The fluffy giant monster dog and walking around the Myongdong shopping area in Chuncheon

This past Saturday Julianne and I had planned on going to Seoul but ended up staying in Chuncheon. We went downtown to try and find something to eat for lunch. Across from the Department store is the M bakery.

Inside the bakery there is also a sandwich shop. We decided to try it.

We've gotten stuff from the bakery shop that is in the front part before. It's pretty good.

Julianne likes to buy Anna's Ginger Thins here too. I can't remember what the brand name is in Canada that I've eaten before, but it tastes very similar to these. I was surprised to find them available here.

The decor and atmosphere are pretty nice.

We had to wait a little bit longer than I thought was normal for the sandwiches to be made. They were pretty good, but not great.

After lunch we walked around the Myongdong area. This is a mandu (dumplings) shop. The steam is unreal.

I can't imagine what it must be like to work here full time.

Then we saw a fluffy giant monster of a dog. I kind of felt sorry for the owner because literally EVERY Korean person walking by was freaking out, making sounds, and saying stuff about the dog--EVERY person.

There was a beautiful blue sky.

I call the motels with covered parking lots in Korea "No-tell motels." For those of you outside of Korea these are a VERY common sight in Korea. The parking lots are covered to hide the identities of the people and cars who use them. There are many different reasons why these hotels exist . . . but that's a post for some other time, lol.

"Mr. Pizza . . . made for women." I seriously wonder how a slogan like that would go over in North America . . . lol.

You also have to think about the different meanings suggested by the name of the company and its gender in relation to its slogan. A man is making pizza just for women . . . lol.

Traditional baby carrying method that freaks me out every time I see it cause I think the baby will fall out somehow--I've never seen one fall out, of course, but I still think it 'looks' a little dangerous.

Then we saw fluffy giant monster dog again. If he hadn't been getting so much attention Julianne and I might have gone over to say hello and pet him.

Julianne and I think these TINY fuel trucks are quite funny. The guy that was driving it didn't look like he could fit into the cab in the front. I guess the size and design of the truck, though, when you consider city life in Korea with streets that have incredibly narrow widths, and all of the other reasons, it's good to be driving a small delivery vehicle--it's a smart design.

I noticed this church/cathedral from the Myongdong area and we wandered outside of the shopping area to see what it looked like.

Update: I had NO IDEA that the Myongdong cathedral in Seoul's Myongdong (I think it's actually very bizarre that Chuncheon calls its downtown shopping area Myongdong because to me there is only one Myongdong in Korea--in Seoul) was being renovated. I just saw this post at the Marmot's Hole and think it's uncanny that I was taking pics of a cathedral in Myongdong, Chuncheon while--possibly--at the same time Robert was taking his own pics in Seoul--pictures that totally blow my own away in terms of quality and style . . . sigh.

On the way there we passed this shack. I'm pretty sure it's just used for storage--I really HOPE it's just used for storage because if someone is living in it or using it for a business shop they'd be freezing a lot of the time in winter.

It was a big challenge to try and photograph this cathedral because of the light levels outside.

I think I got some decent shots . . . but there's still a bit of washout.

I think this one is the best. I wondered how old the cathedral was and found a sign saying 1985--I thought it would be older.

We then walked around to the other side of the cathedral . . .

It was a lot easier to take pics here as the sun was behind us.

I noticed this chimney and thought it looked pretty old in terms of design.

Julianne and I then saw some cats sunning themselves and trying to stay warm.


Wandering further away from Myondong I saw one of the ridiculous test-your-manhood-when-you're-completly-stupid-drunk-with-your-friends machines . . .

I should have tried to see if there was a date on this machine cause it looked pretty old. I imagine, though, that being kept outside would age it fast.

Julianne then noticed a Winter Sonata sign--oh my god, they seriously are EVERYWHERE in Chuncheon.

See my post here if you don't know the TV show, "Winter Sonata (a.k.a. Winter Ballad/Winter Love Story, Korean: 겨울연가) was the second part of the KBS TV drama series Endless Love.

They even have signs with arrows and how many meters until you find the exact spot that was in the filming of the show that are out on the main street to help you find it, lol.

Julianne and I then came across these tractors in front of Nonghyup Farmers Bank. This display strikes me as unusual because the vast majority of farmers in Korea do NOT own these types of tractors.

The first tractor is the biggest one I've seen in Korea, and the blue tractor is still a lot bigger than your typical rice farmer's tractor.

The tractors were being used to hold a banner . . .

I took a few shots of the inside of the blue tractor just for fun.

This is the typical kind of tractor you'll see in Korea. Take off the cart hitched to the back and that's the tractor. They have to be this small so that they can move in and out of the rice paddies. I have a few pics on an external hard drive of the tractors in action out on Ganghwa island. I'll have to post a few some time.

This is what the walking tractor (see below) looks like . . . when I first saw one in Korea I was really surprised because I'd only ever seen full size tractors that are driven on farms in Canada.

I looked this up on wikipedia and I guess they're called "agricultural rotary tillers"

Two-wheel tractor The higher power "riding" rotavators cross out of the home garden category into farming category especially in Asia, Africa and South America, capable of preparing 1 hectare of land in 8 - 10 hours. These are also known as power tillers, walking tractors or two-wheel tractors. Years ago they were considered only useful for rice growing areas, where they were fitted with steel cage-wheels for traction, but now the same are being used in both wetland and dryland farming all over the world. Compact, powerful and most importantly inexpensive, these agricultural rotary tillers are providing alternatives to four-wheel tractors and in the small farmers fields in developing countries are more economical than four-wheel tractors...

We kept walking and taking pictures. I noticed this cat sunning himself on a roof.

Then Julianne saw this gi-normous cat doing the same. I felt like I was in a Disney cat film where the cats have this kind of invisible rooftop civilization that exists side by side with the humans . . .

And, of course, another, wait for it, wait for it, Winter Sonata sign that something from the drama was filmed here.

I wonder if some hardcore fans try to find and visit every location . . . it seems like it'd be possible with the number of signs posted around the Chuncheon area.

And then there are the banners, lol.

I took one more picture and then we decided it was nap time for both of us after having walked for almost 2 hours up and down and around the Myongdong area.

I really like this pic. The mountain silhouettes are fantastic.

J