Seoul (Day 35): Sakura and Spice

April 4, 2016

We woke up this morning to blue skies and sun, the total opposite of Sunday! Since our plans of going to Yeouido Island fell through yesterday, we planned on spending the afternoon there.

Taking the subway to Yeouido was a bit of a trek for us
Taking the subway to Yeouido

Yeouido Island is on the south side of the Han River. It is Seoul’s finance and investment banking centre, home to the National Assembly, Full Gospel Church (the church with 800,000+ members) and the majority of Seoul’s modern skyscrapers. Every year, Yeouido Island hosts a Cherry Blossom Festival in April. We were lucky enough to be able to catch the beginning of the blossoms around the island.

When we got out of the train station, we were greeted by blooming cherry blossoms and a nice view of central Seoul
When we got out of the train station, we were greeted by blooming cherry blossoms and a nice view of the Han River and of central Seoul
I think that sign says Cherry Blossom Festival
I think that sign says Cherry Blossom Festival
Cherry blossoms lined the outer walkways of the island. Cotton candy stalls were also abundant
Cherry blossoms lined the outer walkways of the island. Cotton candy stalls were also abundant

We walked along the waterfront and soaked in the sun. Food vendors were starting to line the streets leading up to the actual Cherry Blossom Festival grounds. After walking around the waterfront for a bit, we decided to have lunch in the business district. We figured that there would be good lunch specials in the area since there are so many office towers. To our surprise, restaurants in the business area were a bit sparse. We tried to see where groups of businessmen and women were headed – some were going towards the water where we first came from and the majority of them were going into the IFC (International Financial Centre) mall. We followed suit and went into one of the IFC towers. There were three towers all next to each other and they were probably around 50 stories each.

Crowds of businessmen and women head out for lunch around 11:30am
Crowds of businessmen and women head out for lunch around 11:45am
IFC Towers
IFC Towers
IFC is a huge mall with offices on top. They have every international store you can think of.
IFC is a huge mall with offices on top. They have every international store you can think of.

The basement level of the mall is all food. They have all different types of restaurants to pick from: Korean, American, Mexican, Vietnamese, etc. A lot of restaurants had long lines ups outside of them; the longest line was an expensive Pho place. I had been craving Korean BBQ since we got to Seoul and since it was our last day, we decided to have it for lunch. We figured that since most restaurant’s lunch menus are often cheaper, this would be a good opportunity to have BBQ (finally). We saw a long line up in front of “Sariwon Bulgogi” so we quickly looked up reviews online (all reviews were good), browsed the menu and lined up.

Sariwon is famous for its sweet marinade because unlike most bulgogi marinades which use sugar to make it sweet, Sariwon’s contains only fruits and vegetables.

Sariwon Bulgogi at IFC
Sariwon at IFC
Write up about Sariwon
Write up about Sariwon

In looking at the menu, we decided to get their marinated grilled beef ribs set menu, which included salad and a rice or noodle and looked like it was 35,000 KRW =$39 CAD. However, after we ordered and got the bill (they put the bill on your table when they put in the order in Korea) we saw that it was 35,000 KRW per person! We flagged down our waitress to try to explain to her we only wanted one order (since most portions we’d been getting in Seoul had been very large). She wasn’t able to communicate with us so she brought over another waitress who spoke a little bit of English. She explained that you can’t just order one set to share (which I think is silly because it’s not all you can eat) and that we couldn’t order two different things. We looked at each other and hesitantly agreed since we had been waiting for BBQ for a while and it seemed like a good place (they claim they’re a “legendary” Korean restaurant).

With the set, each person gets two beef ribs, a side salad and either cold noodles or rice with a tofu hot pot (we ordered one of each). The waitress cooks and cuts the meat for you, which is nice but I think I would have liked to cook it myself. But I guess since this place was fancier, you’re paying for her to do it. An interesting note is that Sariwon’s table BBQs suck the air in and doesn’t need a fan over top so you don’t smell like BBQ when you leave the restaurant (genius!).

She put 3 pieces of beef on first then the last one at the end while we were eating
She put 3 pieces of beef on first then the last one at the end while we were eating
Okay, fine, the beef was super delicious
Okay, fine, the beef was super delicious, melt in your mouth tender

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The beef was delicious and we both agreed it was among the best beef we’ve ever had before. Every piece was tender and melted in your mouth even though they were cooked well done. If the beef wasn’t good, I think it would have been very upsetting for both of us.

After lunch we walked towards Yeouido’s Cherry Blossom Festival area, which was almost back to where we first got out of the train station. The festival was basically just the cherry blossom lined walkway around the island with a few vendors (not very good ones) and some live music. For a Monday afternoon, there was a surprising number of people there.

Pretty flowers at the entrance of the festival area
Pretty flowers at the entrance of the festival area
Full Gospel Church was right across the street from the festival
Full Gospel Church was right across the street from the festival

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Pretty tulips

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Korean cartoons handing out balloons to kids
Korean cartoon character handing out balloons to kids

After walking through the festival, we ended up at the Korea National Assembly building. While sitting by the fountain for about half an hour we noticed four helicopters circling the city and dipping very low towards the buildings, we thought it was weird but no one else seemed to notice. I don’t think I’ve been to another country with so much visible military and police presence like South Korea. I feel like we see large groups of police officers almost every where we go, military vehicles driving up and down city streets, or in this case, multiple military helicopters flying low in the air doing loops around small areas.

South Korea has mandatory military service for all its male citizens, 18-35 for a 21 month period, so you see a lot of young men dressed up in military uniforms around the city (even going on dates at night, as you’ll see later on in the post).

Korea National Assembly (like our Parliament)
Korea National Assembly (like our Parliament)
We sat here for about half an hour for a water break. Spot the two helicopters in the sky?
We sat here for about half an hour for a water break. Spot the two helicopters in the sky? There were two other ones farther away flying rather low.
Korean lion statues have a bit of a goofy grin on them
Korean lion statues have a bit of a goofy/buck tooth grin on them

After giving our feet a bit of a rest and getting some sun (my forehead got darker from yesterday, not the best tan), we headed for the train station to take us to the Gangnam District of Seoul. Gangnam is an expensive area to live and is known for their concentration of high end stores, trend setting fashions and PSY’s “Gangnam Style” song.

I wonder how long they will keep this up for?
I wonder how long they will keep this up for?
When we got out of the subway, it felt like we were walking down 5th Ave
When we got out of the subway, it felt like we were walking down 5th Ave. We actually didn’t go to the areas with the high end stores but this shopping street was nice enough

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Gangnam is also known for being home to the World Taekwondo Headquarters. Set on top of a hill in Gangnam is Kukkiwon, the World Taekwondo Academy. Tim used to do Taekwondo when he was younger so he was interested in visiting. It’s about a 10 minute walk uphill from the shopping area. They have prime real estate in a very expensive area and what we learned while there was that when the facility was built in the 1970’s, there were no houses or anything around. Now, the headquarters is surrounded by nice Korean style houses.

At Kukkiwon

At Kukkiwon

Kukkimon when there was nothing around
Kukkiwon when there was nothing around in 1972

After visiting Kukkiwon, we did a bit of browsing/shopping around Gangnam and then planned on staying around the area to watch the Rainbow Fountain Show at Banpo Bridge. The bridge has a light and water show three times a day and two shows at night in April. We planned to watch the 8pm show.

We had a couple of hours to kill so we walked to the bridge from the main Gangnam area. It was a long walk.

We walked through a "French" area of Seoul called Seorae Village
We walked through a “French” area of Seoul called Seorae Village
Sunsetting on Seoul. Traffic seems pretty bad here
Sunsetting on Seoul. Traffic seems pretty bad here

We finally made our way to Banpo Bridge as it got dark. We walked around some of the buildings close by that were lit up. The water show did not live up to the hype of the guide book, it was pretty disappointing. The show lasted for about 15 minutes but we left a little earlier because it was really cold and windy (Tim: and boring).

Buildings lit by Banpo Bridge
Buildings lit by Banpo Bridge
Didn't know CNN was in the restaurant business
Didn’t know CNN was in the restaurant business
I'm cold
I’m cold
Waiting for the show to start
Waiting for the show to start
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There was also music that played to accompany the water
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Guy in the military on a date

I was looking forward to getting back inside and defrosting. It was extra windy right by the bridge and we didn’t have as many layers as we should have. We took the subway back to our area (it felt like a really long train ride back) and decided our last dinner in Seoul would be fried chicken.

We went back to the street by our hotel (the businessmen street) and went to Kkanbu Chicken. As with every week night, businessmen lined the streets smoking outside restaurants. When we went to Kkanbu, we got seated next to two businessmen taking shots of soju, drinking beer and eating chicken. I decided to order the spicy soy glazed chicken instead of just regular fried chicken. I didn’t taste too much sweetness, but I sure did taste the spice. Tim and I struggled to finish that plate of chicken. We can’t handle Korean heat.

Smiling Tim before realizing how spicy the chicken was
Smiling Tim before realizing how spicy the chicken was. Chicken was 18,000 KRW = $20.40 CAD. CASS beer was 4,000 KRW = $4.50 CAD and Coke was 3,000 KRW = $3.40 CAD (Tim: I want to mention that the Coke in Taiwan and Korea is fantastic. It tastes just like Canadian Coke before they changed it last summer! *sigh*)
Notice the weekday vs. weekend hours
Notice the weekday vs. weekend hours
Outside Kkanbu
Outside Kkanbu

It was a long last day in Seoul. We headed back to the hotel to pack everything. My backpack is pretty full now with all those Korean socks and face masks.

It’s our last night at Hotel Shin Shin. I’ll miss the comfortable beds and heated toilet seat.

Total steps for today: 39,000

Taipei (Day 3): Walkathon and Street Eats

March 3, 2016

We woke up this morning at 4:30am and by the time we got ready to go it was about 8:30am.  We decided we should try to take advantage of our jet lag and catch the sunrise from Elephant Mountain (which has good views of Taipei 101) at least once this trip.  So we’ll attempt to do that tomorrow! This whole waking up for the sunrise thing is a “Tim thing”.  Before him, I wouldn’t wake up to watch the sunrise and then when he visited me in Chicago on a work trip and made me wake up at 5:30am to watch the sunrise at “the bean” – which was actually pretty amazing! Anyways, the plan is to wake up early and hike up the mountain to watch the sunrise with Taipei 101 in the background. We’ll see if that happens tomorrow.

Ok back to today.  Tim was looking at CNN’s list of “40 Taiwanese foods we can’t live without” to see if there was anything close to our walking route for the day.  He wanted to try the recommended place for braised pork over rice (similar to what we ate on Day 2 at Formosa Chang).

We took the same route as we did yesterday, passing by the Airbnb apartment we’d be staying at when my sister and Noel arrive.  As we walked past the apartment, we stopped by a food stall (which looked like a husband and wife team) with a lady rolling out green onion pancake dough. Tim ordered one and we sat down to wait for it.  The husband gave us free warm soy milk while we waited – which was very nice of him (so far, everyone we’ve encountered in Taipei have been so friendly). We ate our green onion pancake and kept walking.

Lady making our green onion pancake
Lady making our green onion pancake
Green onion pancake and warm soy milk. 25 NT = $1 CAD
Green onion pancake and warm soy milk. (25 NT = $1 CAD)

I enjoy walking through all the small streets and alleys to see if there’s any restaurants or shops that look popular among locals (line ups are always a good sign!).

We came across this place in one of the alleys on our way to the Taiwan Democracy Memorial Park.  There were two old ladies making buns and Shaobing (燒餅) in a stand up oven (bin), sticking the dough to the sides of the bin similar to a tandoor.  There were several locals waiting there for the bread to finish so we stopped to give one a try; we ordered one with green onion in it.  As we were waiting for ours to finish cooking, the lady grabbed a wet mop and stuck it into the oven (to my horror).  I don’t know what she was doing with it as there was still buns in there! The mop looked pretty dirty.  Tim turned to me and was like, did you get a picture of that? I said no.  I guess I was a bit horrified at what was going on.  Two minutes later, she pulled our hot bun out of the oven and we continued our journey as we munched on it. I hope we don’t get sick tomorrow.  Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?

The "tandoor"
The “tandoor”
This was after she mopped the buns. The red stick in the background was the mop.
This was after she mopped the buns. The red stick in the background was the mop.
Tim with the piping hot green onion bun
Tim with the piping hot green onion bun (20 NT = $0.80 CAD)

We made it to the Taiwan Democracy Memorial Park, which I thought was pretty impressive. It was only about 10am when we got there so it wasn’t that crowded, just a few groups of Japanese school girls around.  We stood in the middle of the square taking pictures and selfies like everyone else under the beating sun.  It was only 10am and the sun felt a lot stronger than yesterday.  For some reason Disney has a Frozen exhibit in the middle of the square right in front of the actual Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall.  It’s been there since Christmas and is there until mid-April.  It’s too bad that it’s set up right in the middle of everything, it’s a bit of an eye sore when taking pictures and each time we walked past it, we heard “Let it go” blaring inside.

Our first selfie stick picture
Our first selfie stick picture
Tim in front of the CKS Memorial Hall
Tim in front of the CKS Memorial Hall
See the Frozen exhibit?
See the Frozen exhibit?

We basically just went to the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall today on the way to eat braised pork on rice.  Tim doesn’t cook much Taiwanese food at home, but when he does, it’s usually this dish.  He’s made a few batches and they’ve all been really good (fatty but good).  We found the place, Jin Feng Minced Pork Rice , mostly due to the large amounts of people surrounding it.  We found an empty table in the back of the restaurant, sat down and stared at the order form for a bit.  Tim can speak Taiwanese and Mandarin but can’t read and I’m… useless.  Luckily Tim recognized some of the characters and we ordered one large rice to share (large in Asia is half of a side order in America).  It was good, the fat made the rice taste velvety (those were Tim’s words). (Tim: But they have mushrooms in their sauce, which I’m not a big fan of.)

Outside of the restaurant
Outside Jin Feng
Inside the restaurant. The view from the back (VIP seats)
Inside the restaurant. The view from the back (VIP seats)
Our braised pork on rice (50 NT = $2 CAD) with our order form
Our braised pork on rice with two slices of pickled daikon (50 NT = $2 CAD) and our order form

At this point, the sun was feeling a lot hotter and I kept thinking about drinking bubble tea or having shaved ice.  I actually was craving a slurpee from 7-Eleven multiple times during our walk.  But there are no slurpees at 7-Eleven in Taiwan! (I know, I sound like an ignorant foreigner)

Finally, we made it to Ximending.  This area according to Tim is a trendy area and popular with “young people” – which makes us sound super old when we refer to others as “young people”.  I guess we’re not that young anymore.

Tim in Ximending
Tim in Ximending
Ximending
Ximending

This area is full of food vendors, chain restaurants, branded shops and nightmarket-esque stalls.  I enjoyed walking up and down the busy and flashy streets.  There were multiple bubble tea shops on each street, which made me really happy. We saw there was a “Hot Star Chicken”, which is a Taiwanese chain specializing in deep fried chicken cutlets, and this location also served bubble tea.  We ordered a passion fruit drink with aloe and coconut jelly (95 NT = $3.80 CAD, Tim got up sold on adding aloe AND coconut jelly) then walked around Ximending before deciding we wanted to try the chicken.  When we ordered the chicken, the guy gave us a coupon for 5 NT off our drink purchase. (Tim: We should have bought the chicken before we got a drink). We then looked at the sign and it said “Buy meals get drinks with discount.”  Apparently we can’t read English either.

Tim and the large chicken cutlet (70 NT = $2.80 CAD)
Tim and the large chicken cutlet (70 NT = $2.80 CAD).  It was super moist and delicious!

At this point, we were both pretty exhausted from the sun and walking (we’re weak sauce).  We decided to take the MRT back to the apartment and rest.  We had plans to hike up Elephant Mountain this afternoon that’s not happening.

At about 6:30pm, we were still feeling sleepy and knew that we had to get out of the apartment or else we’d both fall asleep and probably end up waking up at 3am.  We got changed and went out to the closest nightmarket to us, Tonghua/Linjiang Nightmarket, which was about a 5 minute walk.

Tonghua Nightmarket
Tonghua Nightmarket

The Tonghua Nightmarket has a good mixture of clothing and food vendors.  We started off by having an oyster omelet.  It was my first time having it.  The flavours were all really good, but I wasn’t too crazy about the chewy starch part.

Oyster omelet (55 NT = $2.25 CAD)

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Oyster omelet (55 NT = $2.25 CAD)

The next item on the menu was a deep fried green onion pancake with an egg.  This was actually really good, especially when you got to the yolk part.

Frying the pancake and egg
Frying the pancake and egg. The two sauces were spread before being served.  They were really tasty!
That yolk...
The best bite. (40 NT = $1.63 CAD)

For dessert, I ordered a “UFO disc” with creme brûlée custard inside. This was like eating a warm egg tart.

UFO dessert stuffed with creme brulee custard (12 NT = $0.48 CAD)
UFO dessert stuffed with creme brulee custard (12 NT = $0.48 CAD)

Tim’s choice for dessert was “Masa’s delicious spring roll” which was made up of cilantro (yeah, it was weird), ground up peanut brittle, 3 scoops of ice cream (pineapple, taro and red bean) wrapped up like a spring roll.  I was the first to take a bite, it was interesting.  I think the cilantro threw me off as I was expecting something savoury but just tasted ice cream.  I can see how it could be refreshing on a hot summer day.  Tim really enjoyed it!

"Masa Delicious Spring Roll" (40 NT = $1.63)
“Masa Delicious Spring Roll” (40 NT = $1.63)

Now we’re back at the apartment washed up and ready for bed, at 8:30pm… stupid jet lag.

Steps for the day: 24,800