Anseong Farmland

This weekend, my husband and I decided to take advantage of the wonderful, not steamy, not humid weather and take the kids out of Seoul for the day. Saturday morning, we got in the car at 9:20am, a bit later than we would have liked, but three kids tend to slow us down, and headed out to Anseong Farmland, 70km south of Seoul. As soon as we got in the car and punched the address into our GPS, we groaned. It told us an hour and 20 minutes. Really? An hour and 20 minutes to travel 43 miles? We were thinking maybe an hour. But we’d told the boys they were going to feed some cows and pet some sheep… So there was no turning back. Besides, my husband and I were pretty excited about this place for one particular reason.

Despite being able to drive in the bus lane because we have a minivan (driving a minivan has to have some perks, right?), it took us TWO FULL HOURS to get there. It’s just south of Pyeongtaek, so it really shouldn’t have taken that long, but the traffic was awful. Anyway, we got there, stood in a line that was barely moving for our tickets, and entered Farmland. Then, we turned around and came back out.

From the ticket gate, you walk into Deutsche Ville, a mini pseudo-German village that was supposed to have a German restaurant called Hoffen Pub with their very own brewery. This was all the convincing that my husband needed to drive out here. Beer and brauts. Yum! Well, we walked into the building, only to find that it looked like it was under renovation. I walked back to the front gate to ask about it and was told that it’s closed. For good. Mumbling to ourselves about how we’ve now been deprived of the one thing we were looking forward to, my husband and I had to take our kids back out the main gate because the only other food available here is outside. And our options were limited to Korean food or pizza. There were two Korean restaurants, so we just picked one. There were tons of people there, but no one at the front desk to seat us. We sat ourselves. Eventually, a waiter looked at us, appeared to be rather confused, walked over to the front desk and saw that no one was there, then came and asked us if we were there to eat as if there’s something else that people regularly do at restaurants. He asked us to wait a moment, then walked away.

We sat there for about 5 minutes, which felt more like 20 because my children were moaning and complaining about how hungry they were–we had just had a full breakfast of French toast, sausage and eggs before leaving the house. Then I decided to run over to the other restaurant to see if perhaps it was a bit more organized. I walked in, and good news is that someone was actually at the front desk. I asked if they were seating people for lunch, and she told me that they had a big party coming in at noon (I looked at my watch–it was 11:50am) and that I should come back around 1pm. WHAT?!? So I went back to the first restaurant to find my family still sitting there with no menus, no water, nothing. My husband told me that no one had come to talk to them. I flagged the waiter down, and he informed us that they had a previous reservation for a large party, so if we wanted to eat lunch, we’d have to wait a while. I was furious. And I know it wasn’t the server’s fault that the kitchen apparently can’t accommodate the weekend crowd, but I couldn’t keep my mouth shut and told him that if they had a reservation, they clearly knew that all these people were coming and should have been prepared for the large party as well as the other customers who came in on a normal Saturday. We walked out and went to our only other option. Pizza. None of us really wanted it, but we were hungry and there were no other food options either outside or inside the park. We picked the pizza that looked the most normal (if you’ve ever been to a pizza place in Korea, you know what I’m talking about!), and when it came out, it looked decent–pepperoni, ham, cheese, onions, tomato sauce…and pureed sweet potato sauce. Yep. Sweet potatoes. Lincoln enjoyed it, but we could barely get Charlie to eat any of it so against our better judgement, we let him pick off the toppings and eat around the ring of sweet potato puree on the crust.

After our lunch debacle, we finally entered the park and made our way over to the tractor rides, but before we got there, we saw a stall that rented family bikes. The boys were super excited. We rented a bike–Charlie and Lincoln got strapped in on the front, Penny stayed strapped to me in the Ergo, and my husband and I got pedaling. We had 30 minutes with the bike for 8,000W. I knew that the farmland was quite expansive, so I made sure to note the time so we’d be back in 30 minutes. The guy who ran the bike stand told us where we couldn’t take the bikes (where the animals were), and we hit the pavement. For 5 minutes. It took us a full 5 minutes to ride the entire bike course. With no where else to go, we decided to ride the bike course again. And again. 15 minutes later, we returned the bike and got on the tractor ride.

The tractor ride was rather enjoyable. It took us in a large circle around the entire farmland, and it was a lovely sight. Most of the ride was on an unpaved dirt road, so it’s a bit of a bumpy ride, but the boys loved all the bumps in the road.

Once we finished the tractor ride, we set off to find the horses. When we purchased the tickets, we bought the 3 ticket combo for the boys, which included admission, the tractor ride and horseback riding (19,000W). Children over the age of 4 (48 months) are allowed to ride the horses. We followed the map to where the horse rides were given and found that the entire outdoor course was under construction. And we looked terribly lost, but not a single person who worked there asked if we needed any help finding something. Finally, I asked a family who walked out from behind a quiet building, and they told us to walk around to the back of the building where not a single other person was headed. We found the stables, but then had to walk back out and around to the back of the building to get to where the rides were being offered. The boys were clearly slightly terrified of the idea of riding these GIANT horses, but once they got on, they absolutely loved it. It’s too bad that the rides were so short (maybe 3-4 minutes).

Finally, we ventured over to where the animals were. This part of the park is really lovely. There’s a dedicated petting and feeding section, but there are also goats and sheep just roaming around the area. The boys fed cows, sheep, goats, deer, and ducks and would have stayed there for several more hours if we hadn’t insisted we needed to head back home. There’s a stand that sells small baskets of feed for the animals for 1000W, but most of the animals here happily chomp of grass so the boys would pick up grass off the ground and feed it to them.

On our way out of the petting zoo area, there are hand sanitizer sprays, which was definitely a nice touch. We still stopped at the bathroom and washed with soap and water, but on our walk back to the front gate where the restrooms were, Charlie was rubbing his eyes, so I was definitely grateful for the hand sanitizer!

We bought some drinks at the little shop out front, loaded the kids in the car and headed home. Within 10 minutes, all 3 kids were asleep. Hallelujah! 😉 It only took us 1.5 hours to get home, which I guess is better than 2 hours. All in all, we definitely had a good time, but I’m not sure that we’d visit this place again, especially not as a day trip. Spending nearly 4 hours in the car with two 4 year olds and an 18 month old isn’t exactly my idea of fun. There are only so many children’s songs I can sing before I start to feel like I’m losing my mind!

Here’s some additional information about Anseong Farmland is you’d like to plan a visit.

* If you’re driving there, give yourself plenty of time. Traffic on Highway 1 is almost always terrible. The toll from Seoul was 3,600W. Be sure to have cash for it!
* Eat lunch before getting there, or pack a lunch. There are plenty of shaded picnic tables available.
* Stroller rentals are available for 3,000W. However, if you’re driving there anyway, may as well bring your own.
* There’s a nursing room with several changing tables available by the bike rental stall. It’s not air conditioned, but it has a comfy couch and a privacy screen so you can nurse your baby there if you don’t like nursing in public.

And just a bit of humor for the adults… 😉

Children’s Grand Park

This beautiful Labor Day, we decided to make our way over to the Children’s Grand Park. From our place by the Mapo subway station, it took about 45 minutes to get there. It’s was a relatively easy trip there, and we arrived around 9:30, just as our friends arrived at the park as well, so at the very least, our trip out there was a success. 😉

The park was almost entirely deserted at that time, so we were able to take a calm, leisurely stroll through the park, although the boys pretty much beelined for the zoo portion of the park. There’s so much to see that one day isn’t nearly enough to take advantage of all it offers. The park entrance is free, and I had read on the website that there’s a fee for the zoo, but for whatever reason, there were no tickets to purchase and we were able to wander around the zoo for free. At the entrance, there’s a place to rent strollers (3,000W), which would be great for people who don’t want to struggle with a stroller on the subway.

On our way to the zoo, the kids discovered a sculpture garden, a playground, and plenty of space to run around. As I mentioned, the park was pretty empty at this hour, so for little ones who live in the city and are constantly surrounded by people and cars, being able to run free without worry is such a beautiful thing.

The zoo is definitely tailor-made for little ones. It’s quite unlike any zoo we ever visited in the States, and you’ll probably find yourself thinking about the rather small confines that the animals are in…but the kids will enjoy seeing the animals up close and personal. We’ve been to a number of zoos in the States, but I can honestly say that I’ve never been so close to lions and cheetahs and jaguars (separated by glass, of course!), and I was surprised at how big they are–particularly the lion.

As with all Korean parks, there were plenty of places for cute little photo ops…

For Lincoln, no trip to the zoo is complete unless he sees a turtle, so we had to make sure to find this little guy. 

  
 And what parent doesn’t love a little adult humor in a children’s park, albeit unintentional?

The zoo also offers camel rides for kids and adults and pony rides just for kids (5,500W for adults, 3,000W for kids).

After the zoo, we ate lunch at Han’s Cafe right outside the zoo portion of the park. In retrospect, we should have searched a bit more for another place to eat because all this place had was burgers, fried chicken, and various types of katsu. We’re not big on fried food and would definitely would have preferred some bibimbab or naengmyun… So next time we venture out there, finding the cafeteria will definitely be on our list of priorities!

As we headed out of the park, the boys really wanted to go inside the botanical garden where we found an area full of bonsai trees that were 100 to 200 years old. I don’t know that the boys appreciated it, but the adults thought it was pretty cool. The kids, on the other hand, were pretty impressed with the little pond FULL of goldfish. The boys found this little bridge with a kid-sized bench for another little photo op. And look how happy they are about it! 😉

And finally, as we walked back towards the entrance, the music fountain was more excitement than the kids could handle. They ran past the rather ineffective barrier and ran through the jets that play along to the music. Luckily, we brought a change of clothes for them so they didn’t have to ride the subway home soaking wet.

We only saw a small fraction of what the park has to offer, so we’ll definitely be making a trip out here again soon. There’s the new Seoul Children’s Museum, an amusement park with rides for little ones, as well as a Kids Auto Park that offers driving classes for kids, complete with mini cars and tiny little roads for them to drive on. There’s so much more to see and do here–another adventure at the Children’s Grand Park is definitely on the horizon.

Yongsan Family Park

Despite having lived in Seoul for 10 months already (yeah, when did that happen?!?), we made our very first trip to the Yongsan Family Park. Located a very short walk from the Visitor Gate/Gate 13 and the Ichon Subway station, it’s a great location for anyone who lives on or around post. None of my children like big crowds, so we tend to avoid public places on the weekends, particularly those that attract families with children. It just gets a bit chaotic, and my boys have realized over the past several months that they don’t like being stared at while trying to play. So we decided to go right after breakfast and arrived at the park around 9:30am. There’s a very small parking lot (maybe 25-30 spaces) that’s tucked away under an overpass. When we arrived, there were about 3 other cars in the lot. We were given a ticket when entering the parking lot with a time stamp in order to pay on our way out (FYI, we were there for a little over 2 hours and paid 2,400W when we left).

Right next to the parking lot are the restrooms and a handful of picnic tables in a shaded area–great place for a picnic, especially if you don’t feel like lugging 3 kids and bags and/or a cooler full of food to another picnic location. My kids don’t care where they eat. As long as they eat!

There’s also a very convenient little map of the park, labeled in English, at the entrance of the park. The walkways are very well-maintained and if you’re looking for a place to just go for a walk or a run, this park would be great. It’s quite stroller friendly, and little ones would have plenty to look at and admire while mama gets a workout.

When we got there, some people were working on the vegetable garden, and my boys, who love tomatoes and zucchini were quite impressed with the garden. It’s really too bad that we don’t have a yard here in Seoul, although I imagine a container garden up on our balcony would do really well. There’s also a barefoot path through the vegetable garden, so this would be a great way to teach your little ones about how food is grown while letting them get some dirt between their toes. And don’t worry–there’s a water faucet to clean your feet afterwards!

We wandered through the park, tossing around a football and a frisbee we brought with us while trying to prevent our ever-curious and perpetually suicidal 18 month old daughter from falling into the little pond and stream.

The only thing Miss Penny Penny is afraid of, apparently, are grates. She won’t step on them. Ever.

We only made it halfway through the park because the kids were distracted by the playground. It’s a lovely little play area with a cute little mushroom house, flowers, benches and picnic tables as well as the closest thing I’ve seen to sand at a playground (it’s more like sand mixed with gravel, but the kids didn’t seem to mind!).

My only complaint about the playground area is that although the rest of the park is very well shaded, the playground itself has no shade. I don’t mind the kids getting some sunlight, especially after what felt like a ridiculously long monsoon season this year, but we couldn’t stay out here for long stretches, especially with my littlest one’s fair skin. On the bright side, there are restrooms and a water fountain very conveniently located by the playground.

There’s also a SUPER LARGE bench, which not only makes for a great photo op…

…but offers little boys another opportunity to give their mother a heart attack.

We ended our morning trip to the Yongsan Family Park with some juice and a snack at one of the picnic tables. All in all, I’d say it was a lovely little adventure!