First Tour of Seoul

As it is Sunday today, I went to church with my aunt, who is a nun at the catholic church in Anam. It was the priest's last day, so there was a big celebration, including free lunch. I knew this beforehand, but seriously, do not stand in the way of Korean old ladies/아줌마/ajummas or grandmas/할머니/halmuni. There is no concept of your own personal bubble here. They will push and shove, especially for free stuff. The ladies behind me kept pushing against me and stepping on my heels. I'm really particular about people I don't know touching me. I like my personal space, but alas. I realize that I probably won't have that here... Also for the celebration, there were 2 cakes. The one fake cake was elaborately decorated in an outdated way as decoration. The second cake was the real cake that we actually ate.

For dinner, I met up with my old friend, Rosie. You'll see pictures of her soon. Rosie and I go back to our undergraduate years at American University. I first started dancing in k-pop covers because of her. She was the k-pop queen at AU. I think you can still find our old videos on YouTube from culture nights and other various student events. I also rode the Seoul metro, which is very clean, for the first time today. There are very large mirrors at the metro that Korean girls spend way too long looking at themselves in, but that's pretty typical for Korean girls with mirrors. On another note, I thought it was cool how they had the moving walkways at metro stations:

We went to a very famous and delicious 족발/jokbal restaurant called 만족/man-jok at the City Hall metro stop. They combined the first parts of the word for 만두/mandu/dumpling and 족발/jokbal/pig's feet. Now, I know that may not sound appetizing to foreigners. However, don't judge until you've tried it. It's delicious. You don't actually see the feet. It's basically sliced meat and fat. Very flavorful and slightly sweet at this place.

The line was pretty long even at 5:30 p.m., but it moved quickly and it was totally worth it. According to Rosie, this is the best place for 족발/jokbal: 

 Complimentary 만두/mandu/dumpling:

After dinner, we walked around and did some touristy things. We saw the palace, blue house, and the statue of 이순신/Yi Sun-shin/Historically famous naval commander from afar:

Then we went to the famous stream called 청계천/chung-gae-chun and stuck our feet in:

Me being a tourist:

Rosie being cute:

Sticking our feet in, which you must do or else you aren't getting the full experience:

Me being a tourist again:

By the 청계천/chung-gae-chun, there is a big three screen tv/camera thing where you stand on a circular platform and take tourist photos. There are several backgrounds you can choose from. Here's ours from today:

After all the touristy things, we went to 이태원/Itaewon. There was quite a number of shops there. I saw a North Face, Adidas, Aldo, and all these Western stores mixed in with Korean stores like Etude (cosmetics). I actually bought a baking powder foam face wash from there that I really like. It makes my skin feel really nice and clean.

 At 이태원/Itaewon, we went to two bars. Be careful not to go to sketchy areas of 이태원/Itaewon. Some areas are not that safe. The first place was called glam lounge. It was a bit pricey, but their drinks were super yummy. Rosie got the sangria, which had a lot of fruit in it, and I got the lychee martini:

The atmosphere was very sophisticated and nice. However, my favorite place was the next place we went to called Virgine. The bartender was much more friendly here. Rosie got the tequila sunup and I got the raspberry mojito. It was also very good, and the artistic ice touch was very nice:

Last, but not least, I wanted to share some shopping tips that Rosie shared with me:

Apparently 동대문/Dongdaemun is not that cheap anymore compared to other underground markets. Others to look at are:

• 영등포/Times Square Mall
• 강남/Gangnam
• 명동/Myungdong

However, don't go to multiple places in one season. Apparently, each market is the same every season, so there is no point in going to them all in one season. Just wait until the next season. I'll end there. Goodnight!