Marmite

There are lots of things people tell you to bring to Korea - deodorant, make up, bedding, towels, coffee, tea, chocolate and so on either because you can't buy them here or that they are hard to find or that you will almost certainly pay over the odds for them. With just a 30kg luggage allowance, there was no way I was going to load up my suitcase with towels and bedding. After all, Koreans must use some of this stuff themselves.

• Deodorant - they sell Rexel, which judging by the tick on the can is Sure under another name, in Watsons (sort of like Superdrug) in the Mall.
• Bedding - I bought sheets, pillow, duvet etc in Emart when I moved into my apartment. Reasonable prices and the sizes seemed roughly equivalent to UK sizes. I've also found a whole shop selling nothing but bedding near Homeplus.
• Towels - again, I found them pretty easily in Emart.
• Make up - some well known European brands are sold in Korea, for instance, I've seen my shade of L'oreal Minerals stocked in a cosmetics shop. I even bought a Korean brand foundation and it suits my skin tone (and I am pale!)
• Clothes - I'm a UK size 12, so no problems so far. I've seen people of all shapes and sizes here, so presumably there are clothes available to fit all?
• Bras - likely to be a problem as all the ones I've seen so far only going up to a B Cup! However, I've seen a Triumph concession in one of the department stores (I think it was GS Square?), I'm fairly sure they will have bigger sizes. Plus, there are a few branches of good old M&S in Seoul which I will have to hunt out.
• Coffee - most of the instant coffee seems to be sold in sticks with sugar (and sometimes milk) already added. They sell fresh coffee in Emart. They have lots of different types of tea here, but not the type that we Brits call a cuppa. The world food shop in Hyundai sells English Breakfast and Earl Grey etc, a bit pricey, but if you need a decent cuppa, you've got to have it!
• Coffee shops - are everywhere. There's even a Starbucks in Hyundai.
• Chocolate - I have a craving for a Twirl! In the aforementioned World Food Shop they sell Cadbury Dairy Milk and Picnic bars (I haven't seen Picnic bars for years!). Apparently, Cadburys use different recipes for anywhere outside Britain. I don't care, chocolate is chocolate!
• Alcohol - Korea is not called the Ireland of Asia for nothing. Sadly, they don't seem to sell much in the way of decent beer (the best lager is OB, I'm never drinking Cass again as it tastes like soap) and definitely no cider (sorry Lisa!)

Turns out, the only things I regretted not bringing with me were Marmite and tea bags. Luckily for me, a parcel arrived today containing a big tub of Marmite, a big box of PG Tips and a selection of Cadbury's finest. Yum!

Beyond City Hall

Today I decided to explore some more of Bucheon. I walked past City Hall towards GS Square where there is a large department store, also called GS Square. GS Square is around the same size as Hyundai, but is a little less snootier. If they were both in the UK, Hyundai would be House of Fraser and GS Square would be Debenhams. When I was travelling up the escalator, I could smell something which will be familiar to anyone who has walked down a UK high street - yes, there was a branch of Lush on the 8th floor!

GS Square Department Store

South of GS Square is another pedestrianised area with lots of bars, shops and restaurants. Apparently there is a British/European style cafe/bistro called Cafe Nicolia run by a British guy and his Korean wife around here somewhere, but I couldn't find it....

The skyline is dominated by the huge We've the State apartment complex. Apparently THE place to live in Bucheon if you truly want to keep up with the Kims.

Reflections

Looking back towards my side of town

Tesco in Korea?!

If you live in Bucheon like me (and probably any other Korean city as far as I know), you will have the choice of two major supermarkets - Emart and Homeplus. Up to now, I've been doing my shopping at Emart because its nearer. The other day, I decided to explore in another direction and found Homeplus, right next to Sopoong cinema/mall. As I got closer, I saw a familiar logo underneath the Homeplus sign.

That's right - Tesco! And its huge, plus everything is on the ground floor (in Emart, you have to go down to the 2nd basement to do your grocery shopping). It makes me feel a little less homesick to see a familiar brand everywhere and they even do Value stuff

...although you can't buy Value kimchi in the UK!

The other major difference is that they have an advertisement video playing constantly on repeat all day throughout the store. Its fun and catchy, but I can well imagine that if you worked there, you would want to take a baseball bat to every tv screen in the store.