Seoul with Tommy & Stacey - Part 2 (with pictures)

<read part 1 first>

We were both still tired and a bit cranky the next morning but a quick stop at the convenience store, we greeted Tommy and Stacey with better spirits.

Today we wanted to head to the Hanok Village before the crowds so we got a cab there around 10am. Since we haven't ate yet, we stopped by a restaurant that was advertising Ginseng Chicken soup. Normally I am NOT a fan of ginseng at all. The strong medicinal taste really turns me off. But when the soup came out, the smell was minimal and the chicken was so tender. I would defintely have it again. My mom would be so proud of me for having ginseng without her coercion! 

We walked around the hilly area and there are some old-style houses mixed in with more modern ones. I think I prefer the Jeonju one more. It's more compact and there's an actual map to know what I'm looking at. Next, we took a cab to Norangjin Fish Market to get some fresh seafood. It was a very interesting place but after a while, all the seafood stands looked like they sold the same things. After almost walking the entire place, we chose a stand and got some jumbo shrimps ($14), jumbo scallops ($10) and little live octopus ($15). Then just after we paid and they packed up our food, a woman from one of the restaurants grabbed our food and said for us to follow her. She led us through a series of tables and chairs and finally told us to go into an enclose place with other tables and chairs filled with people. We found a seat for four at the back and sat down. Later, a woman asked us how we wanted them cooked. For the octopus we said "sashimi", the scallops "bbq" and same for the shrimps. When the food came we proceeded to eat and take pictures and videos. It was very yummy! Surprisingly between the four of us, we still couldn't finish it all. At the end, it costs us another $10 for each dish so that meal came to $69. Not bad but would've been expensive if it was just Neil and I.

We still had some time to kill before our Eland cruise on the Hangang River so we hopped into a cab and went to Coex Mall to kill some time. We walked around until we were tired and went to a coffee shop to have some drinks and rest. Then we caught the subway to head to cruise. Unfortunately Tommy twisted his ankle at one of the stations but we weren't that far so we kept going. And then we got off one station too early, so we grabbed a cab but after the cab dropped us off, we were still a good 10 minute walk away from the docks. We had to go to the terminal window to pick up tickets and sign some kind of waiver form. Thinking back now, it's almost like those airplane passenger list because we had to fill in our names, sex and date of birth. I guess it's in case the boat capsizes. Anyhow, this area by the river is very nice and lively. It reminded me a bit like Vancouver's English Bay. Lots of people around, flying kites, lying on the grass, biking, etc. Next time, I definitely have to go back.

After we boarded the cruise ship, we just sat down and they announced that there's going to a live music performance shortly after 8pm. At the beginning many people were sitting and once the boat started moving, everyone got up and just went to stand out by the rails for a better look and pictures. This was an ideal time to be on the cruise, we were able to watch the sunset then we passed the Banpo Rainbow bridge. It began to light up and we took many pictures. The weather was very pleasant, with a slight chill. It was a very nice way to cruise along the river (spoiler alert! We also saw one of the buildings that was used in the filming of Avengers 2). Next time, we'll have to do the cruise + buffet. 

After a long day of adventures, we headed back to Itaewon and grabbed some Thai food at Wang Thai. We ordered two curry and pad thai and some appies to share. The pad thai was amazing! I am still thinking about it now. I wished I had bought some home with me. Mmmm....another place we have to go back to! 

On the last day, I was hoping to say something to management before we checked out but. Again no one was around so we just left. We dropped off our bags at T&S's and went to get some western breakfast at the Wolfhound (a place Neil and I have been to before). We bid our adieus and went our separate ways. T&S went to do a little shopping before they have to leave the next day and N & I went do grab some books at What The Book and grocercies at High Street Market. 

And that was the end of our long weekend in Seoul with Tommy and Stacey. A short but very sweet trip!

Jeonju Day Trip

After a brief trip to Jeonju with Neil's parents in November, I really wanted to come back! Since we have a few days off for the new year, we made a point to go back there for their fresh bibimbap. I googled to find any place that's super famous and Gogung came up and that was it. After arriving in Jeonju, we hailed a cab to bring us to the restaurant. Probably waited a few minutes before we were seated. 

I chose the normal metal bowl and Neil got the stone bowl one. The colours were amazing and so vibrant. I love that it doesn't need to have onions in it and it's still okay. I love the texture of the dish that there's crunchy and soft in the same bite. Neil really enjoyed his dish. He liked that it wasn't spicy like most Korean food are. 

Bibimbap in Jeonju - CHECK!

Next we went back to the Hanok Village and walked around to get some snacks. I got some deep fried squid. I had hoped that since it's a Friday that it won't be busy but it was still super packed. After getting my snack, I was too full for anything else so we decided to walk around. I saw PNB and it was not packed like the other one! They're suppose to be famous for their chocolate pies. Neil wasn't interested but I got one chocolate and one white to see what it's all about. It was quite large so it was very fulling. I actually didn't try it until I got home since I was already full. It's pretty good but I would not line up for an hour for it. 

When we got back to the bus terminal, we found out the next bus to Gwangju isn't until 7:20pm and it was currently 5:00pm. We got approached by a taxi driver who offered to take us to Gwangju for 50,000 won if he can find two more people. In the end he could only find one more person and asked us to pay for 70,000 and we can leave right away. In the end we took that offer because we'll get back home quicker and we'll be more comfortable if it's just the two of us in the back. The driver was nice and it took us only an hour to get back compared to an hour and a half. He also dropped us off a lot closer to our home than the bus would have. It cost us a lot more to take this taxi but in the end it's worth it.  

Neil's Parent's Visit

In the middle of November, Neil's lovely parents paid us a visit. They stayed with us the entire time they were here. It was a shame we didn't have much time to show them around or take them anywhere nice since we had to work. They had to do a lot of solo activities and enjoy our Netflix at home. 

They arrived at U-square on Friday night and we picked them up. Unfortunately the taxis here don't seem to have a lot of trunk space so we had to take two separate taxis home. They had just come from Australia and we were suddenly hit with a cold snap, so it was unfortunately very cold when they were here. 

We had two weekends with them and for the first one we went to Damyang to check out the Bamboo forest and museum. It was nice but I feel like that place really didn't have much to do. Ahh but Neil was super fascinated by the multiple penis totem poles that was randomly there and I was reined to take pictures for him. After we got back from Damyang, we took them to Ashley's at U-Square for some all-you-can drink wine and buffet.

The other weekend we went to Jeonju to check out their Hanok village. Basically it's an area of restored ancient style homes, buildings and restaurants. There's a lot of people there and we had a quick bite before heading home. Because we headed so late we didn't have much time to try their famous bibimbap. Next time.

While they were here, we took them to a samgulpsal restaurant (pork belly restaurant), The First Alleyway for brunch and boardgames (I won Settlers of Catan twice!), and Chocolat Village for their yummy chocolate cake. We also ate at home where we had fried chicken delivered and I made my thai coconut soup and they really seemed to enjoy congee. 

It was great having them here and they gave me a very valuable advice: find a big stick to hit Neil with when he's being a brat or pull his ears. Yup!