Korean BBQ in Seoul

Korean BBQ in Seoul

Weekend before last, hubby and I headed up to Seoul on Sunday to visit a friend. He is in South Korea for the scheduled military exercises and only had Sunday off for us to visit.

We took the 20 bus to AK Plaza in Pyeongtaek. It costs 1200 won per adult. I believe childrean are 750 won (which is roughly $0.75).

 Then we purchased tickets for a train to Seoul. The train ride is only about 50 minutes long!
The other option is the metro - it stops at a lot of small stations and takes longer.  Sometimes you have to get on different metro lines, depending on where you are going.

So, just a side note, if you get a ticket on a train, it doesn't mean you get a seat. There are two types of tickets: sitting and standing. There is a slight price difference.
Most people on trains are pretty quiet. Seems like many take advantage of a chance for a nap.

Hubby sat since he is recovering from plantar fasciitis  :)
But for the last part of the trip, I got a seat.
When people get off at their stop, their seat is up for grabs!

We arrived at Seoul Station!

 

 Then we took a taxi and since the driver didn't speak any English, that was an adventure! He didn't understand "Yongsan" or "Army base" so finally we tried "Itaewon." He got that one and on the way we were able to point out where we wanted to go.  We had to walk the final half mile, but we got there!

We met up at the Dragon Hill Lodge and headed out to Itaewon for lunch.

Yes, I know we just came from that direction, but our friend did not have communications, so we had to find him at a pre-determined location ;)

Well the day was overcast, but we still got a great view of Seoul Tower in the distance!

Itaewon was full of people. Here in the square there were lots of young teens skateboarding.

Cars in Korea are generally smaller, or at least more narrow, than cars in the states - the roads are more narrow and parking is always an issue ;)

This is the smallest car I have seen yet. I'm not sure if it is must for advertisement or if they actually use it! 

After a super steep climb, following signs for Namsan Park (I think...we never actually made it...) and found this amazing overlook at the Grand Hyatt Hotel parking lot. 

And it is amazing to think that only a fraction of Seoul can actually be seen from this picture!

 We passed by many interesting looking boutiques, including this one with a vintage bicycle on their sign...but notice the tiny wheel in the back!  Seems like it'd be easy to get a flat tire with that one...maybe that's why they don't make that kind any more...

We finally turned around. We were only halfway there and really not sure what would be at the end of our climb, so we enjoyed getting our cityscape pictures and headed back toward Yongsan. We weren't sure when the bus would be returning to Camp Humphreys. 

Better safe than sorry ~

We passed several embassies on our way back down - each waving their own flag!

It's amazing to think about all the international connections essential in a city of this size.

We weren't sure whether this was a vet, a kennel, a pet boutique or a restaurant (just kidding!), but this plastic pouch definitely caught my attention!

Then, we saw plenty of beautiful architecture!!

 This was a beautiful restaurant we passed.

Then we came across this Turkish entertainer.

He was serving a  sticky, taffy-like ice cream in vanilla, strawberry and chocolate.

The interesting part is the show he performs before he gives you the ice cream...amusing to watch when performed on children...annoying when you just want to take your ice cream and walk away ;)

Here below, you see as the ice cream server suspends an ice cream cone, attached to a metal stirring rod with the taffy-like ice cream, as he twists and turns the rod to keep the ice cream out of the child's reach.

This area was predominantly Turkish, including a grocery store!

We found a little Korean BBQ place to have lunch at!

This little restaurant was not busy, but a decent-size Korean group was partaking, so we figured it was safe ;)

It looks a little weird from the outside! We think the plastic siding is raised to get a breeze through in the summer...

I think they just use the plastic portion to commandeer some of the sidewalk for extra seating ;)

Funny story, hubby and I actually found this place (came recommended) a while back, but no one was inside...including staff...and we had no idea at the time what those large metal tubes were for.

We hadn't had Korean BBQ before.

Now we knew better!!

Korean BBQ places are characterized by tables with a hole in the middle for the fire and a vent pipe above. As you can see above, there are little basins in the middle of each table.

And below, a fire is places in the basin and a grate is placed on top.

Our friend really struggled with the chopsticks, but he persevered!

Our waitress/server (not sure what term they use here) was kind enough to attempt helping him even though she spoke very little English and we spoke almost no Korean.

Here you see the meat and whole garlic cloves placed on the grate. If the grate gets covered in burnt stuff, they will bring you a new grate and move your meat to a new grate.

Whole garlic cloves, grilled is so tasty!

When you order your meal, you typically order multiple meats - it never goes as far as it seems ;) or maybe it's just so delicious, we just eat more!

You have to order rice for each person separately - usually around 1,000 won (or $1 each).

You can usually order some kind of noodles, but we typically stick to rice ;)

All Korean BBQ meals come with a plethora of sides.

Usually some kind of kimchi - there are two kinds: cucumber kimchi and pickled cabbage kimchi.

I like the cucumber kind, which is spicy.

I'm not a fan of anything pickled, so I struggle with kimchi.

I keep trying it though! Maybe by the time we leave I'll like it!

Most places bring rice in little metal bowls with lids.

This place brought them in little rectangular, metal boxes. They were nifty ;)

A lot of places will take away your lid and most will not provide you an individual plate or dish.

Koreans often share all the sides and eat after one another.

I think the chopsticks help with this as there is less surface touching each item...course he have to be pretty good with them for this to help ;) 

Most places have some sort of shredded cabbage salad.

This one on the right had a ginger dressing that was really good!

On the left are bean sprouts and lettuce with hot pepper paste.

Koreans really like spicy food!

After eating we walked around a good bit!

Below: There are a lot of businesses that are underground! They look super sketchy from the street, but are typically well-lit and completely normal on the inside (except of course, no windows).

The first time I saw these, I really wondered if it was safe to go down there.

It definitely is, but be prepared for pushy Korean shop owners to try to convince you to buy their wares. 

This place even had a little bulldog mascot gathering attention outside their shop!

With a long bus ride back to Camp Humphreys still in store, we headed back to Yongsan and went in search of bus tickets.

One of these days, we are going to make it up to Seoul Tower! I'm determined. I've heard the view is great!!

I hope you've enjoyed our trip and God bless!!

Republic of Korea: By the Numbers!

Republic of Korea: By the Numbers!

This post will be a little different from others, because it is a personal challenge made by my friend Meghan, who also writes a blog from Sweden!

She and I really only stayed connected through our mothers after her family moved from south of Birmingham to the St. Augustine area. She is now living in Sweden and despite our 8-hour time difference, we have been able to Skype and share notes on living abroad!

We decided to blog about our respective "home towns" and thus provide a little more info to our family, friends, readers and even ourselves. I've certainly learned a lot!!

And maybe I should do this for the U.S. when I return ;)

Here goes!!

South Korea: officially the Republic of Korea (Korean: 대한민국; Hanja: 大韓民國)

Motto: "홍익인간" 

"Benefit Broadly the Human World"

(If only we all strove for that!)

Yeah it looks pretty tiny from this view. You would never know it given the population size.

The population for 2013 is estimated at 50,219,669 (26th in the World - 244 countries listed in Wikipedia). For an American perspective, Korea is slightly larger in size than Indiana (38,691 sq mi). 

 (

(Compare that to a population of 317,592,000 for the United States and only 6,570,902 for the state of Indiana.)

Oh and interesting fact - the life expectancy here is 79.3, which is better than the U.S.'s 78.4!!

It is mountainous in the east; in the west and south are many harbors on the mainland and offshore islands.

The total land area is about 38,961 sq. mi.

There you see the Yellow Sea on the left and the Sea of Japan (or East Sea) on the right.

China is directly to the west and Japan is directly to the east of South Korea. Russia isn't far north. 

Countries like the Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam are actually much further south. 

When I moved to South Korea, I could not have told you that ;)

The population density is estimated at 1,297.8 per square mile, which is the 16th in the world!

South Korea's population density is amazing! 487 people per square kilometer, which is more than 10 times the global average.

This country has really gone vertical...yeah the mountains help with that ;)

The official language is of course Korean, but the written language is Hangul...referring to the characters used to represent specific sounds.

The currency is the South Korean Won denoted as: (₩)

Here's a pic!

(Note: An easy way to quickly convert the currency is to remove the last three zeros and that gives you a "rounded-up" estimation. Example: Here you see 10,000 won which is roughly 10 American dollars.)

Ok, let's talk time zones:

South Korea is on Korean Standard Time, which basically means it is UTC +9 hours (or Coordinated Universal Time). Yeah, I downloaded an app on my phone to convert the time for me ;)

It is 8 hours ahead of my friend in Sweden. It is 15 hours ahead of Central Time (Birmingham, AL) and 14 hours ahead of Eastern Time (Atlanta, GA)

The major administrative divisions in South Korea are provinces, metropolitan cities (self-governing cities that are not part of any province), one special city (Seoul) and one special autonomous city (Sejong - population 122,153).

I live in the Gyeonggi province!

The largest city in South Korea is Seoul with population 10,143,645.

The metropolitan area has approximately 24.5 million inhabitants (about half of South Korea's entire population) making it the world's second largest metropolitan area and easily the most densely populated city in the OECD (or Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).

Hey Americans! New York City is the biggest city we have and it's population is barely over 8 million!

Metropolitan cities:

Busan - 3,527,635

Daegu - 2,501,588

Incheon - 2,879,782

Gwangju - 1,472,910

Daejeon - 1,532,811

Ulsan - 1,156,480

Provinces:

Gyeonggi - 12,234,630

Gangwon - 1,542,263

North Chungcheong - 1,572,732

South Chungcheong - 2,047,631

North Jeolla - 1,872,965

South Jeolla - 1,907,172

North Gyeongsang - 2,699,440

South Gyeongsang - 3,333,820

Special self-governing province: Jeju - 593,806 (an island off the southern coast)

The President (2013) is Park Geun-hye who is the first female president!

South Korea's market economy ranks 15th in the world by nominal GDP and is heavily dependent on international trade. In 2010, South Korea was the 6th largest exporter and 10th largest importer in the world.

It also has a technologically advanced transport network consisting of high-speed railways, highways, bus routes, ferry services, and air routes that criss-cross the country.

This is just the network for Seoul!

In 2012, 11.1 million foreign tourists visited South Korea, making it the 20th most visited country in the World!!! Family and friends, what are you waiting for?!!!

Other cool number things ~

Age - In Korea, babies are 1 year old at birth. Also, after the new year passes, everyone in Korea automatically ages one year. Example: A baby born on December 31st is 1 year old. Then, after January 1st, that baby would automatically turn 2.

I am currently 26 years old. Since I have not had my birthday this year, I am 28 by the Korean system. If you have already had your birthday this year, only add 1 to your current age; otherwise, add 2 for your Korean age.

Stole this info from somewhere - 

While the Yoido Full Gospel Church might not have the largest building in the world, it defintiely has the biggest congregation. As of February 2013, this Seoul-based church had close to one million members. On any given Sunday, 200,000 of the faithful will attend one of the seven services, and that's not counting the additional 200,000-300,000 watching on TV.

Which leads me to discussing faith!

Some family and friends were worried that we wouldn't be able to find a good church to attend.

Fellowship and spiritual conviction are so important for personal spiritual growth.

Thankfully, I had already heard that a lot of Koreans were Christians!

Now, of course that doesn't always mean anything.

The census states who professes to be Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, etc., but only God will determine who He has known.

I am so thankful to know Him!

He is everything in my life. I cannot imagine living through trials and stress without Him.

According to the most recent census (2005), approximately 23% are Buddhist, 18% are Protestant, 11% are Roman Catholic, and 47% profess no religious belief. Many other groups constitute less than 5% of the the population.

The government does not permit religious instruction in public schools. Private schools are free to conduct religious activities.

The government observes the following religious holidays as national holidays: Buddha's Birthday and Christmas.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed this posting (if you have bothered to read through it all ;)!
The information I have found will definitely show up more later! There is so much knowledge to be gained about the world around us if we are only willing to look!

Thanks for your support and encouragement! Until next time...God Bless!

Shopping in the Market in Anjeong-ri

The Market at Anjeong-ri (really close to our house!)

Anjeong-ri is the area located right outside the pedestrian gate of Camp Humphreys.
The market is right off the main road leading to the main gate of Camp Humphreys next to Hwa Hwa, a local Korean BBQ place that is so tasty!

The market is open every 5 days: on the 3's and 8's => the 3rd, 8th, 13th, 18th, 23rd, 28th :)

Most places don't open until a little later in the morning, say 9 at the earliest.

In general, Koreans like to sleep in and stay up late. I usually wait until at least 11 to start shopping (a.k.a. walking down the street, gawking at everything and wishing I could speak more Korean than "hello" and "thank you").

You have to be careful where you park on market day, because locals will gladly block you in by double parking on main roads! They just leave the inside lane open and no one seems to mind! Mopeds and even some vehicles are parked on the sidewalk by shopkeepers. I'm just glad I can walk to this market!

 Those are parked cars...yes, they are double parked and their drivers are nowhere to be seen ;)

 And this gentleman brought his four-wheeler and cart and parked at the corner...

convenient...

I was so excited to see all the activity and culture just spilling out of this alley!

I wish I was a chef...creativity would really be flowing to see all these fresh ingredients!

Alas, I am not. I am struggling to switch from frozen (everything) to fresh (anything ;).

Well, there were normal things...like beautiful fruit and vegetables!

Including Del Monte pineapples!

You can buy purses and clothing too! There are a ton of knock-off Coach purses, as well as many other name brands.

Then you have the gents playing a game, sitting on the sidewalk.

Plenty of clothing to choose from too.

One stall had some of the leggings/skirt combos I've fallen in love with here. They are lined with fuzzy material that is so warm! And they're cute and it's cold here ;)

...but you never know what sizing is going to be like...so I decided to wait.

There are numerous locals who are older and only have a few things to sell. I'm not sure what a lot of it is, but I think this lady was selling bean sprouts (among other things).

I wish I knew more of the language so I could ask questions!!

Rosetta Stone, here I come...

One stall had several sweet things like wafers and sugar cubes (sorta -- they are solid sugar and often provided by restaurants like peppermints are in the U.S.) and plenty of things I am unfamiliar with.

Some vendors are cooking food...some are cooking what amounts to Korean hotdogs - but often include fish cakes...not sure about that yet.

One of my favorite things to have (well, the only thing I've bought thus far) are hotteok, or a sugar filled pancake. The filling is crushed peanuts and brown sugar and it's pan-fried.

At 700 won, or about $0.70, it is awesome!!

Another vendor had roasted chestnuts, or gunbam, which a friend of mine bought and let me try.

I'm not normally much of a nut person, but these were great...slow roasted and so tasty on a cold day.

Then there's the seaweed! The smell definitely takes some getting used to. 

There are all kinds! Dried, frozen, fresh, and a million different kinds!

Seaweed is salty and of course a little fishy tasting...not my favorite thing, so I haven't tried any here.

Then there are plenty of fish to choose from...the cold weather helps keep them fresh sitting out on the sidewalk...wonder what they do in summer...

So many fish!! And I don't have a clue which are which...need to learn some Korean...then make friends with some of these locals to learn the dish on these fish! (yeah I know, pretty lame joke ;)

Some fish are already fileted and ready to be thrown on the grill!! Wish I knew something about cooking fish...

Now we get to the more exotic stuff (ok exotic to me!)

Pretty sure those are chicken feet...or maybe turkey feet?

Korea is surrounded by water on three sides. As such, the fishing industry is huge here!

There were all kinds of fish available at this tiny market...crabs, eels, shrimp...

Even mussels and clams...

Even squid! I would have no idea what to do with these!

I like sushi, but I'm definitely not this adventuresome yet...

The most interesting thing of all - live octopi!!

Proof!! The little suckers were still swimming around! Eeeek!!!

Hope you've enjoyed!! 

One day, I will learn what more of this stuff is and post again ;)