anita in seoul: August 2011

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Dongdaemun

KPop plus floors and floors of shopping. Nuff said.

green tea / strawberry soft serve!

nyam nyam

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Bukchon is a historic district within the city of Seoul. Bukchon, translated meaning being "Northern Village" is known for its historic hanok village. Hanoks are traditional korean houses, C-shaped in plan. These houses had outdoor courtyards where most of the house's daily activities took place. Many were demolished as land was divided and developed. Luckily some of these hanoks are still preserved, some adapted into restaurants, but some are restored to its original condition to show visitors how these hanoks looked.

This area is full of coffee shops and restaurants as well as many art galleries. And there seems to be a weird fascination with cats...

Street View of part of our Studio project site

Modern addition to Historic Bukchon

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Korean Chicken Hop

So the lightweights of the group decided to do a chicken hop, and sample the plentiful offerings of chicken of various styles and sauces in the neighborhood. I almost jumped out of my pants when I found a Kyochon when walking an alternate route to the Metro stop. I knew there was Kyochon in the states, but never went. There's also Bonchon, but my first taste of Korean Fried Chicken was introduced by my friend Forrest at Mono + Mono in NYC, which was pretty damn good. Now the search was on for something comparable to my recent taste bud experience.

1. Kyochon
PROS: mouthwatering deliciousness; i almost cried. CONS: a bit expensive, some wings were very small, and it took a long time for them to be brought out.
RATING (0-10): 8

First stop, international chain. We opted for the Kyochon Original, which was a honey garlic flavor. Twice fried deliciousness.

Next up...

2. Boor Fried Chicken

PROS: Fast, Cheap

CONS: Tastes like fried chicken back home, but not as good, no flavor, and more starch.

RATING: (1-10) 3

Unlike Kyochon, which was a classy chain, this place is no-frills battered fried chicken. There's a restaurant separate from the takeout area. We opted for the takeout area to make a quick taste. We asked for 4 pieces, he almost fried up 4 BOXES.

side of bag-o-radish

Last stop (we were feeling really fat by now)

3. Oven Day Chicken and Potato ("Every Day Oven Day")

PROS: Fast, Cheap

CONS: Tastes like fried chicken back home, but not as good, no flavor, and more starch.

RATING: (1-10) 6

I was really excited for some good old french fries to go with my roasted chicken, but the fries were covered with some weird sweet powder. what ever happened to salt?? I wasn't satisfied with roast chicken after Kyochon, so my expectations were hard to meet at this point.

So glad Lydia eats fried chicken now!


Two potato sides: fries with the sweet powder stuff, and potato wedges with some kind of mayo

Verdict? Tabled. I think we need to test a few more out to get a good median going for judging criteria. It's only fair, right?

This place will definitely be on the list, especially with that mascot:

"So hot, I burned his asshole"

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Kimbap + other must eats

Highlights on some good eats, all of which are korean staples:

kimbap (김밥): rice rolls with ham and imitation crab
korean bbq (고기구이): hot plate with pork, mushrooms, kimchi, ttoboki, bean sprouts
ttoboki (또보기): rice cakes, with sweet/spicy sauce
korean fried chicken (양념 치킨) from Kyochon: honey garlic, twice-fried chicken, served with a side of pickled radishes

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First Taste of Seoul

It's been a rainy few days; today was cloudy but at least dry. We've had a tiring but action-packed few days, so I'll show you some snippets to visually stimulate what we have seen this week.

from top left (clockwise): 1) traditional temple detail, 2) lotus flower lamps on ceiling of buddhist temple, 3) concrete wall inside our favorite cafe, Coffee Market, 4) stairwell inside Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, Museum 1, by Mario Botta, 5) Entrance into Leeum Samsung. OMA

from top left (clockwise): 1) koreans love waffles, but the coffee is surprisingly expensive here, 2) Kimchi Pancake, 3) Cinnamon Punch garnished with pine nuts, at Insadong Hanuk Traditional Teahouse, 4) Sitting on the floors to eat will take some getting used to, 5) Spicy Pork wrapped in sesame leaf, 6) Korean hot pot


My little apatu (apartment)

bathroom

"Where is the tub," you ask? Well, in Korea the shower is the entire room. There is simply one dedicated drain on the floor, and a shower head connected to the sink head. It's a little awkward, since you end up hovering by the toilet during showers... and the seal by the door isn't exactly watertight.

Brilliant invention find of the week:

Mop Slippers!

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Annyeong Haseyo!

Our 'hood

Second day in Seoul, and it's been good so far. A bit of adjustments to get used to. It still seems like I'm in a very congested part of Northern Virginia, where koreans are H-Marts are everywhere.

Yesterday we bought our "beds," called yos, which are really cushions, or in reference to the one I settled on, a glorified puffy comforter. More pics of the actual apartment in the next post.

It's been great to have Sung, our resident korean coordinator, who has been our translator, apartment coordinator, tour guide, and superhero. Yesterday we bought bedding and other random apartment stuff, but most importantly, laundry detergent. The trek from Thailand made our beachy clothes smell less than desirable.

In our zombie-like state, it was a wonder how we got so much done.

Everything had flowers. EVERYTHING.

Sung (right) helping us pick the right yo

Main drag of food that is close to our apts

Mandu -- my first meal in Seoul

Delicious Noodles

Our first visit to the E Mart

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Asia Pregame - Thailand Recap

I'm currently sitting in the Seoul Incheon Airport, waiting patiently with Lydia for the others to arrive. I'm glad Frankenstein (my new name for my computer) is still intact and functional, so I think a blog entry is in order.

This past week the five of us from the Seoul program (Lydia, Sam, Natasha, Evan) took on Thailand, or at least a small part of it. It was a great experience, even better than I had expected. I was the last one of the pack to get in, but it was a relief to be in familiar company after what seemed like 24 hours of traveling.

First day consisted of traveling again: traveling from Bangkok airport to the Krabi Airport, only then to ride a series of shuttles and vans to what we prayed was our final destination. I guess I watch too many movies that involve tourists and imminent doom, so we all had thai paranoia on the brain ("Scam! Scam! Scam!"). After what seemed like a three hour van ride (with two ferries) we finally arrived in Koh Lanta.

View from our Resort in Koh Lanta

View of our Resort

Fried Rice with Pineapple? How about fried rice IN pineapple?

Most delicious Tom Yum Gai

Other great highlights were our private Longtail boat ride to Koh Phi Phi (more notably known for where "The Beach" was filmed). We got to check out the beach, but left when it got suffocatingly congested with tourists.

Walking thru "street" in Koh Phi Phi (Pronounced "Pee-Pee")

Koh Phi Phi docks

Part of the Phi Phi beach

The boat trip exceeded my expectations when we got to island hop and then even snorkel. We left the crowded beaches, jumped back onto the longtail boats, and went around the island to other more remote parts...

Bird's Eye View of one of the pocket beaches we stopped by

My private island, nbd

Swimming and snorkeling with the fishies

on the Longtail Boat

After a few days at our hub in Koh Lanta, we ventured on our last day to Ao Nang. This place was much more of a tourist-driven locale, with usual annoying banter and calls to people to come into their stores. I loved Koh Lanta for not being that way. Thailand was topped off by kayaking with the girls in the morning... and who knew it was where Mortal Kombat was filmed?!? (which we were coincidentally watching when we came back from kayaking).