애슐리 Ashley's Buffet in Seoul Pt.2 - Myeongdong Location

We finally checked out the Ashley Buffet at Myeongdong! (on Buddha's Bday Friday, May 17th) during their lunch period but we got charged the weekend/dinner price: 19,900 :(((
It was still awesome. Sorry, couldn't get pics of Ashley's Ashley Meal. bahaha

This one is next to Everysing by Spao on the 5th floor. For front entrance, take the elevator to the 5th floor. If you take the escalators, turn left and find your way to the host.

They had a lot less vegetarian options :((
They didn't have Ashley's favorite mashed pumpkin and squash salad. (like a purée)

This location offers BRUNCH! Mon-Sat from 9:00-11:00AM

Link to Ashley website here.

 

Counterclockwise from pizza: Alfredo Pasta, Spicy seasoned potato from roasted pork entree, Sweet Maple Dimsum Dumpling, California Sushi Style Ball of Rice, Seasoned Potato Wedges

All very yummy!

Free Wifi in Seoul

Free wifi here usually means you have free access to the hotspot, some of the more popular ones are Olleh, U+zone, and T-wifi. To login in to these hotspots you either need to have purchased a code, as is the case with Olleh, or you need to have a valid korean cell phone number and alien registration number to access the free wifi. A tourist has limited options. 

Places with truly free wifi:

Seoul City Center- if you find yourself walking through Seoul’s more central areas then chances are you can connect to their city wifi. But the signal is often weak and not as stable as others. Some subway stations also have this service. 

***iptime and anygate usually don't require pw.

Cafes or Restaurants:

Dunkin Donuts-

Nokbeon

Eungam

Jong-ro 3-ga

in Yeonsinnae Station

Bulgwang
Sinchon

Angel in Us- most have their own wifi passwords on the receipts

Bulgwang Station (next to Dunkin Donuts)
Jong-ro
Sinchon

***Best bet for us has always been Angel - in - Us cafe. They always have their own free wifi and are open 24 hrs, best location to stay in all night with a laptop or for studying.

Crispy Pie at Yeonsinnae

Paris Baguette 

Eungam  

Dokbawi 

Seoul National University Station

Myeongdong across from the hidden Mr. Pizza by Friday's

Starbucks -most of them usually have their own wifi

Yeonsinnae

Holly’s Coffee

Sungnyemun by Namdaemun Market

Krispy Kreme 

Jong-ro

Myeongdong, 1F

Mcdonald’s 

Yeonsinnae

Zoo Coffee, Myeongdong

Kimbap Cheonguk at Yeonsinnae 

Gongcha Bubble Tea  in Myeongdong

5/15 Teacher's Day in Seoul, South Korea

Teacher's Day was filled with lots of fun for the kids and plenty of cute presents for the teachers yuhhsss. assaaa!!

Here are a few of the precious moments lol.

[5/13-5/16] This week in teaching....

Dunkin Donuts Challenge (self-proclaimed)

I'm just going to post small entries every time we hit up a Dunkin Donuts.

05/13/13

Simple Pleasures:

Blueberry Eclair
Bubble Green Tea Latte
Iced Cappuccino
Orignal Cake Donut

~^__^~

Serendipity Cafe by Dokbawi Station, Bulgwang, Seoul

Serendipity Coffee is a small cafe and a great place to just hang out enjoy a cup of coffee. It is right across Dokbawi station on the brown line 6, you can't miss it.

A Day in the Life of a Kindergarten ESL teacher in Seoul

I think we are going to do these posts regularly just to record our days and stuff and give people an insight into our lives as teachers.

Enjoy!

KIMBAP HEAVEN : Cheap Korean Food

Cheapest Food in Seoul: Kimbap Heaven (김밥 천국)

Meals start at 1,000 won (the simplest kimbap roll) and don't exceed 6,000 won. 

Jacky has tried a bunch of things and they have all been good. Here she ordered the Tonkassu and I got   kimchi kimbap. 

The food is filling and comes with sides and a soup (most of the time). 

Opening a Bank Account in Korea as A Foreigner (American Citizen)

Today is the day we try to open a bank account here in Seoul, our target bank is CitiBank.

We are gonna  check out the Bulgwang Branch and see if they can help us out. If not then the search will continue.

I heard that U.S with a valid passport and a social security number can open an account with no problems and it actually easier to send money from Korea back to the states. 

So wish us luck!

I will update this post later today with our findings~!

UPDATE 05/11/13

We waited to be helped by someone who spoke English. The lady who helped us was very friendly and spoke English very well. She handed us papers that we would've need to fill out to open an account.  However, we were confused when we saw that one of the forms was a W-9 Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification Form. We asked her why it was necessary and she said that the IRS might charge interest to our account, since we're American Citizens and taxpayers.

Since we were confused we decided to not open up a Korean account with Citibank in Korea. Instead, we're thinking of opening an American Citibank account online. On their website, it says that they can send a check card to wherever you're at.

If all goes well, and we each receive our check cards by mail, we plan on depositing our monies at the Citibank ATMs in the Korea.

If anyone knows about this or understand the system better than we do, please tell us about it!

Thanks~

Update 05/07/13

So my friend and I just came back from the Bulgwang-dong branch CitiBank. We weren't able to open an account but the people at this location were kind enough to help us out.

We got our number, waited and then spoke to the teller. Unfortunately, we don't speak very good Korean and they dont't speak enough English (which is understandable). They contacted the headquarters here in Seoul and I spoke to the man who asked if we had our passport, foreigner registration card, and social security number. We had all of this but the lady said it was "difficult" to open an account for an American. I actually thought it was the opposite but I believed her because I can imagine how hard it must be when you can't communicate.

Any who, we settled on the fact that we are going to have to make our way to the Jong-no Branch.

Here is a map of the "GLOBAL BRANCHES" in Seoul, where you can find bilingual assistance.

I will update again when we go to Jong-no...Wish us luck~!

Contemplating our life over Coffee and Pie (a tart lol)

Career changes require a lot of thinking.

And a lot of thinking requires caffeine and the occasional slice of cheese tart.

Jacky and I have different dreams (or rather the same nonexistent dream, does that still count?).

But we know we want to do something for ourselves that can support us in the future.

Here is a list of some of the careers that we have come up with:

Foreign Language Teacher
Accountant
Middle School Teacher
Elementary School Teacher
School Counselor
Web Designer
Makeup Artist
Real Estate Agent
ESL (abroad)
Hospitality management

This is probably not all of them. But can you see how we obviously have no true goal? That doesn't mean we don't want to have a passion, we just haven't found one.

-Ashley S.

Good Eats: 신기소 , Sinkiso Japanese Noodle Restaurant

We weren't looking for anything in particular that day but we were lucky enough to have run into this Japanese chain restaurant!

Meals start at around 5,000 won and are a decent size, the service was also very good.

We really liked the presentation of the food, this definitely made it more appealing ^__^

All in all, if you run into a Sinkiso I would give it a try~

We got the Udong and the Tonkatsu dishes.