Fish Pedicure

Looking for an unique and new pedicure? Come on over to Seoul and Dr Fish Cafe! Have a coffee while small fish suck on your feet.

Crazy, huh? I did it though and it was a completely unique experience and one that anyone who visits me will try. It wasn't as bad as I thought, they don't actually nibbled as much as they suck. It is ticklish and the bigger fish were much harder to adjust to. My feet were cleaned and my honey cinnamon latte was delicious.

Feed us!

Small fish

BIG fish!!

Translated directions

Yeoju Pottery

A few weeks back I had the opportunity to visit Yeoju-gun, about 90 miles southeast of Seoul. Known for their pottery shops, this town is an odd mixture of traditional small city and tourist destination. 

Aside from the extra large kimchi pots and rooms literally overflowing with china, I was most fascinated with the unity of work and home. Several of the smaller shops we visited were underneath the homes of the craftsman. I observed small gardens, crates of sweet potatoes and peppers and beans drying out in the open and in most instances, in the way of anyone walking through the shop. I know that traditional Korean cooking is very much about the "heart", so seeing the future ingredients of their meals out in the open was moving to me. Their lives are completely intertwined.

The Squatter

Please excuse the bluntness of this post but I wanted to share a big cultural difference between Americans and Koreans; the squatter.

Most every restroom I have been in has western style commodes. The first time I saw a squatter was in an outdoor stall while hiking, that made sense. The picture above was taken at the church where I attend bible study. This building was built in the 80's so imagine my surprise to open the door and find this. I have since learned when talking with friends that this style is common in Seoul, they are found at the subway stations and at the rest areas along the highways. They do flush and there is toilet paper but be sure you have done your squats in the gym to build up your leg muscles!  

Random Thoughts

So I take a lot more pictures than I actually post, so I thought I would just post some of the random shots with brief observations. Enjoy



First off, this is why I don't drive in Korea.  I would (a) miss my turn while trying to figure this sign out, (b) hit someone while figuring out how to correct my mistake and (c) get horribly lost in the process! I should note that there are 3 lanes of traffic plus the bus lane.












Is "Pizza School" a place where you go to learn to make pizza or a restaurant? We sat in traffic for a good 3 minutes looking at this sign and were unable to figure this one out.

I love this. You will see that the sign indicates these yummy looking pastries are "Peacan Monkey." When you think about this, "monkey bread" is a rather odd name so it would make sense that the translation would be lost.

Mushrooms are found in almost every Korean dish so obviously they are sold in grocery stores.  There are 12 different varieties of mushrooms on this row of all sizes. The store even had samples (cooked) and I tried one. Great flavor but I'll admit to being wary of what I was trying. I bought some sliced Oak mushrooms though for my homemade pizza. 

I had this lunch at the Shinsegae department store in Myeongdong. It is Mandoo and Riceball soup. The dumplings are filled with shredded beef and the colors are derived from spinach, jasmine and beets and there are small riceballs in the broth. It had a mild flavor and the dumplings were delicious when dipped in soy sauce.









On the bottom floor (11 stories in all) of the Shinsegae department store, there is a wonderful variety of food counters including this bakery. This baked bread concoction smells good and looks good but has beef (I think) baked in the middle with cheese. I haven't seen a lot of sandwich options here so I think this the equivalent. I did not try this. 

Bukhansan National Park, 북한산국립공원

Saturday we had the pleasure of getting out of Seoul and driving to Bukhansan National Park. This park is just north of Seoul and is the "Most Visited National Park per Unit Area" with 5 million visitors per year, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.  Thankfully park management has rest periods or sabbaticals for different trails and areas of the park so the ecosystem can recover from all the visitors. The park was busy and while the hike to the top was somewhat private, the hike down was fairly crowded. At one particularly steep point there was even a line of us.

We took the Bukhansanseong Trail to the Bogukmun or Castle Gate.  The trail is only 2.4 km but it is 2.4 km of stone steps uphill.  I really do not think I am this out of shape but again found myself stopping every 10 minutes just to catch my breath.

At the top there is a gate and a stone or fortress wall originally built in 1676.  The wall runs up the ridge line 2 miles. The view of the city at the top was breathtaking. I know that Seoul is a city of 12 million but seeing it from this vantage really gives you a sense of just how BIG this city really is.

I found that everyone on the trail was friendly, with several younger Koreans practicing their English on us. Most of the hikers we saw took their hiking very seriously with proper hiking boots, gear and hiking sticks. I even felt a little under dressed without the hiking stick.  But it was worth the drive and even with all the people there was just enough solitude to feel as though I had reconnected with nature.

Hangang Park

What better way to spend a cool autumn Saturday morning than walking along a river. This morning we ventured out to the Hangang, "gang" for river and "han" the name of the river.  The hangang divides the city, Old Seoul to the north and New Seoul to the south. We live about 3/4 of mile from an entrance.  In addition to walking paths there are bike paths on both sides of the river going 40 km in both directions.  The expressway and rail system run above the paths so there is a bit of road noise but it is the city and you just have to go with it. 

Dongjak Bridge

Looking across the river, south to "new" Seoul

Mountains

Any guesses on the meaning of this sign?!

Badminton courts!

 

Flower Market

A lot of people

Anyone who knows me will know my excitement at going to the flower market in the Express Bus Station. I know, "why is a flower market in a bus station?" I don't have the answer to that but I do know that most of the florist in the city get their flowers here everyday. It opens at 4 am, we were not there at 4 am, and closes at 1:00 pm. We arrived at 9 and it was still pretty crowded but I'm pretty sure it is packed at 5 am. Anyway, there are rows and rows and boxes on boxes of flowers from everywhere. 

In addition to the fresh flowers there is an even larger section for silk flowers, baskets, wedding decorations and anything you could want to use to decorate your home. If you are the crafty type, this is Michael's on steroids!

Row after row, overwhelming

Plastic fruit or veggie anyone!

I can however sort-of arrange flowers so I bought several things, all for the great price of 7000 won ($6.80). In the end I had too many daisies and only one large vase so I gave some to a neighbor. The next time I will spend my time looking at the decoration side. You really can not process all the fresh flowers then attempt to process the decoration side, it is sensory overload.

Flowers