Eating Our Faces Off in Korea!!!
Hello friends and greetings from Korea, the motherland of my girl, Sandy, and home to some of the best food I have had the pleasure of gorging myself with since I have been on the road. Oh yes, friends, it is that good! Just talking about it right now is making me salivate so let me wipe my mouth and my keyboard and get this post started.
My friend, Little Wounded Mouth (LWM), who you met in Bangkok back in December met me in Seoul and was nice enough to pick me up at the airport. When I came through the doors at the international arrival terminal he was there with a big smile, and in case I didn’t recognize him, this sign with my new nickname on it.
Do you have any guesses as to what this name could be? I am sitting here with my brother, Rob, and his guess is Lillian Whitney Bartholomew. Nice try, Rob, but that is incorrect. Any other guesses? I’ll give you a hint. This nickname was given to me after my last night with LWM in Bangkok when I spent the entire evening sweating, shivering, and decimating the bathroom as the result of a nasty encounter with a bad prawn. OK, I’ll tell you. It’s Little Wounded Butt. I was definitely wounded that night, but I’m pleased to report that this was the only GI disaster that I encountered during my past 7 months on the road. That’s a pretty big accomplishment too when India and China are factored into the equation.
OK enough about my bowels, let’s talk about Korea, which I absolutely adored! LWM and I threw my bags down in the apartment, grabbed a delicious dinner, and hit the town.
The city was gearing up for Buddha’s birthday so we couldn’t have come at a better time. Huge, brightly lit lanterns were illuminating one of the main streets in town.
You know we had to get a pic with these lanterns. So cool! The self portrait just didn’t do them justice so we asked a friendly passerby to hook it up. Fabulous!
I had no idea our visit coincided with Buddha’s birthday. I feel so lucky to have been in Seoul during this festive time. I adore this scene at night!
After taking tons of pictures with the lanterns we were parched and in desperate need of some cool and refreshing beverages. Even though we had just enjoyed a scrumptious and quite filling dinner, these tasty treats, like puffs with a hard outer shell, were addictive and demanded complete and total destruction!
The next morning we woke up and decided to hit the town for a little sightseeing. Lucky for me, LWM had visited Seoul about 6 months prior so he had his finger on the pulse of all the major sightseeing in Seoul as well as a few hidden gems off the beaten path. Way to go, LWM!!!! We started our day with a visit to Gyeonghuigung Palace.
We found this cozy little cave to have a breakfast picnic, kick back, relax, and enjoy this stunningly gorgeous day!
One of the things I liked most about Seoul was how much artwork was featured throughout the city. This is something I love about Washington, DC as well. Everywhere we walked we encountered beautiful, interesting, and provocative pieces. It adds so much to a city and definitely receives 2 enthusiastic thumbs up from me.
Next is one of LWM’s hidden gems, an underground museum devoted to King Sejong. A door, featured on the backside of this statue, leads into a beautifully designed and interactive space that is easy to miss if you didn’t know it was there.
This wall featured moving images set to music. The ceiling is all mirrors so the reflections made it even more compelling.
Now for some of the fun, interactive activities. These are probably geared for children, but LWM and I were all about it! Check us out!
There are several gates in Seoul, the most famous of which was victim to arson in 2008. We didn’t get a chance to visit them all, but here are a few for you.
As we were strolling through town we heard some chanting coming from one of the monasteries. Of course you know we had to investigate. I’m so glad we did, too, because look what we discovered. Gorgeous!
Do you see the Buddha in this shot?
Next we visited Changdeok-gung Palace.
I think they were preparing for a film or something because this one corridor was filled with firemen spraying water on the palace, but there was no fire, no smoke, and the 50+ bystanders were very calm. Given the fact that this is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, I cannot imagine that folks would be calmly standing by if the palace was actually burning. There was one video camera, but it was only marginally better than something a tourist would carry so perhaps it was a test for something bigger. I’m not sure, but it was interesting.
Apparently walking through this gate cleanses one of his/her sins. Of course LWM and I walked through this gate a few times. Wouldn’t it be great if you could pass through something like this on your daily commute?
Our next stop was Gyeongbokgung Palace. I realize that the way I am writing this makes it seem as if we did all of this in one day, but I assure you this is not the case. Granted, I have been a psycho on some of my tours and visited temples, shrines, palaces, and monuments back-to-back in a day, but that was not the vibe of this trip at all. LWM and I took a much more laid back approach to our Seoul travel, enjoying lie-ins (that’s what my UK and Aussie friends call sleeping in), delicious and leisurely meals, and a very relaxed approach to our sightseeing. What’s great, is that we actually managed to see a ton of stuff as well. Fabulous!
According to the brochure, the guards featured below are outfitted in identical uniforms and weaponry from the 15th century. The brochure neglected to mention the facial hair that was apparently customary as well. You may notice that all the guards featured here are sporting the exact same fake beard. I don’t mean to be critical. I actually love this stuff. I mean, I went to school on the doorstep of Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia so I am no stranger to reenactments. In fact, bring it on is my feeling when it comes to reenactments! I’ve got my fingers crossed that we’ll be able to catch the changing of the guard ceremony when we leave and I bet, deep down, you do too.
Oh yeah, photo opp with some palace guards!
They truly enjoy their jobs! You should have seen some of the poses going on. I love the enthusiasm!
Wait, what is this?
Could it be another reenactment?
Yep, I think it is. Sweet…
The King and Queen are gracing us with their presence. It is our lucky day!
As my mom would say, hot diggity dog!
As if the reenactments weren’t enough this palace also features large statues of the Chinese zodiac. I am a Tiger and it’s my year! Raaaaaawr!!!!
LWM is a sheep just like my brother, Rob.
This palace has a little bit of everything. Check out the folk art display.
Sookie!!!!!!!! That is a True Blood reference and has absolutely nothing to do with this blog post about Korea at all, but it seemed strangely appropriate.
Aw, could this be cuter? I’m used to seeing Sandy, Sylvia and their mom dressed up in these clothes, but I’ve never seen so many kids all decked out. Needless to say, I am on the lookout for a new outfit for Abigail.
I’ve got some good news, folks. We have lucked out and are going to see the changing of the guard. I know, I know…awesome.
Of course no visit to a tourist site is complete without this shot and I’m giving you 2 of them. You’re welcome.
Well, folks, it has been an absolutely amazing week in Korea. It exceeded my expectations across the board. The people are warm and friendly, the food is absolutely spectacular, and the city is clean, well organized, and very easy to navigate. I really cannot say enough positive things about Seoul. I will definitely be back.
On my second to last night in town we decided to visit the classy establishment, Ho Bar, but because we have platinum taste we didn’t go to Ho Bar I - IX, no, people, we took it up several notches and went to the king daddy, Ho Bar X!!! Oh yeah!
I’m not kidding when I say that there are 9 other Ho Bars in town. They are like Starbucks in the States, or if we were in Williamsburg, VA, like the strangely ubiquitous store, The Christmas Mouse.
Without further adieu, I present to you Ho Bar X!!!!!!!!! Insert booty rap music, please.
To Lakisha and the rest of the jagerbomb posse, this bomb’s for you!
And so it begins…
Obviously it’s self portrait time. There were several throughout the evening, but I’ll only subject you to a few.
Here’s to a great time in Korea.
The next day we took it easy and made a final visit to our favorite restaurants. LWM and I found this insanely delicious Korean BBQ place and felt the need to eat there 3 times during my visit. It’s in the Hongik University area, which is a great part of town filled with open air restaurants, boutiques, and bars. As we were strolling through the streets, we came upon a band of rocker chicks performing their jams to throngs of enthusiastic listeners from a hip storefront window. We stopped to take in the music and were immediately invited inside for a better view. Everyone was so friendly and seemed to love seeing foreigners enjoying themselves in their town.
While we are on the topic of bands, I have to tell you about the interview we did for some college students doing a project on cultural differences as they relate to girl and boy bands….no joke. I’m pretty sure that LWM and I aren’t the best representatives of American sentiments towards girl and boy bands, but we were happy to answer their questions. The enthusiastic students immediately whipped open their notebook featuring pictures of the leading K-pop bands and began their questioning. They explained that in Korea the singers are loved by their fans so much that the fans will actually buy them cars and contribute to funds for homes and other luxury items for their favorite stars. They were shocked when we said that this does not happen in the US. We further explained that these stars make a lot of money so that sometimes the stars themselves will actually donate some of their funds to charitable causes. This seemed strange to them. Where is the love if the stars have to buy their own things? They also told us how one of the Korean American singers from the top boy band was forced out of the country after he made some nasty comments about Korea. Evidently the irate fans were threatening his life and making him feel so miserable that he decided it best to leave the country. We offered up the rage of Dixie Chicks fans who were disgusted by their disparaging comments about George W, but said that most of our stars kind of shrug things like this off, and sometimes even like seemingly negative press because it keeps them in the news. Of course the Britney and Madonna kiss was discussed and they were quick to say how shocking they found that behavior, but that they like their music. As you can see, this was a pretty hysterical exchange, but we took it seriously and hope that our contributions were helpful.
Sorry for the long digression, but that was just too good not to share. So to reign it back in, after a few songs in our VIP location, we continued down the street and encountered some dance crews busting their moves in the middle of a park. A few blocks beyond that was a marching band of some scantily clad girls advertising a particular brand of liquor. What can I say, Hongik U has got it going on. It is absolutely a place to see and be seen and everyone was dressed to kill in that way that is meant to convey I just threw this together. Needless to say I was in my nicest moisture wicking outfit.
Here is a pic of our fave Korean BBQ joint.
The menu is entirely in Korean so we had no idea what we were ordering, but a quick glance at other tables allowed us to point at a dish that looked good, put up 2 fingers, smile, nod our head profusely in agreement and say kamsamnida (thank you) over and over again. Whatever pork dish we ordered was spectacular so we’ll call that a major win!
The server was very particular about the way she wanted us assembling our lettuce wraps. She actually ripped the lettuce out of LWM’s hand, told him no, and showed him how it’s done. I was voraciously stuffing my face so I think she viewed me as a lost cause, but for the record, this is how it’s done.
- pick up a leaf of lettuce
- grab a few pieces of meat from the grill and apply chili paste if you so desire
- put meat in lettuce cup
- add spicy green onion mix
- add cooling radish
- top with some onions soaked in vinegar
I think it’s appropriate that I end this post with a picture of food since this was one of the culinary highlights of my entire trip through Asia. A huge thanks to LWM for his hospitality, exceptional navigation skills, and enthusiasm to take Seoul by storm. LWM was staying in Seoul for another week to hang with some friends who live there. Have fun, LWM, and I’ll see you back in DC soon.
As for me, I’m heading to Bangkok to meet up with Rob and then it’s back to Nepal and into Tibet. I cannot wait! See you all soon.
