Yes, this picture pretty much captures my joy and excitement at being back in Korea! I'm here in Seoul for just one week to get my Thai work visa processed and to spend time with some dear friends who I've missed so much! Food, friends, and weather 15 degrees cooler than Chiang Mai... what else can I ask for?
As soon as I got off the plane, I hopped on the train to get into Seoul, and instantly started taking pictures of evvvvverything!
I don't speak much Korean, but I love being able to read some signs! Above is a pharmacy, pronounced "yak," which I know must come from Chinese, because it's "yaa" in Thai, so I assume they have the same root. Yeah, yeah, boring side note you may say, but I'm so into languages, and every time I learn more about one, it enhances the way I learn about another one. I'm fascinated!
A typical kimbab restaurant. Open 24 hours a day, usually just about $1.50 per roll (rice and veggies rolled inside a sheet of seaweed, and sliced into little rounds). I felt a little like a tourist, taking pictures of all these everyday sights. But the truth is, it feels so good to be back here, and I just want to capture the things that make me know I'm back in Korea and cause me to smile. Thailand has bits of Korea all over the place (K-Pop playing in the mall, influences from Korean fashion, Thai girls talking about how cute Korean guys are, some Korean restaurants, tourists who are unmistakably Korean, etc.), so this country and all the great memories I have are never far from my mind. I knew I missed Korea, but it wasn't until I was plopped squarely back in that I realized how great it would feel to be back!
This week I'm staying with my friend Mipa, vegan baker/blogger/businesswoman extraordinaire. (Click
here to see her blog, or
here to see or order from her online vegan bakeshop.) She gave me a warm welcome back to Seoul, taking me on an outing around her neighborhood to see the markets and have lunch at a vegan buffet. Here's just one of the market stalls selling fresh veggies.
The Chinese market had these fun-shaped steamed buns. Yummm.
Here's the vegan buffet restaurant we went to: Ahn Hyun Pil Healthy Buffet. (Check
this page on Mipa's blog for location and info.)
It normally costs 9,000 Korean Won per person, for all you can eat, which is a pretty good price. But we had a special "welcome back to Korea" discount. As we were walking to the restaurant, I happened to notice some colorful pieces of paper ruffling on the sidewalk - 7,000 Won! So we put that money towards our bill and each only had to pay 5,500 Won (about $5) - woot woot!
This was my first plate of food, with our shared plate of greens, cabbage, seaweed and add-ons like fermented natto bean paste and some vinegary soy beans. Everything was so fresh and simple and natural. Nice hardy purple rice, different kinds of kim chi (cold cabbage, baked cabbage, radish), mushrooms, mountain greens, tofu, and jeon (kind of like a thin savory pancake).
I realllly missed kim chi. And the stuff served here was certainly not a let down. I have to say that everything on my plate was super flavorful.
And fun too! I liked wrapping some tofu or wheat-meat along with rice and natto bean paste inside the leaves. And not only did we both go back for second plates...
... but we got a little dessert of warm bread with a sweet and nutty spread, sprinkled with soybean powder.
It was pretty good, but Mipa and I are planning to make our own homemade bread soon. We've already made a few meals together, and man, I am lovin' it! This was our scrumptious dinner that night (which I just watched Mipa make, hehe): curried veggies and tempeh, brown/purple/wild rice and kim (sheets of salted seaweed).
And for breakfast we made these awesome oatmeal banana pancakes (
recipe on this blog site):
With fruit and tea on the side, eaten outside on Mipa's sunny patio, it was a great start to my second day in Seoul!
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