Soul Survivor

Continued... Seoul

We arrived in Seoul in early afternoon. We tried to get oriented but one thing that created a challenge: streets often aren't named. Some of the major roads have names, but other than that, the picture on the map is all you can go by. For two directionally challenged people, this means a lot of standing around, scratching heads, "stepping into the map" and some irritation. We first chose to check out the nearby Namdaemun Market. The concierge said it was a ten minute walk and showed us on the map. We got lost in 1.5 minutes.

Seoul is a big city, but most of the sights are centrally located either within walking distance or by a quick and efficient subway system or a quick cab ride if you have your destination written. The market really wasn't that far from where we wandering once we got a general sense of direction. It's a massive outdoor market selling everything under the sun. Since Hong Kong has its share of such markets, though on a smaller scale, I wasn't really seeking the sort of goods you might find there, except one. Snacks. It was a few hours before dinner.

We weren't finding much in the way of snacks as we hunted until I noticed a couple of options. A crowd surrounded a small storefront, queuing for something that looked like dumplings, which the shop workers were sorting into box after box like a factory line and which smelled fantastic. Then I noticed stands selling sliced melons on sticks. Those looked refreshing and I started to head towards one when something drew me back to the dumpling shop, and we added ourselves to the end of the long line of locals. The place was less a shop than a kitchen where you could see workers cranking out tray after tray of dumplings and the heat from it clung to the hovering crowd outside.

We didn't even know exactly what we were waiting for, but I essentially followed my nose, and the nose - as well as 50 people knowingly waiting for a taste - can't be wrong. A sign listed quantities and prices: 2=1000, 5=2000, etc., up to 25. 1000 Korean Won is less than $1. We ventured to try five. How bad could they be? And if they were actually bad, we'd have wasted all of $2.

As a fresh tray came out we were still in the middle of the line when a woman walked up to us and asked, "Two?" I said, "Five," and she put five pieces in a bag and we were suddenly done waiting. I guess she assumed we just wanted to try them rather than buy a box of 25 like everyone else in line. She was right. A couple behind us asked us in native English, "Is it quicker if you don't want a box?" surprising us because they were Asian. Maybe they saw us waiting and thought we were onto something... I wonder if they had to continue to wait their turn because they didn't stand out like we did. I don't know because we were already on our way back to the hotel with our prize. It didn't matter that we likely took a long way back because the dumplings were so hot we couldn't eat them for a long while anyway.

Then we tasted them. Definitely the best thing we've ever eaten for $1.60, and perhaps simply one of the best things we've ever eaten. True bliss. They were very different from Chinese style dumplings. We began mentally rearranging our next day's plans around getting more dumplings. Alas, it never happened so the taste was fleeting but the sweet memory lingers. We ate dinner at a Korean BBQ place that night, and it was enjoyable, but we would have forsaken it in a heartbeat if there were a dumpling in sight.

After dinner we walked around not far from the hotel and went into a bar that was oddly called Don Quixote. It was a Friday night so there were some people still in their work attire, mostly men. I think we were the only people there who ordered individual drinks and not a bottle of something. They didn't even sell wine by the glass. It was a telling glimpse of one aspect of Korean culture: drink yourself stupid amongst your coworkers, similar to the Japanese tradition. And the bartenders were all female, which sort of seemed like a throwback to another tradition of 'hostesses,' like geisha. They seemed to have hollow legs as well; every group who had a bottle in front of them poured their bartender a drink, and these petite ladies politely drank them all. On our way out, we saw a patron sitting on a curb, still in his suit, who didn't fair as well with a pile of vomit beneath his hanging head.

They had framed photos on the wall of Jodie Foster, Sarah Michelle Gellar and a couple of other celebrity women. Our bartender spoke only a little English but she was friendly so Paul asked her why the pictures were there, assuming they might have been patrons of the bar at one time. She said no, it was because they were famous and beautiful. She asked where we were from and when we said New York, she squealed and applauded gleefully. It was endearing. She said she had never been there.

The next morning we set out for Chang Deok Gung, one of the five remaining palaces in the city. I admit, I was enticed by the prospect of the so-called "secret gardens." I envisioned lush greenery and tranquility where you could stroll and relax. The only way to get in is to join a 90 minute tour. The palace itself looked similar to the structures of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Our guide had a strange manner of description, and I blanked out after about five minutes because the heat was just staggering. It was truly impossible to concentrate on anything with the sun extracting every last drop of sweat from our weary bodies. And the garden consisted of a small pool surrounded by some trees, not very rewarding. Paul may have mentioned something else here about how I was trying to kill him. All hearsay.

We eventually escaped, I mean exited, the palace and walked to the nearby area called Insa Dong which is a quaint, touristy area with cafes, tea houses and shops selling traditional Korean crafts. Last year when visiting the home of a friend here in HK, I remarked that I loved a lamp she had. She told me she bought it in Seoul, in Insa Dong, so I had a minor mission. We eventually found shops selling the same style lamps, all made from paper, and that's when Paul's real torture began. Anyone familiar with my decision making process?

It took awhile for me to decide. Of course that's an understatement, but do you really want more details? The shopkeeper eventually gave Paul a seat. When I finally pointed out the two - (hey it's now or never!) lamps I wanted, she told me I had a very good husband and that a Korean husband would have been too frustrated to wait so long. He's great and patient... applause, applause.

We had dinner at a Taiwanese place called Din Tai Fung (there's actually one here in HK too) which was pretty good. After dinner we decided to meander through the streets near our hotel in the Myeongdong district and we stumbled onto the hot spot to be on a Saturday night in Seoul. Blocks and blocks were closed to street traffic and masses of people shopped and ate among the endless maze of indoor shops and outdoor stands. It was a mix of everything, including Western stores like... The Gap!!! I was never so excited to see the familiar blue and white sign since nothing like it exists in Hong Kong. I was disappointed to find nothing I liked, and prices were higher, but Paul got pants. That was followed by Baskin Robins ice cream. We passed on the octopus legs for sale at an outdoor stand. The scene was vibrant and buzzing and a little crazy, and we would have no idea it existed if we didn't choose a random street leading there.

We stopped in a bar called 70's Radio on the way home. It was more casual then the previous night's choice, but the greatest thing about it was the waitress call button affixed to every table. Why don't they have these everywhere?

One thing that surprised us and would have delighted us if we spent more time in the city was the abundance of Dunkin Donuts. I've been craving a donut ever since I didn't have any when we were home in March. They're everywhere in Seoul and so are other donut shops, coffee shops, and I even saw plenty of signs for bagels. I guess they have a thing for New York because it figured into many shop names. I only had one donut in the airport, but I loved that I could have one every other block if I wanted.

I am happy to say that Seoul was a truly likable place. South Korea was not on our must-see list when we moved here. It's not that I had no interest in seeing Seoul, but a big city needs to offer something besides its big cityness when you've seen more than a few, and I couldn't imagine what Seoul had that other cities didn't. Maybe with little expectation, we both enjoyed Seoul more than we thought we would. Some tangible reasons: The people don't speak much English but were friendly anyway. There is good local food and an otherwise good variety on offer if that's what you seek. There are historical and natural sites scattered throughout the city. It's modern and efficient and fairly easy to get around. It's crowded and noisy yet feels very civilized. We felt an overall good atmosphere, a less tangible element that you may not be able to verbalize except to say, "I like this place." Oh yeah, it scores huge points for lacking hawkers. And having the world's greatest dumplings and the world's most recognized donuts.

Stay tuned for more adventures.

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

Another pin in the map: South Korea. We made it there and back with out Clinton having to rescue us.

We left last Tuesday, August 11, and spent most of the day traveling. It's 3.5 hours to Seoul and one more hour to Jeju, the island to the south that we visited. Of course all the in between time adds up, so we arrived at the hotel around 10 p.m. and I'm proud to say that I ordered room service for the first time in my life. It really works; they bring food to your room! We just split a club sandwich because it was late, but it was exciting nonetheless.

We started late the next morning after needed rest and asked the concierge about hiring a taxi to see some sights. This is the common thing to do. The taxi drivers typically speak no English, so the concierge writes their instructions down. I had some knowledge of the island's attractions but no sense of where things were, worth seeing or skipping, etc.

Being a volcanic island, there's a large inactive volcano in the center whose peak you can scale and peer down into its crater, but it's a several hour trek and we only had two days so we opted for other spots. You can see peaks and volcanoes all around in the distance, and the island's volcanic stone is everywhere - sculptures, walls, homes, souvenirs. There are also forests and beaches among the natural scenery. The concierge suggested spots on the Western side of the island, where we were based.

It was a grayish day, no sun, but no rain when we started out either. Despite our lack of understanding each other, our taxi driver laughed at everything we said and everything he said, a real hearty laugh from his gold tooth-filled mouth. We first stopped at a green tea plantation. You could walk around freely, but the crowds were mostly in the museum/shop where you could get everything green tea. The ice cream was tempting but we weren't hungry at the time.

Our next stop was Hallim Park, a pretty big complex consisting of many parts. They included stone and bonsai gardens, sub-tropical gardens, bird gardens and two caves classified as lava tube caves, Hyeopjae and Ssangnyonggul. The island has an extensive network of them. Fortunately, they are very different from the last cave we entered (bats, roaches, remember?). The only thing dripping from the ceiling was water. Each of the two was cool, dark and odorless, and no creatures were hanging, crawling, or lurking. Piece of cake.

Next we made a stop along the coast at Songaksan. The vistas were pretty but shortened and dampened by the gray mist. Our last stop was a peak called Sanbangsan. It was beautiful and intriguing as there were colorful artifacts adorning the climb upwards. We only made it a few flights of steps because the rain finally insisted on falling. We were lucky to have made it till about 5 p.m. that day, but it would have been nice to linger at that location.

We ate at the hotel that night, a BBQ buffet. The hotel also housed a casino, so Tai Pan Paul won about 43,000 Korean Won ($35) st the Blackjack table, and then we spent it on approximately three drinks in the posh lounge.

The next morning after breakfast we set out for the East side of the island, again with the concierge's written instructions for locations I chose - different driver. He was polite but not as jolly as the previous one. Our first destination was about an hour's drive away, Sunrise Peak. Peak=climb, so this is probably when Paul started to announce his suspicions that I might be trying to kill him. C'mon, there's a peak, what else can you do? This day was sunny and hot so we started missing the cool grayness of the day before, but really, the weather was perfect.

Down at the shore, there's a peculiar activity to observe. One of Jeju's unique attractions is the Women Divers. Historically, these were women who would dive to depths of 10-20 meters for over two minutes without SCUBA gear in order to collect valuable marine products, such as seaweed. Today, in this spot anyway, it's mostly just a kitschy show for the tourists. We were tourists, so we watched the women dive and surface, waving their clumps of seaweed and marine creatures.

We next stopped at Seongeup Folk Village, an authentic, still-functioning village where people live in traditional houses with thatched roofs. Our driver walked us into the village for about three minutes and then walked us back to the car. I was surprised it was such a small place since it appeared in the guide books and sounded like a worthwhile destination. Later when I looked in the book again, it said there were over 3000 homes in the village. I guess our driver decided for us that if you've seen three thatched roof homes, you've seen 3000.

Looping back towards home, the next stop was Jeongbang Waterfall. The heat reached its height at this point, so it felt good to stand close enough to the falls to feel the mist. It is said to be the world's only waterfall that falls directly into the sea. Our next stop was another waterfall, Cheyonjiyeon. The entrance was through a crowded parking lot filled with souvenir shops and refreshment stands. That's why it surprised me that past the gate laid a very pretty path to the falls.

It was around this time that I realized something and pointed out to Paul that South Korea should be his favorite Asian destination yet. Not one man, woman or child pitched us a book, tee shirt, bottle of water or any other less useful commodity... no hawkers! How refreshing.

Our last stop in the early evening was Jusangjeolli cliffs. I also realized that although all these attractions are popular and crowded, they're not China-crowded. You could move without suffocating.

Hot and energy spent, we hoped to take a quick dip in the hotel pool upon our return but were surprised and disappointed to learn that it closed at 6:00. Therefore, in our limited time there, we never even saw the hotel pool. Actually, the hotel was on a mountainside overlooking the ocean with access to a beach and we never even walked down to the beach. Oh well.

That night we ate a traditional Korean BBQ dinner at a restaurant that specializes in horse meat. We went for the less daring pork, cooked at our table. It was a pleasing meal and the server was friendly and told us how to manage the ingredients. We ate pork wrapped in mint leaves (I had no idea mint leaves could be so big). Yum.

Nearby our hotel there were a few luxury hotels and other attractions that make up the Jungmun Resort Complex. We strolled around after dinner and marveled at the amalgam of natural beauty, tradition, sophistication, modernity and tackiness. The Teddy Bear Museum says it all. Jeju is a popular destination among Koreans, mainland Chinese and Japanese. There's enough natural scenery to draw the crowds, but just in case scenery alone doesn't appeal to the Asian tourist, no effort was spared to offer every type of organized attraction imaginable:

citrus museum, chocolate museum, peace museum, sex museum, goblin park, love land, art park, water world, elephant land, maze park, water world, magic world, alligator town, miniature theme park, ballooning theme park, world eros museum, stone tortoise museum, natural love museum, ceramic ware museum, baseball museum, pony town, mask and bogey museum, psyche world, paper doll museum, dinosaur theme park and, of course, Happy Town.

We stuck with waterfalls and mountains, but I must admit... psyche world? Just a little curious.

You may think the island would be overflowing with cheesiness after that list, but it's not. Oh, it's there if you seek it, but so is a laid back atmosphere. The first impression of the island that I recall is green - lots of lush, green rolling hills and evergreen trees. As for all the man-made attractions, I saw signs for some, but they must blend in well because Jeju seemed like an otherwise normal, developed but not over-developed, modern, convenient, efficient, place to live - dotted with volcanoes and caves and cliffs - almost as if tourism was an afterthought, not a necessity.

Thankfully, every entrance fee to parks and such was minimal, and things are highly organized as to facilitate easy access to natural sites, though this might somehow make them alternately less accessible. You can see a lot, but you don't stand much of a chance of any uncharted, rugged or isolated exploration.

Well, continuing on our stroll that evening, we walked past the teddy bear museum and found a park with a bridge overlooking another waterfall. It was dark so we could only hear the falls, and the place was deserted. The two of us had a twinkling lantern-lined bridge to ourselves. To counter that peacefulness, we then passed through the Lotte hotel. Whew, that's where to go for a dose of sensory overload. Electric lighted horse-and-carriages, a pool surrounded by windmills and a volcano, complete with a Vegas-style show of volcanic flames and demons and noise. In contrast, the Shilla hotel next door was the picture of elegance and subdued sophistication. Rather than a volcano, there was someone singing operatically in the lounge.

The next morning, we were grateful to be taking off for Seoul because it was not just gray, it was pouring rain with no foreseeable end. Unless we gave in to the teddy bear museum or something similar, I can't imagine what else we would have done.

As my vacation posts continue to be epic, I'll write about Seoul in a second post.

Happy birthday to John.

And by now, we've just celebrated our 8th anniversary, a lucky number in China. We had a delightful dinner at our favorite restaurant, M, Saturday night and since yesterday was the actual date we went for sushi in our neighborhood. Here's to wandering the earth and dining together for 8x8 more years.