This video is of a Korean making the traditional court cake, made from honey and malt with nuts and sesame seeds in the center.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
A month and a half later...
We're half past our second month living in Seoul and I could not be any more excited. The city has been welcoming and always an adventure. The first few weeks here we not what I expected. Living in a hotel with no transportation, no sense of direction, no knowledge of the language or culture was not inducing any comfort. However, we began getting comfortable with the subway, getting used to our daily 10 mile walks, occasionally riding our bikes, and with a little help of a pocket dictionary and our helpful "Take me to" cards we've managed to roam around the city.
At the beginning of February we moved into our apartment in the city, Central Namsan that is. At the center of the city, with beautiful views and walking distance to many of the great markets and shops. I'm loving it here. Watching the snow fall atop all the roof tops earlier this month was wonderful. At night when the sun sets and the city lights up you can see the city twinkling in the dark. Seoul is beginning to feel like home. It also helped that we received our first shipment from the states. Mainly clothes and kitchen items and of course our LCD t.v. with built-in DVD player. We haven't been able to watch t.v. shows but at least we're watching DVDs! We've also been able to cook what we like with our cookware and eat on our plates, etc. But I've also had to wash the cookware and plates and all the clothes we now have. We got our bedding, and it makes sleeping much better especially when it's cold.
During the first couple of weeks living here, the borrowed furniture was starting to stick out like a sore thumb! Green sofas weren't what I considered cozy furniture. Thankfully we found YONGSAN SECONDHAND STORE near Yongsan post behind WORLDMARK apartments, across Gate 1, or if you take the subway, Samgakji Station Line 4 or 6. If I take Exit 11 in Samgakji I end up on the other side of the street. I think the one on the side to the Secondhand store is Exit 10 (don't take my word on it though). Where we found an awesome and oh-so-comfy leather chair and our t.v. stand (where we can also store our music and movies, and put our WII and DVD player). They all fit perfectly in the apartment. However we still had one sofa and coffee table which we didn't like! We looked at a place over the river by Nonhyeon Station Line 7. But it was a lot of furniture shops catering to those with a larger budget than ours. Don't get me wrong there were many pieces we absolutely loved! And also ABSOLUTELY out of our budget. So I kept searching and searching and finally found Sadang furniture street. The mostly have office furniture but if you look hard enough and walk through both sides you'll see they have much more furniture. That is where we got our couch which came with an ottoman and also bought a coat hanger. If you take Line 4 or 7 to Chongshin University (Isu) Station and exit 1 or 14 walk straight ahead (GS gas station will be at your left if you are going in the right direction) you'll see the sidewalk lined with furniture. Don't be afraid to ask or look inside. Many places have upstairs or downstairs full of furniture too. That's how we found the couch, upstairs a little shop that looked to have nothing.
Aside from turning our apartment into a home, we've been out eating and meeting new people. There's this delicious place by our apartment that serves lamb chops and they grill them at your table! They just melt in your mouth. We've also had the bulgogi (marinated thin slices of beef, like brisket,with veggies). It's right by Chungmuro Station (Line 4 or 3) Exit 8, when you walk up to street level turn around and you'll see the pictures of raw meat (its not how its served!) It's the restaurant downstairs. They also have English menus and they speak a little English, but prices and service is good. So far what we like to eat here is the bulgogi, bibimbap (rice and veggies with an egg on top), i like the fish cakes that have the red bean paste inside. They sell the out on the street and look like a giant goldfish pastry. They're delicious and usually cost about 500 won a piece, but out by Chungmuro station exit 8 you'll find them 6 for 2,000 won (or about $1.50). We tried the tteokbokki, which are rice cakes in spicy red sauce but I called them the hot rice noodles, because they look like noodles. We also got together with a few new people at a bar in Itaewon Line 6, I can't remember what exit. It's the one across from the Hamilton Shopping center. We stayed at the bar all night, but I must return because above the bar they have a Latin club called Caliente. That night on the way home there was this guy in selling kebab according to my husband. But if you ask me, it's shawarma. Which I hadn't eating since I lived in Canada, and he, since he was in Germany. It was delicious and the second spicy thing we've eaten here.
On a shopping note, Sadang station has a few shopping kiosk. They have some great boots for jaw-dropping prices, the quality looks good, they'll be able to convert your shoe size to what they have and the size run narrow. At the Namdaemun Market station Hoehyeon Line 4, they have an underground shopping place I have yet to visit. And when we were over at Sadang and were walking back towards the subway we walked through an cobblestone alley way that led us to a "Family Dollar" kind of store. They had great kitchen ware like serving utensils and dinnerware. Then as we kept walking we ended up at an alley full of vendors selling food and eateries. If we continue to experience weather in the high 30s to 40s we'll be able to get our more and explore Seoul. Today it's an amazing 63 degrees according to my weather bug. Let the warm days continue.
Seoul at night from our apartment, pork grilling at our table for lettuce wraps, Bulgogi hot pots and all the fixings
At the beginning of February we moved into our apartment in the city, Central Namsan that is. At the center of the city, with beautiful views and walking distance to many of the great markets and shops. I'm loving it here. Watching the snow fall atop all the roof tops earlier this month was wonderful. At night when the sun sets and the city lights up you can see the city twinkling in the dark. Seoul is beginning to feel like home. It also helped that we received our first shipment from the states. Mainly clothes and kitchen items and of course our LCD t.v. with built-in DVD player. We haven't been able to watch t.v. shows but at least we're watching DVDs! We've also been able to cook what we like with our cookware and eat on our plates, etc. But I've also had to wash the cookware and plates and all the clothes we now have. We got our bedding, and it makes sleeping much better especially when it's cold.
During the first couple of weeks living here, the borrowed furniture was starting to stick out like a sore thumb! Green sofas weren't what I considered cozy furniture. Thankfully we found YONGSAN SECONDHAND STORE near Yongsan post behind WORLDMARK apartments, across Gate 1, or if you take the subway, Samgakji Station Line 4 or 6. If I take Exit 11 in Samgakji I end up on the other side of the street. I think the one on the side to the Secondhand store is Exit 10 (don't take my word on it though). Where we found an awesome and oh-so-comfy leather chair and our t.v. stand (where we can also store our music and movies, and put our WII and DVD player). They all fit perfectly in the apartment. However we still had one sofa and coffee table which we didn't like! We looked at a place over the river by Nonhyeon Station Line 7. But it was a lot of furniture shops catering to those with a larger budget than ours. Don't get me wrong there were many pieces we absolutely loved! And also ABSOLUTELY out of our budget. So I kept searching and searching and finally found Sadang furniture street. The mostly have office furniture but if you look hard enough and walk through both sides you'll see they have much more furniture. That is where we got our couch which came with an ottoman and also bought a coat hanger. If you take Line 4 or 7 to Chongshin University (Isu) Station and exit 1 or 14 walk straight ahead (GS gas station will be at your left if you are going in the right direction) you'll see the sidewalk lined with furniture. Don't be afraid to ask or look inside. Many places have upstairs or downstairs full of furniture too. That's how we found the couch, upstairs a little shop that looked to have nothing.
Aside from turning our apartment into a home, we've been out eating and meeting new people. There's this delicious place by our apartment that serves lamb chops and they grill them at your table! They just melt in your mouth. We've also had the bulgogi (marinated thin slices of beef, like brisket,with veggies). It's right by Chungmuro Station (Line 4 or 3) Exit 8, when you walk up to street level turn around and you'll see the pictures of raw meat (its not how its served!) It's the restaurant downstairs. They also have English menus and they speak a little English, but prices and service is good. So far what we like to eat here is the bulgogi, bibimbap (rice and veggies with an egg on top), i like the fish cakes that have the red bean paste inside. They sell the out on the street and look like a giant goldfish pastry. They're delicious and usually cost about 500 won a piece, but out by Chungmuro station exit 8 you'll find them 6 for 2,000 won (or about $1.50). We tried the tteokbokki, which are rice cakes in spicy red sauce but I called them the hot rice noodles, because they look like noodles. We also got together with a few new people at a bar in Itaewon Line 6, I can't remember what exit. It's the one across from the Hamilton Shopping center. We stayed at the bar all night, but I must return because above the bar they have a Latin club called Caliente. That night on the way home there was this guy in selling kebab according to my husband. But if you ask me, it's shawarma. Which I hadn't eating since I lived in Canada, and he, since he was in Germany. It was delicious and the second spicy thing we've eaten here.
On a shopping note, Sadang station has a few shopping kiosk. They have some great boots for jaw-dropping prices, the quality looks good, they'll be able to convert your shoe size to what they have and the size run narrow. At the Namdaemun Market station Hoehyeon Line 4, they have an underground shopping place I have yet to visit. And when we were over at Sadang and were walking back towards the subway we walked through an cobblestone alley way that led us to a "Family Dollar" kind of store. They had great kitchen ware like serving utensils and dinnerware. Then as we kept walking we ended up at an alley full of vendors selling food and eateries. If we continue to experience weather in the high 30s to 40s we'll be able to get our more and explore Seoul. Today it's an amazing 63 degrees according to my weather bug. Let the warm days continue.
Seoul at night from our apartment, pork grilling at our table for lettuce wraps, Bulgogi hot pots and all the fixings
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