Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Kimchee and Bibimbap

This is my last post on Korea.  I saved the best for last.  You can't talk about Korea without talking about Korean food.  It's unique, spicy, flavorful, creative, and any adjective you can think of to describe food.  Bottom line is Korean food is GOOD!

Although Japan, Korea and China are closed to each other, their cuisine is as different from each as German is from French cuisine.  The only thing similar is all 3 countries eat plenty of rice.  Japanese and Korean rice are lumpy and sticky.  You can pick it up with chopsticks.  Rice eaten in China and other parts of Asia are usually fluffy and grainy.

If there's one thing that defines Korean food, it's kimchee or sometimes spelled as kimchi.  It's fermented cabbage with chili powder, garlic, ginger and salted seafood.  In the old days they are stored underground to keep them from freezing.  Today there are kimchee refrigerators to keep them from spoiling.

A dish of kimchee
Kimchee is a side dish to the main course.  Usually there is more than one side dish.  All these side dishes are collectively called banchan.  They may include anchovies, tofu, cucumber, bean sprouts, peanuts, vegetables, etc.  Each restaurant offer their own variation of banchan.  How many banchan dishes depends on what you order and what the restaurant offers.  The nice thing is they are refillable.  You can ask for more.  Banchan is what make a Korean meal special and unique.

The main courses are in the middle.  The rest are banchan


Except for the rice and soup at the bottom, this meal is all banchan

More banchan

This meal is almost exclusively all banchan
Bibimbap is a common and popular Korean dish.  It is simply rice topped with vegetables, meat and sometimes a fried egg.  A type of bean paste is added to give it a certain flavor.  Before eating you mix everything together.  It's cheap, usually around 6,000 Korean Wons or about $5.  There is no one variation of bibimbap.  It's whatever the person preparing decide to put in the bowl.

Bibimbap - a common and popular dish

Soup dumpling, noodle soup and special noodles

Korean fried chicken

A rice dish 

Another variation of bibimbap

Noodle soup

Cold noodles

Another variation of bibimbap

Raw beef

Pig's trotters

A soup dish
Korean BBQs are popular.  Even in the US, most Korean restaurants offer some type of barbecue.  The meat are usually marinated and the grill is part of the table.  Common dishes are kalbi and bugolgi but you can barbecue just about anything edible, including squid, octopus, shrimp, etc.

Popular Korean BBQ

Sunday, May 28, 2017

Hanboks

Hanboks are traditional Korean dresses that are worn during special occasions, festivals or celebrations.  There are places around Seoul where you will see more women wearing hanboks than other places.  Someone wearing a hanbok gets free admission to any of the five Palaces in Seoul.  The other places are Bukchon Hanok Village and Insa-dong.  Bukchon Hanok Village is a part of Seoul where the houses retain their traditional style.  A Hanok is a Korean traditional house.
Insa-dong, as explained in the Seoul-ful of Memories post, is a popular walking street that is full of shops, restaurants and food trucks.

Many women, including tourists, rent handbooks instead of buying them.  I visited all the places mentioned above and took many pictures of women, and a few men, wearing hanboks.  They were so happy that I asked to take their pictures.  But, I offered to take pictures for them first.  Below are some of them.

Who is this stranger in a Men Hanbok?

I took their pictures for them and they let me take their pictures.

In Buchon Hanbok Village

Parading on the Palace grounds

These look like models

These ladies are so tired after a day of walking

Couple wearing matching Hanboks

Boy in Hanbok

She was more than happy to be photographed

Posing

So happy to have their pictures taken

Just as beautiful from the back

Woman wearing a Men's Hanbok

At the palace

Saturday, May 27, 2017

Tour Around Korea


In researching where to go in Korea, I found a tour around Korea called K-shuttle Tour.  This seems perfect for me.  It takes me to most of the famous sites, including World Heritages sites, in Korea.  The only thing that's missing is that it does not go to Jeju Island and it only spends a few hours in Busan.  These two places are the ones mentioned most often besides Seoul, when visiting Korea.  Eventually, I decided that I can go to Busan and Jeju Island in the future when I come to Korea again.

Normally, I don't like to go on group tours.  However, in the interest of time, I decided that this K-shuttle tour will give me a good overview of Korea.  The cost is only $598.40 but I have to pay $70 a night for a single room, which I don't agree with.  I thought it's too high.  But I don't have a choice.  There are no other companies offering similar tours.

Instead of detailing the trip, I've put the itinerary below.  Below are some of the pictures that I took on the tour.  There were 15 of us on the tour.  They came from Germany, Singapore, Belgium, Brazil, Austria, Russia, and me, from the US.  It was a fast-paced trip.
Note: some of the links in the itinerary may not work. I know some of the formatting is a little off.  This blog editing software is a little flaky and sometimes I have a hard time getting it to appear exactly the way I want it even though I've been using it for more than 5 years.



Catholic Church in Jeonju

 Traditional Hanok-style building in Jeonju

Ancient Observatory in Gyeongju

Live octopus at Jagalchi Fish Market in Busan

The Tomb of King Muryeong and Gongsanseong Fortress in Gongju 

Participants in the tour.  Guide is in front, second from left

Baekje Dynasty Cultural Land in South Chungcheong

Green Tea Plantation in Bosung

Dutch Windmill at Suncheon Bay Garden

Performance at Yi Sun Shin Plaza in Yeosu

Jinjuseong Fortress in Jinju

Fried fish at Jagalchi Fish Market in Busan

Lanterns to celebrate Buddha Day in Gyeongju

Bulguksa Temple in Gyeongju

Tired Korean women after a hike at Mt. Seorak

Ancient Gate at Hahoe Traditional Village in Gyeongsang

Ski Jump at Pyeongchang, ready for the 2018 Winter Olympics

Buddha at Shinheungsa Temple at Mt Seorak



 Itinerary  

 KS401) Circuit course of K-shuttle tour (5Days,FRI) 
  
DAY1 SEOUL/BUYEO/JEONJU/GWANGJU (FRI)​ 
Meet a guide at parking lot in front of Donghwa Duty Free Shop Building, at Gwanghwamun Intersection,Seoul 08:00 am - Depart Seoul to Gongju(130Km/1.5hours) / Visit The Tomb of King Muryeong Gongsanseong Fortress - Buyeo (an hour and a half), an ancient capital of the Baekje Dynasty. Visit Baekje Cultural Land where you will see a palace, castle, cultural hall, etc. Visit “Goransa Temple and Nakhwaam bluff by boat (optional $15pp)” where 3,000 court ladies of Baekjae plunged into the river to avoid being captured and dishonored when enemy breached the castle on the last day of the Kingdom - Proceed to Jeonju (80Km/1 hr) to visit Jeonju Hanok Village including about 700 traditional Korean houses called Hanok. Transfer to Gwangju (100km / 1hr 20min), the leading city of Honam region and birthplace of a modern democratic movement in Korea

>The Tomb of King Muryeong / Gongsanseong Fortress / Baekje Cultural Land / Nakhwaam Rock / Jeonju Hanok Village
HOTEL : Holiday inn Gwngju +82-62-610-7000  www.holidayinngwangju.com or similar (5star)

DAY2 GWANGJU/SUNCHEON/YEOSU (SAT)​ 
Breakfast at your hotel / Gwangju, a Hub City of Asian Culture, Visit Gwangju Folk Musuem - Move to Bosung Green Tea-plantation - Suncheon (100km/ 1hr) where you will visit Suncheon Bay Garden / Move to Yeosu, a port city and look around the Yi Sun-shin Plaza 
​​
>Gwangju Folk Museum / Boseong Green Tea Plantation / Suncheon Bay Garden 
HOTEL : U CASTEL +82-61-808-5017 www.ucastlehotel.co.kr or similar (3.5star)
DAY3 YEOSU/BUSAN/GYEOGNJU (SUN)​   
Breakfast at your hotel / Jinjuseong Fortress – Chokseoknu edifice historically linked to Japanese invasion in 1592. - Move to Busan(100Km/1.5hrs) - Arrive at Gimhae domestic airport - Depart from Gimhae domestic airport(1st floor, Ticket office of the bus) - Pick up customers to join us in front of Toyoko inn hotel 1, Busan Station 12:00 noon - Transfer to Jagalchi- Fishery Market, Korea’s largest seafood market - Haeundae Beach Tour - Transfer to Gyeongju(100Km/1hr30min) - Check into your hotel and leisure Time
​​
>Jinjuseong Fortress / Chokseongnu Pavilion / Jagalchi Market / Haeundae Beach
HOTEL : GYEONGJU CORMODO +82-54-740-8277 www.commodorehotel.co.kr or similar (3.5star)
DAY4 GYEOGNJU/WONJU (MON)​ 
Breakfast at your hotel / Start Gyeongju City Tour 08:00 am - Unesco World Heritage Seokguram Grotto (Optional : $5 PP) - Bulguksa Temple(UNESCO world heritage) – The beauty of the temple itself and artistic touch of the stone relics are as awesome and fascinating as to be highly praised by visitors from all over the world - Move to Andong Hahoe Folk Village (170km/ 2hr 30min) - Arrive at Parking lot of Hahoe Folk Village which has preserved the housing architecture and the village structure of the Joseon Dynasty. Moreover, the Village was naturally formed with people who actually live there. It has become world-famous for the visit of Queen Elizabeth II of The Great Britain. - Depart from Parking lot of Hahoe Folk Village - Move to Wonju(155km/ 2hrs) decorated with the Chiaksan Mountain and the Seom River that circles the area, and as the capital of Gangwon Province for 500 years during the Joseon Dynasty, it maintains rich tradition and cultural relics.- Check into your hotel and leisure time.
> Seokguram Grotto /  Bulguksa Temple / Andong Hahoe Folk Village
HOTEL : Wonju Interburgo Hotel +82-33-769-8114  wonju.inter-burgo.com/eng or similar (3.5star)

DAY5 WONJU/MT.SORAK/SEOUL (TUE)​
Breakfast at your hotel / Transfer to Pyeongchang (95km/ 1hour 20min) - Parking lot at Information Desk of Pyeongchang Alpensia Intercontinental Hotel, The venue of 2018 Winter Olympic Games (Alpensia Resort). Monorail to Ski –Jump (Optional :$6 PP)  - Proceed to Mt. Seorak National Park (50km/ 1hr), Mt. Seorak National Park, the peaks of the Seoraksan Mountains break through the clouds while jade-like water flows through the valleys, creating breathtaking views and making this Korea most famous national park. Due to the many rare species found here, UNESCO designated this national park a Biosphere Preservation District in 1982.- Cable car to Gwongeumseong fortress (Optional for Shinheungsa Temple and cable car :$15 PP) - Parking lot of Ticket Office of Mt.Seorak - Transfer to Seoul (195km/ 4hrs) - Arrive at Seoul 20:00PM (Drop point : Donghwa Duty Free Shop Building, at Gwanghwamun Intersection)

>Alpensia Resort Ski Resort / Mt. Seorak National Park / cable car / Shinheungsa Temple