Saturday, January 29, 2011

Gangneung Beach

Gangneung is a city in Gangwon-do, on the east coast of South Korea. One of the most famous attractions is the Gangneung Beach or Gyeongpo beach (Gyeongpode). It is well known for its clean white sandy beach, crystal blue sea and beautiful pine forest around, is regarded as the best resort in the east coast in Korea. The Beach is not too far from Sokcho Beach. It's the beach that my hubby loves to visit so even it's already dark, we didn't waste our time not to visit the beautiful beach. Even when he was tired because he drove all day.


Gyeongpo beach is 1.8㎞ long and 1.4㎢ wide. In summer hundreds of thousands of tourists come to enjoy the festivals and events on the beach every day and night. Gyeongpo beach attracts people not only in summer but all the year round. See, it's winter, it's freezing and it's dark but there are still tourists specially lovers who visit the beach.


As soon as you reach the parking lot, you'll see the preserved nature and modern facilities that's why Gyeongpo beach is loved not only by Gangneung citizens but all the visitors as well.



Thursday, January 27, 2011

Lunar New Year and Chuseok Holidays

Nearly 75% of the population in Korea is on the go during the Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year or Seollal) and Chuseok (Thanksgiving) holidays. Millions of people return to their hometowns during these holidays. Imagine Korean people hit the roads at the same time on this special occasion to spend their entire vacation visiting their parents and relatives. It's a concept embedded and ingrained in their thoughts to visit their parents. They think it's the right thing to do. There are no exceptions! They think it's very disrespectful not to!

Special transportation services like extra trains, chartered buses and even army vehicles are put into place during these holidays. There's also a 24-hour live broadcasts of road and traffic conditions. They also put temporary toilets along the congested parts of the highways so they can use them when they are stock in a traffic.

Koreans cook different kinds of side dishes to offer for jessa (ceremonial for the dead). Mostly, the daughter's in law (Myeonori) are in charge of everything. The cooking, cleaning, doing the dishes, etc. Men go to jijilbang or sauna (public bathrooms), sleep, talk to each other or drink alcohols. Only few help the chores. Kids play and receive some money from elders.

Boxes of fruits, toiletries like shampoos and toothpastes, sets of tuna in can, olive oil, seaweeds, healthy foods (ginseng) and medicines, etc. are some of the famous presents during these holidays.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Sokcho Beach

We finally visited Gangwon-do Province. My hubby was right when he said that we needed many days to visit Kangwondo. It took us 5 days and 4 nights driving around the East Coast. Our first destination was Sokcho. Lying north of the 38th parallel, the city belonged to North Korea from 1945 until the end of the Korean War, when the dividing line between the two Korean states was officially altered.

Even if it's winter, we decided to visit Kangwondo while we have time. First, we went to Sokcho Beach. It's my first time to see a beach in winter. It was too cold but enjoyed the beauty of the sea. It's true that the beaches in Kangwondo are awesome.




It's really hard to leave the place even when it's cold. We left the place when we got hunger so we went to Abai Village to have Sundae. Sundae is famous in that village. If you see this Korea-Sokcho-Sinsuro Bridge, then you are close to Abai Village. The Sundae (soondae) are lined-up by the bridge.



Abai Village is also used as scenery for the TV drama "Autumn in My Heart".

This place is where Jun-seo and Eun-seo spent their happy childhood years and when Eun Seo rode on the back of her long missed brother (Jun-seo). This is also where Jun-seo said for the first time "I Love You, Eun-seo". And it is where Jun Seo and Eun Seo spent their last remaining and where Eun Seo died while being carried on his back.

K2

I was watching tv and the woman from Cambodia that has been living here in Korea for many years has finally visited her family back home. She was so happy to see her homeland and she cried when she said that she really missed the smell of her country. I think she's talking about the incense. I've been to Thailand and Cambodia and every houses and buildings smell incense. Even in the street because most people light incense to worship their idols. I don't know what kind of incense they use but I'm not into the smell of that incense. I think this We visited Thailand and Cambodia. k2 herb is much better. Besides, it is a herb so it's also good for our health.

I wonder how much they spend for the incense because they do it everyday. I hope they know this wholesale k2 incense where they can get incense for a very reasonable price. It's cheap and it's 100% made in the USA. It has the lowest guaranteed prices and always free shipping. It is cheap and original. The quality is unmatched by any competitor and satisfaction is guaranteed. It has the widest selection of the most potent blends of K2 incense on the market. It is popular because of its amazing aromas.

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Friday, January 21, 2011

Korean East Coast

Because we are planning for our next trip, we decided to visit some famous attractions here in Korea. We traveled for 4 nights and 5 days. We visited the Korean East Coast. I finally visited Kangwondo Province, the place that I wanted to visit in Korea. It's too far from where I live. It took us around nine hours although we took a rest many times, in fairness, It's really far. First we went to Sokcho, went to the beach and had dinner. Then we went down to Kangnung, Jongdongjin, Donghae, Samchok, Pohang and went home. We were supposed to go down until Pusan but it was too tiring. Besides, it was too cold because it's winter here in Korea and the temperature is minus degree celcius. I didn't wanna get off the car but I had no choice because I wanted to see the beauty of the East Sea.

I had a great time inspite of the freezing weather. I traveled to many countries and my mother in law said that Korea has also amazing places and wonderful sites. I think so! I'll show you the wonderful attractions the next time that I come back here.

I'm looking forward to it

We've just come back from our vacation. We traveled around Asia and we visited five countries in less than two months. We were tired because we moved from one place to another but it was awesome. My hubby said that we may go again next month to go on a trip to another country. This time, I wanna travel in Turkey to see all of the historic places like the Ottoman Empire. It's my dream to visit the famous Anatolian peninsula where Turkey lies on.

Going on a holiday is not fun and interesting if you don't stay in a nice holiday accommodation. It's the most important thing to consider when you go on a trip. Choose the comfortable and cheap accommodation if you want a perfect vacation. You can find the best accommodations at Lycia villa rentals. It is where you can see the Award Winning Resort, the amazing and award winning Hill View Gardens and the spectacular and breathtaking sea views holiday villas.

I'm really looking forward to my next vacation.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Korean Society

In fiercely competitive Korean society, signs play a crucial role, alerting customers to the location and nature of businesses. It's not surprising to see many restaurants, PC rooms, noraebang (karaoke) in the same area. . One must never lose out to a neighbor. It's the basic mentality at work, so if one may not be able to win, at least one will not fall behind.

Nowhere in the world other than Korea would you find as many churches with steeples! As if there's an unspoken agreement, churches occupying space in commercial buildings maintain steeples in slab roofs. Just imagine the sight of three or four steeples on the same rooftop. At night, they transform into a forest of red neon crosses. In fact, one might even ask if the entire city is a graveyard because of the many red crosses. It's another prime example of the Korean temperament that if others do, I must do, too! If you have red neon cross, I will also put one.

Whenever there's a demonstration, there's always someone shaving off all of his or her hair. The demonstrators commonly tie red bandanas around their heads and raise their fists in the air. They also break out the drums and gongs, they follow the head "cheerleader" in movements and they sing songs, dance and shout slogans in unison.

Lead Network

Everyone wants on the lead. When we are leading in a group we are the boss and we manage things on our own but we need the cooperation of others who belong in that group. When we are at work, it's hard to avoid the competition among workers and we can only stay away from it if we are the boss. And if you're the boss you can lead or build your workers relationship. If you are interested, try this Business Loan Leads or personal loan leads where you can help others and earn at the same time.

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Friday, January 14, 2011

Apartment Disease

Korea is covered with sprawling apartment complexes throughout the country, whether it is in a metropolitan area or a rural area. With limited space, if everybody wanted to live in a warm cozy home, what would it take? Although you can't smell fresh soil, apartment would be the only alternative. People live in apartments with the same size, design and layout shared by their neighbors. Given that the Koreans cannot stand falling behind others, anything different immediately catches the eyes of neighbors. Like when you get a wide screen TV, the rumors would then fly all over the apartment complex. It would spread like a plague so fierce competition ensues and other will get wider than your new TV.

People send their kids to all kinds of after-school tutoring programs like English lesson, piano, art, taekwondo, school subject lesson, computer, etc. to keep them ahead of the pack. The Koreans have taken their "equal profit sharing" mentality to a whole new level, which in this modern day has taken on a new name "Apartment disease". If the kid next door goes to tutors after school, they can't just let their child sit at home and play.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

I'm Back to Korea

I came earlier than I expected. I missed my dog, my house, my plants, Korean programs specially drama, korean food and lots of things about Korea except the weather. We changed our flight so we came from our vacation a month earlier. It didn't stop snowing from the night of our arrival until yesterday. At least the weather is good today. It was sunny so some snow melted and it wasn't too cold.

My hubby said if the weather is good next week, we'll go out to see some sightseeings here in Korea. We visited some countries on our vacation so it's time for Korea. I hope it's not too cold or I'd rather stay home and watch tv or talk to my friends online.