ferris and I took the cable car to visit n seoul (namsan) tower
along the fences of the grounds and on steel trees, were thousands of keychains where people wrote notes and love messages.
ferris and I found some blank sides of keychains on which to write...didn't want to shell out the money for our own keychains and markers, haha.
dinner in myeong-dong: cool shopping, cool street food
delicious dumplings and soup
came back home to a berry cake and salted caramel/pecan cheesecake ice cream welcome surprise! thanks yuna!
day 2: a trip to insadong for lunch and a visit to cheonggyecheon
the stream at cheonggyecheon
after dinner, we went for coffee at one of the coolest coffee shops I've ever seen, coffee smith:
and after a night out with wonhee and jen, we found ourselves at mcdonalds, which is actually a classy looking joint...
classy, right?
lots of seafood options, but went for bulgogi pizza
and weirdest thing I've seen, korean people eating mounds of condiments (onions, relish, ketchup, and mustard)! I am told that they believe these, otherwise toppings, to be akin to the small plates that are usually served with korean bbq. I attempted to take a shot...as they ate platefuls of this along with the other food. and the thing is, everyone does this!
another night out at club eden at the ritz.
and because fruit is so expensive, they include it with the table as part of bottle service.
day 4: the most eventful and fun day, ever.
morning at the fish market!
some of the fish were jumping. it was kinda scary...
our crab:
and some fried samplings to follow!
and some banana-flavored milk for the road
next stop, karaoke in hongdae
this place looked like a spa
our room
engrish on the restroom doors:
and then we went bike riding by the river.
note: koreans like to stay light skinned so they pitch tents to keep out of the sun, and swim in clothes
tandem biking! wasn't easy...
all this, followed by a stroll through the park before dinner
and a dinner buffet at the lotte hotel: la seine
following dinner was a cruise on the river to see the banpo bridge rainbow fountain light show
now, korean women are pushy when it comes to seats. it's every man for himself. before we got on, this woman was trying the get the inside scoop as to where the best seats on the boat were. she was elbowing me to be first in line. I don't think I could explain just how upset she was when we ran for seats at the front of the boat.
the boat went under all the bridges in seoul
we were getting close to the fountain show, and went went through water under the bridge. luckily they warned us so we wouldn't get wet.
the second time around, when going back, they didn't give us a warning. we were pretty close to getting wet!
day 5: gyeongbokgung palace
sandwiches first
caught a couple in matching shirts!
an old korean street exhibit
a snack: chicken katsu on a stick!
needs more hot sauce...
and a waffle for dessert
on the way back, couldn't help but snap a picture of the plastic surgery ads plastered throughout the subway station. disturbing...
finally, after all this time in korea, we went for korean bbq
bibimbap!
second dinner: streetfood!
and then caffe bene, home to the best milk tea
day 6: food day
stewed korean short ribs, kalbi jjim
the closest I got to north korea: traditional north korean noodles
they made fried rice with the leftover short ribs and rice!
and then the best bingsu ever for dessert at the park hyatt
sweeping city views
and to our surprise, there was a woman swimming right behind us!
dinner #1: french tapas at le saint-ex in itaewon with wonhee and jen
foie gras, filet, pomme frites, pâté, escargot
cheers!
dinner #2: moon jar for makgeolli in rodeo with yuna!
octopus and scallion pancake
chicken salad
kimchi pancake
day 7: leaving seoul
bone marrow soup for lunch. at this famous joint, when they run out of soup, their specialty, they close for the day.
slices of beef, entrails, and all. yes, I ate mistakenly ate entrails, thinking they were mushrooms.-_-
funny: saw this guy in a cal shirt in the cab on the way to the pancake restaurant for dessert!
w.e. west and east for dessert
banana-stuffed korean pancakes served with ice cream!
we ordered the strawberry variety as well. both were served warm and chewey -- so delicious!
such an awesome trip. I'm so grateful to yuna, who was truly the best host one could ask for. thanks so much for everything!! twas delicious.
and the journey (and eating) continued in japan the following week...
