We had some much needed free time the last few days in Seoul. After a pretty emotional three days, I was ready to unwind and explore the city. Some of the staff gave me a few recommendations on places not to miss so I added all of them to my Korean bucket list and off we went.
Yes, those are tomato popsicles on the top row
Cute desserts
Entryway to the Institute
Team 1: Mike, Anders, Me, Constance & Trina (not pictured)
The owner came by to greet us and gave a sweet speech about sharing our Korean culture through food with our friends and family back home. I ended up walking back out of the neighborhood with a few other group members to head to Insadong, a touristy shopping area by the palace.
Trina couldn't resist
Passed a Korean photography studio; modesty apparently does not apply to babies here
Approaching the entrance
Standing guard
Bulgogi pizza; all pizzas had black sesame seeds in the crust
My "summer salad" pizza- literally had a salad on top of it.
Departing on the cable car
Riding up
At the base
The Tower
Seoul
Neighbors to the North
Ready to go home
I was embarrassed to take this picture
Haechi is Seoul's symbol, an imaginary creature that helps realize justice and enhance safety and happiness
More love letters & locks- this practice (as seen in Busan) actually originated here
Heading back down on the cable car. I had wanted to walk, but since it was raining and we were short on time, we did the round trip option.
Hoya, the master chef & studio owner
My sister's dish: Ggul-dduk is a Korean dessert made of round rice cakes that are brightly colored and stuffed with a sweet Korean syrup. When eating it, you should put the entire rice cake in your mouth before chewing or else it will burst everywhere. "This food reminds us of Constance because she is spontaneous, candid and colorful. The sweet taste of this dessert also reminds us of her sweet and reflective personality." So fitting. Especially the bursting part.
On Wednesday evening, my sister and I set out to see the Banpo Bridge. It's not something that most tour books recommend (or even mention) but it sounded neat and I needed something relaxing. We headed on the subway and got to the right stop; when we got out we stopped in Shinsegae for a quick dinner. I wasn't too hungry so just opted for dumplings and a popsicle.
After walking a bit, we found the bridge. It's the longest bridge fountain in the world, and moves with lights to music being played.
Not long after we got there, the music came on, and it was my wedding song (Lucky, by Jason Mraz). It felt magical, and so fitting. Great end to the day.
Lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where we have been
Lucky to be coming home again
The next morning, we had a cooking class at the Institute of Royal Cuisine. I had really been looking forward to it. It was tucked away in a really neat neighborhood full of traditional style homes.
The class revolved around the food from the Royal Banquet from Han Bok-rye, the Title Holder of the Royal Cuisine of the Joseon Dynasty. The royal cuisine indicated social status and dignity of those who were served. It's the essence of Korean traditional food, that's eco-friendly healthy food and contains the best culinary culture of the day. Royal cuisine was the peak of Korean culinary culture, expressing traditional aesthetic consciousness through food.
We started out watching a quick slideshow about the history of it all and then watched the instructor do her thing. It was a little simplified since she had two sous chefs and most items were pre-prepared but we got the general gist of everything.
On the menu was bulgogi, japchae and fried tofu. I was a little disappointed because I already make bulgogi and japchae on a pretty regular basis, but it was good to learn how to make the tofu and a few sauces that I hadn't tried before. Our group, though self proclaimed as "number 1" did manage to mess up the bulgogi a little bit (eh hem...Anders ;)), but everything still tasted great. Probably also because we were all starving by the time we ate. Afterwards we were given a drink that was supposed to stimulate all five senses of taste (sweet, salty, sour, bitter, spicy) that was pretty interesting.
We finished up and went outside for some pictures.
We spent some time shopping for gifts and other interesting treats. One of the cooler things we saw were these ice cream "cones" - I swear they would make a killing in the US at festivals, amusement parks, malls, etc. Franchise anyone?
We walked around a bit more then headed to the palace.
Gyeongbokgung(경복궁), also known as Gyeongbokgung Palace or Gyeongbok Palace -- is a royal palace located in northern Seoul. First constructed in 1395, later burned and abandoned for almost three centuries, and then reconstructed in 1867, it was the main and largest palace of the Five Grand Palaces built by the Joseon Dynasty. Fitting that we had our cooking class earlier in the day. Here are just a few of the many pictures I took.
That night, a few people went to a pizza place close to our hotel for dinner. They came back saying it was "the best pizza they'd ever eaten" so naturally I had to try it. Unfortunately my expectations were set a little too high (I was comparing this to the likes of Mack & Mancos and actual pizza from Italy) so it did not quite live up to the hype, but it was still pretty good. Again, we were starving so that helped.
We ended the night with an interesting panel of speakers from other adoptees who were living in Korea and were in the process of searching for or had found their biological families. I find all of this so interesting; everyone's stories, views, and opinions are completely different.
My last full day in Seoul was a bit underwhelming. It was raining, so that really dampered our plans- I had also been trying to meet up with a friend who was also visiting Korea at the same time but it was difficult due to my crazy schedule and communication issues. Anyway, I decided to head to Coex, which is supposedly the largest underground shopping mall in Asia. It's located in Gangnam- yes, the place from the popular song- that was unfortunately about an hours' cab ride away from our hotel.
When we got there, we realized a lot of it was under construction, so I literally got back in a cab and headed to Namsan/Seoul Tower- where I had really wanted to go that day anyway. Luckily, the rain had stopped by then, and the moment I got out of the cab, my sister and some other participants had arrived.
The Tower is located on Namsan Mountain, the highest point in Seoul. From there, you can see the whole city, stretching out from all points. First you take a cable car to the base of the tower, then pay an additional fee to ride a cheesy, space themed elevator to the top of it. But it's all worth it for the views.
When we came down, there were a few performers and people dressed in traditional clothing for pictures.
We actually had to get back to the hotel by 4 to meet up with everyone to go to a cultural performance. We had no idea what it was going to be, so it was quite a surprise - the show was called Nanta (aka Cookin'). The best way I can describe it is that it was a non-verbal cooking/magic/comedy performance incorporating samul nori rhythm. This sounds a bit weird but in Korea it all made sense. And the audience loved it. I actually got in trouble for taking these pictures, and they don't do the show justice at all.
After the show, we went back to change and then headed to our closing dinner. We had come full-circle back to the cooking studio owned by one of the GOA'L staff members (where we had orientation the first day), who actually prepared an 18-course feast for us. It was really special. They had made a ton of Korean dishes and named each for one of us, with an explanation of our "food personality."
My dish: Oiseon is a Korean royal cuisine appetizer, consisting of cucumbers stuffed with beef strips and fried egg yolk and served with a sweet vinegar sauce. "Similar to the ingredients inside the cucumber, Lauren also has a beautiful baby inside of her belly. She has a fresh personality like cucumbers and is sweet just like the sauce. But Lauren is also a strong and straightforward person like vinegar.
It was a little enlightening reading that description of myself. I didn't realize I came across so "straightforward" but was told that on more than one occasion this trip. I think it was my "no bullshit, I'm pregnant" attitude that I took for the most part, but I'll take it as a compliment. :)
The night was bittersweet. All of the hard work that GOA'L put into the whole program culminated with that dinner, and we were all sad our time with them was ending. We were given special gifts of stamps with our Korean and English names on them. If you ever need to do official business in Korea, you would use that stamp as a signature. At that point in time, I was super tired and a little overwhelmed with knowing I still had to pack, so being the unfun pregnant person I am, I bowed out early to go back. I heard that the night went on and there was more karaoke and fun to be had- on my next trip I hope to partake a little more in the Korean nightlife. But for now, it was time for me to prepare for my return home.
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