Korea: Revisiting Namsan Seoul Tower

If you're looking for some of the most expansive and stunning views throughout Seoul, a romantic destination to take a dearly beloved one and add to the locks of love, or simply want to get some distance between you and the sea, Namsan Seoul Tower is an excellent destination to choose.  I'd actually visited the tower once before on a prior trip to Seoul, but this time I visited with my friend Carmen and added a lock representing Antho and I to the incredibly crowded walls and barricades that have come to house an insane amount of locks. A lot of love to go around! Supposedly, affixing your padlock to one of the surfaces is meant to "lock-down" your love, and give it a similar sort of longevity and durability going forward. While there are plenty of Youtube videos demonstrating how to break a lock, I can't help but feel a little cheesy at the romanticism of the idea and wanted to contribute my own small gesture towards it. Even if you have visited the tower before yourself, it's always worth taking another trek up the very-steep mountain to see it once more. 

During my previous visit, my digital camera was very very new to me, and I had a difficult time figuring out how to capture the views at night- but this time through, I'm a bit more familiar with how to operate my camera and I'm a lot happier with the results, though I'm rapidly nearing the time when I'll have to bite the bullet and invest in a newer model. Totally worth taking that ridiculously, absurdly steep hike up from the last bus stop to snap these, though, and I'll gladly do it again. Why do they drop you off so much further down the mountain? I certainly don't know, though maybe it has something to do with the deep love for hiking and mountain climbing many of the Korean natives seem to have, or simply a practical measure to keep the busses from going beyond their means...whatever the case, strap on a good pair of walking shoes and get out to the tower! There's so much to see, and it's always evolving in some new, exciting way. Any visitor to Seoul should be remiss to miss out on the stunning sights offered by Namsan tower! Even if you decide not to opt to pay for the additional elevator ride up the tower, you can take in some seriously breath-taking views of South Korea's world-famous city of Seoul. #WORTHIT

Korea: Nostalgic Views in Hwajeong

One of the best parts of living in the little make-shift office turned bedroom I had in Korea was the largely unobscured view offered by the large windows within, offering me a glimpse out onto the city of Hwajeong as the sun rose or faded into the horizon and all the various shades in between. Hwajeong, while not really Seoul proper, is still quite a bustling little suburb and full of life, so I'd often overhear whooping shouts and excited calls from people celebrating below, at all hours of the night. It was fascinating, and often quite beautiful. The trade-off was that occasionally I'd be awoken early on my day off and told that the office was needed for the home owner's work purposes and to, more or less, make myself scarce. These things. In theory, I could have found a small apartment somewhere in Seoul and rented it for cheaper than what I paid for my sometimes less-than-private space, as many of my friends and their cohorts in a different field emphasized, but my living arrangement was already predetermined in a contract that outlined my work requirements and obligations prior to my even arriving to Korea. I'm not bitter about it, though there were times during my stay where I'd get frustrated by feeling trapped in a situation that wasn't always to my benefit. The other rooms in the apartment were rented out on AirBnB for a higher rate than what I was paying, so I was getting a deal, but there were often strangers coming and going outside my bedroom, or an awkward wait for the shared restroom in the morning when several of us had obligations to tend to. Some of the AirBnB guests stayed on for a longer term, and we got to know eachother a little better in the brief encounters in the kitchen or hallways, but some nights I'd find myself answering the door to an exhausted stranger I hadn't been told to expect, a potentially spooky situation depending on the circumstances. I digress. In the end, I'm immensely grateful for having had the opportunity to live and work in such an incredible place as South Korea, and while I certainly wish I'd had more information going in, I'm still very much glad I went. 

Korea: Morning Commute from Hwajeong-shi

A necessary ritual in many modern lifestyles is the morning commute, the pilgrimage from a suburban respite into the bustling business centers of the city. My time in Korea was certainly marked with this ceremonial passage, morning and evening, as I made my way from the northern residential burb of Hwajeong down to Seoul proper to set up for the day. Every so often, I would get to work and begin setting up only for a coworker to awkwardly approach and ask if perhaps I'd misread the schedule, or maybe they had. Typically it was my fault that I'd misinterpreted my shift, and I'd end up having to find a way to fill the handful of hours at my destination until the shift began. Given how far out of the way Hwajeong was from, say, Lotte world, it didn't make much sense for me to go all the way home only to turn right back around and return, so I'd explore the nearby shopping centers or parks. As annoyed as I might have been in the moment for missing out on some additional sleep I might have garnered by staying home, it was generally a good thing that I explore these areas. The various Fun Caricature locations operating throughout Seoul are placed strategically in high-traffic touristy areas, after all, so the neighborhoods I'd coincidentally find myself arriving at too early in the day would have ample ways for me to entertain myself. 

The commute itself, though, had its own merits. While many mornings I'd take the time to catch up on podcasts, e-mails, or various threads on Reddit, the scenery wasn't unpleasant to look at by any stretch of the term. As the seasons evolved from one into the next, the scenery, too, would shift in shades and texture, providing an aesthetic affirmation of nature's workings. Depending on the time of day, I might pass a food stall with billowing plumes of dense and delicious steam flooding out onto the path, or vendors with freshly procured produce offering their wares.

The short walk to the train station, in and of itself, became a precious sort of journey. That green sign to the right in the photo above? That was my go-to market after returning home from work, as I could pop in and find most of the groceries I could possibly want at a reasonable price. E-mart, too, was just a bit further down the street on the trek home. There were several other groceries, department stores and markets all scattered about nearby, and there was a rather large one tucked into the basement level of the train station, too. No shortage of options available, that's for sure. Never underestimate the sheer convenience and walkability of the city of Seoul and it's suburban branches! It will truly spoil you to live in the area... I miss being able to walk to a store at any given time of day or night and find a hot meal or cold bottle of soju/beer/wine, or fried chicken, sweet and chewy egg bread... but I digress! I could write tomes about how tasty and bountiful the food is in Seoul...

Korea: Blind Alley Raccoon Cafe

Is there any animal that you feel a particular kinship with? Like, do you see an eagle soaring high above it all majestically silhouetted against the bright blue sky and feel like there's a special significance, a certain similarity shared between your personal essence and the animal? I used to think that I had that sort of quasi-spiritual-groove with dolphins, who seem to appear near me when in bodies of water they frequent, but these days I find I chalk that up more to the mind seeking to connect the dots and form a meaningful pattern to make it special rather than actually being something special. Dolphins, in all their majestic flippering and gratitude for all the fish, are also a bit rapey and scary, too. Did you know that Flipper and his friends will isolate a female from the pod and then take turns on her, gang-raping her for weeks on end and using aggressive posturing and behaviors to intimidate her into acquiescence? Like, DAMN, dolphin-dudes, chill! Any moderately attractive woman of post-pubescent age has probably, at some time or another, had to deal with the unfortunate human equivalent of those gang-rapist-creeps of dolphins, though hopefully in less full-out-forceful and trauma-inducing situations. I know I hate me some over-the-top jabronies, so my love for dolphins is dampened knowing they're those guys at the party. As if that wasn't bad enough, dolphins also have a habit of killing babies, whether it's another bottlenosed nosed dolphin or another species, and they're riddled with STDs! Yuck. Over it. 

But you know what animal is totally cute, has a super-fluffy tail, toe-beans, fancy-facial-attire, and a vaguely triangular-faced-monkey-like appearance? Raccoons, AKA trash-pandas! These little guys are vastly underappreciated! Look how adorable that sleepy little baby is up there on that railing! Don't you just want to rub his little feeties and boop that snoot?! Trash-Pandas, much like myself, are almost always up for a good snack and a nap, which I think are two traits almost any decent human can get behind. So when my friend Carmen informed me that there was actually this magical place tucked away in Seoul where you could grab some warm beverages with caffeine AND cozy up to some raccoons, you know I was on-board! 

Unfortunately, by the time we arrived most of the fluffy little cuties were quite sleepy and settled in for a nap, high above the reach of most visitors. There was one very happy, very friendly little corgie romping around who was more than eager to step in for pets and appreciation, so I found myself spending more time with that little sweetie. As much as I love the raccoons, I also understand how anyone can wind up cranky when woken from their nap prematurely, so better to let them get their Zs. 

Korea: 설렁탕 Seolleongtang, again, because it's delicious AF

South Korea is something of a wonderland when it comes to delicious food, regardless of your preferences! Are you a total carbohydrate fiend who can't get enough of the starchy stuff? You'll be pleased to learn that there's not only the spicy noodles you've probably heard about or seen on places like Youtube (or even here on my own little blog *blush*), delicious things like steamy jjampong loaded with seafood and vegetables in a warming red broth or chilled mixed noodles like bibimguksu, but there's plenty of non-spicy options to get your fill, too! One of my favorite hot noodle dishes combines a rich and milky beef broth with ultra-tender pieces of beef, chunks of aromatic vegetables and silky mushrooms with thin wheat noodles to slurp it all up with. This delicious, warming, soothing cauldron of goodness is known as 설렁탕 Seolleongtang, which can be found throughout much of Seoul as well as in any community stateside with a large enough Korean population. If you're out somewhere where you're unable to find this delight served in a restaurant, you can always opt to make it yourself! It's a labor of love more than anything else, as the ingredients used aren't especially scarce or rare for the most part, they just require a long cooking time to extract all their goodness into that unctuous, ridiculously-good broth. A point of note is that in many recipes for seolleongtang salt is added at the very end, as in by you at the table, so don't be surprised if you eagerly dip your spoon in and ladle up a big unseasoned slurp of soup! It's okay, my dears, don't fear. Happens to the best of us sometimes when we get over-eager about our tasty treats, right? Once you regain your composure and whereabouts, you should find a small bowl with a salt and pepper mixture to add seasoning to your preference. This is pretty ingenious, really, as it prevents the dish from being overly salty when reduced further and allows salt sensitive patrons to limit their sodium intake, or for those without any sensitivity what-so-ever there's the freedom to go as hog-wild with your salt as your heart desires. You do you, booboo. 

Korea: Samgyeupsal dinner with egg river!

One of the greatest joys in travel is discovering new foods and exploring the different cuisines of the various cultures of the world, and Korea is an exceptionally excellent location for any food-obsessed fellow. Each culture, each region, dramatically influences how the food culture develops and what ingredients will be most abundant throughout the area. South Korea is lucky in that it not only has ample access to the sea and all the wonderful fresh (and sometimes frightening) foods that can be dredged from its depths, but they also have a robust agricultural community and system throughout the country and a good growing season during the spring through fall, though the harsh winters influenced the development of pickled and fermented goodies like kimchi to preserve and extend the harvest. This also means quite a wide array of delicious regional goodies to choose from, whether it's apples from Andong, dakgalbi from Chuncheon, or grabbing some sizzling hot samgyeupsal in the Jogno-3 area. On this particular outing, I didn't venture all the way into the city for my porcine fix, but instead popped into a small restaurant (part of a larger chain throughout the country) that was just across the street from my residence. A lot of the restaurants in my smaller suburb catered solely to larger parties, turning me away at the door for being a solo diner, adding insult to any potential shame one might feel at having attempted to feast alone. I guess that's just not how food culture in Korea operates, though- while in Japan it's not at all unusual to go to a restaurant and pull up a stool at a counter to grab a quick bite, dining out in Korea seems to be generally more of a social endeavor. This restaurant, however, had no qualms with allowing me to get my pork belly barbeque on in solitary fashion! Not only that, but they provided a river of egg along with the delicious grilled meat, a first-time encounter for me. It was delicious, and an all around filling and robust meal that is perfect for celebrating any occasion, whether it's with a large group of friends or you just so happen to go solo. Be forewarned that it's not always easy to find restaurants in South Korea that will accommodate single diners, though, so you may need a smidgeon of patience in your pursuit of deliciousness. 

Korea: Roasted bird and fire's goods

There are few things that harken back to our primordial days as proto-hominids quite like fire-grilled foods, whether it be slow-roasted rotisserie style duck (like above) or crispy crackly fish on sticks broiled over charcoal, charred and oh-so-creamy eggplant grilled whole, sweet and softened onions in kebabs next to blistered tart and juicy cherry tomatoes and hearty chunks of flavorful meat, or full-on-whole-hog slow-cooked to crispy, succulent perfection. All humans hark from a time where the invention of fire served as the literal spark for that catalytic change from beast to a beast with a torch and toasted foods. With fire, we were able to spread from the milder climates of the fertile valley or whichever particular garden our species sprung up in and spread out into colder reaches. With fire, we were able to cook our food, as my quixotic rant above demonstrates, but this also meant making some foods accessible that previously hadn't been, along with improving the overall quality and safety of the food. Cooking makes a lot of foods more easily digested, after all, freeing up more of our energy towards things like growing our brains to adapt to our evolving lifestyles, or experimenting with tool-making.  Fire provides light, and warmth, and all those cozy things that make surviving a harsh, cold winter more bearable, too. 

Is it getting cold where you are, yet? Winter was beginning to sink her claws deep into Korea by this point, though snow hadn't fallen enough to stick just yet. A flurry here or there, though, definitely added a romantic touch to the days, especially when I worked at the Ssamji location, though the outdoor nature of that location meant we had to take proactive measures to keep from freezing our hands to inoperability.  Even with our blankets and scarves and portable space-heaters, the cool seeped into your bones over time, making warming foods all the more necessary to get through. And what more warming or soothing foods than those roasted over a fire or in an oven? Roast bird and breads are a popular pairing the world round, even in a country that came upon bread later in the society's culinary evolution such as South Korea. These little loaves of bread had sweet beans and nuts, a lovely treat to round out a cold evening!

Korea: 부대찌개 Budaejigae and snacks in Insadong

In the magical and mysterious, far-flung land of Seoul, South Korea, there are a seemingly insurmountable variety of selections available for your culinary delight. You can grab a steaming hot cup of Americano from your local train station or Starbucks, then mow through some fresh-off-the-griddle gyerrangpang, these addictive little sweet breads with a fresh egg on top, then stop for sushi for lunch and Italian for dinner...or switch out the different variables for whatever combinations of foods you personally enjoy, whether it's thai, slow-cooked American-South style barbeque, tacos... This was not always the case, though- the Korean peninsula has gone through a lot over its many centuries of civilization, and a hearty resiliency and ingenuity have become a point of pride in the people. After the Americans began to occupy the country during the height of the Korean war, then lingered after the tentative ceasefire took hold, their culinary presence spread, from dishes to canned goods ready to use, and were adopted by the locals. The continued presence and popularity of American fast food chains, like McDonald's and Taco Bell, demonstrate this fact to this day, but subtler influences remain, like the almost perverse love of Spam that can be found from Seoul to Okinawa, Manila to Hawaii... all places where a strong American army presence has lead to the introduction, and then infiltration and acceptance of processed tinned meats and other Americanized foodstuffs into the local cuisines. 

Budaejigae, or Army Base Stew, is a self-aware epitome of this phenomena, utilizing ubiquitous Korean foods like kimchi, gochujang, and local vegetables tossed into the pot with hot dogs, baked beans, spam, ramen, and maybe a slice (or three) of good old American processed sliced cheese for good measure. There are a billion different ways to make budaejigae and nearly as many different restaurants to choose from when trying to find a place to try it. You can also buy it in premade instant ramen form, heavily leaning into the popular role instant ramen noodles typically serve in soaking up the flavorful broth left in the pot at the end of the meal. It's a satisfying hodgepodge of sweet, savory, spicy and creamy, and this particular vat of goodness was enjoyed with a coworker during our lunch break, not far from Ssamziegil in Insadong area of Seoul. It was a delicious and filling lunch, and budaejigae combines comfortingly familiar flavors with Korean seasonings in a way that I think most any American could enjoy, were they brave enough to try it. 

Be brave, my friends. Try all the things!

Korea: Midnight snackies & Korean convenience food love

While big sexy dishes like their fabulous fried chicken and grilled meats tend to steal the show when talking about Korean food, there's a lot of other areas in which the South Korean food scene excel. One especially under-respected arena in both Japan and South Korea are their highly innovative approach to baking and bakeries, where uptight beliefs about traditional techniques can be tossed aside and unusual (at least compared to those who view French baking as the standard) combinations proliferate. Red beans and cream cheese? Sure! Handheld pizza with corn kernels and spinach? Why not! For a savory food lover like myself, who will generally reach for something salty or cheesy long before eating sweets, this seemingly endless variety of handheld baked savory goodies is a blessing. Any grocery store, whether it was the smaller farmer's market near the train station I loved to frequent, or the larger supermart buried underground down another corridor inside the train station itself, there was a bakery doling out goods. Heck, if I walked outside of the building I lived in with Yonie, there was a small standalone bakery just across the street churning out wholesome loaves baked in-house to fancy fruit-decorated cakes for special celebrations. Some of the best, though, were the ones you grabbed while hauling through the train station during the morning commute, heated to steamy eggy goodness as you mow through it waiting for the train to arrive... 

Speaking of which, coincidentally, brings me to another arena in which South Korean ingenuity avails: Convenience foods. Not only is there a convenience store nearly a stone's throw away from you at any point in the city of Seoul, but they are replete with an incredible array of ready-to-consume or can-be-consumed-after-minimal-effort-exertion foods, from hot and cheesy pizza buns to questionably made tubes of meat-like substance ready to squeeze into your face hole as your drunk ass stumbles home. There's also plenty of desserts, too, like this tasty little Cookie and cream parfait I devoured one chilly evening on my little sofa-bed in Hwajeong. Not the most glamorous thing, but tasty enough and undeniably convenient! Plus, it was marked down because with the cold weather rolling in ice cream sales had tanked. Is it weird that I like to eat ice cream when it's cold out? Maybe it's because I'm from a place where the summer temps are routinely over 110 degrees, so ice cream on a hot summer day doesn't stand much of a chance...

So, while it's maybe not the kind of thing you're used to finding at your local bakery or convenience store, don't be afraid to try new things when traveling! You could miss out on some real hidden gems!

Korea: Ssamji snacks

One thing you really have to applaud South Koreans for is their ingenuity. The country was absolutely decimated, economically, politically and socially by the Korean war. Their people were starving and made do with (what may have been questionably obtained) rations from American soldiers who stayed after the slaughter, and what foods they could grow or have stashed away, often fermented goods like kimchi, other pickles, and seasoning pastes. It was important to ensure their foods could hold out through the long, brutal winter. From these humble beginnings, though, the country was able to rebound and build themselves up into one of the most dynamic and energetic societies on our planet with a booming economy in both imports and export goods. This does not happen without serious work and dedicated effort, and young Koreans can quite literally thank their grandparents and great-grandparents, recent ancestors who legitimately built up the culture and society they're able to enjoy now. 

If you didn't know the history, you might not guess by looking at the city of Seoul. Young people happily wandering around, seemingly carefree as they nibble on street food snacks or shop for the latest trends. The frenetic pop culture industry churns out hit after hit, manufacturing new bands at a pace that seems surreal. It's only when you know about the past, and learn to look for signs of its presence, that you'll find traces lingering. Perhaps its the shockingly stunted stature of an elderly lady as she creeps her slow, bent-back and aching way through the train station, or maybe its the bullet holes in a tree along Seoul city wall, traced back to the war. Part of the rebounding period, however, was the need to fuel the workers in an affordable and easy way- this leads to a proliferation of processed foods and snacks that you'll find throughout both Seoul and Japan, both countries that had an extremely difficult rebound from warfare. These processed snacks provided a means of preserving meats and offering protein that wouldn't rot in the heat and humidity waiting for you to get to it as you went about your day. Fish cakes, like the big guy above and his fancy shrimp hat, provide a robust and surprisingly varied approach to a snack. Now a days, you can also find these bread pockets, stuffed with japchae or buldak (fire chicken) and griddle-fried to crispy greasy goodness. Not the kind of thing you should eat on a day to day basis, but for a treat it definitely worked!

Korea: 추어탕 Chuoetang (aka Pond Loach soup)

Ever so often, I'll find myself in the awkward position of having restaurant staff asking me to reconsider my order, eyeing me warily to gauge if my spoken pronouncement were a bad joke of some kind. Sometimes this scenario plays out with the chef himself blustering out from behind the doors leading to the kitchen, encouraging (neigh, pleading) with me to reconsider the heat level I ordered and opt for something less radioactive. Then there are those times when I specifically seek out a dish that is, perhaps, a little less popular or well-received by those who've never sampled it before...Chuoetang is one of the dishes that falls into the latter category, a soup that's renowned for its beauty and healthy benefits but not much else. I was able to source the dish in Insadong, near Anguk station, which makes sense. Many of the restaurants that proliferate through the winding, cobble-stone streets and alleys of the area cater to traditional Korean cuisine in all its forms, from the elaborate spreads of Royal court cuisine all the way to humble street foods and mudfish (aka pond loach) soup. 

If the name mudfish doesn't immediately dredge up sensory conceptualizations of the taste, rest assured that the fish's flavor doesn't veer far from the name. Not only does the fish have a distinctly earthen flavor, but it's also not exactly the easiest or prettiest thing to eat. Inventive Koreans of yonder year solved this dilemma by opting to grind up the poor little butterfaces, which lends the soup a distinctive texture. This also takes care of most, though not all, of those microscopic little fish bones that can make eating fish meat such a chore. And guess what? Because you're devouring the fishes in all their entirety, you're getting a super-boost of different minerals, vitamins and other beauty-boosting goodness that you might otherwise miss out on. Like I said before, this soup is considered a super-food for your health and well-being, and all the collagen is especially good for your skin. There's something of an obsession abounding around functional foods in Japan and Korea, and if the condition of the typical woman's skin in those countries is any indicator they've figured something out, alright. The soup was alright, too- nothing to get terribly excited about flavorwise, perhaps, but totally edible and absolutely delectable if it means waking up to softer, healthier skin! 

Korea: 골뱅이Golbaengi (Sea snail) and 양념 통닭 Yangnyeom tongdak

If this is your first visit to the blog, welcome! I am Nau, an avid eater, and fan of trying new things whenever and wherever feasibly possible, especially when travelling. In the past I've shovelled things like still-living (and squirming) shrimp into my pie-hole, wriggling miniature octopus tentacles liberally lubricated in sesame oil (to keep from choking, of course), squirmy sentient (or at least prehensile) penises of a creature called daebul, and even more controversial things like that time I tried whale bacon in the tiny dining room of a restaurant nestled deep into a narrow back alley of Shinagawa or braved a bowl of boshingtang in a small restaurant buried in a suburb outside of Seoul. There was also that time back in college when my friends and I were camping and one of our cohorts brought along a bag of marinated wild-caught rabbit he'd hunted and butchered not long prior to our trip, lugged to the site along with the grill it would be cooked on via backpack, to be washed down with fancy booze at hot spring hidden in the desert. Suffice to say, bring me your unusual, your wild, your chewy and your squirmy and I'll give it an honest shot. I'm pretty open to most things, from dog meat to century eggs, fish sperm sacs to bull's balls... To be frank, I think the one and possibly only new food I know of but haven't tried that I'd genuinely struggle to eat is balut, the fertilized egg with a mostly-formed bird embryo tucked inside, replete with barely formed feathers and crunchy little barely-done-bones. Well, that is aside from my perverse aversion to yogurt and pudding, which make me gag with their texture. I know, right? This, coming from someone who willing ingests fish sperm sacs. I wasn't especially keen on sea cucumbers when I tried those, either. But this post is not about things that were unpalatable- or things I wouldn't be able to eat- this post is about things I did eat, and also quite thoroughly enjoyed! 

See that cup right there? That cup is full of magic, of glory, and of things chewy, crunchy, sweet, gooey, juicy and delicious. It hits practically every possible flavor and texture profile yet contains little more than chicken, coated in a crispy-crunchy batter, and rice cakes- both of which are then generously drenched in an addictive sauce. All around deliciousness in a small cup, eaten with a toothpick and a delirious grin. I'm still a bit ashamed with myself for not discovering the joys of 양념 통닭, or yangnyeom tongdak, previously, but to be fair it may have taken the cooler outside temperatures to bring the chef out to the streets to share her goods. Needless to say, fantastic!

The other dish on our menu today is grilled sea snails, called 골뱅이 or golbaengi. This was from another small cart not far from the yangnyeom lady, and the freshly cooked snails were liberally seasoned while grilling and then adorned with garnishes upon serving. Those big tan-ish flakes are bonito shavings, a form of dried fish that is a total umami bomb, imparting serious flavor in the thin slices, which happily wiggle in the steam from fresh, hot foods. The snails were a bit chewier, not especially to any surprise of mine, but tasty. Also very affordable, as much of the street food found in South Korea is. Be brave, my little ducklings, there's so many tasty things out there and you never know what new favorite food you might discover if you don't at least give it a try.