My Korean Life #54: 제주도 (Jeju Island) - New Discovery

For years my friends have been telling me to visit Jeju and were surprised to find out I had never been (even though I have been traveling to Korea since 2011 and have lived in Korea since 2014). Most if not all of my friends that have visited Jeju had nothing but nice things to say about the island. They raved about the waterfalls, beaches, hiking, and sightseeing opportunities. After hearing this for years, I felt like Jeju had been so hyped up in my mind that I was set up for disappointment. This past June, I finally made the trip to Jeju and, to my surprise, was not disappointed at all.

First, is how insanely cheap you can find flights to Jeju. While the major airlines have plenty of flights, so do the many budget airlines that operate within Korea. For my flights, I booked on Air Busan going to Jeju and JinAir for the return. Jeju does have its own airline (Jeju Air) but for the dates I booked Jeju Air's ticket prices were not the best. If you use search engines like Kayak or Google Flights you may have to visit the airline websites individually for pricing but it's totally worth it. You'll save a lot of money.

Second, are the amount of lodging deals there are for Jeju...and just affordable lodging in general. Korean online shopping portals often run weekly travel specials and Jeju is a common destination. Many people choose to stay on the southern end of the island since a lot of the sightseeing options are located there. However, there are plenty of options in Jeju city where the major airport is. The hotel I stayed at is relatively new and was running a lodging and breakfast special for a fraction of their normal summer rate. Below is a map of where the hotel is as well as a room tour I filmed - the room was huge and so was the bathroom. The bed was big and comfortable and the room faced the ocean! The breakfast buffet had plenty of options and the dining area was large and accommodating.

Third, transportation - while many elect to rent a car while in Jeju. I didn't have that opportunity since I didn't have an international driver's permit at the time nor a Korean driver's license. However, there are buses and plenty of taxis available even on the southern end of the island. There are also buses from the airport that can take you to your hotel. I heard some people hire taxi drivers for the whole day, picking out some places they want to go and basically having a private driver for a flat rate. These daily rates (or for however long you need them) are negotiated with the driver. One taxi driver we talked to offered to take us around for an afternoon for a flat rate of KRW 60,000. I ended up using mostly buses and taxis however having a rental car is much more convenient and actually cheaper in some cases.

I'll be detailing more of my trip in future posts! Thanks for reading!

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My Korean Life #47: Dinner Party!

Last night I hosted a small dinner party for 3 people! My cooking post gathered a lot of attention and I offered to cook for a few people recently and they took me up on my offer. They even brought me a few gifts :) Check out the photos below!

Table setting - disposable everything since I don't actually own that many dishes :/

Take a seat! 

Vegetables all prepared

That close up shot

The finished product! Tuna and vegetable stir-fry with rice, topped with roasted sesame seeds

Thank you so much for the wine and fruit!

The dishes aftermath, all fit on the rack except for the cutting board

Thanks again to Cook Smarts for the tasty stir-fry ideas!

Cook Smarts

My Korean Life #45: More Lunar New Year Fun

More Lunar New Year Fun

This past Wednesday I attended another Lunar New Year event, this time hosted by InKAS and the 서울무궁화로타리클럽 at the Korea House. A map and the Korea House's Facebook page are embedded below, the location is closest to Chungmuro (충무로역) station. I snapped some pictures of the food that was provided. The traditional rice cake soup (떡국) was the main course served in a bowl with charcoal in the middle to keep it warm. We were also given some small gifts and played games with the opportunity to win prizes.

Rice cake wrapper with vegetable and meat fillings

Gift bag

Pumpkin Porridge (호박죽)

Marinated beef (불고기)

Rice cake soup (떡국)

Fruit

The holiday is now finished and people are going back to work and school. The subway was very busy today as opposed to the past 5 days where there weren't as many people. A number of businesses still stayed open during the holiday. It is actually a popular time for tourists from other Asian countries to come visit Korea. Do you celebrate the lunar new year? How do you celebrate?

한국의집, KOREA HOUSE

My Korean Life #44: 새해 복 많이 받으세요

새해 복 많이 받으세요

Happy Lunar New Year! I spent the lunar new year at KoRoot, a guest house and non-profit organization that helps Korean adoptees. There were about 30 people that showed up for their new year's day meal. Below are a few pictures I took, information regarding their Facebook Page, and an embedded Daum Map. They also have a few groups on Facebook that are written in English. While I have never spent the night at the guesthouse, I have attended many of their events since moving to Korea.

Traditionally, rice cake soup (떡국) is eaten on new year's day. In addition to all the delicious food prepared, this traditional soup was also served. The broth had great flavor and the rice cake was nice and tender. 

I enjoy these adoptee events because it gives an easy opportunity for everyone to meet and perhaps catch up with friends you have not seen in a while. Also, a lot of times you can meet new adoptees or other members of the community.

Again, I hope everyone has a pleasant lunar new year holiday.

떡국 (Rice cake Soup)

뿌리의 집 - Koroot

My Korean Life #43: A Favorite Meal - 닭 한 마리

A Favorite Meal - 닭 한 마리

The map shown below is the restaurant's approximate location, it's actually closer to the CU convenience store than shown on the map.  The closest subway stop is Sinchon station (신촌역) Address in Korean: 서울 서대문구 연세로2길 77

One of my places to eat in Korea is not uniquely Korean food per se. The restaurant's name is simply "One Chicken" and its specialty is a chicken soup cooked with, you guessed it, one whole chicken. Actually the smallest portion you can get is a half-chicken.
The restaurant is quite easy to find. If you locate the large CGV movie theater in 신촌, keep walking and take the next street on your left, then turn right and you should see it. I've embedded the Google Map above but, as I stated, the location is approximate. I found this restaurant through my language school friends way back in the summer of 2014. Then, besides the outside temperature being super hot, the inside of the restaurant was also warm due to the gas burners on each table, regardless of how much A/C was pumping. But now since the weather is freezing cold outside, a warm restaurant with piping hot chicken soup is perfect.
The restaurant is quite popular with Chinese speaking tourists and some of the staff also speak Chinese. It also sits right in the middle of the Yonsei/Ewha/Sogang University area so many college kids also frequent the restaurant. The main dining area only has floor level tables and the area that has chairs and tables is not always open. Just be warned if sitting on the floor is not favorable to you.

닭 한 마리 specialty - the bowl gets screaming hot, be careful of burning yourself

Side dishes: cabbage/green onion, kimchi, peppers, and 된장

The basic chicken soup for 2 people starts at 19,000KRW and goes up in price for more servings. The dish comes out partially cooked and takes about another 10 minutes on the gas burner to finish cooking. The soup itself comes with the chicken, potato, green onions, rice cake, and mushrooms. What makes this place especially tasty to me is the sauce they provide to dip your chicken and vegetables (and whatever else you want) in. The sauce is a combination of garlic, red pepper paste, and vinegar/soy sauce mixture I think...you can adjust the sauce with the extra sauce ingredients provided.

Sauce after I mixed everything together. I dipped the cabbage side dish into the sauce - tasty!

Extra garlic and red pepper paste

You can also eat things like rice porridge and noodles for 2,000KRW each per serving. These two items are ordered after you finish your chicken soup. If needed, more broth is added and then the noodles or rice/egg/김 is added to the broth to be cooked. You can order however many servings you want, regardless of how many people are in your party. Rice is not included with the chicken soup but many people forego basic rice for the rice porridge after eating the chicken soup. On each table there is a small bin for trash or the chicken bones as you eat.

칼국수 (Noodles)

죽 (Rice porridge)

Overall, I would say it is reasonably priced for the food and the experience. This past visit I didn't drink anything other than water but I remember the beverages and alcohol being a fair price as well. If you need a hot meal to warm you up during these frigid winter months, I highly recommend 닭 한 마리. If there is anything you are curious about in regards to the restaurant, let me know and I can try and help! ~

My Korean Life #37: Seafood BBQ

I honestly don't eat that much seafood besides fish and the occasional crab dish but my friends wanted to try a grilled clam restaurant so I decided to tag along. If you translate the restaurant's name it literally says Hongdae Grilled Clams (홍대조개구이) so, it's not hard to guess the specialty. It is in the heart of the Hongdae neighborhood and was packed when we went. A map is below:

My friends ordered a type of set menu that started out with an appetizer/1st course of pork, squid, and corn+cheese mixture. But this was nothing compared to what was coming next.

Next came a big bucket of seafood. All sorts of clams, mussels, cockles, and oysters with some shrimp on top to boot. I'm not exactly sure what species or types of sea creatures were present but just from my visual I think all of the aforementioned sea dwellers were there.

They all met a very hot fate. Soy sauce + wasabi and a spicy red sauce were available for dipping.

Below is a picture of the bucket for all the shells and any other waste generated from the meal.

Overall, it took us a long time to eat everything. From the time we sat down to the time we had devoured everything 2 hours had elapsed. We were all very stuffed at the end.

What are you eating these days?

~

My Korean Life #32: Seoul Global Cultural Center

I recently attended two events at the Seoul Global Cultural Center in Myeongdong. The center offers free activities as well as paid activities many times throughout the year. The two events I attended were a cooking class and a journal/diary making class.

The center is actually open daily for people to drop in from 10:30am - 7:30pm. They have English, Japanese, and Chinese speaking staff. All the staff I've interacted with have been very friendly and the activities are run well.

If you would like to meet some other foreigners (and sometimes Koreans) and also enjoy some cultural activities, I would 'like' their Facebook page to stay informed about what programs are coming up. I went by myself but many people come with a friend or as a family. The age range is quite diverse usually so don't be afraid and give the activities a try! Normally the language of instruction is English, sometimes staff is available to translate to Japanese/Chinese/Korean.

You can find the center's Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Seoulcenter3789?
Their official website is here: http://www.seoulculturalcenter.com/
Location link: http://www.seoulculturalcenter.com/2013/eng/center/center3.asp

Here are some pictures from the events I attended:

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My Korean Life #9: [PHOTO POST] MOAR FUD PLEEZ