You can’t visit Christian in Korea without eating his favorite Korean dish – dak galbi. So after visiting the Palace, for Maggie’s first meal in Korea I took her to a place by Gangnam station that I frequent.
The evening was spent eating kimbap (Korean sushi basically), tofu stew (tastier than it sounds) and bibimbap at a restaurant close to my place before heading to meet up with a bunch of friends for my buddy Connor’s 30th birthday.
The next day was spent brunching with KJ, Connor and Eliza before heading out to Bukchon Hanok Village.
Had I known Hanok Village was literally right next to Chandeokgung Palace, then we could have knocked out two birds with one stone on the same day but alas, I didn’t. Live and learn.
At first, we were slightly disappointed with the “village” as many of these traditional houses are interspersed with more modern houses, stores and restaurants. We wandered aimlessly for a while before fortunately stumbling upon the tour/information office which we initally thought we didn’t need. After grabbing a map, we followed the outlined course that most people take and got to see more of what we were expecting.
After our tour of Hanok Village, it was off to Lotte World Tower before we ran out of daylight! I visited LWT back in July with my buddy Max which was surely a highlight of his trip here and despite the sky being a bit more hazy this time around, it did not disappoint.
The weekend wouldn’t be complete without a trip to Aori Ramen, one of my new favorite restaurants. Speaking to friends who have visited Japan, they all agree that if you can’t get ramen in Japan, this is the next best thing. Apparently lots of Koreans agree as there is almost always a line going out the door no matter when you go. But oh baby was it worth the wait. Ohhhh babyyyy.
I didn’t see too much more of Maggie since I had to work on Monday and Tuesday, but Monday evening we went out one last time and got dinner in Hongdae with Chelsea and my other friend/co-worker Sophie. Hongdae is a young, trendy neighborhood and one specific street is well known for having young aspiring K Poppers and dancers with varying levels of talent try to make a name for themselves by doing live performances.
This one particular night, one guy had attracted a huge crowd and so naturally, we watched him do his thing for about twenty minutes. Undoubtedly, this performer has been doing this for a long time as he danced effortlessly to every song that he put on, all of which varied in rhythm and tempo. It was also quite amusing as most of his feigned attempts at seduction were directed towards males in the crowd, me not excluded (at least by me a drink first why don’t ya sheesh).
I finally bit the bullet and upgraded my account so I can upload videos for your viewing pleasure. Also note that I believe the guy he pulled from the crowd must have been a plant because he was also too good and in sync with the performer to just be some random guy. Then again, I’ve heard at some Korean clubs, people will dance in unison by the dozens having all memorized the moves from the music video so who knows.
The highlight of the performance had to be the little boy that the guy kept coming back to, who was absolutely mesmerized by how this guy was dancing. Finally at the end of the show, the performer brought him to the middle of the circle and he proceeded to go all out!
I’d say that was a great way to spend Maggie’s last evening in Seoul. Aside from one quick lunch the next day, that was all she wrote…thanks for visiting Mags!
Oh I bet you thought that was it didn’t you? Well helllll no. I’m not done with you yet. Go put the kettle on the stove and crank up the Christmas tunes for background music because I’ve still got more cultural stuff to drone on about.
Last Saturday, I went with Chelsea to meet up with some other friends over at Gwangjang Market. Why or how it took me so long to go to a traditional market like this is beyond me. The food is cheap and delicious while the market itself is incredibly vibrant due to the countless colors and aromas along with the typical hustle and bustle of vendors and customers alike. If you really wanna get a good feel for a city, go to the markets.
After gorging on Bindaetteok (Mung Bean Pancake), Tteok-bokki (Rice Cake) and Dumplings (you know what those are), Chelsea and I met up with our other friends to ascertain the whereabouts of a Mr. Gordon Ramsay.
Yes, our little adventure to the market was twofold – eat scrumptious food and hang out/shoot-the-shit with Gordon Ramsay (pics would suffice), who has recently endorsed and became the sponsor of Cass, Korea’s most popular beer yet somehow also one of its least favorite among Koreans and foreigners alike. Good ol Gordon was due to show up to the market that afternoon and after an hour of searching for where he would enter, waiting, waiting and more waiting, we finally caught sight of our temperamental chef.
In the end, walking/standing around for over an hour in 30 degree weather just to get a glimpse of this dude probably wasn’t worth it, but showing up to the market definitely was and something I definitely recommend if you ever come visit Seoul. I know I will be frequenting markets more often from here on out.
Speaking of recommendations, my Canadian buddy Christian had mentioned to me in the Summer when he came to visit Seoul with his brother Oliver that the War Memorial of Korea was phenomenal and something I had to go see for myself. The exhibits certainly did not disappoint and while it may have paled in comparison to visiting the beaches of Normandy a few years back, it was a sobering reminder of the horrors of war and the amount of pain that humans seem to so willingly inflict upon one another with alarming yet also unsurprising regularity.
The Korean War, often labeled by many as “The Forgotten War” in many ways can be seen as a microcosm of the tensions that exist between North and South Korea to this day. While the UN has traditionally been known as a peacekeeping entity, if I’m not mistaken, this was the only time in their history that they sanctioned the use of military force and intervention on behalf of South Korea with 16 nations including the U.S. answering the call. In total, an estimated 2.5 million soldiers and civilians were killed or wounded during the war which eventually ended in a stalemate along the 38th parallel, where the border is between the two countries today.
As you might expect, the exhibits were filled with an incredible amount of information, illustrations, life-sized models of weaponry built to scale and everything in between. This is a place I will certainly be coming back to, likely on a day this Winter when it’s too cold to do anything outside.
Alas, I believe that brings a recounting of another chapter of life in Korea to an end. It’s been a pretty great month so far and I was glad I got to embrace the Korean culture in a variety of ways. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving back home and my next post will be sure to include Thanksgiving in Korea and all the delicious foodz that I ate here in Korea during that time. After all, I’m hitting the beaches of Bali for Christmas so there’s no time like the present to get in full dad bod shape!