The Day Started with Puke...........

April 16th, 2011~

Alarm sounds.  I drag myself out of bed.  Start the coffee.  Turn on the computer.  Talk on Facebook for an hour.  Wake the kids.  Wake the husband.  I pack necessities for today's planned trip.  We are going to a Buddhist Temple and a Korean king's grave today.

Everyone is dragging. Yes, it's a Saturday. One should not have to be up at 6:00am on a weekend, but we had to be at Osan Air Force Base by 8:30am or we'd miss our bus. The husband decides to urk me at the last minute and makes a side trip to his office to check something or get something or God knows what else. Then as we are heading out the USAG Humphrey's Main Gate, and on our way, my husband decides to drive like Grandma Moses.

And why is every freakin' Korean up on a Saturday morning? There was traffic everywhere. Then it hits me....duh!...Korean kids still have school...on a Saturday. So every middle and high school kid is waiting at bus stops for there ride.

So the faster I wanted to get to Osan, the slower it became. Of course, Murphey's Law kicked in and we hit every damn red light on our way there.....when every other time we've ever driven to Osan, the lights always stayed green. Ugh!

We arrive but ended up parking farther than expected because, as our life always has unexplained happenings, Osan had construction and blocked off the street we needed to take. Grr!

We head to the bus that is awaiting us. Of course, we are one of the last to arrive. Lauren and I got front row seats that were reserved for the guides, but since I had a 5 year old, they were kind to keep us seated together. My husband and two other children had to sit wherever there was available seating. We are off.....

I buckle Lauren and myself in. Dig out my iPod and put those on. Sit back...relax...and.....

All of sudden there is a commotion. Not even 5 minutes out of the Osan gate towards our destination....than none other than a tide of bile runs toward the front of the bus. What?!! "Oh, God! Don't tell me Lauren threw up," I thought. I'm still plugged into my iPod and can't hear what is being said but hands are flailing, mouths are covered, and the tour guide is yelling at the driver. We pull over.

I take out my earphones. I ask Lauren if she threw up as I didn't see the incident occur. She tells me, "Uh-uh. The man did it." As there are more men than women on the bus, I have no clue who the culprit is. Everyone is moaning and groaning, some giggling, some gagging. I finally narrow in on the suspect. A grown black man sitting with his buddy. His buddy laughing hysterically while holding a video camera that took evidence of the "accident." Poor guy was embarrassed beyond belief.

The next 10 minutes of our temporary stop was of the poor Korean bus driver mopping up puke and sputtering Korean curses at the sick culprit. And the poor Korean tour guide trying to calm the bus driver down. Our day couldn't have started off more perfectly......

Again, we start off.  We made our way through Osan, Suwon, and Seoul.....and then Yangpyeong.

We finally arrive to Yongmunsa (or Yongmun Temple).

As all of us were Christian, none of us went inside the temples.  Not to offend anyone, most of us decided to take pictures from outside.

The day was quite perfect with the exception of the morning adventures. The air was cool and the sun was warm. Not a single cloud in the sky. And the mountains sparkled.....

This was our first trip to a temple. We've never seen one except in movies and dramas. I have to say it was quite serene with the exception of all the visitor traffic. Weekends are a tourist dead-end. Also, an unexpected thing occurred at the temples. I shouldn't say thing, per-se, but there is this wonderful smell that animates itself out of the prayer temples. Those wonderful sticks of wonderful scent. Incense! You will drown in the smells.

We finally make our way back down the mountain.  Now there is something that was weird that we didn't take pictures of....was the amusement park at the bottom.  I died laughing.  The pictures we have of Buddhist Temples in our heads does not include a water slide, rollercoaster, and/or ferris wheel.  But hey, they gotta make money some how, right?

Since we are a tour, our guides already had our restaurant chosen and how much we'd spend as a whole. 10,000 won for a bowl of bulgogi, banchan (side dishes), and soda. Easy enough. Except...I'm not big on bulgogi. Yeah, I'm a weird one. Most people who are not Korean love this stuff. I'm the exception to that rule. It was good as it was.....the side dishes were the ace for me.

The Yongmunsa tour finally came to an end.  Our next destination....King Sejong's Tomb.

To Drive Or Not To Drive.....That Is The Question.

Today started off like every morning.  I got up early.  Seriously, it wasn't even 5am yet.  I even went to bed way past my bed time.  And dang if I don't get up even earlier than normal for me.  Ugh!  But the weird thing is.....I wasn't tired.

Anyway, this isn't about my weird sleep habits or weird wake-up periods. 

After Bobby got up, we talked about going to Osan.  By the big, bad truck.  Not bus.  My beloved gold Dodge was getting to go for a drive other than around here.  I think we talked, argued, talked, argued for an hour.  The thing is.....the fear of getting lost.  Korean signs are in English.  But the way they are set up....are NOT like in the States. 

Again, we have a map but it only has the main highways marked.  We have directions that Bobby print out from some website.  Then there is Eric.  He showed us on the map the direction his school bus takes but it takes roads that aren't marked.  That route I soooo wanted to take because it was obviously a "scenic" route.  Many historical markers.....but Bobby was against it since the smaller roads weren't marked.  He didn't trust Eric's directions.  I say let's get lost and find our way home.  If we have to use hand signs, garbled Korean, and end up looking like monkeys, it would have been an experience to remember.  LOL!

In the end, we used the directions that Bobby printed from the internet. In actuality, the directions pretty much followed the Humphrey's Kyung Dong Tour Bus route. So the land markers were easy for us to follow to get there.


The highways seem okay. It's around town that is scary. First, you have to worry about the psycho Korean drivers. They are no joke. I should have had my camera rolling. At stop signs/stop lights, cars will weave around you and take off.....even though the light is red. We saw a delivery guy on a scooter pass us....plus the two cars in front of us....at a red light....and take a left turn. Not a right turn on red...but a left turn on red. He just revved up his little delivery scooter and went on his way. We came to another red light. I'll admit is was a pretty, long red light.....the Bongo trucks across the street from us just zoomed across when both of the cross section lights were GREEN. Let's talk about passing a slower vehicle in the center lane. Bobby passed him and was getting back in the center lane when another vehicle doing the same thing on the other side of the slower vehicle decided to do this. We almost collided. That vehicle won. Bobby is NOT an aggressive driver. He gave way. *sigh*
By the skin of our teeth, we made it.  I'll admit....once we went through the Osan gate, a sigh of relief passed through us.

We did the BX/PX thing.  Then drove to the main gate, parked and walked out the gate to the Songtan market area.  First things first.....FOOD!  We went straight to the restaurant we went to last time.  After this last meal, I think I love it (the restaurant) even more!  Let me say, I ordered a nice hot and spicy stew.  It was a beef broth base.  Of course, it was red (meaning heavy on the gochujang-hot red pepper paste).  The whole entire time, my nose ran like it was in a marathon.  Sinuses......clear.  I won't lie....I love, love, love Korean soups and stews.  I choose it over the heavier stuff like bulgogi or yaki mandu.

Yukgaejang
A beef and vegetable soup/stew.
This is what I ate.  Totally delicious.

Naengmyun
Matthew actually ordered ramyun but got this instead.  He wasn't a happy camper.  I tried it and was actually surprised at how good it was.  This is not what you would expect but a bowl of noodles served with ICE!  It's a cold soup but it wasn't bad at all.

Hot Bulgogi
Eric's no fail.  Orders it everytime!

The lettuce and different kimchi for the samgyeopsal.

Side dishes
The always served cabbage kimchi.  Spicy green beans.  Spicy pickles.

Samgyeopsal
Pork grilled and wrapped in lettuce leaves with sliced garlic, rice, kimchi, or side dish of your choice.  Dipped in gochujang, doenjang, sesame oil, and/or gireumjang.

More side dishes
Stuffed clams, some mayonnaise fruit salad thing that I will never like (just wasn't my taste), and some vegetable and seafoood mixed into cut omelets.

Egg drop soup and rice
Lauren doesn't like anything.  Today, it had to be McD's or else.  So we ordered this for her in case she got hungry while we ate.


After our awesome lunch, we were on our way out and as were were paying our tab.......the owner gave us all hugs.  Not those "arms around and light tap on the back" hugs.  Oh no!  She gave us all full blown bear hugs.  She is the most sweetest thing EVER.  The next time we go there and WE WILL GO BACK.....I will get a picture of the beautiful, elderly woman.  Bobby says she was there 10 years ago when he was last stationed in Korea.  And I must say, as she hugged each and every one of us, I thought to myself...."I love Korea!"  If anyone ever goes to Songtan......it's a must that you have to go to this place.  Wonderful food, wonderful atmosphere, and wonderful hospitality!