A Trip to Chocolate Heaven

A chocolate craving on Sunday night led us to a chocolate cafe down the street from our apartment called Cacoa Haru. They specialize in hand-made chocolate that's made on-site, which is a rare-find here in Korea. We found an article written about this place on the internet and were really surprised to find it was so close to where we live!

The outside of the cafe with a cute,eclectic decor inside.

A glass cabinet at the front counter provided us with so many options... including fruit-filled, truffles, nut-filled and regular chocolate varieties. Hmmmm, which to pick? We opted with 2 nut covered chocolates, 1 macadamia nut, and a white chocolate that had a milk chocolate filling inside. All were outstanding! We also both had a delicious cup of hot chocolate to top it off, which left us on the brink of a chocolate overdose!

There are four basic food groups-milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate truffles.

Momma always said life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. - Forrest Gump

Upstairs were 3 tables and some comfy chairs...we sat here for a while enjoying our chocolates and using their free WiFi (another rarity in Korea).

When it came to choosing the hot chocolate, we had the choice of 52%, 64% or 74%. We tried one of each of the lesser of the three, which were really rich, creamy, and "heavenly."

I don't understand why so many "so called" chocolate lovers complain about the calories in chocolate, when all true chocoholics know that it is a vegetable. It comes from the cocoa bean, beans are veggies, 'nuff said.

After we got our chocolate fix, we were surprised when they brought us up a bowl of kiwi, bananas, and strawberries on the house.

A visit to Cacoa Haru made for a fun date on a Sunday night. Just remember, chocolate doesn't make the world go around ... but it certainly makes the ride worthwhile!

Easter in Busan

Last Sunday, we spent the day celebrating Easter on a beautiful Spring day in Busan. We started by eating Mexican food for lunch at Fuzzy Navel...we can't get any Mexican food in the city we live in.

Mmmm...beef chimichanga!

Soft taco...couldn't compete with the deep-fried chimichanga, but pretty good.

Haeundae Beach: After lunch, we walked down the street to Haeundae Beach. We spent about an hour strolling the boardwalk and enjoying the beautiful weather.

We even had the pleasure of coming across a Korean man wearing a thong speedo!!! haha!!

Fishing boats in Haeundae Beach.

Haedong Yonggungsa Temple:
After the beach, we decided to take a taxi to a temple we'd heard was really nice. The internet said it should take about 10 minutes to drive to the temple from Haeundae Beach, but with the traffic we ran into on Sunday, it took us 35 minutes! It was well worth the "long" drive along the side of a mountain with beautiful views of the sea.

Haedong Yonggungsa Temple is located on the north-eastern coast of Busan and was first built in 1376 during the Goryeo Dynasty. This is a rare temple because it's along the shore line. Most temples in Korea are located in the mountains.

This was our first glimpse of the temple, which was constructed on the side of the mountain next to the sea.

This temple was built on all different levels of the mountain...so we were constantly going up and down rock stairs. It made for beautiful views, though.

The temple had one wall full of these small figurines...not sure why, but they looked cute. :)

This dragon had more of the little figurines.

Taking some stairs down into a small cave, we came across lots of candles and incense.

Duck! We ended the day by eating at a duck restaurant back in Ulsan. Surprisingly, duck tastes and looks like ham! It comes with a honey-mustard dipping sauce and some leaves to wrap it in. It's definitely one of the best foods we've had here in Korea.

Our time in Korea is coming to an end in about 8 weeks. We're really excited to be coming home to see our family, friends, and dogs!!! This year and a half in Korea has been a wonderful experience, but a long time to be away from home. See you soon!