I Kid You Not!

This is a picture of a map I saw in Kangwondo. Apparently, there's a cafe called "The Bicycle Thief" there. Thoughts?

Jaebudo.

Weekends are, and have always been a day for adventure. Saturday usually begins with a breakfast eaten either at home, or along the snail-paced traffic leading to the place we fancy.

One particular Saturday in June, we included a new stop in our weekend itinerary: Jaebudo. We basked in the sun all afternoon, got dirty and played in the mud till the sunset came. Here's how Jaebudo looks like.

We stayed until about 8 pm, not minding the mosquitoes and the darkness of the vast open space. Our adventure ended in a Kalguksu restaurant and it turned out to be the best hand-made Kalguksu we've ever tasted! I wasn't able to take photos of it, however I do have a photo that looks a lot like it. It was from our visit to Daebudo. Read my old post here if you've got plenty of time to kill.

Cravings.

I'm craving for some patpingsu!

Gangchon's Gugok Falls.

After our mini-food adventure in Chuncheon, we made a quick stop to Gangchon. It's not really a happening place and there's nothing much you could do there. But there's a place there that we like to visit called Gugok Falls. It takes about an half an hour from Gangchon station by car, but if you're feeling more adventurous, you can either hike or rent an ATV or scooter to get there. The view along the way is quite random; the usual clusters of mountains, old countryside villages, and rice fields.

Gugok Falls is located in the midst of a big park. It gets pretty crowded here, so if you're looking for some peace and quiet, then this place might not be for you. But if you're cool with hordes of tourists, noisy kids and plenty of ATV/scooter riding guys out to impress their girlfriends then you'll probably enjoy this place.

A 10 - minute hike is all you need to see the falls. Here's how it looks..

Chuncheon's Dalk Galbi Street.

Whenever I think about Chuncheon, it's hard not to associate it with food. Sure we all know about Chuncheon's local specialty dish called Dalk Galbi, but who knew there's a street there named after it?

All the restaurants serve nothing but Dalk Galbi.

All the restaurants look promising, but this particular restaurant caught my eye.

What's great about this restaurant is that it was featured in a local and foreign TV show... It also appeared in newspapers saying it's the best...

This is how it looks when they serve it.

And this is how it looks right after cooking... It was absolutely delicious!



But their serving is a bit small so we ordered another dish.. This time it was Makguksu.. A spicy noodle dish that's also famous in the area.

The next time you visit Chuncheon, try visiting Dalk Galbi street. It sure as hell worth the travel.

Total "Eclipse" Of My Heart.

So yesterday kind of started off awfully. I had a massive headache and was absolutely exhausted for no reason. I take it as a result of not eating enough, trying to make amends for all that crap I ate the past few days. But on the upside, I found myself in a better mood later that evening. Of course, why wouldn't I be? I got to see Edward Cullen's immortal hotness once again, and that ought to place a positive spin on whatever crap I've been feeling.

Chris read some pretty bad reviews about it and was absolutely dreading to see it with me. But I simply can't find it in me to care about such reviews, after all critics can say whatever they want, the movie will still be a hit and bite them in their sorry asses. But I'm gonna be honest, the movie sucked.... big time. The other annoying part was Chris's non stop whining, but thank the Lord junk foods were invented for it silenced his cynical mouth.

I find it retarded though that as much as I hate all the absurdities and awkwardness of the plot, I really did enjoy it. But I'm not gonna go as far as recommending it to you guys. Like I said, the movie is ridiculously absurd, and unless you're a die hard fan, it'll be hard to stay glued to your seat. In my case, all I needed was a pasty Edward Cullen (and dare I say, a shirtless Jacob Black) to get my blood pumping and mouth drooling for the entire 2 hours!

That's all for now. I've got to head out to the grocery to buy a couple of things (I'm making pasta for dinner). Hope you all have great weekend!!!

Gapyeong, Baby!

I mentioned in my previous post that Chris and I celebrated our anniversary. The day itself we spent in Bundang Cafe Village and the other part we spent in Gapyeong. That's right.. Gapyeong again. I lost count how many times I visited this place, but it was only this time that I really got to enjoy it to the hilt. It was a short 2-day trip, but a really nice one. We stayed at this beautiful wooden pension in the middle of the woods. Here's how it looks.




At the back of the pension, there's a huge meadow bordered by tall pine trees and cascading mountains. There are also wild bushes and plenty of colorful flowers surrounding it (which reminds me of "Twilight" by the way). There are no words to articulately describe how beautiful it is over there.




There's also a small stream at the side of meadow.



The meadow, the stream, the pine trees and wildflowers are all amazing, but those are just the tip of the iceberg. Not far from the pension, there is a huge river called Noksu and we had a blast there despite the water being icy cold.

We spent the rest of the day in the river getting wet and watching people catch fish. When we grew hungry, we headed back to the pension to eat dinner. Along the way, we passed by an old lady selling raspberries and Chris bought some for me. It was the first time I tasted fresh raspberries, I only had frozen ones before.. ^^:

As soon as we got back, Chris started grilling the meat we bought from the meat shop earlier that day. **The cylindrical white ones are rice cakes or what they all tteok here.

This is the best way to eat it: get some lettuce, put the meat in there, some kimchi, a thin slice of garlic and ssamjang. Wrap it all together and pop it in your mouth. .. DELICIOUS!

Camping is no fun without a kick of alcohol right? That night we had some chilled makgeolli and dongdongju...

I'm gonna write more about our amazing adventure later. Meanwhile, I got to get ready cause Chris is coming back soon and we're gonna watch ECLIPSE later. God I can't wait!

Have a great one folks!

P.S. Sorry if my writing is a bit off today. I'm still a little high from the Kaldereta I tasted earlier. I'll do better next time, promise.

What's For Lunch?!

... Kaldereta!!!

Yesterday, I got a chance to visit a foreign foodmart in Itaewon, Seoul for the first time. I wound up buying a couple of things, one of which is Mother's Best Kaldereta Mix from the Philippines. Kalderetang Baka (Spicy Beef Stew) happens to be my favorite dish of all time. I haven't tasted it in months so I decided to cook it for lunch today.

Here's how...

I used: A kilogram of beef cut into large cubes, 2 medium sized potatoes, 1 small carrot, red bellpepper, onion and garlic. The other two ingredient that gave this dish a super savory boost are:

The Kaldereta Mix..

and Hunt's Tomato Paste (I used about 3 tbsp of this).

So first, I boiled the beef in medium high heat. I didn't use pressure cooker, just a regular pot so it took about an hour before it became tender. Then I added the potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, tomato paste and the kaldereta mix and let it boil for another 10 minutes. Lastly, I added the red bell peppers. You may notice I didn't add salt or pepper, the kaldereta mix already took care of that.

See folks, it's that simple.. The result is by far the best kaldereta I've ever tasted in my life. The sauce is so thick and flavorful, veggies are not at all overcooked, and man.. the meat is so tender!!! That kaldereta mix is really a life saver.

I can't wait till Chris taste this!