Craterworld: seoul

Showing posts with label seoul. Show all posts

If you can only visit one palace in Seoul, make it this one.

The tail end of our trip: a visit to the second of Seoul's majestic palaces, Changdeokgung. This palace complex had a gigantic 'secret' garden, built for the leisure of the royal court. Lush greenery, winding stone pathways, a number of ornately painted pavilions in bright colors, the bending trees flush with fall colors.

Observations:

1. A Filipino family, also garbed in Uniqlo

2. Red bean manju bought from a food truck = hunger buster!

3. Everyone, garbed in Uniqlo.

Ssamziegil: Haven of cute and sometimes expensive things

After that, exhausted by all the walking (as usual), we headed to Insadong for extremely late lunch and some shopping. Spotted: A foreigner playing violin (he's a fixture, I believe), street vendors selling all kinds of cute things like socks, keychains, magnets and kimbap, strange "fish ice cream" (ice cream in a tube?) and cute buildings. We loved Ssamziegil and all the artsy things stored within. My parents scoured the traditional souvenir shops for a lamp to bring home, and ended up getting picture frames instead. I bought some magnets and a pair of socks. The siblings got postcards, keychains and socks as well. We're definitely suckers for cute things.

The Insadong Violin Man

Wall art in Ssamziegil

Insadong: Laden with souvenirs, both kitschy and not.

Observations:

1. A Turkish ice cream stand (I think every country we've visited has one). The Turkish dude knew Korean!

2. Helpful old man, only slightly creepy, trying to talk to us siblings (we wandered off)

3. Street vendors disapproved of us taking photos of their wares. Maybe because their wares were ripoffs and they didn't want to be found out? Or to protect against other people copying their stuff?

4. Insadong closes rather early.

After Insadong, we thought of dropping by Bada Pasta, a nice looking restaurant/cafe on the way to Studio 41st. AJ, one of the hosts, recommended it to us. It was around 9 pm though, and the place was about to close. The parents inquired, and the staff explained that they couldn't accommodate us, as it was going-home time. OK. We walked on, considering getting some take-out chicken or pizza, when the Bada Pasta people called us back. It was the owner, a slim and pretty Korean lady in her late twenties or early thirties. She'd cook for us, come on in.

Left: Seafood Pasta & Bada Pasta

Such hospitality! Her name is Anna, and she made us Bada pasta and seafood pasta, and threw in a complimentary pot of Italian coffee. She'd learned cooking in Italy, and Bada Pasta was her first restaurant. It was a pretty awesome experience.

Our last day in Seoul consisted of a hurried but satisfying shopping trip in Namdaemun. My parents found an entire building dedicated to kitchenware, and after an hour in the ceramics section, bought a set of plates, serving platters and bowls. We weren't able to check out the building devoted entirely to stationary, but we did go down one of the food alleys. I bought dried cranberries (THE GREATEST), chocolate rocks, dried squid and the parents bought several bags of rice candy (so-so) and ginseng candy (no comment).

Namdaemun: Seoul's find-anything-here market

So yeah. After getting loads of stuff in Namdaemun, we trooped back to our guesthouse, said good-bye to the cats, to Sun (the host on duty) and left a note on their bulletin board, which was filled with similarly grateful notes from all their past guests. Dad booked a van to bring us back to Incheon airport, where did a bit more shopping (BB cream!) and then boarded the flight back home. We'll miss you, Korea! You're a really cool country, and I hope I get to go back there someday!

It was Sunday, and we'd woken up too late to catch the English worship service at a church in Gangnam, so we opted to attend the one at Yongnak Church, which is near Myeongdong. The service there was at around 3pm though, so we used the morning to venture out to Bukchon Village. Bukchon is a neighborhood of traditional houses or hanoks, grouped together in a hilly area, producing winding stone-paved alleys and hidden doorways. The higher areas gave us a view of the tiled rooftops of the rest of the village, and it was indeed picturesque.

We discovered several shops hidden in the corners--there was one promoting traditional Korean handicrafts. After walking around the area for a good bit, we headed to one of the busier streets lined with various souvenir shops and restaurants. It was lunch time, so the place was pretty busy. We ate in an unremarkable pasta x rice meal place (I forgot the name, but it was a chain). After lunch, we decided to head to Yongnak.

Yongnak, as I mentioned earlier, is in the Myeongdong area, and kind of "near" Namsan tower (we could see it in the distance). We got lost on the way, so I stopped by a Domino's to ask for directions. Koreans are generally very friendly and the pair behind the counter were quite helpful--Yongnak was a few blocks away, on the other street that made up the corner Domino's was on. The church building itself wasn't hard to miss. Yongnak is apparently one of the older churches in Seoul, and the mother church of our former pastor, who now heads the Yongnak chapter in Toronto.

After church, we headed to Dongdaemun for some shopping, but didn't get anything (it was a lazy Sunday evening), and passed by the Cheonggyechon river after.

Day 4 - Nami Island

According to my sister's Korean friends, Filipinos who travel to Korea seem so proud that they'd visited Nami Island, it being the set of the 2004 drama Winter Sonata. The only K-drama we were into that time was My Girl, but the loveliness of the island (especially in early Autumn) was apparent even without getting the drama references.

We took the train from Hongik station to Gapyeong station--transferring lines in between--and then took a cab from there to the ferry area. It was interesting because you could observe the decline in cosmopolitan-ness of the passengers, the farther away from Seoul we traveled. At one point there was an old lady peddling snacks down the aisles of the cart. Boarding the ferry to Namiseom Island, I noticed we were with the locals--kids on a field trip, vacationing couples, families. The leaves were lovely shades of orange and red, and our tummies were grumbling for lunch.

After taking loads of pictures, we decided on eating at a pizza place further into the park. There were lots of things going on around us: kids were running and screaming in playgrounds, people were biking on single bikes, tandem bikes and passenger seat bikes, eating ice cream, eating street food. We got some ice cream after lunch and decided to walk around and explore some more. There was also an exhibit set up by a foundation.

Eventually, the siblings and I decided to rent bikes. We paid the deposit fee because we didn't have any valid card-sized ID on us. The guy at the bike renal place was getting pretty frustrated with me, haha. But after I shelled out the moolah and we got our bikes, everything was A-ok. We biked down towards the coast, where there were rafts for rent. We also found a nice open field bordered by yellow trees, where we biked around in circles. It was great to feel the cool air and the grass under wheels.

After turning our bikes in, we were pretty tired. We walked around more, took more pictures (it isn't ever year you get to experience Fall!) and waited till darkness settled around the island. People were getting on the ferry, and it was time to go home.

Getting off Hongik station, we wandered around the Hongdae area looking for a place to eat. Of course, the delicious memory of our first night's samgyeupsal was beckoning us to try out more of that delicious grilled stuff--so we did. Sadly, it wasn't as good as our late night middle of the road experience, but it did fill our tummies. All hail the bacon.

We walked towards Studio 41st afterwards. Mom wanted some coffee, so we ducked into a cute, hipstery coffee shop on the way back. It was called Jass Cafe, and its shelves were laden with painted figurines; its walls were hung with art posters and illustrations. The coffee was pretty good. I got a peppermint latte. The girl manning the counter had a strong Californian accent; I commented on her good English and she mentioned she was from Los Angeles--although you could tell that it wasn't her first language.

Anyway, good coffee, pretty shop. A full meal was a nice way to end a pleasant but long day.

The second day of the trip started bright and early, with our usual organic breakfast and the smell of it sticking to our clothes. Dad booked a tour to the DMZ through the hostel the night before - the Demilitarized Zone rests at the border between North and South Korea and is home to a number of commemorative areas, a viewdeck, and a train station that seems to be perched on the edge of the world. It was all very interesting, and good reminder of the country's current, if sometimes taken for granted tensions with its hostile half.

Ribbons containing messages for loved ones.

Imjingak Station - the first stop

Dorsan Observatory - Here we were able to see a propaganda village with NK's flag flying high. Buildings are deserted, though. One of the many for show faces of a highly secluded country.

The bright, hopeful spot in this tumultuous history lesson was Dorsan station, which the South Koreans hope to connect to Pyeongyang. It struck me as highly unlikely, but the nearly deserted train station is a symbol: SoKor is positioning itself as the forgiver, the initiator, the straight sibling. Watchful, correct, hopeful that one day NoKor will wake up and come to its senses.

At some point, we were taken to one of several tunnels the North Koreans dug from their side. It was funny and tiring and I was a bit envious of the senior citizens who got their own tram-things. But the tunnel walk, (and climb) made for good exercise after a few hours of being stuck in the bus.

After the tour was over, we got down somewhere near Gyangbokgung Palace (and the Cheonggyecheon stream, which came highly recommended by the guidebooks and the slightly scruffy globetrotting Australian (was he an Australian?) who was also on the tour. But it was Nanta for us that evening.

What I liked most about Nanta was its energy and ability to make you laugh uncontrollably. And the fact that good music, kitchen antics and humor transcend all language barriers. All hail the Sexy Chef.

Seoul is, to me, a city of palaces, ancient gates and skyscrapers, street-food tents, neon signs and the smoke of barbecue, subway trains and permed ajummas, helpful ajussis, kimchi and T-money. And let's not forget the sparkling, round-eyed celebrities, cozy coffee shops and the sea of striped shirts, thick black frames and chic army jackets.

The family decided to go somewhere special this semester break, due to the fact that we all now have a week to spare in October. Ab, Mom and Pat had their two weeks off, Dad took a leave, and I, the unemployed one, never felt so good about being unemployed.

Three countries were up for initial consideration: Thailand, Korea, and Australia. Monsoon rains took Bangkok off the list, and both my parents felt just a week in Australia wouldn't do it justice, given the number of friends and relatives we have over there (and the places to visit). So, Seoul it was!

Like last time, I took care of looking for a place to stay. Because we wanted to spend more on shopping, food and sightseeing, I looked into guesthouses and BnBs instead of hotels. We booked a six-night stay at Studio 41st, a guesthouse in the residential area of Yeonnam-dong, in the Hongdae area. And it was the best.

We booked 2 family rooms, each good for up to three people. The rooms were clean, well-equipped and cozy. There was a PC that doubled as a TV, a washing machine, hair dryer, a sink, a table and chair, and a small couch.

Abby was constantly on the TV, watching un-subtitled dramas (which she couldn't understand anyway). Pat took advantage of the crazy fast internet, and so began downloading anime using my laptop. As for me, I got the first episode of Samurai Flamenco, and the second of Kill La Kill (decided to drop it after).

But let me tell you about our first evening there.

We arrived at Incheon Airport at around 8, all bundled up and ready for the cold (or so I thought). The air was pleasantly cool, and it was a little warmer than Washington in the first throes of summer. Dad booked a pick-up van through Studio 41st, and so we piled in there. It took us around an hour and a half to get to the guesthouse, where we checked in, dumped our bags in the rooms, and eyed the resident cats.

The manager for that evening was Adrian, clad in all black, with a knitted beanie and a pair of those hipster frames, the accessory of choice for a lot of people in Seoul. We were hungry. He took out a map of the Hongdae area, and pointed us to one of the best barbecue places we'd ever go to, called ChungKiWa SaengGoGi. It was a ten to fifteen minute walk from Studio 41st, so out we strolled. Along the way, we passed a lot of small cafes, restaurants and convenience stories.

Confession time: We had no idea what to do once we got to the bbq place. Dad wasn't even sure it was the one the map was talking about, so we stood in front for a few minutes looking very much like disoriented foreigners before one of the staff approached us and sat us down at a table out on the sidewalk. We ordered samgyupsal, and thin slices of beef, a beer for Dad and a bottle of soju for extra warmth. The charcoal grill was right in the middle of the table. The place was full, even if it was past 9 pm. Another lady came and served up two bowls of soy bean paste soup, various side dishes, two baskets of lettuce, and our drinks. We stared at each other blankly, wondering where the individual plates were. And this is when we learned our first lesson about eating in Seoul: everything is communal.

When the meat was brought over, we still weren't sure what to do. The lady took things into her own hands and cut up the pork belly with a pair of scissors, grilling it with the kimchi. Once that was cooked, she told us to wrap the meat in the lettuce after dipping it into some sauce. It was good. And it went well with the soju, which Mom kept drinking to keep warm. I guess her tolerance is pretty good (unsurprising, because Beyer genes.)

We walked back to Studio 41st, a tad wobblier than before, and a lot colder. Never underestimate the night winds! Pat and I watched Kill La Kill, I did a bit of planning, and then we all fell asleep.

Things I learned:

- The people of Seoul are generally friendly and helpful to tourists
- We look Indonesian
- Soju isn't so horrible, but isn't as strong as sake
- Ladies put their bags into plastic bins / boxes under the table.
- Sitting out on the sidewalk stuffing your face with grilled meat is the best thing ever. But take off your jacket when eating samgyupsal this way if you don't want it smelling like meat.

(All photos were taken by the illustrious and semi-respectable Abigail Portugal).