fish, so I KNEW we had to go inside to meet him, or them, and here they are a whole little tank full of Dr. Fish.....   Doctor fish eat the dead skin off your feet and lower legs, originally they were used in patients with psoriasis, removing the dead skin so new healthy skin could grow. Over time doctor fish have become a popular spa treatment in Japan, South Korea, China, the Netherlands, Singapore, and the list goes on. I couldn't wait to plunge my toes into this tank of fish! As soon as I did, a swarm of little fish came to meet me. HOLY COW, these little guys TICKLE!!!! I have never in my life experienced a tickle like this tickle! As soon as Hubby put his feet in the tank he started laughing like a little school girl, and he wasn't the only one as you can see in the pictures below! How fun is this?!   This is something EVERYONE MUST experience! Oh my goodness it was great! The laughter was contagious. I can only imagine what the salon sounded like after Twin & SIL joined us. I am very thankful we were the only people in the entire place! Once Twin joined it, the pressure was off of us because all the doctor fish swam over to him and started feasting! Twin must have LOADS of dead skin on his feet and legs because they LOVED him!  I must admit, this treatment was a little 'fear factorish', Boy2 and Boy Cousin were both a little freaked out and could not put their feet in...they kept trying, but just could not do it.  We offered the boys 10,000 won to put their feet in for 10 seconds, so finally just as everyone was getting out, and the offer of 10,000 won was about to be taken off the table, Boy 2 did it, he put ONE foot in and keep it there for 10 seconds (while giggling like a little school girl)!  12th Annual Boryeong Mud Festival 07/13/2009
It is exactly what it sounds like, mud, mud, mud and more mud! We've been waiting for over a year to go to this festival, and it was well worth the wait! This was the 12th annual mud festival on Daecheon Beach, about a 2.5 hour drive from Yongsan. We loaded a bus at 7AM on Saturday morning and headed out. If you are looking to go, there are many ways to get there, you can drive, take one of the many tours offered on post (if you are military), or you can take the train or a city bus. If you want to go, check out their website here, to figure it out.  Heading to the festival.....the boys were not excited about dragging this cooler all the way to the beach, however the basil-lime martinis were in that cooler and there was no I was going to let them leave those on the bus! Plus, they were pretty happy to have the cooler when lunch time rolled around.  Here we are getting our 'mud on'!     After we all got our 'mud on'!    Boy 3 being thrown out of the mud pit.  Washing off and playing in the yellow sea....(I know it doesn't look very yellow to me either)       Only to get muddy again!     Hanging with my 'Navy' buddies.   Remember in previous post how I told you the Koreans LOVE our little blondies? Well, the paparazzi was out of control at the mud festival! We couldn't do anything without them being right there. Just check it out in the two pictures below. In the 2nd picture Boy 3 was really working them.   Boy Cousin doing the limbo!    Everyone had a great time at the mud festival. Thanks to the Navy for letting us be the 'token Army family' on their bus! And the last picture I will leave you with is of a typical Korean woman. She is wearing heels & her Prada sunglasses at mud festival! You gotta love Korea!  More Fun Stuff.... 06/19/2009
While my sisters were here we packed in as much as we could - a few of the other things we did were:  Did lots of shopping and eating in Iteawon.    Took K & T on their very first ever subway ride.  Went to the aquarium at the COEX mall.  Went shopping in Osan for a second time. (K had to get another suitcase to take her goods home.)  Went pottery shopping in Yeoju.  And we lost T again, this time she had Boy 3 with her. Here I am finding them...they were lost among all the kimchi pots.  That's it....1 month of fun packed into a very short 10 day vacation. Thanks for visiting T & K!!! Seoul City Bus Tour 06/19/2009
If you live here or are just visiting the Seoul City Bus Tour is something I think everyone should do!! (No, I don't work for the city of Seoul.) The tour is only 10,000 won per person. It runs from 9AM-9PM and there are something like 35 stop on the tour, there is NO WAY you can do everything on this tour in one day. If you want to take the tour, you can catch the bus anywhere you see this bus stop.....  Most likely I will not be standing by the bus stop, but you never know. The stops my sisters and I made were: The War Memorial Namsangol Hanok (traditional Korean house) Village Namsan (Seoul) Tower Changgyeonggung Palace Insa-dong We barely scratched the surface. Here are T & K at the War Memorial.  Namsangol Hanok Traditional Village 1.K & T never found the love for kimchi - they reluctantly agreed to take their picture by kimchi pots. 2. The time capsule at the village. The city of Seoul buried over 600 items in 1994, this (HUGE) time capsule will be dug up in 2394. 3. We lost T for a little while so I had to go find her. I found her scared and crying on a bench near the time capsule. (OK, just kidding, she wasn't crying, but that would have been funny.) I just like this picture of the two of us.    Namsan Tower Some sort of show was going on, T & K were in *LOVE* with this guy!  This is where you 'lock your love' at Namsan...kind of crazy, but cool.    Aren't they cute? Waiting for the bus...  Changgyeonggung Palace By this time the sisters were starting to wear down, but I kept dragging them along anyway.  I just love these next two picture.   Insa-dong was the last stop we made on the tour.  Here are my sisters in front of my favorite little tea house.  And here they are inside the tea house begging me to never make them move again. ;-)  | AuthorProud Army wife and mother of 4 wonderful children. I love to cook, travel, work out and scrapbook life’s adventures when I find the time. We will be living in Yongsan, Korea for 2-3 years. I will be documenting our adventures here. ArchivesNovember 2009 CategoriesAll Friends, Family and Fun reading: |
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