Buddhist Temple decorations

We're out for a stroll near where I work.  This is a buddhist temple nearby.

Coffee Houses of Seoul

Just crazy.  I mean crazy.  There are cafes and coffee shops everywhere.  I was told that when Starbucks moved to Seoul it created hundreds of copycats.  Thus, Seoul has got to be one of the best cities for coffee.

And the names of these places defy description.  This is one of my favorite names:

I'm sure there coffee is fine.  But the name.....well....not so good.

Snow with a view

Besides the steep hill we have to endure, the view out our front window is very nice.  It's not Winter now, but here are a couple of photos I took of the view.

If you noticed, the house in the first photo is almost at our level.  We live on the 5th floor.  And if you notice, the wall.   These walls range from a few feet to maybe 20 feet tall.

Coffee at the EPC's office

With all the crazy coffee shops all over Seoul, I was stunned to find this in our office:

Well, ok.  The tea was nice.  But instant coffee?  This is a joke, right?  We've put up with this for several months. 

Then just last week, we had a pleasant surprise:

OK, I had to buy the coffee.  And the filters.  And the measuring spoon.  But the contractor provided the coffee pot. 

When you go to the grocery stores you find out how much Seoul residents love - or rather, buy (I don't know if they really like the stuff) instant coffee.  It's a LOT.  The local market near our house has all kinds of instant coffees, but only two brands of ground coffee.

Pets and a Pet Fail

Like I mentioned, dogs are found everywhere in Seoul.  I should add that you find more in some parts of Seoul as compared to others.  For instance, in the Itaewon/Hannam dong area they are everywhere.  I hear dogs bark at night.  I see other owners with dogs, walking them.

The photo I posted of a woman with a dog was taken near the Gangnam area.

We visited the section of town that has all of the pet shops.  There must be an easy two or three dozen pet shops.  Here is one of my wife and daughter perusing one.  This is typical.  Just crammed full of all sorts of pet stuff.

But later, we happened on a store that had this box we could see from the store window:

I have no idea what it is.  I don't care to know.

Taking Peeps to a whole new level

We took a quick weekend trip to Fukuoka Island in Japan.  It was close to Easter so all the shops were selling Peeps.  But these are Peeps like I've never seen before.  Here is a photo of one:

And here is a huge lighted ad for them:

But they really weren't much like the Peeps in the US other than a vague shape of them.  No marshmallow center.  No sugary crunchy/squishy exterior.  And they tasted....ok.

Preparing for??

This photo was a little frightening.  Maybe the Koreans really are concerned about the survivability of a fire in the subway stations.  Or maybe anything else that might happen in a subway.