Last week, many of the staff members from school and I went to Sejong Village which is near the Gyeongbokgung palace in Seoul. We climbed up the mountain/hill in the area, saw many sights and went to several historical places in Seoul's history. We went to an art gallery/museum, the home of a famous Korean poet, a tiny secondhand bookstore, and ended our night with samgyeopsal or Korean barbeque. Here are some pictures that I took from that day!
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In my wanderings during one of the last weekends, I ended up at the first Starbucks in Korea. I thought that was kind of neat. I have now been to the first Starbucks in America and the first Starbucks in Korea. Just thought that was kind of fun!
Here's some of the glorious food that I have eaten lately and just neglected to post about. Did I mention that I LOVE food! This was a small part of the lunch that I had with my Korean friend's family. It is a traditional Korean meal that includes a ton of "banchan" or side dishes. There was boiled egg, soybean paste stew, bulgogi (seasoned beef), grilled fish, many vegetables and different kinds of noodles and fried, stir fried, and grilled things. There was soooooo much food! We also had this delicious tea after the meal. It was AMAZING! My badminton club at school is almost definitely better than most badminton clubs because when we get bored or feel lazy, we order in and make food! Some of the teachers in the club made bibim guksu or spicy mixed noodles. That's in the small white bowls. We also ordered in pizza with fries and spaghetti as well as pig's foot. The pig's foot was extremely delicious and not too chewy. It was perfect! The pizza was a shrimp pizza and it also had some cream cheese and sweet potato on it. It was quite delicious even though the description doesn't quite sound delicious (trust me it was!). This was such a good way to spend an afternoon! This last weekend, My friend and I went out to go see a park and we stumbled upon this small art street where all of the shops are inside of shipping containers! We were also hungry so we were looking for food and at the end of this street right across from the park was a busy restaurant inside another shipping container. We thought that that would be a nice place to stop and eat. So we did. And it was. I got a shrimp noodle soup that had shrimp, noodles, and boiled egg mixed in with chopped onions. I also got sparkling water (my love!). As per usual with this style of restaurant where it is more cafeteria style (you order at the counter and get your buzzer and then wait for them to call that your food is ready) the banchan (side dishes) were self serve. There was kimchi and another dish that I'm not sure what it was but it tasted good! Overall, this place was really nice and really delicious. This is one of my Korean food loves! Pat bingsu! This is basically shaved ice on crack! If you think of shaved ice, many people think of snow cones and the crunchy ice with neon syrups. Bingsu is more similar to Hawaiian shaved ice. The ice is actually shaved so that it is extremely thin and melts almost immediately in your mouth. There are also a million topping options for bingsu. This bingsu is pat bingsu because it has pat (pronouced pot) or sweet red beans in it. This bingsu in particular came from a bubble tea shop (Gong Cha) that I LOVE so it had the tapioca pearls in it as well as some shaved almonds and soybean powder and a slightly sweet sauce on top. This was definitely big enough to share so I'm glad I was with my friend to eat it! It was delicious and a wonderful decision on such a hot day! It has been cherry blossom season for a couple of weeks and so there are many different cherry blossom products. Starbucks has cherry blossom flavored and themed drinks and some stores have cherry blossom themed items as well. I saw this soda in the convenience store and thought that I had to at least try it. This is definitely something that I cannot get back home. So I bought it and tried it and didn't hate it. It kind of tasted like a mix between cherry, rose, and strawberry. It was carbonated so that was nice. Overall the taste was okay but I probably won't buy it again. This drink has a bit of a story to it. I went out walking to go to my favorite bubble tea shop near my apartment (Gong Cha). It's about a 15-20 minute walk and it was really hot so I was looking forward to my nice cool Gong Cha bubble tea. When I got to where it was, it was not there. The shop was closed! There was not another Gong Cha nearby so I had to sadly wander for a bit trying to find an alternative. I eventually ended up at Cafe Bene and splurged a little. At Gong Cha, I would usually spend about 4,000 Won or $3.50 on a good sized drink. I bought this fancy schmancy drink with mango sorbet and chunks (because I thought it would look pretty and taste really good and it did) for about 7,000 Won or $6.50. That was an expensive drink but I felt that I deserved it particularly after having walked all the way to the Gong Cha that no longer exists. This was my free tea from finishing the stamp tour at the street museum with my Korean friend's aunt! It was delicious! We also had this amazingly light, fluffy, and creamy cheesecake that this cafe makes in house every day. It was wonderful!
Cherry blossom season is quite exciting here in Korea. About a week ago, the cherry blossoms bloomed and they are beautiful! I didn't really realize how quickly spring had come. One day, there were almost no flowers on the trees outside of my school and the next day: BAM Look at all of those flowers!! They are AMAZING. So, to celebrate the cherry blossoms, my friend and I went to Seokchon Lake Park which is near Lotte World, Lotte Tower, and the Lotte department store. This is a man made lake in front of the tower and Lotte world. Lotte Tower actually just opened about two weeks ago and these giant swans in the lake were commissioned for the opening of the tower. It is one of the tallest buildings in the world now. There were TONS of people at the park. It was kind of tough to navigate around but we bobbed and weaved our way around the lake. We ended up in several different places. There were vendors along the walkway selling different things. We bought fake cherry blossom clips to put in our hair and we also got our faces painted! it was glorious! We walked around for quite some time and eventually went to take a break at the mall/department store nearby. We got a late lunch (beef with beef broth and rice, green onion, and kimchi), walked around the ENTIRE mall/department store and came across a random fansigning event for the kpop group Highlight (formerly known as B2ST aka Beast). There were sooooo many people! Eventually, we made it back outside. It was quite dark but the cherry blossoms were lit up so nicely! There were areas lit up with regular lights and an entire section lit up with colors!! It was so pretty! At the end of the night, I was sad to go home but it was such a great day!
I have been a fan of Kpop since 2010. I haven't ever really had the opportunity to go to a Kpop concert. Even when bands come to the US I was never close enough to justify a trip to go see a Kpop artist or group. It was just too expensive, the timing wasn't right, or it was too far away.
On Wednesday, on a whim, I decided to google concerts in Seoul. I happened upon a concert for B.A.P (a band that I quite like) for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It wasn't super cheap but I thought that this would be a great opportunity to go and experience my first Kpop concert. It. Was. AMAZING!!! I had debated with myself for a bit on whether to get a standing or seated ticket. They were both the same price so I ended up buying a seated ticket. I think that for me this was the best decision but I will touch on that later. So when I got to the venue, I had read online that I should get there early so I left my apartment between 10 and 10:30 for a 3pm concert time. I ended up getting to where I needed to be WAY too early so I went and found a cafe to chill at down in the subway for a while. While I was there I saw a bunch of others who were going to the concert. Lots of foreigners too! After a while, I decided to go and find where I was supposed to pick up my ticket. I had ordered my ticket online and had to pick it up at the venue so I was a touch stressed about that! I eventually found where I was supposed to go but the booth didn't open until noon so I just ended up chilling in this little courtyard area and looking at all of the big posters and donations made in the names of the band and the band's members. While waiting I met several great girls from all over. I met one girl from the Netherlands, one from Germany, two from Belgium, one from France, and one from New York. It was really cool to see so many foreigners there! Also, while I was waiting, there were many fan club members passing out different posters and cards for fans of the band who were attending the concert. I ended up with a few signs, photocards, and stickers from these fanclub members. It was great! I also decided to buy a souvenir light stick as well. I really liked how they had the merch booth set up. You would fill out a paper that had pictures of all of the available merch and then you take it to the booth. You then pay and take the receipt to the next table and they will get you your merch! It was great and it wasn't busy at all! So, in regards to seated versus standing, I was extremely happy to have a seated ticket. I didn't have to queue for a spot in the pit and I had a great view of the stage from my seat. I was worried that I might not be able to see because I am short but with the seat it was perfect. I also didn't have to worry about being stepped on, pushed, or otherwise have my personal space invaded. It was great! I could see the band very well I just wasn't as close to the stage as some people might have wanted. It was a great seat for a casual fan! The only down side was that those of us with seated tickets were not allowed to enter for seating until after almost all of the standing ticketed people were in. It wasn't a problem because we were guaranteed seats but it was a bit stressful thinking "it's almost time for the concert and we're not even in the building yet!" The staff however were great about helping those of us who do not speak Korean to know when to go in and where to go. During the concert, the band would perform a set of songs, talk with the crowd, perform another set, and talk some more. It was really fun but I think that if I spoke Korean it would have been even more amazing. There was one point where two of the boys in the band each brought a fan up on stage and gave them a special gift. It was really cute and it was a nice break between the songs. The band performed songs from many of their albums and had great energy for the entire show. I was so happy to be there and I was a bit sad when it was over even though they had like 3 encores! I would definitely recommend going to a Kpop concert if you can. You can even go by yourself! I did and I had a great experience. I would love to go to another concert while I am here. I haven't really seen any other bands that I like post about concerts but I hope that I can find another for a good price and go! Overall, this was an amazing experience and I am so glad that I went to this concert! It was a fabulous experience that I don't think I could have really gotten anywhere but in Seoul! After visiting the palace, on Saturday, my friend and I set out to find the tea shop, Moon Bird Thinks Only of the Moon. I had found it online and had read reviews saying that it was fun and quirky. It was also really small. First, this place was a bit difficult to find even with Kakao Maps (a Korean equivalent to Google maps). We had to go down a main street, branch down a side street, branch down a side street on a side street, and eventually we ended up in the right place! The shop is very small but it is very unique. It is located in a traditional Korean hanok house. There are tons of writings and drawings on the walls from past guests. There are also many napkins that have been drawn on and put up around the shop. I actually drew my own picture on a napkin. I don't know if it will be put up or not but if it did that would be cool. Overall, it was a really chill and cute cafe. I'd love to go back a time or two before I leave! Post cafe adventure, my friend and I decided that we needed a bit more of a meal than just tea and some rice cakes. I have often heard that Coco Curry or Coco Ichibanya is a really good food chain to get Japanese curry. I really wanted to try this and there happened to be a Coco Curry really close to where the tea house was so we decided to go there for a lunch/dinner. There were several options for the protein to have with the curry. There was chicken cutlet, pork cutlet, and other kinds of proteins or even potato and other vegetables. There was also the option of changing the amount of rice to get with the curry. There was a small amount a regular amount and then larger amounts. Additionally, there were different levels of spice from 0-10. I got the pork cutlet curry with the standard amount of rice and a spice of 1. It was still pretty spicy but it was not overly spicy! I'm super happy with the choices that I made and it was delicious!! I would definitely go back to Coco Curry and try a different curry!
On Saturday, my friend and I went to Gyeongbokgung Palace near Insadong in Seoul. This was my second time to see this palace in Seoul. I came the last time that I was in Korea. It was awesome to see this beautiful palace again and take way more pictures than I did the first time. This time however, it was not ridiculously hot! It was a pleasant and mild temperature.
There were many people out and about at the palace. There were many foreign tourists and native Koreans as well. Many of these people were dressed up in hanbok or the traditional Korean dress/outfit. They were decked out in gorgeous spring colors with beautiful accessories in their hair! Many of these people were renting their hanbok so that they could take pretty pictures in the palace with the flowers and the historical scenery. I would love to go back and take pictures when all of the flowers are in bloom! My friend and I spent about two hours roaming around the palace grounds and admiring the beautiful architecture and scenery. It cost us about 3,000 won or about $2.70 to go into the palace to explore for as long as we wanted. There were also free tours in English that were offered a few times throughout the day but my friend and I decided to just do our own exploring which was fine by us! I would definitely recommend going to the palace and exploring. It is a great place to learn a little about Korean history and culture as well as a beautiful place to explore and take pictures. It's almost cherry blossom season and I would love to go back to the palace in a few weeks to see all of the flowers in bloom and to experience the palace when Spring is in full swing!! Ok, so after going to the cat cafe, we decided to wander around Hongdae for a bit. We went along a very busy street and saw a lot of different performers out on the streets. There was a group of boys dancing and several pairs of people singing and playing instruments around the same area. It was really cool! I would love to go back and spend some time just chilling in that area. Eventually, we made our way to this really small ice cream shop that is famous for the fish shaped cones that the ice cream is in. We each got our own and it was magical! The cone is shaped like a fish and the ice cream really reminds me of frozen greek yogurt. It was really good! When you walk up to the shop, there are a bunch of premade fish cones sitting there waiting to be filled. The ice cream is dispensed from a soft serve machine and then a piece of pineapple on a stick is drenched in chocolate from a chocolate fountain and used to drizzle chocolate on top of the ice cream. There's also a surprise at the bottom of the cone, Custard! It was so delicious and I would definitely go back to it and get more as well as take others there!
After getting our ice cream, my friend and I started making our way towards a dog cafe called Bauhouse. I had just heard of this cafe when looking up cat cafes online and my friend thought that it sounded really fun so we decided to go take a look. It was located VERY close to the subway station that is just before the Hongdae station on line 2. So it's really close. The cafe itself has no admission fee but it is basically expected that patrons will buy a drink. There are a lot of different drinks from sodas and coffees to smoothies and teas. These drinks range from 7,000 Won (about $6.00) to about 8,500 Won (about $7.50). As with the cat cafe, you could also pay a little bit more to get some treats to give to the dogs. Once we got into the cafe, there were two areas to sit and play with dogs. There was an area with some smaller dogs and puppies and a room with larger and older dogs. The dogs have free reign over the area and can do basically whatever they like. All of the dogs were also very well behaved. My friend and I went into the area of the cafe with the larger and older dogs. The cafe was really nice and the staff was really good at quickly and efficiently cleaning up after the dogs. There was also a couple in the cafe who my friend and I thought were the owners of the cafe becuase they were playing with all of the dogs and knew all of the dogs' names as well as were very friendly with the staff. Overall, this was a really laid back place to hang out and basically chill with dogs. All of the dogs were wonderful and I would love to go back here as well as the cat cafe! Here are a bunch of pictures of the dog cafe!!! Today was a really nice day! I met up with a friend who I have not seen for a few months. It was really great to see her! It was nice to be able to explore a new area with a friend! It was really a good day! My goals for today were twofold plus an added goal that I wasn't even planning on. The first two things were to go to a cat cafe and then to go to a special ice cream place that sells ice cream in a cone that is shaped like a fish and it has chocolate as well. After meeting up with my friend, we took the subway all the way to Hongdae and started searching for the cat cafe. I had looked up online some good cat cafes in Hongdae and found two different cafes that we could go to together. We ended up going to the one that was closest to the subway stop where we got off at. It was a Godabang Cat Cafe. Godabang is like a chain of cat cafes in Seoul so we went to the one in Hongdae. Here's a pic of the cafe's front. The cafe was on the third floor of this small building but the cafe itself was a pretty okay size. When we got up to the cafe, we went through the door and into a small area in front of a small gate. We needed to change our shoes and put on some indoor shoes/slippers that were just on a shelf waiting for customer use. We then had to use a bit of hand sanitizer to clean our hands and keep the kitties safe. We then went past the gate, paid our admission, were given some instructions by one of the shop attendants, and took a seat at a table. Admission was 8,000 Won or about $7.00 for admission to the cafe for as much time as you like and one drink of your choosing. They have a small but nice menu of coffees, juice, and smoothies to choose from. You can also purchase for about $2.00 some cat food and/or treats to feed the cats if you want. After taking a table, we stowed our bags in the little cupboards that were under the seats. Here are the instructions that we were given and the little bios of all of the cats that live in the cafe. We then sat around watching the cats for a while and went around and pet the cats. Here's some of the pictures of the cats and the cat cafe. Take a look at my next post to see about the dog cafe and the special ice cream that we got in Hongdae!
On Thursday, I went out to eat and decided to go to the same place that I have been going to for a while now. It's called Teacher Kim or Kim Sungsaeng. I got bulgogi dumplings and bulgogi kimbap. It was so good! After that, I happened to be walking past a street vendor who was selling these adorable red bean filled fish breads. It's basically fried batter with sweet red bean paste inside. It was only 1,000 Won for three of these. Such a good deal! Overall, I was stuffed and had a really pleasant night.
On Friday, the subject teachers and I went out for dinner in Itaewon (a region of Seoul). Itaewon is basically the area of Seoul where there are the most expats so we saw a lot of foreigners. We were there mainly to go to Jacoby Burger and try this enormous burger! It was amazing. We also had a beautiful view of Namsan Tower both when it was light and when it was dark and lit up! When then took a bit of a walk over to the more populated area of Itaewon and had more food and drinks! It was a fantastic night and a wonderful welcome party for the three of us who are new to the school. I would love to go back to Itaewon again and try even more of the delicious food that was there! I am so happy!! I was out walking the other day and I saw a restaurant that served naengmyeon. Naengmyeon is one of my most favorite Korean foods! It's a cold noodle soup type thing. This particular kind of naengmyeon is called mul naengmyeon or water naengmyeon. It has a broth that it comes in while bibim naengmyeon or mixed naengmyeon has no broth and has a spicy sauce with it. To eat the naengmyeon you are supposed to add some mustard and some vinegar. those are in the little bottles on that little tray. You also need to cut your noodles with the scissors because the noodles are REALLY long and chewy so you can't really bite them off. My meal also came with some bulgogi (seasoned beef) and some pickled radish. The naengmyeon also has some pickled radish, cucumber, sesame seeds, and a hard boiled egg! It's so good! Naengmyeon may sound weird but it is so delicious and it's one of my most favorite Korean dishes!! I'm so glad that I found a place that serves it nearby! There are a few more places that I've passed by that also serve naengmyeon in my neighborhood so I'll have to try them eventually but this was a good start! Also the amount of Korean that I know was able to serve me well in this place!
The restaurant was super casual! I went in and was basically told to seat myself and I just had to tell the shop employee shortly after coming in what I wanted to eat. There were only three options plus an option for dumplings. It's a very specialized restaurant which I would hope means that it's really good that those few things (it was from what I tasted)! The water and silverware were also self serve as per usual. It was so nice! Overall it was a great experience. This whole meal cost me a total of 6,500 won or about $5.68. It's a great deal for a good amount of food that filled me up! I also could have gotten some pork dumplings for about $2.70. I might just get some the next time I go! I wholeheartedly recommend Mul Naengmyeon! It's delicious and wonderful and fantastic particularly if it's kind of hot out but it's still really good when it's a little chilly. So today, I was going to go to Myeongdong with the other English teacher from my school to go see a Korean movie with English subtitles at a Korean culture center but the other English teacher was sick so I decided to go to Myeongdong and just explore. I went with the initial goal of finding the flagship Etude House and I did find it! I forgot to take a picture of the outside but I intend to go back to Myeongdong so I'll take a picture then!
After about 40 minutes on public transportation (subway), I made it to Myeongdong. Myeongdong is a very touristy shopping district. I ended up getting off of the subway and just deciding to explore and see where it took me. I found a first Etude House and went in and found a few fun things to buy. I then went out and found a few more stores to look in. I was interested to see that there was a Lush (it was WAY more expensive here than in the US). I then found a Forever 21 and explored there a bit. I then went to a coffee shop and had a bit of a snack (a chocolate muffin!). I then just went around the shopping area of Myeongdong and found a cat cafe! I also found a store called Artbox where there were a bunch of fun characters in the store! It was kind of like Daiso but cuter! I then proceeded to get lost. I did have a map on my phone and access to the internet so I wasn't worried! It was more of an adventure! Through this adventure, I found a great view of Namsan Tower and a Gong Cha! It was great! Overall I had a wonderful day! I'm glad I spent my time today just exploring! Down below, take a look at my gallery of captioned pictures for where I went and what I did today! This was my dinner tonight. I decided to be brave and go out to this place called hansot doshirak or hansot lunch box. I had found it on my map and thought that it would be interesting to try. I had also looked at their menu online and it looked like they had food that I wouldn't mind eating. I went to the shop and it was really small. Like REALLY small and all of the menu was in Korean. Luckily there were some signs with pictures so I was able to find a picture that looked good and read its Korean name. I decided to go with something that said "chicken" in the name. I figured that might be good! I went into the shop and successfully ordered my food! In Korean! By no means was my Korean great but I got food and the lady that took my order understood me (I'm assuming since I got food) so I'm happy. The food was a bit spicy but it was good!
If you want to read what all of the food was, click on the picture with the food and I will have a description there. :) I went on a bit of a short adventure today! I had a mission to go buy some indoor shoes because in the school we are supposed to change our shoes so that we keep the inside of the school clean. I went to the Japanese chain store Daiso and after a bit of trouble finding the actual store and needing to use Google Translate a couple of times, I found it! I accomplished my mission in buying indoor shoes and I found a cute pair of socks! To give myself a bit of a reward, I went to a bubble tea shop called Gong Cha. I had heard really good things online about Gong Cha and they were not wrong!
Gong Cha is available in Asia and only a few parts of the United States. I think it originated in Taiwan and it is supposed to be one of the best chain stores for bubble tea. The internet was not wrong! It was a bit scary going into the shop where there was no one else except the two people working behind the counter. Luckily the menu had a bit of English and I could read a bit of the Korean on the menu. I had also looked up kind of how Gong Cha works when ordering. I picked my size, tea/drink base, pearls, sugar level, and ice level. The workers behind the counter were very helpful and very understanding when it came to my inability to speak Korean very well. I can kind of say, "excuse me," "sorry," "yes," and "no" but that did not help me much in ordering a drink! I had seen on the internet that the iced black tea drink with 30% sugar and the tapioca pearls was good so I decided that I would get that! It was delicious! I really enjoyed it and it was a wonderful treat! I also felt really accomplished in having ordered something in a Korean shop all by myself! I hope to go back and maybe try a different kind of tea or drink base. I think it is strawberry season here as I keep seeing lots of pictures of strawberry themed drinks and pastries so I might try something strawberry soon! Overall, this was a successful adventure and I found several other places that I want to go to and shop and a few places where I want to go get food! We'll see how that goes! |
AllisonThese are the chronicles of my time before, during, and after student teaching in South Korea! Archives
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