Hotels in Korea

I'm not sure that this constitutes as an I Love Korea post - but I do think that owning a hotel in Korea would be a profitable endeavor.  I may post more pictures later, but I'm not sure the next time we will be staying in a Korean style hotel!

A little information about accommodations:  

Many hotels have western style rooms which include a bed.  But most hotels, pensions, and motels we've stayed in are typically without.  For this reason, the cost of running a hotel seems cheap compared to back home.  Koreans just require a lot less when they aren't staying at home.  And most all of the places we've stayed have had a very nice and helpful owner/managers for most of your needs. 

This is a swanky ski resort we just visited during the off season.  There were still plenty of people around, but we got a kickin room with a kitchenette.  Many times, it's just a square room and a TV.
I love that most everywhere you have to take off your shoes.  This eliminates all the mud, water, and misc crap that you can drag into your home.  In fact, I was teaching a storybook to my kids, and a picture in the book showed a little kid playing in his bedroom.  One of my students asked why he was wearing shoes in the house!  It was so funny - and when I told her why, she looked incredulous.
"But, it gets dirty!"
It does indeed.  I used to hate taking my shoes off at other people's houses.  But I have reformed my ways and now I am a true believer. 

 Most places have house shoes if you want to wear them, and of course, the rooms are heated with floor heaters which makes things nice and cozy.
Most all rooms will have a small closet or a wardrobe which include your bedding.  Fancier places have floor mats and blankets, but most places just have a heavy and or light blanket.  Most pillows are hard so your head is propped up when you're rolling around on the floor.

This is a swanky bathroom that includes a tub.  Please note: no shower curtain.  There is a drain in the floor, and the shower head is lower so you can grab it while you're sitting in the tub.   Many times the tubs come without a stopper - so it's more like a sitting shower.  There are shower shoes, and the towels you are given are hand towel size.  Don't ask me how, but now I'm used to using just a hand towel when I get out of the shower.  Okay, you got me.  I usually use more than one of them!  hahahaha!  Most places supply shampoo, conditioner, soap, body scrub towelette and toothpaste.  These are usually normal size - not travel size.  You can't take them with you!

We actually had a table and chairs, AND a small loveseat!  We were in a resort, and the room was for 8 people!  We had a living room area which is rare.

 This is one of the bedrooms.  It had a basic vanity that contained gel, q-tips, lotion, a brush and comb.  The doors slide shut, and you could fit around 5 or 6 people in here if needed.

The kitchenette had a sink, small fridge, and basic table settings.  Soup is a staple at Korean meals, so there are a lot of bowls and plates for side items.

Utensils include only scissors for cutting all things, ladles and a spatula.  There is one small knife, and always a rice cooker.

 Most places, including my apartment, do not have ovens as most dishes are cooked on the stove top.  Flatware in the small plastic box includes spoons and chopsticks.  Maybe a rice spatula is floating around as well.

Again, most places are just a room, blankets, vanity, and a shower head/toilet.  This was more of a pension style resort room.  There were restaurants around the area, but Korean breakfast, lunch, and dinner are very much the same meal ingredients.  So most people are expected to cook in the rooms verses going out for every meal.

To think of it in a business sense, if I could market this style of motel in the states, my start up costs would be NOTHING! hahahahahaha!  Of course, I haven't looked into this seriously........YET!

I Love Korea #2

Part 2 of my I Love Korea series.  

Koreans love being healthy.  

One of the best things that Koreans do is eat Cuties.  Come winter, every street corner will be occupied by someone selling tons of little mandarin oranges.  These babies come by the boxful (a banana box size) or by the bowl full (which ends up being around 10-12 oranges).  They will sell for around 3000 won - which is about $2 and change (depending on the exchange rate).  They eat these like crazy, and I must say, I do too.  They are the perfect snack.  More perfect than a banana, as they come in their own container, but they are less fragile, and don't mind traveling like bananas.  They are easy to peel, and no one minds the old smell of oranges as much as they do the old smell of bananas.

 Koreans also love taking pills.  I had to go to the doctor recently and I forgot my medical insurance card.  No worries.  My doctor visit (in which I was in and out in 15 minutes) cost me only $3.  I then proceeded to the pharmacy next door.  Many people would say this a no-no, as they are usually more expensive.  Not so, Korea!  My meds, which were portioned out for me, cost me a whopping $4.50.
The only bad thing, is that I'm not sure what I was taking.  But, had I really wondered, I could've just looked everything up online - no problem.  Korea has medical doctors and traditional medicine clinics.  They usually don't freak out if you wonder what's going on, and ask to be treated with more home remedies.  But I must say, they price is right and I love that they put them into little bags for me.  Don't worry, I recycle all the packaging!

Shower Shoes

Koreans usually have shower shoes in every bathroom, to do 2 things:

Prevent Slipping on wet floors, and not getting your Socks Wet.  

Most bathrooms are a combo of toilet, sink, and shower.  They have a drain in the floor, so you can get the room as wet as you want, and it will always drain!  No shower curtains, as most Koreans use a removable shower head, a bucket, and a little stool to bathe.  And I'll tell you, they are adamant about bathing.  There is even a movement for not letting foreigners into the public baths because we don't clean ourselves well enough.  It has something to do with getting all the dead skin off and scrubbing the shit out of yourself for a hour.  I love the public baths, but I watched a woman wash her feet for 40 minutes.  JUST HER FEET!!!!

Anyway, I love the shower shoe.  I've always had a weird foot thing in the shower since I was a kid.  I have to have completely dry feet when I get out - or I feel gross.  So I really like the shower shoe thing.  

 Makali

Korean Rice Wine is wonderful.  It has an effervescent taste and it is just a hint of sweetness.  It's earthy, but does not taste bitter.  I love this rice wine because for 3 reasons:
It's a nice middle between hard alcohol and beer.
It's so smooth, you can drink a lot of it, and you won't get hung over.
Plus one bottle costs $1.50.
Traditionally you would drink this out of a bowl.  You always mix the wine first, not by shaking, but by holding it upside down, and making a lasso movement with your wrist.  But oh so slowly and gently.  Too much will make too many bubbles.  It's not carbonated, it just won't mix properly. 
Delicious.  Best. Booze. EVAR.

Loco Mocos New Look

It has been brought to my attention that the blog looks 'old'.  Anthony mentioned I might spruce it up a bit, so I'm playing around with some templates.  I might go through a few changes before I find the right 'NEW' look for Loco Mocos.

So, we will start with a new series of posts I'd like to to, called
Things I love about Korea.

Everyone seems to remember bad things about a place they have gone to.  Never the good things.  When I go back and read my blogs about Paraguay, it seems there is more ranting and raving, than enjoying and saluting.  So with a few months left here in Korea, I will start to document all the good things I love about Korea, so I won't forget them!  Plus, it's a bonus that Koreans are always taking pictures.  I can snap a shot of anything and not feel awkward, unlike PY.

So here goes:

Things I Love About Korea #1

Vending Machines

Now, there are many different kinds of vending machines here in Korea.  Snacks, Drinks, Ipods, Socks, you name it, Korea has it.  But the great thing about these vending machines is that unlike the US, their food stuffs is dirt cheap.  If you can make a close up, a bottle of water is only 50 cents!  And you can get a mini can of Mountain Dew for 80 cents!  And really, who wants a giant bottle of soda?  I usually end up drinking only half of my Diet Coke, and the other half gets warm while sitting in the giant purse it has to fit in.  When I drink the mini can, I don't hold onto it for later.  I drink it cold, and it is just enough to quench my thirst.  I then put the can in the recycling bin, which are usually positioned next the the machines.

 Please note the water, Mountain Dew, Tropicana, and Lipton Ice Teas - most of which are available in the mini can.  Again, bottled water is never expensive here.  Because....it's......water.

 Not all places, but most places have free water coolers.  This is set up outside a hiking area, but all convenient stores and restaurants offer free water to fill up your water bottles or make instant coffee, ramen noodles, hot tea, or hot cocoa.  Many Koreans snack on cup o noodles type ramen all the time for usually under a dollar.  What a cheap snack item! 

 Although trash cans can be scarce in Korea, when they DO have them, they do it right.  They usually have compartments for tin, plastic, paper and glass.  If the trash can you find isn't separated, don't worry.  The sanitation crews (little old ladies) separate the trash for you with rubber gloves in a back room.  ALL trash is separated in Korea for recycling.

Here are just a few things I love about Korea.  I will continue to post more photos and more I Heart Korea installments. 

Muui-do Island

Summertime around Seoul... You gotta get to the beach.
There's a nice one that's pretty easy to get to from Incheon Airport.
From the airport just take the 22 bus to the ferry.  It takes about 25 minutes.

It will drop you off here:

It's not pretty yet... Go into the building on the right.
 A return ticket for the ferry costs about W3,000.
You can see the island in the background.

The ferry ride is only 5 minutes.  You can see the other side here.

Jump on the island bus when you get off the ferry.  Take it for about 20 minutes to the second stop.  Jump off and pay W2,000 each for beach access.  If you're just staying for the day, that's the final cost.

We stayed for the night, though.  A little beach hut costs around W50,000 for the night.  We payed up, got the key and looked for our hut, number 20.  We found her:

Not too nice...

After a more thorough search we found the new huts:

A lot nicer.

The hosts will give you enough blankets and pillows for 3 or 4 folks.  It was relatively clean, and the windows have screens.  There isn't a fan, though, so it's stuffy on a hot day.

Other than relax and swim, there isn't a whole lot to do on Muiido. 

It's really laid back.

The tide really gets out there:

Next time, I plan to rage it like these guys:

Green Pants: Fashion Staple, or Fashion WTF

I recently bought a pair of these pants on a whim for 5 dollars.  Little did I know, green pants are the new fall fashion craze!

Or, at least, I keep telling myself that!

I wondered what I could wear with these little beauties, and tons of pics popped up!  The scary question is:  are these going to be a trend of 2012, and a couple years from now, will the be more like this?

As I googled hammer pants, I found some disturbing images.  Harem Pants (as they are known in the fashion world) are making a comeback.  Really?  I too, have seen this comeback.  In the form of Poopy Pants TM locomocos

 

I am so confused by this fashion.  If you have ever seen anyone wear these pants, I ask you this:
Didn't it look like they were wearing a diaper?  Or possibly there was a heavy load in and below the crotch?  How could these possibly be comfortable to wear?  What happens if you need to hop on a scooter, run up some stairs to catch the train, jump over a hobo, or even spontaneously do the splits?

I'll stick with my green pants this year.  I'll keep my fingers crossed that they won't go down the hammer road.

Thanks for the memories, Hammer!

Pirate Day in Korea

Avast mateys!
We all know that September 19th is Talk Like a Pirate day, but do Koreans?

I took it upon myself to bring pirate day to my kindergarten class.  I think they liked it.  We made hats, parrots, eye patches and even treasure maps.  They were even talking like pirates!
When I said, "Are ye ready to start class?"
They replied, "Arrrrrrr, teacher!"

Here are some pics of my kids.  The best part of these pics, is looking at how they decorated their pirate hats.  Let's look at these pirate fashions from a kindergartener!

Dorothy has a great example of our parrots made of tissue paper and googley eyes.  Many were put on the shoulders at first, but most of the kids wanted their parrots on their heads for some reason.  I believe this is the Korean - Pirate fusion called Scally-Shui. 

Been is also sporting some hearts on her hat, but as you can see, she has titled her hat 'Been Pirate'.  I tried to tell her to add the 'the' in 'Been the Pirate', but as you can tell by her face, she said, "Blow it out yr bunghole, Captain Teacher" This is a great example of the poor grammar that all pirates still have today.

Tommy has a few bombs and other items of mass destruction on his hat.  And as is evident, he doesn't care a bit about that parrot of his.  He just keeps it under his hat and lets him out when he feels like it.  Arrrr, what a cruel master, he be!

 This be Yoseph the Cyclops pirate.  Sometimes, pirates loose an eye in battle, but Yoseph only started out with one eye.  A fierce sea dog, he lost the one good eye and poor Polly, while fighting over a Pokemon pencil.  That be treasure worth fightin' fer.

Stella may be the fiercest pirate yet.  Many people think there weren't any women pirates, but Stella is here to remind us that there are, and they are a force to be reckoned with.   Stella also reminds you that there is a softer side to pirates.  Pirates don't only love rum and booty, but they love flowers as well.  And DON'T YE BE MESSIN WITH ME FLOWERS!
Please note:  Her parrot is so scared of her, it  sits off her shoulder and hides its eyes.  This is to avoid Stella's death stare.

 Danny is one of those pirates that doesn't like to get dirty.  He is ruthless as the rest of 'em, but prefers destruction in forms of tornadoes - which is on his hat.  Also, he wanted you all to know that pickles are delicious pirate fare.  Not sure why he drew those.....
Anyways, this was the scariest photo I could get out of him.  He didn't want everyone to think he was one of those other pirates.

 Lisa looks like our cutest pirate.  She has her scarf neatly around her neck, her parrot positioned 'just so' on her shoulder, and in case you still didn't know - she drew a princess AND Rilakuma on her hat.  She is by far - the world's cutest pirate.  I took this photo while she was saying, "Arrrrr".  But really it came out more like, "Arrrr wish this scarf came in pink!"

 Kevin is a true Korean pirate.  He has given hair and some skin color to his skull and crossbones, and he is wearing his Tae Kwon Do uniform to celebrate the occasion.  He also likes tornadoes, but rather believes himself to the the Korean Tornado of Tae Kwon Do. 

There you have it.  Alas, I was not able to take any photos of myself during pirate day, but tis better to remain the unseen Captain of this motley crew.  I don't want to be a scallywag and outshine my men (and women).
Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day!

We took a trip over to Guri to celebrate Saint Patty's day. We started at Kimbap Heaven.

Cassie and I got some bibimbap.

Mine is red after a healthy infusion of go chu jong, a thick spicy red pepper paste.

A Korean salad bar: spicy fish cakes, kimchi, seaweed salad and some potato jelly.

The weather has slowly but surely been improving, so we went on a walk by the river.

After a nice stroll, we went to the Guri market. This lady had the freshest lettuce.

A few different veggie pancakes. They were hot off the grill and cost W2,000 each.

The kimchi ajuma had dozens of different pickled veggies, fish and meats.

At the veggie stand:

The fishmonger:

Korea is a sock lover's paradise: