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One thing that dominates the Korean economy for good or bad is the chaebol. Basically, they are conglomerates that invest in varied businesses. The Philippines have the Lopezes which virtually creeps into everything the modern Manilan must do to live through the day: phones, electricity, water, entertainment. Similarly, so, are the Ayalas, Henry Sy, and SMC.

Among the most famous chaebols are LG, Hyundai and of course, Samsung. These companies virtually control every business needed to run a modern economy. Samsung has businesses in computer components, memory chips, communication devices, chemicals, insurance, construction, department stores, entertainment and even sport teams and automobiles. It’s these companies that helped made South Korea what it is today.

Most people are familiar with Samsung’s electronic appliances. But the place we’re going after our meat/salad lunch is owned and operated by Samsung. The place is called Everland. It is but one of several theme parks operating around the country. In the Philippines, we only have Enchanted Kingdom in comparable size and scope.

The day we arrived to Everland is on a Saturday, so that naturally means more people. Everland is more than just a theme park. From the literature I’ve read, it’s also got a hotel. Somewhere nearby is a racing track? and ranch? Anyway, lots of vehicles already parked, but we still manage to find parking. Irene arranges for the tickets for everybody. We also grab maps and they become souvenir of our trips as well. We enter and the place looks big, probably bigger than Enchanted.

The tickets we have allows us to enjoy up to 5 rides or amusements. Like Enchanted, Everland is divided into different themes such as Roman, Jungle, Rock n Roll, Western. In Jungle, we can see cage/preserve for polar bears and tigers. One of the most sought after amusement is the Safari, a theme ride where you get to see lots of wild animals. But the queue is very, very long and that’s just outside the Safari building. We decided we split up and enjoy other rides first.

You can immediately see the most popular snacks here are churros and popcorn. Aaaahhh… popcorn… There are lots of carts all over Everland serving popcorn. And the rich buttery smell permeates all over within its vicinity. It’s all around and smells so good to make you want to eat, and the only thing keeping us from buying them is a shortage of Wons. Heeheheheh…

To be continued

We have lunch before going to Everland.  This Korean restaurant we go to is different from the past couple of days.  We were advised to leave our jackets because the smoke from the barbecue could make them smelly.  The restaurant feels a lot more traditional.  First, we leave our shoes at or by the shoeracks.  The tables are the lowlegged types, so that means we sit on the floor.  As usual, we have the banchan.  This banchan has the usual kimchi, fishcake, big tauge namul…  There is a saucer of gochujang, the hot pepper paste, and lots of lettuce.  We didn’t quite figure what to do with the raw lettuce, until Irene tipped us that you put in desired ingredients in the lettuce, including of course, the meat,  and then you stuff the stuffed lettuce into your mouth.  The barbeque has big portions of fat with it, so, one of our mates cut out the fatty portions.  I’m not sure how much the lunch cost us, but it’s like we have endless refills/supply of barbeque.

The taste of barbeque was okay, but what we did enjoy was the novelty of making lettuce wraps.  This easily tops as my most memorable meal in Korea.  I try not to get too full though, knowing we’ll be going on rides. 

As seemingly typical with small family owned restaurants here, people eat around lunch or dinner.  That’s around a set time. By about 1:00 there’s hardly any other customer.  It’s almost like the carinderias in the Philippines.  You typically eat at these places just to get your fill, and quickly go back to work.

With lunch finished, we’re off to Everland!!!

Less than an hour later, we have reached one of Korea’s strawberry farms.  If you’re imagining some idyllic sunny farm with strawberries sprouting all over the field, then remember that’s just your imagination.  The farm is  composed of several hothouses.  The hothouses are covered in transparent plastic.  We enter one hothouse.  Just beside the entrance is a controller that regulates heating inside the hothouse.  It is spring in Korea, and the climate is still cold.  Strawberries would just get ruined in such a climate.  Management told us that we can each look around and pick up to 3 strawberries for free. 

The strawberries are planted in 6 columns, and we can easily make our way between them.  I’m not sure why the soils are covered in black plastic.  Since it is 3 pieces inside a hothouse, it didn’t take too long to explore.

Going to the farm and to see it, it’s like how Mr. Bean in the Bean movie explained about Whistler’s Mother painting.  His mother looks like an ugly old hag, but he loves her and that’s all that matters.  In this case, the Koreans make the most out of limited land.  Growing produce that normally blooms well into the summer.  There is only 1 harvest season for rice and that is sufficient to feed everyone there for a year.  By contrast, we could probably do 2-3 harvest, but it’s still not enough to feed everyone.  Simply put, it is not a picturesque farm, but it does its job to make strawberries.  Big, juicy strawberries at that.

As we leave the farm, the owner of the farm arrived and with only a few boxes of strawberries left, offered to us at a special price.  We bought all the boxes.  Yummy.  All the biggest, plumpiest, yummiest strawberries we’ve ever seen and tasted.

Next, we go to lunch first, and then Everland!