Marriage God Retreat

Want to enhance your marriage relationship?

Log on to God and connect with your Spouse

(Sept 24-26)

Location:  To be determined

Cost:  $100 per couple

Activities and childcare available for children 3 yrs old and up

To make reservations and pay the registration fee, stop by the Chapel

Limited to the first 27 couples to sign up & pay

Deadline to sign up and pay is Sept. 10

Any questions, contact Ch. Richard Tatum at 784-5000 or via email @ richard.tatum@osan.af.mil

Check out Tiger World!

If you haven't been to Tiger World, check it out! It's a bit of a trek but worth it!

On one floor is an indoor snow skiing/sledding hill (my husband took our 9-yr old--perfect for a beginner) and on another floor is an indoor waterpark/spa. We have been to the waterpark/spa three or four times and plan to go back another couple of times before we leave.

When grandparents were here, our 9-yr old chose Tiger World over everywhere else to take them. The waterpark side is nice (little kids' area, wave pool, lazy river, slides, lap pool), but we spend the majority of our time on the spa side (through the food court).

The spa side has several pools with varying temps, saunas, a pool bar (no alcohol served, but that is where we eat our Dippin' Dots ice cream!), a large pool with a mushroom fountain and water jets along the edges, outdoor hot tubs, and the famous Dr. Fish pool (something like 3,000 Won for 20 minutes--worth the experience, even our 3-yr old tried it).

You get a bracelet when you check in which serves as your 'key' for your locker and also serves as your credit card. You place everything in your locker (wallet included, but keep out your towels and/or cooler) and you charge everything while you are there with a swipe of your bracelet. You pay on your way out.

We eat at the food court (the kids like the pork cutlet set), but we supplement with our own fruit and crackers (drinking water is free).

It's on the way to the airport and it's about 75-90 minutes away depending on traffic.

Here’s how to get there:

• Take Big 1 North to 50 West (opposite Everland on 50, might say towards Ansan)
• Take 15 North (under 5 minutes' time on 15N) to 100 West/North towards Incheon Airport. Tiger World is on your left--huge blue and gray odd-shaped building.
• Exit at the Jungdong Interchange and make a couple left turns and look for the signs.
• Parking garage is underneath Tiger World.

Bring and show your military ID for a discount!!

The website shows what it looks like www.tigerworld.co.kr/eng/ Click on the 'About Facilities' button at the top and then on 'waterpark/spa' for some great photos. Enjoy!!

Linda, Guest Blogger

Directions: Korean Folk Village, Suwon

The Korean Folk Village is a beautiful and interesting place to walk around and see some of the original Korean culture. It is a park-like setting you can spend anywhere from a few hours to a whole day there depending on how much detail you want to fit in.

It is a great place to see the flora and fauna of Spring and also a good place to experience some of the traditions associated with Korean holidays, such as Chuseok in the early Fall, or the Lunar New Year during the winter.

To get there:

• Take the "Big 1" North to Suwon



• Exit and go East at Suwon



• You will see signs to the KFV follow them, by turning right at the lights when they tell you.



• Follow this road south for about 5-10 minutes. You'll continue to see KFV signs, but they are a bit unclear.



• Turn left when the signs tell you to (we usually follow the buses to find the turn more easily)



• Follow this small road in to the KFV parking lot. There is a fee to park and a fee to get in. The best time to go is when they open.

Directions: Everland

Everland is a huge amusement park that is open year round. It is north of Suwon. Try going on an American holiday to avoid the crowds. The place is packed with Korean families on nice weekends. Check out their Christmas festival in November or December!

To get there:

• Take the Big 1 North to Rt. 50



• Take Rt. 50 East



• Exit at Everland

Destination Camp Humphreys

If you're looking for a fun nearby destination for the morning, or for the day, check out Camp Humphreys! It's about a half-hour drive, and the have a great water park that will be open starting Memorial Day weekend. You can find out about the park here.

And, try the Alaska Mining Co. for lunch. It's different enough from what we have here for restaurants to be a nice treat. The hours can be found here along with some other information about what's going on around Humphreys.

To get there:

• Exit Main Gate and turn right. At first corner turn left.
• Go 1/2 mile over bridge and to bus terminal. Turn right at light just after terminal.
• Follow signs through Songtan to Route 1/Chonan.
• Go straight at "T" intersection by driving range. (Do not bear left to stay on Route 1.)
• Continue another 300 yards to gas station, turn left at signs for Route 38/45.
• After 1 mile, bear left again at sign for Route 38/45. This will put you on Route 38 east.
• Once on 38, follow signs for Route 45/Paengsong and Camp Humphreys (1st exit).
• If you miss the signs, look for big red and white water towers and/or helicopters and make your way towards them. You can't miss it!
  

Travel Tips: Ins and Outs of Okinawa

Upon arrival at Kadena:

Once you get to the terminal at Okinawa, the MPs will put you (and other travellers) in vans and drive you to Customs and then to the immigration office where you will be stamped into the country. You can not drive yourself because the MPs have to escort you; plus, it would be a $40 cab ride!

Military members do not need to be "stamped in" or out since you can travel with your ID card. They get extremely confused if you show them your ID or orders. So to avoid a 1/2 wait, only show your family's passports (unless you have a passport and want to be stamped in). If your spouse and/or children do not have an AMERICAN passport, they MUST have a VISA! The immigration folks made us wait for 3 hours while they figured out what to do with one family and almost made them leave!

Once immigrations is done, the MPs will drive you back to the terminal and you will need to have your passports stamped by the Kadean Customs officers! After you get that done, you can call the base lodging shuttle at 632-1010 to pick you up and take you to the lodging office. There is a car rental agency right in the lodging reservation room.

Lodging:

We stayed at the Shogun Inn on Kadena. To reserve a room, go to the the Kadena Services lodging website to reserve a room. I got emails from the hotel right away, confirming our reservations. If you are not going to have a car, you will want a room closer to the BX food court area. We stayed in bldg 437 next to a small food court and behind the BX and across from the library. Unforuntately, the last day we were there, they tore out the playground that was there.I am hopeful they were putting a new and improved one in. It was right at Bldg 437 so it was handy for antsy kids.

When making your reservation keep in mind:

• There are no elevators at the lodging so pack lightly or ask for ground level.
• The suites are large with a full kitchen set up.
• There is no WIFI or computer connections in the rooms! They have WIFI in the lobby of the lodging reservation office only! They will tell you that they have free WIFI on the 3rd floor of every building, but it is not connected yet and they are having issues. You can get WIFI at the community center, library and the Banyan Tree (NCO Club open to all ranks).
• The Banyan Tree sells the best Yakosoba on the island!

Other things to keep in mind on Kadena:

• Currently, the base pools are closed except for one lap pool.
• You will need a card to get around on the base and especially off or really deep pockets. The fares start off at $5 and the base is huge!
• I would advise you to go to ITT in the community center and check on trips. They have some good ones. We went to "Manas Beach" one day and it was worth the money. We had an excellent time. They have a cool "glass bottom" boat which is actually more like a submarie that does not fully submerge. When you get to the beach, you will each get $1,000 yen ($10) to spend on some of the things and you will get a free ride on the glass boat and free BBQ lunch. Their idea of BBQ is not ours! They have a lot of things that looked very Korean...no burgers/hotdogs nothing like that! However, amongst the kim bap and rice and noodle and fish dishes....they did have french fries (but soggy) . But they had kayaks, canoes, aqua bikes, snorkeling. It was wonderful.

Some more tips about Okinawa:

• Food and drinks in Okinawa are expensive! We mostly ate on base. Downtown, a beer was 8,000 yen and water was 5,000! You can buy drinks on the many vending machines downtown so take yen if you walk around....cheaper than in the restaurants.
• We also highly suggest you make reservations at Okuma Resort which is a military resort. You will need to drive a couple of hours to it but you can get directions and it is very easy to get to. You will need 7,000 yen (each way) for the toll booth ($7) and they take credit cards but not american cash! Make reservations early. Tell them you want the "Suites Plus" (or better) but not just the suite...too small for a family. They run about $70 a day and they are not glamourus but since you will be sandy and sweaty from playing all day...they don't need to be. All the rooms are a stones throw from the beach! They have several rental items and I love the bikes for 4! They even have a small golf course. Make sure you go up to lookout point! You will want a sunset picture there!
• The restaurant at Okuma is priced very well and for dinner you can get a great meal (including soup and salad) for as little as $5!! We started going, eating the soup and our fill of salad and taking our entree in a to go box for lunch in the room (they have microwaves and a fridge).

Getting home:

When you are leaving Kadena, you will have to "stamp out" of the country once you are manifested at the terminal. That ride is on you and it is about $50 round trip, I am told. You will go to the same immigration office and "stamp out".

However, if you proceed to another Japanese base, such as Yokota, you can "stamp out" of the country there much easier! At Yokota, we took all the passports and made about a 15 minute walk outside the gate (no taxi will go there) and got them all stamped and we were on our way.
HOWEVER, if you get your passport stamped when you arrive at Kadena, you may not have to worry about that 15 minute walk because the SPs at Yokota told us we only had to make the walk because Kadena did not take us back to the terminal (there was an accident at the terminal) and have the SPs stamp something in our passport. Had we made the trip back to the terminal on our day of arrival at Kadena....Yokota's terminal folks could have stamped us out!

MeLissa, Guest Blogger

Directions: Flower Market

If you've never been to a Flower Market, this is well worth the trip. It is unlike anything I've ever seen before. Cut and potted flowers and plants. Baskets and vases of all kinds. Very, very inexpensive. For a total of 5,000Won (about $5), I bought two huge bunches of cut flowers.


To get to the Flower Market:

• Take the "Big 1" north towards Seoul
• Take the exit for "Seoul Grand Park" and get over immediately into the far left lane
• Turn left at the first light
• The Flower Market is immediately on your left
• Take the first left to get in. You have to pay for parking. (About 2,000Won-about $2-for 1.5 hours)

Here's a link to some more detailed information: http://english.kbs.co.kr/life/path/1395704_14466.html

Osan, Sweet Osan

It seems like every day I hear one of my friends or neighbors talking about a recent fabulous trip, or planning an upcoming one. If you look under 'labels' on the left side of this page you'll see a category called 'travel destinations' that has reviews of exotic locales by Osan parents. There are tons of interesting places you can easily travel to from here: Thailand, China, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Australia, New Zealand, Guam, Saipan and more.

While you're here you might as well take advantage of all these opportunities to travel, right? When will you ever have a chance like this again? That's what everyone says, and for a while I believed them. But you know what? I don't WANT to travel around Asia. If I had my choices of continents to travel on, Asia would be on the very bottom of my list, even below Antarctica. I can't read the signs, it's a hassle to travel with my two small children, and travelling costs a lot of money and leave, both of which we'd rather save. I get my fill of Asian culture eating in town and taking day trips to the local attractions.

Sometimes I feel very lame and uncool admitting this to all my well-travelled friends, but no more! I'm embracing my inner homebody. It's okay to stay on base!

Osan Parents Sound-Off: Winter Destinations

Question: What is there to do around here when the Winter comes?

Answer:

• In the shopping mall where Lotte World is in Seoul, there's also a large indoor ice skating rink. Just DON'T GO THERE on weekends or Korean holidays. Weekdays / US holidays are best.
• There's a modest aquarium at COEX Mall.
• In late Dec / early January, there will be some artificial snow sliding areas in Seoul.
• There are indoor water parks such as Ocean World - Vivaldi Park (ski resort and indoor water park) in Hongcheon. The trick is to find a Korean friend who can get a discount rate at the hotel. They can be very pricey, even for modest accommodations.
• One of the best known ski resorts - now indoor water park too - is Phoenix Park. Korean winters tend to be rather drab and dry. Much of the snow falls in Gangwon-Do Province - to the east / northeast of Seoul. That's where most of the ski resorts are.

Answer: You could start with Lotte World (indoor/outdoor amusement park) and Tiger World (indoor waterpark/spa and snow hill).

Answer: E-Mart and Lotte Mart both have indoor play areas for the kids while you shop. The supervisor at E-Mart usually speaks enough English to understand what you need.

Answer: Everland has seasonally appropriate activities. The CoEx Aquarium is a decent place to spend the morning. Just get there early or there will be lots of people. It reminds me a little bit of a Korean Manalay Bay (Las Vegas) aquarium. It is definitely an interesting cultural experience. Not just fish!

Thailand: An Asian Adventure

Thailand is a common trip for military families stationed in Korea. We took our trip in December during their high season and thoroughly enjoyed the weather, sites and relaxation Thailand had to offer.

Bangkok:

Many people skip over Bangkok and head straight for the beaches of Phuket. This would definitely be the most relaxing option as Bangkok with small children can be exhausting and terrifying when you’re flying down the wrong side of the road in a taxi that may or may not be legit.

Regardless of the intensity of a big city, we were so glad we didn’t miss out on all it had to offer. We stayed at the Holiday Inn and took advantage of its close proximity to eateries and shopping.

Scary longboat rides, beautiful palaces and Wats (temples) made our 3 days in Bangkok memorable. Just make sure you bring pants or a long skirt and something to cover your arms when entering temples (some places will rent shawls so you can go in, but don’t rely on that).

Sites we visited:

Grand Palace

• 2 Hours
• Whenever I go to Bangkok I always go to the Grand Palace. OK you have to wear long trousers in the tropical heat but the sights make it worthwhile. By the way, you can't wear jeans, three quarter lengths, track suits plus a couple of other things (don't worry, you can hire clothes if you turn up in jeans etc). If you're prepared to abide by the rules (you have to remove shoes/hats before entering temples etc) you're in for a great time, as my photos testify. After you've been to the Grand Palace you can visit nearby Wat Pho with the Reclining Buddha
• Bring an umbrella for shade, and water of course.
  

Wat Pho (Reclining Buddha)

• Reclining Buddha is near Grand palace (behind it)
• 50 Bhat admission (Kind of a walk from the Grand Palace, because I couldn’t figure out a way to get there more easily, but not bad)

Standing Buddha

• Cool if you have time, but not necessary

Golden Mount

• Great view of city, but lots and lots (and lots) of stairs so if you’re tired, don’t bother!

Lumphini Park

• Nice for a break from tourist-y stuff. Very pretty, but warm so bring water and sunblock. Just a pretty park with playground
  

City Tips:

• If you spend time in Bangkok and have little ones I recommend you use a backpack type carrier as it is not a stroller friendly city
• Find a nearby store to stock up on water as the tap water is not potable (even for brushing teeth) “Big C” is like a Walmart and has pretty much anything you’d need
• Never trust someone who tries to tell you that a site is closed. There are a lot of people who will try to lure you away from popular points of interest by telling you that something is closed or being renovated
• Make sure the taxi drivers turn on the money meter or at least determine the cost upfront.
• Take advantage of the concierge in the hotel. They have fabulous information and are friendly and can give you great tips
• Always carry a card with your hotel name on it so you can show it to the taxi driver
• Tuk-tuks – 3-wheeled open air taxis. Fares must be bargained in advance. Beware some try to take you to extra stops along the way and scam you
• Most hotels don’t have microwaves

Phuket:

Phuket was fabulous and after the stress of Bangkok we wanted nothing more than to lay on the beach and dig sand forts (well, my husband dug, I sat). Laguna Beach Resort was isolated and beautiful and had supreme service while our last 3 nights were spent at the Katathani where we once again were impressed by the accommodations and stellar care of the staff. We didn’t do much other than the beach and pools while we were in Phuket, but you can sign up for Elephant rides and scuba diving and other adventures if you’re up for it.

If you want to see pictures of our trip, visit http://www.whereiskermit.com/ and go to the December 14, 2007 blog posts of Phuket and Bangkok. Sawatdee Ka/Krub

Anna Jane, Guest Blogger

Hafa Adai! Saipan: Where the US Starts Its Day

If you want to take the kids and go to the beach for a week, Saipan is a great place to go. The primary language is English and Saipan is a US protectorate. As they say, it’s where the US starts it’s day. Coincidentally, it is where many Koreans go on their honeymoons so you’ll see a lot of couples in matching T-shirt and a lot of Hangul, too.

Keep in mind, there is nothing but sun and sand in Saipan so don’t go for the shopping, the entertainment, or the food. The resorts have decent restaurants, but they are a bit pricey because they are resorts. There is a McDonalds, Subway, Tony Roma’s, Hard Rock Café, and that’s about it for US chains. There are also a lot of excellent Japanese and Korean restaurants.
You don’t need a car in Saipan. The resorts will meet you at the airport and take you to the hotel. Most of the things “to do” are at the resorts or in the streets around the resorts. Once a week, there is a street festival with food vendors. Good food, cheap prices. We ate it and remained healthy.

It is worth renting a car from the resort for a morning to drive around the island. This is where you can really see the beauty of the Pacific islands and also take in some of the history.
There is a huge World War 2-Pacific Theater history in Saipan and it is one of the sites where the US defeated the Japanese in these battles. The history is somewhat of a touchy subject, but only because the wounds are still fresh. There is a museum run by the US National Park Service that tells you more about the history of Saipan.

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency, but there are other resorts as well, such as the Pacific Island Club. The beaches are great for kids because the water is shallow and warm. The beaches are soft and pleasant. There is a water park at one of the resorts that is well worth the trip. There are places to Scuba, such as The Grotto. So if you are a scuba diver, you may be able to take advantage of that.

We booked our trip through ITT. The main thing about the trip is that the flights from Korea are terrible schedule-wise. You leave in the evening (around 8pm) and arrive around midnight. You catch the return at around 2 in the morning. With kids, this is not so great. However, I have a suspicion that if you fly through Japan, you can get a better itinerary, so ask and see.

Here’s a link to the Saipan Tribune: http://www.saipantribune.com/ There is not a whole lot of information online. It is a VERY SMALL place, but we loved it.

Helen, Guest Blogger