Good-bye Korea

I was concerned that we would leave Seoul without ever trying any Korean food. Of course, the thought of “dogmeat stew” did not turn me on and unfortunately most of the local restaurants had either the plastic food windows (see above) or menus with no English translation. We skipped the numerous Starbucks, KFCs, Outbacks, Burger Kings, Tony Romas, and even Au Bon Pain (those are for the times you are really desperate). Finally, for our last meal in Korea we had Bulgogi - the traditional stir-fried beef cooked at the table. It’s accompanied by about 10 side dishes of kimchi (pickled cabbage and other veggies) -ranging from spicy and peppery to a hot that scars your tongue. At least we had that and it was pretty good till I had that fiery pickle.

Korea: Cardboard Man

Here's the picture I meant to include earlier. My posting instructions appear in Korean so I am just guessing at what's included.

Korea Continued: The Thirsty Buddha

Wednesday, September 5
Saw a little bit of Seoul while the MOTH (man of the house) did his thing. There were about 10 people on the tour- 2 Canadian flight attendants, an American woman who lives in Hong Kong, an Indian doctor and his wife and a few others whom I did not meet. We went to a palace and a temple, had about 5 minutes in a Folk Museum and finished off with an obligatory half hour shopping stop at an Amethyst Ripoff Store. It was good.

Reporting from Korea

First day in Korea
Fourteen hours is an awfully long time to be in a plane; enough time to watch 2 movies and 2 TV shows until the MAM’s (middle age muse’s) eyes got bleary. We finally arrived in Seoul at 3.30 am EST (on time!) - that’s 4.30 pm Korean time. Luckily for us, a government driver was waiting to take us to our hotel.


Second day
We spent a sleepless night waiting till morning and at 9 am decide to walk over to the posh looking department store around the corner. It turns out the Lotte store doesn’t open till 10.30 so we take a walk pass a couple of Starbucks, stop at a Dunkin Donuts for a couple of donuts and get some cash from a bank machine. The old man above collects cardboard; just before I saw him another old man with a similar cart collecting old metal passed by clanking his old rusty shears loudly - I guess to announce his arrival.

We wanted to check out the opening ceremony at the Lotte store. As in Tokyo the doors are manned by female employees wearing cute little summer suits with matching hats and white gloved male employees waiting to open the doors precisely at 10.30. While waiting we noticed the giant sweatshirt on the building across the street. We had to crossover to get a better look. It turned out to be a giant sticker - see the picture above.

At exactly 10.30, the two ladies perform a synchronized march, bow and face the doors (by this time there’s a crowd of mostly women waiting to get in) and the male employees ceremoniously open the doors simultaneously holding back the crowd until all the doors are unlocked. A Mendelssohn march trumpets in the background. The store does not disappoint. After a quick up and down on the escalator we go down to the basement food hall. Wow. Fish and crabs in tanks, pizza being made, sushi, melons, and $100 mushrooms to rival Harrods. Each department has its own cute uniform. So that’s the wow.