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postcards-fromafar · 8 years

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Seoul

About a week into the trip and things are going great! Here’s the rundown on our time in Seoul:

Highlights

-NANTA show- This is a mostly nonverbal comedy/musical show. Three chefs and the boss’s nephew have an hour to prepare food for a wedding feast. Lots of hijinks ensue. Dan was called onto stage as the groom, so he had to sample some of the soup and get his approval. His “bride” was totally not thrilled to be up there and desperately looked like she wanted to go sit back down.

-The Gwangjang market- This awesome market was filled with interesting food, sights, sounds, and smells. Dan tried octopus fresh from the tank. We also had beef tartare with pears, drug kimbap (so called because it’s so good it’s “addictive”), and mungbean pancakes.

-Siloam Sauna- Our second jimjilbang experience (the first one was in Niles, IL a week before coming). At the jimjilbang, you separate into a men’s room and a women’s room. You then disrobe entirely, shower, and go into hot tubs of varying temperatures and therapeutic properties. I went into a jade bath, a charcoal bath, and a mugwort bath (dark brown, opaque water). They also had a cold bath in there. Despite the initial trepidation about being nude with a bunch of strangers, you get over it and relax once you realize that everyone is doing their own thing and that there are people of all shapes, sizes, and ages. You then put a uniform on and head into the sauna area, where you reconvene with the opposite sex. Again, there are lots of saunas of varying properties and temperatures. Dan and I got in a lovely nap in the oxygen room and tried out some others too.

-Meeting up with so many wonderful people! When we said we were coming to Seoul, it seemed like everyone knew someone who lived here. We were able to meet up with a friend’s cousin, a fellow traveler met on a previous trip, and a ND classmate that we studied abroad with (see below on People section for more details).

-Free private tours! We did a free tour of the Bukchon Hanok village with a lovely older woman named Bae. Much to our surprise, she was our tour guide again when we went to the Korean War Memorial Museum!

-Wonderful couples’ massage at The Foot Shop- 80 minutes of pure bliss :)

-JSA/DMZ tour- We did a full day tour at the Joint Security Area (JSA) and Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The DMZ is a 241km strip of land that separates North and South Korea. When we went to the JSA, we were led around by an American soldier. We got to go into a room where meetings are held and go to technically stand in North Korea within that building. When we came back out, North Korean soldiers came down from their building and started marching around. Our soldier guide said this was an unusual time for them to be doing this, so we got lucky. They do tours on the North Korea side but offer their alternative story about historical events. It’s pretty crazy because things could flare up at any time. Our soldier guide said the most tense he has been is when certain dignitaries come and they go stand right up at the barrier line with their toes on it. The North Korean soldiers will come stand inches away from them and flick the safety on their guns and make rude gestures at them. In the afternoon part of the DMZ tour, we got to see the 3rd infiltration tunnel. It is one of four tunnels discovered within the last 40 years that is believed to have been built by North Korea as a way to attack Seoul. Of course, North Korea denies that they built them...

Bummers

-I had a cold the whole time we were in Korea. Not ideal, especially since it was just as cold in Seoul (or colder) than it is in Chicago.

-Dan’s foot was bugging him for the first few days. I’m sure walking 13 miles on day 1 didn’t help!

-Despite an overall good DMZ/JSA tour, the afternoon ended on a sour note when the guide took us all to an amethyst factory/store place. We were herded like cattle into a room with about 20 salespeople who tried to coerce us into buying amethysts. Thanks but no thanks.

Food

-I’m working on one of my resolutions to try more interesting food this year. I tried octopus (okay, just a tiny tiny bit), raw beef (beef tartare), and Myeongranjeot (fish eggs) on this trip. I especially enjoyed the fish eggs. Dan had a more intense experience where they cut up a live octopus in front of him. It was still wiggling on the plate when he ate it. Yuck!

A video posted by Dan & Kelly Jacobs (@postcardsafar) on Jan 23, 2017 at 4:44pm PST

-Gwangjang market (mentioned above) was awesome for trying different Korean food.

-Beef and mushroom hot pot with Lea in Itaewon- delicious!

-Korean BBQ (beef one night, pork another) with Bona- So much meat and sooo good! For the beef BBQ, we went to Cheongdamdong. The restaurant name is 뜨락 ddeurak. In addition to the meat, we had 된장찌개 Soybean Paste Stew (the most common stew in Korea). Then we went to Garosugil in Abgujeong (the most fancy area in Korea according to Bona). For pork BBQ, we went to Goban Sikdang. The thick pork is Samgyusal and the thin one is Hangjeongsal. We had a brown sauce with it called Ssamjang and wrapped it in vegetables called Myeonginamul. Finally, we had Kimchi jjigae (soup) and Myeongranjeot (fish eggs).

Drinks

-Soju- about 20% alcohol and tasted like watered down vodka to me. Super super cheap so a quick, easy drunk if that’s what you’re into. While with Bona at Goban Sikdang, we had soju from Jeju island called Hallasan, which goes down smoother than normal soju.

-Makgeolli- A sort of rice wine. Carbonated, doesn’t taste too bad. Could definitely get a buzz if you have enough of this.

-Cider is not cider here. I was excited to get “cider” at dinner (thinking it would be hard apple cider) but when it came, it was actually sprite. Oops.

-Tasty cocktails- We went to Voltaeon with Lea, a super cool underground cocktail bar in Itaewon. We also went to Gomdoli Salon and had cocktails. They let you pick songs and they will play them for you.

People

-Dan Kim- Special thanks for sending us an awesome map filled with suggestions on where to go and what to do. We thoroughly enjoyed your commentary and it helped us check out some of the best spots.

-Lea- We met Lea because she is our friend Pat’s cousin. Lea is a Korean adoptee and has been living in Korea for about six years. She took us out in Itaewon for a delicious meal. Since the menu was all in Korean and the staff didn’t speak English, we wouldn’t have been able to have an experience like this without her! We also went to an awesome cocktail bar that her friend owns and had some drinks with them. A couple days later, she took our pictures for her blog (www.thetravelerseries.com). She documents travelers and their stories. She also went to the dog cafe with us, which was a new (and a bit overwhelming) experience for her. We had so much fun with you, Lea!

-Bona- We met Bona first in Sevilla, Spain, in April of last year. We ran into her at a bar and ended up having dinner with her. Bona took us out in Gangnam for Korean BBQ and then out for drinks afterwards. She told us a lot about Korean culture and what it’s like living in Seoul. We met up with her again two nights later for dinner. It was so good catching up with her!

-Katie- Katie studied abroad in London with us in college. She lives in New York now but has family in Korea so was visiting for a couple of weeks. She took us out to the Gwangjang market for an interesting culinary experience. It was great seeing her again and we hope to run into her in Chicago or New York sometime soon!

-Bae- Bae was our tour guide for the Bukchon Hanok village and (in a surprising twist) at the Korean War Memorial Museum. She was a little kid when the Korean war was actively going on so had some insights into what it was like. She was very sweet and explained things really well so that Dan and I left with a better understanding of what transpired during the war.

Observations and Insights

-There are cafes EVERYWHERE in Seoul. I’ve never seen this many in one city before. There are also a lot of unusual cafes. Dan and I went to a poop cafe (where your food and drinks come served in toilet bowls) and to a dog cafe (where for the price of a drink, you get to hang out with a bunch of dogs). There are also a sheep cafe, raccoon cafe, Hello Kitty cafe, doll cafe, and princess cafe (where you can dress up in bridal gowns while sipping coffee) but we did not check any of those out :P

-Lots of people in Korea have had plastic surgery. Apparently getting the eyelid crease put in is pretty common.

-Almost every single bathroom we went in was cold. Not ideal.

-We learned some local beliefs and sayings. A Korean woman at the market told our friend that if you have long hair, it means you have watched a lot of porn. We also learned that there is a belief that you cannot have a fan running in a closed room or you will die (gotta leave the door open).

Tips

-Check out what the Korean Tourism Organization has to offer. We found our Bukchon Hanok village free tour through them. Our guide said that a lot of people aren’t aware of this program. We ended up being the only two people on our tour. You can also go try on traditional Korean outfits at the tourism offices. Additionally, there are opportunities to get discounted day off tickets (we paid half price for our NANTA show tickets!) http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/index.kto

-Tipping isn’t a thing in Korea.

-Seoul has a lot of different neighborhoods with very distinct characters. We stayed in Hongdae, which is by the university. It’s got a lot of young people and there’s always stuff going on. It was a lot of fun but probably wouldn’t be as enjoyable if you want more peace and quiet. Itaewon is a neighborhood characterized by lots of foreign food. American soldiers tend to hang out in that area too. Gangnam (yes, the Gangnam of “Gangnam Style”) is more upscale and bougie. The streets seem to be wider and more grid like, so theoretically it’s easier to navigate around in than on the winding streets of some of the other neighborhoods. Look into the different neighborhoods to see what fits your vibe if you plan on coming to Seoul!

Overall Impression

We would definitely come back to Seoul if the opportunity presents itself! Hopefully next time when it’s a little warmer out :)

#seoul #south korea #Asia

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