Lunch Buffet at Restaurant Marche

We got a coupon from the bank and we had a chance to visit Restaurant Marche (마르쉐) at Jamsil Lotte World branch. We took the lunch buffet which is 19,900 won, but since we have a free lunch coupon we only paid for 19,900 won for 2 persons. (Weekends will cost 25,900 won)

Restaurant Marche
Address: B3 of Lotte World
Parking: Lotte World Adventure parking lot
Business hour: 11.00 am - 11.00 pm
Tel: 02-418-7757
340 people max.



Marche World Buffet

Their dining style is quite different from VIPS family restaurant.
"You will get a table card and ordering card when you enter the Marche restaurant (There's no menu book).
You can choose table that you want  and put the table card on the table. So everyone knows that table has taken.
Have a look around for variety menus with ordering card. When you order food that you want, chefs will give a stamp on your ordering card.
You can get your food within 5 to 10 minutes. And there is extra charge for steak, lib, fresh fruit juice and alcoholic liquors. But it's low-priced.
Please return both table card and ordering card when you'd like to pay your bill at the counter."



Anyway, the stamps are only applied to those food which need to pay like steak, lib, prawns, fresh fruit juice, also kebab - only available for dinner!!! :(
There are prices listed on the food - those only applicable to the customers who do not want to take the buffet. Do not be confused.

The interesting thing is all the food displayed are fresh vegetables and fruits! I'm wondering how can they keep it everyday - or they change it everyday? Isn't it high cost then?
Anyway, their interior design is sure thumbs up - better than VIPS family restaurant.

Let's show you some food I ate (not all).

3-minute prepared Spaghetti


Some salad and pizza (I like the beans salad very much!)
They also serve rice salad - try it.


Deserts - mini cake ... not recommended.


just beside the sushi bar (sushi is very little choice - no raw salmon like VIPS), there is Vietnamese noodle - too salty.


Finally we found prawn - but ... chinese style fried prawn.


If 5 stars is full mark, this family restaurant... may worth only 2.5...  not really much choices yet expensive.

Anyway, walk around the Ice Rink of the Lotte World after the meal at the restaurant. It is an awesome place. Kim Yeon-A practised here before when she was small. A lot of kids enjoyed ice-skating here too.
I also want to have a try one day!

Jeju: Big Herb Hamburger

볽은못허브팜 (빅햄버거)
Big Herb Hamburger restaurant
It has a new branch near to where we stayed this summer (Ae-wol 읍) so we decided to pay a visit and enjoyed the big hamburger.



The restaurant has a herb farm around, and it is in a wooden building. They also make their own bread.





I like their mail box too.
 since 1993.

Let's go inside the restaurant and order the burger!



Indeed, we were attracted by its well-decorated environment. They also sell herbs and Jeju chocolates.

Burger arrived!!!
We ordered one big burger (enough for 4 persons) 17,000 won. If you want to try couple herb burger, please tell me what's the difference. It will cost 15,000 won.



nbsp;The herb bread smells very good!



Fresh and yummy burger!

 Served with herb tea too!

We enjoyed it very much!

Don't forget to take photos inside the restaurant! The chair is unique and the kids like it very much!
If you are bored with the kimchi stuff and raw fish at Jeju Island, this restaurant should be in your list!

AGAIN, AISFF - Short Films Screening

To celebrate 7th Asiana International Short Film Festival (5th Nov - 10th Nov 2009), the organized party has decided to hold a series of provincial screening.
Seoul event:
Date: 5 to 13 September
Venue: Haechi Hall in Myeong Dong
features of total of 18 short films from many different countries.

Cost: 3,000 won per program.
Program please view here.

Info: 02-727 3251

I've got 2 free tickets from Korea4expats.com so... I went there with my friend on last Saturday 4pm - which I met the famous actor 안성기 An-SeongGi.

We had a short time meeting with him and 2 other young Korean directors (Park Jae-ok of Stop movie and Lee Seung-nam of Refresh Her... movie)

Before the show

After the show, we took photos with the banner.

I'm thankful that I got the lucky draw - a free set of coffee package! (3 lucky draws)

What we watched was program 3:

• Four by Ivana Sebestova, Slovakia, 2007, time: 15'40', 35mm, Color, Animation (about 4 girls, beautiful yellow and grey combination of colors)
• 510 Meters Above Sea Level by Polte Kerstin, Swiss, 2008, time: 16' 30", Digi Beta, color, Fiction (a girl who missed the train and met a girl on the lonely airport)
• Stop by Park Jae-Ok, Korea, 2008, time: 6', Beta SP, Color, Fiction (son and mother story, time stopped when they met an accident)
• Refresh Her... by Lee Seung-nam, Korea, 2007, time: 22', Digi Beta, Color, Fiction (countryside story of coffee girl with an old man story)
• Tony Zear by Valentin Potier, France, 2007, 20', Beta SP, Color, Fiction (28-year-old single Tony with his big ear story - search for true love)
• Way Home by Oh Erick, Lee Hung-Yeon, Korea, 2008, 9', Digi Beta, Color, Animation (father bring home a rock story)

I personally like the story of Stop, but I like the creativity of Refresh Her... It lets me know about the different side of the country of Korea. May be something unusual is always the new thing we like to explore.

Thus, if you have time and like to watch movie, why not try on these types of short films? Anyway, combination of all still needs to be there for 1 hour 30 minutes or more. Enjoy it!

Gallery Concert - Music + Art

The Korea Foundation Cultural Center's 4th Anniversary Gallery concert
Date: 1st Sep & 2nd Sep 2009
Time: 7pm
Venue: Gallery Nuri, KF Cultural Center

I applied for the 2nd night as there was the famous jazz group and special performance by French painter Gerard Economos. First night was performed by Grupo Vocal Millennium (conductor, Lim Jae-Sik) and second night by Jazz Quintet Prelude and special performance by painter Gerard Economos.

The Korea Foundation has been promoting Korea and its culture worldwide through various international exchange activities since its foundation in 1991. And as part of these efforts, the Korea Foundation Cultural Center was established in downtown Seoul in 2005. It provides a venue for cultural exchange  through which Koreans and foreign residents in Korea can experience each others' cultures.

You can visit their homepage: http://www.kfcenter.or.kr/ for more information or visit them
Korea Foundation Cultural Center, JoongAng Ilbo Building, 1st Floor, 7 Sunhwa-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul 100-759, Korea Foundation.

Prelude
"Prelude" is a jazz band of 6 Berklee Music College graduates, led by pianist Heean Ko.
The band was started by 5 Koreans and 1 expat in 2003 and has rapidly expanded its presence on the Korean jazz scene with its debut album "Croissant" in 2995 and its 2nd album "Breezing up" released in 2007. Afterwards it reorganized as a quintet of a piano, bass guitar, drum and 2 tenor saxophones, as its altoist left the team. In face, what made the team unique on the Korean jazz scene was that brass is the core of its sound.

French Artist Gerard Economos

Gerard Economos is a French painter who has focused on Lyrical Abstraction Art with core elements of nature as the main theme of his works. He introduced the concept "Music to see, painting to hear" in the early 1980s and has presented painting performance to live orchestra music since then.

With the grand theme of nature and the world as his main motive, he also expresses his inspiration from the orchestra's performance. He has been performing in cooperation with various international music groups, including Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and Beijing Opera. He presented his performance to the music of jazz band "Prelude" for this year's KFCC Gallery Concert.

It's hard to find the photos of this painter, so I got it

from the brochure.

Let's go to the live show on 2nd Sep 2009:
I didn't manage to record the videos of the first 3 songs - breezing up, croissant and funly shake. They're really nice!


1st photo with white blank background


2nd photo with starting of painting



3rd photo with unfinished painting

4th photo with finished painting! Bravo! Within about 1 hour he finished the amazingly beautiful painting!

I also attached here with the videos. Hope you enjoy them too!

Mount Hallasan National Park, Jeju Island

Mount Hallasan National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage.

Height: 1,950 meter.

This mountain stands tall in the middle of Jeju Island. It is also called Mt. Yeongjusan, meaning a mountain high enough to pull the galaxy. It is designated as a National Park in 1970, surrounded 368 parasitic mountains (called Ohruem "peaks").

Over 1,800 kinds of plants and 4,000 species of animals (3,300 species of insects) are known to exist here. The climbing courses are well-developed and you can carefully observe the surroundings.
The climbing course is short and less than 10km in length, up and down in one day. But the weather conditions often change and there is a lot of wind, so you must be well prepared before going up the mountain.



From the photo above, you can see the hiking courses available:
- Seongpanak trail: 9.6km to Baengnokdam (4 hours 30 mins for 1-way)
- Gwaneumsa trail: 8.7km to Baengnokdam (5 hours for 1-way)
- Eorimok trail: 4.7km to Wiseoreum (2 hours for 1-way)
- Yeongsil trail: 3.7km to Wiseoreum  (1 hour 30 min for 1-way)

The ascending and descending time is different for different seasons. Please refer to here for more information (other facilities and local transportation).
In summer, for the course we took - Eorimok trail: ascent 5am - 2pm, descent 4pm

Admission: Free

Geologic Evolution of Jeju Island
Jeju Island was produced by volcanic activity from about 1.8 million years ago with eruptions continuing until historic times. The early volcanism of Jeju Island began underwater on the bed of the Yellow Sea continental shelf. This hydrovolcanism continued for more than a million years forming the Seoguipo Formation in the subsurface, which is composed of numerous hydropmagmatic volcanoes and marine sedimentary strata. Lava effusion became dominant after about 600,000 years ago, forming the lava plateau and shield, and numerious volcanic cones (oreums). Construction of the 1,950m - high peak of Mt. Halla was completed by the Holocene Epoch less than 10,000 years ago. About five to seven thousand years ago the Seongsan Ilchulbong tuff cone and the Songaksan tuff ring were produces by hydrovolcanic eruptions along the seashore, also resulting in deposition of the Sinyangri and Hamori formations.

In Aug 2008, we had a chance to climb this mountain through Eorimok trail. So, I will show you some photos and amazing experiences.

 start from the bottom

What you first need to do is climb up the staircases! Every mountains start with staircases - it's tiring! So better be prepared and have breakfast before you climb up the mountain. Do not give up although people pass over you when you climb up the mountain. Let their passion be your motivation: They can do it, I can do it too!



After finished the staircases, the clear blue sky welcomes you! Do not forget about the hot sun too! So please put on sun cream or sunblock before climbing. Anyway, when you see this view, you will feel better as you can see the mountains around and you know how far you're going to reach.


long way to go!


Enjoy the scenery:


 helicopter up and down

 peaks everywhere

 rocks on the floor (beautiful creation)

 butterflies everywhere

 beautiful flowers along the way





 also wild deers! Capture them before they ran away!

When we reached the Wiseoreum, we were so excited! It's tough yet a meaningful trip!
First, enjoy the view of the tall Mt Halla - it's just in front of you but... not yet there!


 rest place - only sells choco chips and instant noodle!

 the instant noodle was so delicious!


There are a lot of black drongos.

After we took enough rest, it's time for us to go down again. Do not forget to take some photos before you walk down. It will be faster to walk down than climb up.


Hope you will enjoy the Mt Hallasan climbing course!