School started last week, and so my days have been busier, hence I'm behind! A week ago Monday, all I had to do was move my stuff into the dorm which, thanks to a $3 taxi ride, was a lot shorter and sweat-free this year compared to last year, left me with the bulk of the day to play. Cue my new friend Victor, from Singapore, who had his plans fall through, so we decided to explore Seoul together.
We wanted to visit a palace and take an English tour, but it was closed on that day. :( Also, he had not had a good experience with samgyetang, chicken ginseng soup, so I took him to lunch at my favorite place in Myungdong (see previous post).
Poor guy had been disappointed at another place by samgyetang, but not by this place. Baekjae Samgyetang for the win! He felt a little too energetic from the ginseng afterwards, though.
Since we were already in Myungdong for lunch, we walked around some, but it was getting really hot, so in order to beat the heat, we decided to do something I'd always wanted to do but was a little afraid of doing: going to a movie theater in Korea. It had air conditioning though, so we wanted to go. Victor knows a little Korean, but I know more, so I was in charge of the communication department. And yes, I ordered tickets, picked our seats, and ordered movie theater food for us all in Korean, though they would all try to speak to him even after I was the one talking because he was Asian, we think :/ The food in the theaters is amazing. They freshly make different flavors of popcorn, and grill the squid right when you order it. Mmm...I want it...now...
Inside the movie theater on the 8th floor! There were only 4 movie showing rooms.
This guy's shoes had us staring...
We got the popcorn/squid set! I ordered half cheese, half caramel of freshly-made popcorn, butter grilled squid - sound weird, but it's the best - and drinks for $11. So much food, it was huge!
After the movie, we relocated to the area of Hongdae, since there's so many shops, cafes, music, etc. We think we happened upon an indie group shooting a low-budget music video near the Children's Park, so we stopped to watch:
Started out slow...
Then the dancing got intense. They might have almost elbowed some passers-by.
We stopped by a cafe after and I tried winter melon tea (on the left) for the first time and really liked it! They gave me lemon juice on the side to flavor it as well, but it was sweet and tasty.
Victor forgot to use the restroom in the cafe, so he resorted to use the sketchy bathroom in the Children's Park. P.S. That guy in the doorway is not Victor, but he walked in the shot as I was taking it, so now I feel a little creepy. Sorry, guy.
The next day, I met up with Michelle and her parents before her mom and dad flew back to Hong Kong. We went to...the samgyetang place again. Haha, but I just couldn't say no! Then I went back with them to the hotel to help Michelle carry some stuff after her parents left and to do some makeup shopping with her around Myungdong, where they were staying.
We never all took a picture together in HK, so we got one in Korea.
View from their hotel window. Not sure what the name of this is, but the view was much nicer than in my guesthouse.
I went a few metro stops away to Home Plus, like a Target/Walmart, to get some necessary items for the dorm room. I liked it in there, and you can't see it, but the World Cup Stadium is immediately behind it, and the metro station was where I took the picture from.
I was less nervous for the placement test/interview this time, despite being expected to know more this year. Maybe it helped that I traveled in Korea alone and practiced speaking more the week before. I was surprised by how much I actually remembered. I was placed in level 1B, the next class up from where I was last year, and that was where I expected/wanted to be. I've gotten to know some of my classmates better in a few days and the ones I know are really nice. So far, so good.
We described each other with adjectives (new vocabulary) one of the first days of class, and someone said 에뻐요, or yeppeoyo, meaning "pretty". They're nice, but that's a hard one to live up to.
This cup is made out of paper - it felt like copy paper. I've seen it in a couple of places around campus.
Another baby seat fixed to the wall of this bathroom in the metro, like the one I saw in HK, but I liked that in this picture, it shows the toilet that the mom is sitting on. A nice awkward touch.
After the first day of class, Michelle and I went to Hongdae to eat and see some shops. We ate some forgettable pho at a vietnamese place - no basil or cilantro or chilis, and lemon instead of lime? Really? We made up for it by going to a place I've read about online, called Okrumong, which lives up to the hype. The milk ice is so fine and light, and delicious homemade sweet red bean paste! I want this every day.
My favorite patbingsoo! The milk ice is light, but tasty, and they make the red bean paste and rice cakes in house! It's the best red bean paste I've ever tasted, and there was plenty to go around, since there was hidden bean paste inside.
2 comments:
It sounds like you are having so much fun and having great experiences this year. And yes, you have me drooling on the keyboard again--especially for that dessert!!
That is hysterical about the picture you took of the bathroom with the guy going in it! Michelle's family looks so nice! I would like to try the bean paste/milk ice-do they have any here in Provo? Great job on the Korean test!
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