Bess and i

Hello, Greetings, and Welcome to the Bess and i Blog!

On our latest show we ventured to two locations of our favorite second hand clothes store in Korea: Vin Prime.  There are eight locations around Seoul, but the two locations we went to, Sadang Station and Express Bus Terminal Station, are the largest.

They have an excellent selection of used Women’s and Men’s clothing.  It’s kind of like a thrift store and boutique put together.  Most of their clothing is 5,000 to 15,000 Won (about $5-$15).  They also have some designer items that are really expensive.  There was a fluffy coat that was 500,000 Won (about $500).  It was soft.  Really soft.  But not 500,000 Won soft.

They have lots of clearance racks, my personal favorite section of every store.

There web site is simple to navigate, but it’s all in Korean.  Below we’re going to post a quick translation of the site and maps from subway stops to the locations.

When you first access the website, this will be the page that will greet you.  Click “Shop Information” to enter.

This is the main page.  The top links just take you to a map that shows where the store is located in the train station or which exit to take to walk to the store.

There are two locations near Gingham Station.  For the first location, take exit 11.

For the second Gangnam store, walk out of exit 12.

This store is located in Sadang Station.  It is located near exit 3 and 4.  This is the largest store.

This location is also inside of the train station.  If you’re coming from the Orange Line, walk towards exit 3,4,5,6.  It’s in the Green Line part of the station near exit 3.  This location is not quite as large as the Sadang store, but it is the second biggest and has a great selection.

This location is also inside the station.  We haven’t been to this location, but it seems to be close to exit 10 or 7.

This location is just outside of Apgujeong Rodeo Station.  Take exit 6.

This location is not far outside of exit 3.

Head out of exit 4.  The store is located on B2 of the building that the CGV movie theatre is in.

Please comment here or on Facebook if you find any treasures!   Or tweet them or instantly gram them to us @bessandishow or @bessandishow

Welcome to the official blog of the Bess and I show!  If you watched this week’s episode, you caught a few of our tricks and tips for keeping little kids distracted, occupied and happy on a plane.  Due to limited time, we didn’t elaborate much on the show, so that is what we will do here!

Let’s just go over some of the things we mentioned on this week’s show:

1. Small toys and trinkets
I usually grab a handful of our kids’ little figurines and such for the ride.  Little People, My Little Pony dolls, toy cars, and the like.  It’s nice to bring a few familiar toys.  However one thing that we have found to be a very good distraction is NEW toys.  Something they haven’t seen before.  Kinda like how your kids play so nicely at other people’s houses with other people’s toys because they are new unfamiliar.  Same concept.

New toy’s shouldn’t break the bank, though!  Go to the dollar store, or the dollar section at Wal-Mart or Target.  They have so many great little doo-dads and toys that are perfect for bringing on a plane ride.  Look at these toys as disposable.  You can toss them out after the plane ride if you want or need to.  Their primary purpose is to be a distraction on the plane.

Another thing we do sometimes is WRAP UP these little new trinkety toys like presents.  The kids get to open them up throughout the plane trip, which is a fun treat!

2. Stickers!

Stickers are a great thing to bring along.  You can usually find inexpensive stickers and sticker books at the stores mentioned above.  If you live in Korea, you can find stickers EVERYWHERE.  The smaller the better–keep those kids picking tiny stickers off a pad for as long as possible!  You can also bring along a coloring book or notepad for them to stick the stickers in.

3. Play-Doh
Of course, you will have to supervise this, but play-doh is an awesome thing to bring on the plane with toddlers.  Just pull down the table in front of their seat (or your seat, as they are probably sitting in your lap more than their own seat) and let them squish and mold and have fun!

4. Books
Bring a few of their favorite books, preferably in paperback form.  If your kids are like our kids, you don’t need to bring a ton–just the one or two that they always want to read over and over.

5. THIS AWESOME SPICE JAR MOTOR SKILLS TOY

Check out the simple DIY toy that kept our kids busy for tens of minutes at a time.  You can use an old spice jar from your kitchen or purchase one new.  We put pipe cleaners in ours, along with toothpicks, coffee stirs, and twist ties.  Our kids absolutely love this toy, and not only does it keep them occupied, they also get to practice their fine motor skills.  AND it’s small and easy to bring on board a plane. Win-win-win!

6. Tablet
Now we don’t advocate kids spending excessive amounts of time on a tablet device, but we all know that sometimes they can be a great way to distract an unhappy child.  They are also wonderful if your child is too short to watch a movie on-board, or if there isn’t a movie on-board.  We bought a cheap tablet expressly for our trip over to Korea and put several kid-friendly movies and games on it.

7. Bring ear phones for your children
Otherwise you will be putting in crappy earbuds over and over and over and over and over because they don’t fit inside little ears.  I know this from experience.  Not fun.

8. Backpacks for your kids
We’ve found it really nice to bring a small toddler-sized backpack for each kid.  We put toys and snacks and books in each one.  It reduces the amount of stuff we have to fit into the diaper bag/carry on, which is very nice.  It also makes it handy if Davis and I are separated on the plane.  We can easily swap kids and kids’ stuff, if need be.  I found River’s backpack at TJ Maxx for $7, so these don’t  have to break the bank either!  (If you are in Korea, go to Namdaemun to get an adorable child-size backpack for cheap!)

Basically the idea is to bring a nice variety of things that you can change out periodically to keep your children distracted and happy.  Sometimes they are just going to cry and be fussy, and there’s not much you can do about that.  It’s hard taking little ones on a plane for extended periods of time!  However we have found the above things have made our long journeys much easier.

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Now, on to “TO BRING OR NOT TO BRING!”

You can hear most of our tips on what to bring and what not to bring on our show, but one thing I neglected to mention was cloth diapers.

I know many people don’t want to even think about cloth diapering, and I completely understand.  However I would strongly urge you to reconsider if you are planning to move to Korea.

Why is cloth diapering in Korea so great?  Well first of all, disposable diapers here are EXPENSIVE.  Much more expensive than in the states.  Cloth diapering can really save you money.  Aside from this important factor, Korean bathrooms are set up perfectly for spraying diapers, as the shower heads are removable and work way better than a fancy diaper sprayer.  The fact that most Korean apartments do not have a clothes dryer is not an issue, as it is best to line-dry your cloth diapers anyway!  The only hiccup is that it can be difficult to find suitable soap for washing your diapers.  It can be found, though (or ordered through iherb.com); or you can do what we did and bring several packages of soap with you on the initial trip over.

Other things that we recommend bringing (quick list from the show, with a few extras):

–Deodorant: BRING LOTS OF DEODORANT.  It is very hard to find here, and if you do find it, it will be expensive.
–Prescription and over-the-counter pain medications
–Coffee beans: whole coffee beans can be hard to find, and expensive.  If you have some favorites, stock up before you come over!
–Good shoes: We cannot stress this enough.  If you have a pair of shoes that is especially comfy (think comfy for walking long periods of time), consider buying an extra pair to bring with you.  Even if you have a car, you will probably be walking a lot.
–A good quality, small, lightweight stroller: Your stroller will either make your life much easier, or much, much harder here.  The sidewalks in Korea are notoriously treacherous for strollers, so choose one that will hold up well to rough terrain.  We have a Chicco umbrella stroller that has been amazing, but our dream stroller is this one.
–Baby/Toddler ergonomic carriers or wraps:  Hands-down, the easiest way to get around here with tiny kids is to carry them.  We use a Tula and a Lenny Lamb, but there are many, many great brands out there!  They come in baby and toddler sizes.  You can find them pre-owned for a little cheaper, which is a great way to go if you don’t want to (or can’t) spend a lot of money.  We recommend bringing one for each parent.
–A comfortable diaper bag: We use a backpack diaper bag that has been awesome her in Korea.  It stays out of the way, and is not bulky or cumbersome.  Choose one that will be easy to carry or hook onto your stroller.
–A few familiar things from home: Since we were going to be here for a couple years, I wanted to bring a few of my favorite decor and kitchen items that didn’t take up too much space, and I’m glad I did.  It’s nice to have something that reminds you of where you came from.
-A good winter coat: It gets really cold here in the winter.  If you are from the south, like we are, your normal winter coat will not do.  Bring something very warm and wind-resistant.  If you don’t want to bring a coat (they can take up a lot of space), set aside some cash to purchase one when you get here.  Hats, gloves, scarves and such can be purchased locally for a good price, so don’t worry about those.
–An E-reader: Bringing some sort of e-reader along instead of physical books can be a good idea (although we have accumulated tons of books anyway since we’ve been here).

What not to bring:
–Car seats:  Unless you are planning to get a car in Korea, we would not recommend bringing car seats along.  If, for some reason, you end up needing one, they are easy to find at the store or used through many of the online flea markets/yard sale groups.
–High-heeled shoes:  Just don’t.
–Dishes, kitchen items: You can purchase really awesome dishes (and pretty much anything else you need for your kitchen and home) at Daiso for super cheap.  Like coffee mugs for a dollar (or 1,000 won).  Aside from being inexpensive, their dishes are also really pretty/cute/awsome.  I will be sad to leave my Daiso dishes!
–Musical instruments: It is very difficult and expensive to travel with your nice musical instruments.  We would highly suggest purchasing instruments while you are here.  There are many places to buy them, and they hold their resale value here so it will be easy to resell when it is time to leave.

That’s all we have for you today!  Thanks for watching the show and reading the blog!  If you have anything to add to the above lists, please feel free to comment below.  We’d love to hear your ideas and opinions!

Bess & Davis