Seoul has turned out to be the vacation we needed.
Our hostel is quietly located, smack dab in the middle of the fashion district, Bangan Market. As we walk to the subway each morning, we have the choice of paint thinner or floor tile to purchase. And we certainly don:t have any trouble sleeping in AC rooms - or should I say mini fridges.
We have been proper tourists.
Bus tour. Check.
Palace tour. Check.
Visit to reconstruction of ancient village with tacky tourist shop paraphanilla.Check.
Eating local street meat that was more like a fair than the streets of Asia - think Pogo Stick with french fries deep fried around it. Check.
Soju on the street. Double Check.
Soju is a popular drink among the Koreans. You can shoot it or sip it and depending on the mood, I do either. It tastes a bit like Vodka and Zambuca put together. And goes down great with spicy food like Kimchi.
There is no real way to describe the street our hostel is on other than your typcial Asian market street. Tiny alley way with lots of vertical signs in Korean. About 90 percent of the shops are in the market and are fabric or home DIY related.
Except for one little variety store. With plastic chairs outside. And two plastic tables.
This shop sells chips and tea and beer and soju.
After a much needed dinner at a Mexican restaurant (okay, YAY for Itaweon in Seoul which is basically Western Central. I love Korean food, but what a treat. The Outback on Tuesday. Burritos on Wednesday. Sa-weet) we headed home "early" to get a head start on Thursday at the War Memorial Museum.
Two minutes from home and we pulled up chairs at the little conveinces shop for a few beers and a bottle of soju. 4 beers and 4 bottles of soju later, we were experiencing the surreal world of "drinking with Koreans".
The owner, his wife and some random fabric guy sat across from us at the other plastic table, conversing with us in Korean as J tried (quite successfully) to translate.
We also ate her HOMEMADE kimchi. Wow. Another great think about soju is it takes the edge off the spice. See, another reason to drink.
Anywhere else in the world, this was a dark alley. Here in Korea, it is where they hang out.
We stumbled away after spending what was probably a good fortune for the store and with an atmosphere you couldn:t believe unless you saw it yourself. Or you watched too many Kung Foo movies.
Our hostel is quietly located, smack dab in the middle of the fashion district, Bangan Market. As we walk to the subway each morning, we have the choice of paint thinner or floor tile to purchase. And we certainly don:t have any trouble sleeping in AC rooms - or should I say mini fridges.
We have been proper tourists.
Bus tour. Check.
Palace tour. Check.
Visit to reconstruction of ancient village with tacky tourist shop paraphanilla.Check.
Eating local street meat that was more like a fair than the streets of Asia - think Pogo Stick with french fries deep fried around it. Check.
Soju on the street. Double Check.
Soju is a popular drink among the Koreans. You can shoot it or sip it and depending on the mood, I do either. It tastes a bit like Vodka and Zambuca put together. And goes down great with spicy food like Kimchi.
There is no real way to describe the street our hostel is on other than your typcial Asian market street. Tiny alley way with lots of vertical signs in Korean. About 90 percent of the shops are in the market and are fabric or home DIY related.
Except for one little variety store. With plastic chairs outside. And two plastic tables.
This shop sells chips and tea and beer and soju.
After a much needed dinner at a Mexican restaurant (okay, YAY for Itaweon in Seoul which is basically Western Central. I love Korean food, but what a treat. The Outback on Tuesday. Burritos on Wednesday. Sa-weet) we headed home "early" to get a head start on Thursday at the War Memorial Museum.
Two minutes from home and we pulled up chairs at the little conveinces shop for a few beers and a bottle of soju. 4 beers and 4 bottles of soju later, we were experiencing the surreal world of "drinking with Koreans".
The owner, his wife and some random fabric guy sat across from us at the other plastic table, conversing with us in Korean as J tried (quite successfully) to translate.
We also ate her HOMEMADE kimchi. Wow. Another great think about soju is it takes the edge off the spice. See, another reason to drink.
Anywhere else in the world, this was a dark alley. Here in Korea, it is where they hang out.
We stumbled away after spending what was probably a good fortune for the store and with an atmosphere you couldn:t believe unless you saw it yourself. Or you watched too many Kung Foo movies.
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