Seoul
I stayed in Hongdea at the hostel "Come Inn Korea" in an eight person room. It was only $15 and central to the city. Minus the millions of stairs you climb to make it to the door, the hostel was exceptional. Free toast and eggs, and the front desk guy, Bobby, was SO friendly. The living room, where everyone gathered, was a place where I made friends that I still keep in touch with today.
FOOD. We had Pajeon with octopus and squid. The restaurant was very inexpensive and you have to take your shoes off at the front door. If you have to go to the bathroom, you can slip on the provided sandals in the hallway. We sat indian style on the floor and had a array of octopus, kimchi, and much more--but as a newbie, that is all I could handle for the first time.
There was SO MUCH Hello Kitty. I was besides myself. I even stumbled upon the Hello Kitty Cafe--right next to my hostel. YAY!
Photo booths in Korea are awesome. Free popcorn, endless props, and if you can dream it, you can create it--in the photo booth.
Bongeunsa Buddhist temple was in the center of the busy financial district of Gangnam. To think people can escape the hustle and bustle of the city and meditate in this peaceful temple. The smell of incenses, the lush gardens and the calmness of people meditating was enough to make me cry with happiness.
Jinju
We traveled south to the suburb of Jinju City, where our friend, Lish, teaches English. It was about a four hour bus ride-- felt like we were driving from Boston to NYC. One of our first stops was obviously, food. We got Dakjjim, some steamed chicken and veggie dish, yum! For dessert we had Bingsoo, its like shaved Ice with red beans and a "surprise" at the bottom. I could eat it every day.
The next day we ventured to the market where there was a huge section of fresh, dried, and mysterious fish--the dried squid is a very popular snack. They even sell it in the local convenient stores!
FOOD-It does seem like we have not stopped eating, but yet I have lost weight here. I think because there is no coffee, chocolate, or diary. OH, and all the stairs, there are SO many stairs. Below is some delicious Dak Galbi--spicy chicken with cabbage, sweet potato, and scallions. It was like eating fire, really delicious fire.
Have you ever had Makgeolli? It is a very tasty alcoholic beverage--and it comes in many flavors like banana and strawberry. BUT when it comes time to break the seal, make sure you carry toilet paper with you--the bathrooms do not have any. Also, you are supposed to put the toliet paper in the trash. OH, you should probably bring your own soap--that is also not provided.
Busan
We took a bus to Busan. Then hopped on a train to the cultural village, Gamcheon. It looked like an amazing stack of colorful legos. There were maze like paths with old stone steps, lots of them. It was simply gorgeous. It really felt like a "tropical" island by the water.
We took a taxi to Shinsegae--the largest department store in the world. We took a picture of the mall so we could show the taxi driver because neither of us spoke Korean, except for the necessities-- hello, thank you, and bathroom. We only went to the floor with the food and the options for macarons were plentiful. On our bus back to Jinju there were rice farms, lush trees, and mountains in the distance. I love bus rides, I can relax and not feel guilty.
Takeaways from South Korea
There is octopus in everything
Fruit is very expensive
You should take your shoes off in most restaurants
There are coffee machines in the train station--they are not very good
They are machines with tea in the train station-they are very good
Bingsoo is American Froyo
There are stairs everywhere. Its like climbing a mountain
There are squatters-bring your own toilet paper and soap