anita in seoul: Seoul

Showing posts with label Seoul. Show all posts

Back Stateside -- Honey Pig

Last night I ventured with friends (and Living Social voucher) to the Honey Pig in Ellicott City. I'm still in the afterglow of a great four months in Korea, so of course, I was a skeptic.

Before we walked in, the groups of people waiting were bursting out the door! Me having #gradstudentproblems, mumbled, "If this was Korea, we'd just walk to the place next door." Of course it was because Honey Pig sold a ridiculous amount of discount vouchers, but also because Honey Pig is now known for THE place to eat BBQ in the DC/Maryland/Virginia area.

Verdict: the place was delicious. I will always love a place with delicious pork belly. I was in great company with two good friends, so the time was well spent on eating meat and dishing dirt.

The Pros:

1) MEAT. Grilled. Duh!

2) It's open 24 Hours.

3) There's Korean beer! Yay, more Cass!!

4) the exhaust system seems to work more than the ones did in Seoul. I did the sniff test on my clothes after, and it wasn't too bad!

But... being fresh out of Korea, there were some cons:

1) They don't let you cut and cook your own meat! (I do understand it's probably better this way since some people don't know how to properly man the griddle...but still.... i would have liked the option to DIY)

2) The line was horrendous. We waited like 40 minutes for a table (Ok, they made bank doing that living social deal... and apparently they give 25% off the entire bill if the Redskins win.)

3) The location is in a strip mall. The great thing about the BBQ places in Seoul were that they were smack dab in the middle of the city, so you can stumble out of dinner and down the street to a bar afterwards.

4) The sparse banchan... left so much more to be desired. what happened to the mounds and mounds of kimchi and seasoned bean sprouts! They don't serve their korean peppers whole -- they're sliced.

5) No wet naps?! Koreaaaaa, come back to me. Those were the best things ever / no-brainers for a restaurant where you eat with your hands.

Again, I am being too critical. It was a delicious BBQ meal, and just makes me reflective of the awesome culinary times I had. Can't wait to do it again. I need to brush up on my korean food words again!

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the walk home from studio

I guess I'm usually too preoccupied in my head to enjoy the walk home from studio in the middle of the night, but tonight, there seemed to be something charming in the air about it.

Maybe it was also me re-evaluating in my head exactly how long I've been in Seoul -- It's been about 2-1/2 months... which may not seem so much to you, but to me, it feels like it was eons since I was soaking in the sun in Thailand.

So I pack up my things as my eyes droop, and start the journey home. The sky has the weird purple tint to it again, but I don't bother taking a picture because no photo I've taken thus far has given it justice. There's someone lurking in the shadows, but then it turns out that it's one of those goofy night security guys picking something off the ground and muttering to himself. I decide to take the quieter way home, the back alleys where it seems everyone is asleep. It's dark, quiet, and a person or two walking. And then I think to myself, once I go back home to the states, there probably will be no other place where I can walk home without any fear of things lurking in the shadows (St. Louis? You can forget about it.)

The usual stray cat scurries by; a guy with headphones in is standing and searching for his keys (i'm thinking, i could mug this guy he is so vulnerable), and then I pass our corner store, where, under the lamplight, the middle-aged men are gathered around the red plastic lawn furniture, smoking, and talking about something intriguing. As I round the corner to the apartment, I hear the echos of hiccuping coming down the street. It's a businessman with his briefcase, staggering, stopping, staggering, and hiccuping loud enough that it's starting to echo down the street. All this goes on as some young girl is leaned on the side of my apartment, seeming like she doesn't notice the hiccuping man, but rather is whispering into her cell phone.

And then I'm home. Whoa, I'm home.

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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.