As autumn is fast approaching and the temperature is cooling down, I am excited to share of one of my favorite activities to do right here in Seoul. If you are looking for something educational, active, and fun for the whole family, this one should be definitely on your list of top things to do this fall!
Can family vacation with three young kids be enjoyable and relaxing for the whole family? I mean for the parents too? Once you have kids, your weekends and vacations revolve around the kids activities and their schedule. It really is all about them. Not only are you tired when you plan and put all your energy into entertaining your kids during vacations, you really get no break since they are with you all day and all night. So, I usually need a separate vacation coming back from a vacation. 😆
But I must say, we had the most relaxing vacation this past May in Danang, Vietnam. I know now why it has become one of the most popular vacation destinations from Korea. I had my reservations from our backpacking trip 12 years ago. My husband and I spent one month backpacking in Vietnam when we first got married and left with many bad experiences that I didn't want to ever go back. Surprisingly not only did this trip with the kids change my view about Vietnam but I would highly recommend Vietnam for a family vacation from Korea or from any part of Asia.
Today, I would like to introduce a show that your whole family can enjoy! You may already have heard of Nanta, a "a non-verbal performance integrating Korean traditional Samulnori rhythm". They have been running this show since 1997! The setting takes in the kitchen and the actors use different kitchen tools to make sounds in the traditional Korean Samulnori rhythm. Since it's non-verbal, people of all nationalities and ages can enjoy it. It's funny, energetic, cultural, and entertaining for the whole family. There are many theaters in Seoul and now in Jeju. You can find more information and book your tickets on their website. 👉 www.nanta.co.kr
I can't believe we are already approaching mid year. My social media pages are getting filled with last day of school and graduation pictures. And in Korea, many people prepare to come and go this time of the year. If you are planning on visiting Korea, I highly recommend April-June. It's absolutely gorgeous with a cool spring breeze and colorful flowers in full bloom.
Today, I am excited to share about one of the most impressive places I have visited in Korea, and right now (May to June) is the best time to visit. As you already guessed from my title, Boseong Green Tea Plantation is located in Boseong-gun, 360km south of Seoul in between Mokpo and Yeosu. It takes about 4:30 hours to drive from Seoul. If you would like to go there by train, you can take KTX from Yongsan or Seoul station and transfer at Gwangju-SongJung station to Boseong station. There are public buses from the station that will take you to the plantation. This will take you about 4 hours. Since it's hard to get there, I would recommend you stay for a few days and visit other places nearby as well. Jeollanam-do is full of nature and culture, which makes it one of the best places to experience Korea. If planning for a trip to unknown places is stressful to you or don't have much time to plan, I also recommend tour groups like Goh Travel Korea. I took a trip to Jeollanam-do with Goh Travel Korea which includes Boseong Green Tea Plantation in the itinerary and I posted my experience here. 👇
Hi. I apologize for not updating in awhile. I have to admit writing a blog post and updating consistently is hard work and takes alot of discipline! It's hard maintaining the passion when you start wondering if what your doing is making any difference at all. I guess for me, doing something out of pure enjoyment just for myself is not enough. But recently, a few people reached out to me with encouraging words and inspired me to continue on. So thank you. 🙏
"Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." Proverbs 16:24
Our little girl turned 6 last week and we had a magic themed birthday party! I am going to miss her being 5. I specifically remember enjoying age 5 myself. I love that they can communicate better, they can actually do things like arts and crafts themselves, and are able to do more fun things like swimming or riding a bike and growing more independent. I felt like they had many visible and exciting milestones at age 5. Katherine really excelled in her drawing skills, became a pro at cutting and gluing and creating things using her imagination, she can jump rope more than 10 times, play piano, and loves playing board games.
Happy New Year everyone!
I hope everyone is having a good start to the new year. I can't believe it's almost the end of January and we are well into 2019 now. I hope everything that you hope for and work for will be blessed in 2019 and it'll be a year to remember for all of us making lasting memories.
Hello fall! Fall is here and it's going to pass by before you know it. It's time to take out those cozy blankets and sweaters, and plan your fall activities! To welcome fall, one of the first things we do is go apple picking. You can read our previous apple picking trips here on 👉 GLAMPING AND APPLE PICKING NEAR SEOUL post.
Did you know there is an actual Sangha Farm where Sangha Organic Milk comes from? I thought it was just a brand name, but there is an organic farm where they grow their cows in Gochang, Jeollanamdo. My family was recently invited to Sangha Farm Experience Excursion celebrating their 10 year anniversary. Along with 8 other families, we stayed overnight at the Sangha Farm Village to learn and experience the importance of organic and clean farming. During our stay there, we toured their factories (which we were not allowed to take pictures for the security reasons), visited the farm to milk the cows and feed the animals, baked a cake, learned about lightning bugs, recycling activity for kids, and most of all learned about organic farming.
It's only been little over a month since we've been back from our trip to the States, but it already feels like ages ago. My friend and I wanted to go away for a stress free weekend since both of us have 3 kids and are working moms. We also wanted a little adventure and explore parts of Korea that we haven't been before. Something unique, fun, but stress free. 😅 That's when I found Goh Travel Korea online and booked a trip that included basically everything from transportation, lodging, excursions, and food. We were picked up from a designated spot and as soon as we got on the bus, our trip started. Whether you are visiting Korea, a foreigner working here, or a mom like me that wants to explore more of Korea but don't know where to start or have no time to plan, I highly recommend this tour company, Goh Travel Korea.
Hello!
I am sorry that it's been so long since my last post. It's been hard adjusting back to regular routines since we've been back from visiting the States for two months. Housework and getting back to posting regularly has been especially hard for me since I didn't do any of them over the summer. 😓
My husband and I moved to Seoul right after we got married, settled, and made our second home here for the last 12 years. Our first home is Northern Virginia (NoVA) where both my husband and I grew up, where we met, and both of our families and many friends still reside. I've made friends from all over the world in Korea and envied expats that get to call places like Paris, Sydney, or Hawaii their home and get to visit every summer. Surely, they are much cooler places to visit than the suburbs of Northern Virginia! But even though it would be amazing to vacation in Paris, Sydney, or Hawaii, I have a new found appreciation for Virginia (VA) this summer. NoVA is close to Washington, DC, surrounded by rolling hills, farms and parks, and only 3 hours away from the beach. There are amazing shopping centers, great schools, diverse culture and endless entertainment for the whole family. Sometimes you have to be away from your surroundings to appreciate all it has to offer. I always thought of VA as a boring place growing up, but now that I have a family of my own, VA gets attractive every time we go back. It's also nice having all your family and friends are still living there, especially compared to the transient nature of the expat community in Seoul. VA is our comfort zone, where everything started, and where we will keep going back to.
When the air is clean and weather is nice, the first place I want to go hang out and/or work at are rooftop cafes with a beautiful view. These cafes are also where I take my friends who are visiting Seoul when I show them around. Before I start, I am just a social coffee drinker, so I am not going to review the coffee at these places. I go to these places to enjoy the view mostly and the coffee is an added bonus, but I don't think I ever had a bad cup of coffee at any of these places. And this list is not in any particular order. I love them all!
I am so excited to share my experience at the 장계향문화체험교육원 (JangGyehyang Culture Experience Center) in Gyeongsangbuk-do Yeongyang with you. This center is dedicated to Lady Jang Gye-Hyang 장계향 (1598-1680), the first person to write a cook book in the Korean language. It contains 146 recipes of various Korean food and wine (many of which were her own recipes), in addition to how to store and prepare food to table settings. This is significant since most cooking records were copies of Chinese cookbooks written by men at the time. She was also known as a poet and philanthropist. She was the only daughter of Jang Heung-Hyo, a famous scholar from Andong that she learned from. Eumsil Dimibang Center is located in Yeongyang, DoDeul Village where she was married at the age of 19 to one of her father's students and lived most of her life well into the 80s. Her recipes and traditions are preserved by her descendants and now the center is run by her 13th generation daughter in law, Lady Jo Gwee-Bun.
Did you know there are over 3,000 islands in Korea? Mid-April to beginning of May is the perfect time to visit Cheongsando, one of the five inhabited islands of Jeolla Province to experience the ultimate slow life. It is the home of the 'SLOW WALKING FESTIVAL' in April that provides different nature walks with beautiful views of Cheongsando. Out of all the walks, the #1 course is famous for it's yellow rape flower fields (unfortunate name I know but it's correct) overlooking the ocean and, also where the famous movie, Seopyeonje (서편제) and KBS drama Spring Waltz (봄의 왈츠) were filmed. It takes about 5.5 hours to drive down south from Seoul to Wando without any traffic and from Wando, you have to take a 50 minute ferry ride to Cheongsando. It is not easy to get to, but it's definitely worth the trip if you are in Korea.
Did you know bamboo is not a tree, but grass? 😲 And depending on the species, it could grow up to 98ft tall. If you want to see these 90+ft tall grass in person here in Korea, there is 죽노원, Bamboo Forest in Jeollanam-do Damyang, which is a perfect tranquil retreat 3.5 hours south from Seoul. Maybe it's the color green, maybe it's the sounds of nature, or the breeze blowing through the bamboo leaves and birds chirping, or maybe it's all of above that made walking through the bamboo forest so refreshing. It was definitely a contrast between the hustle and bustle life in Seoul. But enjoying the quiet and peace didn't last long with our three little ones running around. We also had an incident where my husband and I got separated and my husband misplaced his phone after our daughter fell while running down a hill, so I couldn't reach him for awhile. I was a little annoyed since it was like a maze in that forest, so it would've taken forever to find each other without the phone. But luckily we did find each other shortly and nice people returned the phone by leaving it at the ticket booth. Thank you! 🙆 In the midst of our own chaos and stress, it felt good to experience the kindness of a stranger.
Happy spring everyone! Is everyone enjoying the spring flowers?? We were planning on going to see cherry blossoms this weekend, but the weather didn't allow us to take the kids out. It was windy, rainy, cold, and of course the air quality was not healthy. We would've been all miserable being outdoors, trying to squeeze in a family photo with cherry blossoms, and trying to avoid the crowd at the same time. So, we went to a kids cafe that I had an eye on for awhile. It's called Play in Museum in Banpo Hangang Park. It's in one of the floating buildings there.
The pictures on social media looked really nice, but I was hesitant because of the price. I usually take my kids to a kids cafe when the weather is really bad or we have a few hours between events, so we usually wouldn't pay 62,000won (family of 5) for a kids cafe. But I would have to say it was one of the most interactive kids cafes we've been to and the view was definitely a plus. We enjoyed our 2 hours of play including adults, as you can see in the pictures. 😅So in conclusion, I would definitely go back for a play date with one or two of my kids, but maybe not with the whole family. We went on Saturday morning when it opened at 10AM and we had the whole place to ourselves for a good hour and it wasn't too crowded even when we were leaving at 12PM.
It's divided into two floors. First floor has a kitchen, sitting area, trampoline, air pipes, building blocks and pipes, and a party room.
We didn't eat anything here because menu looked expensive and we didn't want to waste time eating, but spend all two hours playing. But food smelled good!
The pictures on social media looked really nice, but I was hesitant because of the price. I usually take my kids to a kids cafe when the weather is really bad or we have a few hours between events, so we usually wouldn't pay 62,000won (family of 5) for a kids cafe. But I would have to say it was one of the most interactive kids cafes we've been to and the view was definitely a plus. We enjoyed our 2 hours of play including adults, as you can see in the pictures. 😅So in conclusion, I would definitely go back for a play date with one or two of my kids, but maybe not with the whole family. We went on Saturday morning when it opened at 10AM and we had the whole place to ourselves for a good hour and it wasn't too crowded even when we were leaving at 12PM.
It's divided into two floors. First floor has a kitchen, sitting area, trampoline, air pipes, building blocks and pipes, and a party room.
We didn't eat anything here because menu looked expensive and we didn't want to waste time eating, but spend all two hours playing. But food smelled good!
Upstairs has the famous ball pool, sandbox type of play area, but instead of sand it's filled with tiny colored rocks, outdoor patio, art studio, and more sitting area.
Look at that view! 👍
Play In Museum
Phone number: 070-7700-4556
- Park at the Banpo Bridge Hangang Park Parking lot (3,000 won for 2 hours)
평일 (Week Day) 14:00 - 20:00
주말 (Weekend) 10:00 - 20:00
월요일 휴관 (Closed on Mondays)
월요일 휴관 (Closed on Mondays)
Weekday 15,000won for 2 hours (Child)
Weekend 18,000won for 2 hours (Child)
4,000won for 2 hours (Adult)
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