Virtual Nomad

October 30th, 2022   BHC stands for “Better and Happy Choice”. Since the Korean TV drama, My Love From The Star (별에서 온 그대) made a global mega hit, Korean fried chicken and beer( chimaek , 치맥) culture has been spread all around the world. In the TV show, the super star Jun Ji-hyun(전지현 as Cheon Song-yi 천송이) enjoyed fried chicken and beer so delightfully. My Love From The Star is streaming on Netflix now.   After the TV show mad a hit, BHC, one of the biggest Korean chicken brand, contracted with the global big star Jun Ji-hyun for advertisement. BHC was already well known for its expensive prices. Jun Ji-hyun is one of contributors to make the brand more expensive, many Koreans including me think. But there are also other factors that they make expensive prices. They are promoting high quality and hygiene of products. They say they use high quality sunflower oil to fry chicken and healthy ingredients.   BHC has extended their business to Hong Kong. There are a few B...

October 27th, 2022   Monapark Youngpyong Resort is the first ski resort in Korean History which was opened officially in 1975. Back in my childhood, skiing was a leisure sport only for the rich. At that time Yongpyong Resort was the only ski resort. Now we have several international class of ski resorts in South Korea and Yongpyong resort is still one of top Korean ski resorts. It is a historical ski resort, so to most of Koreans the name ‘Yongpyong’ sounds friendly and they have memories of the resort.   And many Korean TV dramas were filmed in the resort including Winter Sonata and Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (streamimg on Neflix) .   First and foremost, Monapark Youngpyong Resort was one of venues of Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics, which means that it was proven as a world class winter sports arena.   By the way Mona stands for ‘mother’ and ‘nature’. 1. Location    It is in Balwang Mountain, Daegwanryeong, Gangwon Province, two and half hours d...

Pocheon-si, Gyeonggo-do October 22nd, 2022   As I explained in the previous post about Sanjeong Lake , Pocheon is famous for galbi. Galbi(rib) is a dream food to many Koreans. It is really irresistible. There are many kinds of galbi and hundreds of ways to cook galbi in Korea.   Normally Pocheon galbi is beef and it is grilled on a charcoal stove. And it is kind of expensive than other types of galbi in other regions. The day when we traveled to Sanjeong Lake, we had to find a budget friendly place to have lunch and first of all we wanted to find a place whose customers are mostly the locals.   In the northern Gyeonggi area including Pocheon and my city Paju, there are many army camps, because it is close to North Korea. And around army camps there are many good restaurants for Korean young soldiers who have to manage their lives with small salaries during military service. Moreover to Korean young solders, not only price but also quality of food matters.  ...

Pocheon-si, Gyeonggo-do October 22nd, 2022   We always think where to eat breakfast when we plan a trip. We always want to avoid heavy traffic and the big crowds —  everybody does — so we check the opening hour of the destination and search places nearby where we can have breakfast before arriving our destination.   Fortunately we could find this bakery cafe which is opened in very early morning, because our destination, the Sanjeong Lake area, is the hot attraction of hiking around the lake and the mountains, and many restaurants and cafes in the area open in very early morning for early-bird hikers.   We left home at 7:30 a.m., arrived there around 9:00 a.m., and realized that we were not real early birds. Around the cafe and the parking lot of the lake were already full of people wearing hiking or climbing outfits. It was amazing. 1. Location of Sanjeong Hosu Bakery Cafe   Sanjeong Hosu Bakery Cafe is located in the commercial site of Sanjeong La...

Pocheon-si, Gyeonggo-do October 22nd, 2022   Last Saturday, October 22nd, 2022, We drove to Sanjeong Lake in the very northern region of Gyeonggi Province to feel autumn season. Sanjeong Lake, and Myeongseong Mountain and Mangbong Mauntain surrounding the lake were in the very mid-autumn with its beauty of color. The trekking courses around the lake and into the mountains, built recently, attract tourists and hikers who want to feel healing, walk and climb in the nature not only in fall but every season.   The origin of Sanjeong Lake goes back to the early 20th century, when this artificial lake was made to irrigate fields of the region. The government designated it as a tourist place in 1977 and has developed the area with making harmony of modern trekking courses, facilities, commercial cites and natural environments. 1. Location of Sanjeong Lake.   Sanjeong Lake is located in Yeongbuk-myeon, Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, facing the border of Cheolwon, Gangwon-do, ...

October 21st, 2022   Vivaldi Park is a top tier ski and water resort in Korea. This resort is divided in two parts, Ski World and Ocean World. Both are among the most popular places in Korea for leisure and sports in winter and summer seasons respectively. Ocean World is opened all year round, so many people stay more than 2 days in winter. One day is for skiing or snowboarding in Ski World and the other day is for Ocean World with warm pools and spa. 1. Location   It is located in Hongcheon. Even though it is in Gangwon-do, it is only one and half hours drive away from Seoul, thanks to the newly built expressway from Seoul to Yangyang, which is its one of many strengths. So many people go to Vivaldi Park for a short trip of one day or half day to go to ski or the water park.  2. Slopes   They have twelve slopes for various levels from very beginners to professionals, including Blues, Ballad, Classic, Reggae, Jazz, Funky, Hip-Hop, Techno1, Techno2 and Rock. ...

  October 20th, 2022   Norangtongdak is one of the fried chicken brands Koreans love the most, because of its reasonable prices and amount. Above of all they promote they use low-sodium batter for health. In 2014 a Korean investigative TV report showed the result of studying sodium levels of 27 chicken brands in Korea that Norangtongdak won the top rank for using sodium the least among Korean chicken brands.   I am going to introduce you three most popular chickens on their menu and newly launched one. Mostly the base is the regular fried chicken, and various seasoning and sauce are added to it.   First, currently their best item is Tangy Garlic Chicken( alssahan maneul chicken, 알싸한 마늘 치킨 ). We Koreans love garlic so much that it is hard to find Korean food without garlic. You don’t like garlic that much? But no worries. They serve their regular fried chicken and garlic dipping sauce separately. Its garlic dipping sauce is a real thing. You can see and feel...