Spicy food, markets galore, Gangnam style

February 8th (Glynis' dictation)

My second day in Korea started off with a bang....jet lag and a late night at barbecue didn't make for the easiest wake up the next morning, but I was off to the gym to fight my bodies temptation to be on American time. Going to the gym by myself was an interesting experience as nobody in the gym spoke English. But I managed to communicate that I had a free pass, and had an excellent work out, setting the tone for the day. After the work out I met Nicolette and her friends for lunch when they were on their lunch break from work. We went to a popular chain restaurant called '2900', which had cheap and delicious Korean meals. I proceeded to try new Korean dishes, one was a chicken curry dish and one was a chicken with fried rice and omelet style dish which was drenched in a brown sauce. This was called chicken omarice (spelled wrong I'm sure), and this was so tasty.

Nic and her friends went back to work and I set off to do some errands for Nicolette. She had given me a little map that she scribbled on some origami paper and I ended up getting a little lost. This made for a very interesting adventure trying to find my way around streets I had not ventured through before. P.S. I should have learned Korean before I came here.

After Nic got off work, we went into Gangnam on the bus. She took me subway shopping, a popular past time here where they have numerous shops in the subway stations. There were lots of cute and crazy clothes. I bought three pairs of earrings and then we went to eat dukgalbi. This is a delicious spicy dish that has tons of fresh veggies, chicken, and rice cakes that are all drenched in a spicy red sauce. It is cooked in a grill in the middle of your table and so it is as fresh as it can get, and piping hot! It was so spicy the back of my head was sweating a little bit. (this is a common theme when I'm eating Korean food it seems)

After that we went home and had some Sake. Nic wanted to break in her gift to me that she bought me in Japan which was sake cups and a sake bottle. She was excited to heat up the yummy stuff and try it out with this authentic gift! The atmosphere was set with candles, Christmas lights, and Nicolette's friend Kyle who came up and serenaded us with his guitar. All of this combined with the warm sake made for a very fun and relaxing evening.

February 9th (still Glynis)


Today was Saturday, and it was an amazing day filled with Korean culture. After a long night sleep and feeling ready to go and explore, we headed for Namdeamu market in Seoul. This is a district of Seoul about 30 minutes from Gangnam. We took the bus to the market and in Seoul everyone is in a hurry! So there is no MESSING AROUND.....on the bus.....off the bus....at a very high speed! We arrived at Namdeamu market and it was a feast for the senses. The market was crammed with vendors with a multitude of things for sale. Anything from fur (lots of it) to silk worms, and everything in between. When the say in the song "Gangnam STYLE" they mean WAY over the top. I got to see some of these flashy items first hand here. The more bling the better. We laughed so much as we explored the market.

One of the fun things we experienced was the making of Ta-rae. It is a cake made out of ripened honey and malt, which was once presented to King Sangung. It is made into 16,000 strands, suggesting the prayer for longevity, health, and good fortune. We then had lunch at a very popular restaurant that has only four soups on the menu. One of them is the famous Myeongdong dumpling soup. This restaurant is in the Myeongdong district of Seoul next to Namdaemu market. It is in the center of another amazing market full of fun and interesting things to buy. I can tell you that this soup was the best thing I have eaten so far. The temperature today was around 10 degrees Fahrenheit so this delicious bowl of noodles and dumplings in a wonderful rich spicy broth was just what we needed to thaw us out. We then made a few purchases as we passed the vendors to catch the subway back home.

My final thoughts for the day in being immersed in Korean culture in 4 words....WAY OVER THE TOP.