Kimchi in Seoul Part II
Continuing with the fourth day.
DAY FOUR
^ Breakfast. I never really got why people love krispy kreme. Overly sweet and cake-y donut q(;^;)p. The green tea latte was not bad though.
^ We paid a visit to the Myeongdong Cathedral.
^ We got terribly lost trying to find the Namsan Tower. Could see it from afar, but have no idea how to get to it. After miles of walking, and an act of kindness (i told a girl she didn't zip her school bag), we finally got to the place.
^ Took the funicular up to the top where we got cable car tickets. So-so cable car ride. Everything was misty, so there was nothing much to see.
^ More steps to the top where we got a misty view of the city.
^ It was mist, mist and more mist every where. We took a walk down the "mountain" and then back up again. At one point during the walk up, i was envying the people who were on tour and had a bus to take them back up.
^ Along the way, there was a sign pointing that this path leads to the traditional village and i had wanted to walk into it. But then no was was walking along the path and it was too misty and creepy.
^ Dinner for the day was at the famed mandu (korean dumpling) shop in Myeongdong. The queue to get in was just insane, plus it was raining. Love the noodles. The mandu wasn't fantastic. The portions were huge and we turned down the free rice. The only banchan we got here was really spicy kimchi.
^ We were originally supposed to go on a downtown night tour, but missed the tour bus by a few minutes. I'm sure there's a lesson in here somewhere. :p It was already pretty late and the only place we know was open was Dongdaemun. And so, here we are. Didn't shop as much as we wanted to because since this was an impromptu trip, i didn't bring much money and we still had to leave some money for the cab. Bought a couple of tees and one really cute giant rabbit plush. :p In the end, we opted to head back early and managed to take the train back.
^ Only on day four and already my luggage is full and i have to use my emergency 红白蓝. Been buying masks and other cosmetics every day, plus random souvenirs and groceries. Shopping is truly a bliss here.
DAY FIVE
^ This morning, we took to the streets of Sinchon. Charming streets and a cute Hello Kitty cafe. Breakfast was a fried curry bun. The mood for shopping was soured by the rain. it's such a hassle to have to juggle shopping bags, camera and an umbrella which you have to close and leave in an umbrella bin outside the shop. This opening and closing of the umbrella really kills the shopping mood.
^ We walked round and round trying to decide on something to eat and finally settled on this shop selling what i thought was jajangmyeon but turned out to be some cool steamboat-ish noodle. We got ourselves a set lunch we have no idea how to go about eating. The server noticed it and helped us throw all the ingredients into the pot and stirred them up. It was pretty good but huge portions again, and we had difficulty finishing the tteokbokki. After finishing about 3/4 of the pot, the server came by and scooped out the leftovers into a bowl leaving the sauce behind, and he poured in cooked rice and cooked up a porridge. We were already having trouble finishing the tteokbokki and now this! I forced down a few bites of the porridge which was delicious but i was already stuffed. The banchan here were some yellow pickles.
As we were about to leave, a family came in and sat at the table beside us. Turns out they were fellow countrymen and just as clueless about how to go about eating. I helpfully gave them some pointers before we got on our way. Feels good to be helpful. :p
^ Didn't manage to try this red bean "poo" pancake the first time we were at Ssamziegil, so we went back to Insadong again. The pancake was nice and fluffy, the red bean was not too sweet and it was piping hot.
^ There' s a really cute neoprint (remember those booths?) at Ssamziegil with free costume rental that you should not miss. :)
^ What can i say, best 5,000 won spent on a dud of a tour.
And this was what we thought to be our last day in Seoul.
DAY SIX
^ We got up really early today to get to the airport for our flight to Jeju. It was pouring outside and on top of the bloody umbrella, we had to lug around all our luggage. It was cold, we were getting wet, we got lost and was unable to locate the bus stop for the airport shuttle. Some nice guy at a bus stop tried to locate the bus stop with his iPad, but still we couldn't find that damn bus stop. In the end we caved and took a cab to Gimpo.
We went around asking the location of the baggage deposit but were repeatedly pointed to the trolleys. We finally found the place and deposited our luggage. The flight counter wasn't open yet, so we loitered around with our Jeju luggage (bought last minute at Dongdaemun and another ripoff) and i had a cup of weird vending machine tea.
The counter opened and we proceeded to check in, only to find out that our flight was canceled in lieu of the typhoon in Jeju. 9(x.x)9 The things that happen to us on this trip. There might possibly be another flight in the late afternoon but it wasn't confirmed. We decided to give up Jeju altogether and stay in Seoul for the remaining days.
^ We got a cab and went back to the hostel, but it wasn't office hours yet and despite our frantic doorbell pressing, we could not get anyone to open the door. Cold, wet and desperate, we headed to the porridge shop next door which thankfully opens at 7am.
^ Comfort food. I had the kimchi octopus porridge with kimchi, shredded meat and pickles as banchan.
After our meal, we rang the bell some more but no one was opening the door. We borrowed the phone and called the head office, but were told to wait til some one opens the door. So there were we, standing at the foot of the hostel, cold and wet, and repeated ringing the doorbell. Then suddenly a cab pulled up and it looked like he was waiting for some one from the hostel and sure enough, 10 minutes later, a lady came out and we were able to get in at last. Questioned the guy at the desk about not opening the door but he just gave an insincere sorry. We booked a room for the rest of our stay but this time our room's on the fourth floor which means we have to lug our things up all those flights of stairs. Anyhoo, he refused to let us check in early and we had to spend the next 5-6 hours waiting. We hung out at the computer room for a spell and then (i think he was feeling sorry for us), we were allowed to move in to our new room. We spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon sleeping in.
^ Fully rested, we headed out for dinner. Had absolutely delicious fried chicken and beer. Ahh...
^ And it was more shopping at Dongdaemun. I can't believe i took a photo with a cut-out. :p Too embarrassed to post the photo, so you only get this.
^ After a bout of shopping, we got ourselves some snacks. The potato sausage was really good and different from the ones we have here, and the tteokbokki was way too spicy and very filling.
Okay, i'll stop here for now. Look forward to the third part! :D
DAY FOUR
^ Breakfast. I never really got why people love krispy kreme. Overly sweet and cake-y donut q(;^;)p. The green tea latte was not bad though.
^ We paid a visit to the Myeongdong Cathedral.
^ We got terribly lost trying to find the Namsan Tower. Could see it from afar, but have no idea how to get to it. After miles of walking, and an act of kindness (i told a girl she didn't zip her school bag), we finally got to the place.
^ Took the funicular up to the top where we got cable car tickets. So-so cable car ride. Everything was misty, so there was nothing much to see.
^ More steps to the top where we got a misty view of the city.
^ It was mist, mist and more mist every where. We took a walk down the "mountain" and then back up again. At one point during the walk up, i was envying the people who were on tour and had a bus to take them back up.
^ Along the way, there was a sign pointing that this path leads to the traditional village and i had wanted to walk into it. But then no was was walking along the path and it was too misty and creepy.
^ Dinner for the day was at the famed mandu (korean dumpling) shop in Myeongdong. The queue to get in was just insane, plus it was raining. Love the noodles. The mandu wasn't fantastic. The portions were huge and we turned down the free rice. The only banchan we got here was really spicy kimchi.
^ We were originally supposed to go on a downtown night tour, but missed the tour bus by a few minutes. I'm sure there's a lesson in here somewhere. :p It was already pretty late and the only place we know was open was Dongdaemun. And so, here we are. Didn't shop as much as we wanted to because since this was an impromptu trip, i didn't bring much money and we still had to leave some money for the cab. Bought a couple of tees and one really cute giant rabbit plush. :p In the end, we opted to head back early and managed to take the train back.
^ Only on day four and already my luggage is full and i have to use my emergency 红白蓝. Been buying masks and other cosmetics every day, plus random souvenirs and groceries. Shopping is truly a bliss here.
DAY FIVE
^ This morning, we took to the streets of Sinchon. Charming streets and a cute Hello Kitty cafe. Breakfast was a fried curry bun. The mood for shopping was soured by the rain. it's such a hassle to have to juggle shopping bags, camera and an umbrella which you have to close and leave in an umbrella bin outside the shop. This opening and closing of the umbrella really kills the shopping mood.
^ We walked round and round trying to decide on something to eat and finally settled on this shop selling what i thought was jajangmyeon but turned out to be some cool steamboat-ish noodle. We got ourselves a set lunch we have no idea how to go about eating. The server noticed it and helped us throw all the ingredients into the pot and stirred them up. It was pretty good but huge portions again, and we had difficulty finishing the tteokbokki. After finishing about 3/4 of the pot, the server came by and scooped out the leftovers into a bowl leaving the sauce behind, and he poured in cooked rice and cooked up a porridge. We were already having trouble finishing the tteokbokki and now this! I forced down a few bites of the porridge which was delicious but i was already stuffed. The banchan here were some yellow pickles.
As we were about to leave, a family came in and sat at the table beside us. Turns out they were fellow countrymen and just as clueless about how to go about eating. I helpfully gave them some pointers before we got on our way. Feels good to be helpful. :p
^ Didn't manage to try this red bean "poo" pancake the first time we were at Ssamziegil, so we went back to Insadong again. The pancake was nice and fluffy, the red bean was not too sweet and it was piping hot.
^ There' s a really cute neoprint (remember those booths?) at Ssamziegil with free costume rental that you should not miss. :)
^ What can i say, best 5,000 won spent on a dud of a tour.
And this was what we thought to be our last day in Seoul.
DAY SIX
^ We got up really early today to get to the airport for our flight to Jeju. It was pouring outside and on top of the bloody umbrella, we had to lug around all our luggage. It was cold, we were getting wet, we got lost and was unable to locate the bus stop for the airport shuttle. Some nice guy at a bus stop tried to locate the bus stop with his iPad, but still we couldn't find that damn bus stop. In the end we caved and took a cab to Gimpo.
We went around asking the location of the baggage deposit but were repeatedly pointed to the trolleys. We finally found the place and deposited our luggage. The flight counter wasn't open yet, so we loitered around with our Jeju luggage (bought last minute at Dongdaemun and another ripoff) and i had a cup of weird vending machine tea.
The counter opened and we proceeded to check in, only to find out that our flight was canceled in lieu of the typhoon in Jeju. 9(x.x)9 The things that happen to us on this trip. There might possibly be another flight in the late afternoon but it wasn't confirmed. We decided to give up Jeju altogether and stay in Seoul for the remaining days.
^ We got a cab and went back to the hostel, but it wasn't office hours yet and despite our frantic doorbell pressing, we could not get anyone to open the door. Cold, wet and desperate, we headed to the porridge shop next door which thankfully opens at 7am.
^ Comfort food. I had the kimchi octopus porridge with kimchi, shredded meat and pickles as banchan.
After our meal, we rang the bell some more but no one was opening the door. We borrowed the phone and called the head office, but were told to wait til some one opens the door. So there were we, standing at the foot of the hostel, cold and wet, and repeated ringing the doorbell. Then suddenly a cab pulled up and it looked like he was waiting for some one from the hostel and sure enough, 10 minutes later, a lady came out and we were able to get in at last. Questioned the guy at the desk about not opening the door but he just gave an insincere sorry. We booked a room for the rest of our stay but this time our room's on the fourth floor which means we have to lug our things up all those flights of stairs. Anyhoo, he refused to let us check in early and we had to spend the next 5-6 hours waiting. We hung out at the computer room for a spell and then (i think he was feeling sorry for us), we were allowed to move in to our new room. We spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon sleeping in.
^ Fully rested, we headed out for dinner. Had absolutely delicious fried chicken and beer. Ahh...
^ And it was more shopping at Dongdaemun. I can't believe i took a photo with a cut-out. :p Too embarrassed to post the photo, so you only get this.
^ After a bout of shopping, we got ourselves some snacks. The potato sausage was really good and different from the ones we have here, and the tteokbokki was way too spicy and very filling.
Okay, i'll stop here for now. Look forward to the third part! :D