Loving Hut near Itaweon

Although I am not strict with my dietary habits when it comes to vegetarianism, I love to eat veggie whenever I can. I heard about a grand opening of a vegan restaurant called Loving Hut opening near Itaewon. I had gone a few months back to the Loving Hut location in Sinchon with Sam and Erika and liked it a lot. Although it was a little tricky to find, we eventually made it with some perseverance.
What it is: Loving Hut is an international chain of restaurant offering vegan cuisine, and has over 40 locations in South Korea.

Getting there: We went to Itaewon station, took exit 2 and got pretty lost. It is about a 20 minute walk from Itaewon, and I've since heard that a closer station to exit from would be Hannam. This map should help. It's past Soonchunyang Hospital, across from Kookmin bank on the 2nd floor.

The food: The menu has various western (burgers, hot dogs) and Korean options. However, we came opening weekend, so many of the menu items were not available. We ordered the spaghetti, a vegan cutlet, and japchae dapbap. To drink, we ordered the soy pumpkin latte and the green tea latte. Everything was delicious. The spaghetti was a little too salty, but the mushrooms really created a meaty, hearty consistency that I've never tasted with a vegetarian dish. The vegan cutlet was good, but if you're looking for something that replicates meat, this isn't it. The japchae dapbap (stir-fried sweet potato noodles and veggies, over rice) was amazing. It was nice to have something Korean (or Korean-Chinese fusion) with all of the flavor and none of the meat. It was better than any japchae with meat we have ever tried. My pumpkin latte had a subtle flavor, and it was made with actual pumpkin (yum!).

Half-eaten cutlet. Would have taken more pictures but we were starving!

The cost: Main dishes cost about 7,000 won. Lattes cost 3,500 won. Hamburgers and hot dogs were about 3,500 won, but judging from my Sinchon experience, feel like just a snack.

Service: When we first arrived, I was surprised to see the place filled with Korean women (the Sinchon location was predominantly patronized by foreign customers while we were there). We sat down and were greeted with fresh oranges and bean rice cakes to welcome us to the grand opening. We ordered our meal and waited about 20 minutes for the spaghetti to come out. We shared that and waited even longer for the cutlet. Soon, we asked about our lattes and japchae and it seemed they totally forgot. I think this location definitely needs to work out some kinks with the speed of service and communication (they brought one of our dishes to another table-- twice), but the food was good enough for me to come back regardless.

They also had many vegan take home goodies. We bought the mandu (dumplings) that were expensive (9,800 won) and tasted okay. I will just try to make my own next time.

Children's Day vacation

What an awesome weekend! Yesterday was Children's Day, a national holiday, so we got the day off. It also happened to be my school's anniversary of foundation so I got Monday and Tuesday off, too! Friday was Steve's birthday so we had a party for him at our house. We saw Iron Man 2 on Sunday, and went to Everland amusement park on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Everland was a lot of fun! We had only planned to go one day but decided to stay another day, partly because we got there so late on Monday, but mostly because we were having such a good time.

What it is: Everland is the biggest amusement park in South Korea. The park has themed areas, very similar to Disneyland. There are roller coasters, arcade games, souvenir shops, food, animals, parades, and more.
Getting there: We took the subway to Suwon Station (line 1). From there, we took the city bus no. 66. You can also take any 66 bus (66-1, 66-2, etc). The bus ride took about an hour and 15 minutes. Update: We went to Everland and Carribean Bay again recently and discovered a direct shuttle bus right outside Suwon station that only took 45 minutes. A round-trip ticket is 8,000 won (one-way is 5,000).

Cost: One day admission costs 37,000 won. But with the coupon at the bottom of this page, foreigners can save 6,000 won.

Food: The food was similar throughout the park: chicken, hot dogs, burgers, churros, etc. There were also a few sit-down restaurants. The food wasn't crazy theme park prices, but about what you'd pay outside the park. One thing that Everland has over Disneyland is beer! They had Korean beer for 3,500 won per pint, and Hefeweizen or Schwarzbier for 7,000 at Holland Village.

Highlights: We spent most of our time at Zootopia. This part of the park had live animals such as monkeys, bears, giraffes, sea lions, and much more. The big thing they were advertising was the "Herbivore Safari" so we waited over an hour to ride in a tour bus through a maze of animals. It was pretty cool. I would try to sit on the drivers side next time, because the bears do tricks and the driver throws them food on that side.

Another cool thing was the "Mystery Mansion." We couldn't understand anything the creepy gargoyles were saying, but the awesome optical illusions surpass language barriers.

The best roller coaster was the T Express, which is the world's steepest wooden roller coaster. This is a must-do if you love a thrill. Another I tried was a coaster with two full revolutions, Rolling X Train, which was less extreme, but still fun.
"Holland Village" was also a super cool area. There was a live cover band, food, good beer, and a gorgeous garden nearby.
There are also parades with different themes throughout the year. This time of year was all about Spring, and at 8pm we saw an amazing light parade called "Magician of Spring."

Hwaseong Fortress!

Steve and I have been waiting for the weather to get warmer so we could explore what Korea has to offer culturally. No more excuses! The weather has been so nice we decided to check out Hwaseong Fortress with our friends Sam and Erika. We took the subway up to Suwon Station and then it was only a short bus ride away to the actual fortress. After glancing around we saw several stairs where we decided to start our trek around the fortress. The stairs were very steep but once we got past those, the view of Suwon was great. Can't wait to go back! Here's a video Sam made of our trip: