Seoul: shopping and hanok neighborhoods

In retrospect, I should have finished updating my trip while in Korea since the VPN I'm using is getting progressively worse. Oh well...onwards to the last day in Seoul!

On Monday, we went back to Insadong to do some shopping. I was never really into Korean fashion before, but staying in China has changed my views on what is cute. I actually really liked a lot of the clothes and shoes in Korea, but I just settled for buying a handmade ring and a few other trinkets and souvenirs. Next was lunch... we were looking for bibimbap, but the octopus with seaweed and rice was just as good. The only other time I've had fresh octopus was in Mexico... the little suckers on the tentacles do weird me out a little. Sue and I always have room for Korean dessert, so we went to a dok cafe, bought some goodies to bring back to the office, and then split a delicious pot bingsu.

Afterwards, we were trying to find Bukchon, a hanok neighborhood, but got sidetracked by other neat places. We stopped by the Gyeongbokgung Palace. Since most museums are closed on Mondays, we didn't get a chance to check out the museums there, but the grounds were really pretty. My favorite part was probably the totems and jangseung, remnants of the old animist culture. I couldn't tell if the wooden and stone totems were authentic, but I liked seeing those. We then wandered around Samcheongdong, which was a quaint area with some traditional-style buildings, tons of coffee shops, boutiques, and Western restaurants.

The hanok neighborhoods was probably my favorite part, even though it's not exactly a touristy thing to do. We just walked around the narrow, hilly streets, looking at the houses tucked into alleys. There were big kimchee jars on the roofs, teens in their cute school uniforms buying snacks, and ajimas smiling at us as we walked by. All the houses were in really good condition (compared to China...) and I was interested to learn that there is a current debate about how to develop/preserve the area.

At night, we went out to Yeouido, the financial district. Sue and I had some gimbap as a snack, and then we made our way to the 63 Building (with some ice cream in hand, because it's impossible for us to go anywhere without some food...). This was once the tallest tower in Asia--like 25 years ago. I think Shanghai has jaded me because I wasn't impressed at all, except for how clean and shiny everything was.

For late dinner, we met up with Joe McPherson, the food blogger at Zenkimchi. We figured he knew the good places to eat so we had emailed him, and he was nice enough to take us to his favorite pork BBQ place. We had two kinds of pork, which we wrapped in lettuce and sesame leaf with red pepper paste and roasted garlic...mmm. The waitress poured beaten egg in the ring around the grill, which is usually used to catch the dripping oil, and threw in some kimchee and green onions to make a Korean omelette of sorts. We also had makgeoli, which is like bubbly unfiltered sake. Joe was very entertaining to talk to. He's lived in Seoul for 6 years and has had a lot of experiences with food as well as tv production. I learned quite a bit about food politics as well, which I didn't even know existed. Anyone interested in Korea and food should check out his blog.

We got home a little late, but it was a really fun night. The next morning we caught the airport bus to Incheon and headed home.

When we got back to Shanghai, I was actually surprised that I had that slightly relieved, coming-home feeling I get when returning from traveling. Korea was fun, but China is familiar and has technically been my home for the past year. I could read the signs, understand the language, and look around at the Chinese faces with a sense of familiarity. It was the first time that I realized that I can live in China long term--doesn't mean I really want to right now, but I have a feeling I'll be back in this country in the future.