Day 6 in Seoul: Hanboks!

 Day six in Seoul our group was kind enough to indulge me in something I wanted to do: dress in traditional hanbok and go to the palace!

I really wanted to do this, for a couple reasons. For one, it's Gyeongbokgung Palace and is a major touristy/historical place. It is also where I was when I first met Mandy! Or at least where I got her first message online. We met while I was on a trip with my friend Mindy (yes... Mindy, Mandy, Maddie... it gets confusing). Mindy and I were at the palace and we had stopped to get a drink. I got a notification while we were waiting for a drink and it was a message from Compatible Partners (the gay version of eHarmony) that someone had seen my profile and wanted to talk. It was Mandy! She was on a choir trip in Ireland and we were both ignoring the warnings from Compatible Partners to not message people who said they were on vacation abroad (cuz it can be a scam). 

The rest is history.

So, I wanted to show Mandy the place where we met. And take cute pictures in hanbok.

I had found a recommendation for a place to rent hanbok (there are so, so many places) near the palace where they a) spoke English and b) had plus sizes (not always the easiest to find). The place is called Daehan Hanbok. You can choose any skirt you want for plus size and you need bigger they have panels to put in back so it will close. They also have a large selection of jackets to fit even my large arms. 

I had also heard complaints online that the outfits smell because they don't get washed between patrons. Ours did not have that problem. I don't know if it is because we arrived at the start of the day or if they wash them between each wearing. Either way, ours were fresh smelling. Even if we weren't by the end of wearing them.

We arrived around the time they opened and it was already soo so hot. But we got there and chose our hanbok skirts. There were so many to choose from! I liked the premium ones that had fancy ruffles, but I wanted to coordinate with Mandy who fell in love with a jewel toned purple skirt so I got a dark blue with gold medallion designs and we got matching jackets (even if I kept accidentally popping the top snap on mine).

Mandy and I also wanted to get our hair done. I was less than impressed with how they did my hair. It was not well done. And the first thing she did was brush my bangs and then couldn't get them in the hairdo so they were just a bunch of limp frizz in front of my face (when usually they are a fluffy semi-curly frizz). And it was already so hot in the hanboks that were were super red and sweaty, lol! But we still had fun taking a bunch of pictures. Though, to be honest, we did not get far into the grounds because we were so hot.

Maddie started to get too hot and wasn't feeling good, but she still looked so fancy!

Also, if the embroidery on my jacket looks a little wonky, it is because I did a little bit of quick editing. I had been told they would put it over our clothes so I had worn a sleeveless dress, but then they told me to take it off... and my bra was HOT PINK and stood out quite a bit in all the pictures. Hence the quick editing. Hey, I'm just glad they had fat sizes!

Aw, look at how cute we are! 

I love how cute Mandy looks in this picture. So sweet! *heart eyes*

Looking off in the distance... all majestic like. 

I think Maddie looks so cute in this picture.

Precious beans! Dan was such a good sport playing dress up with us not just once but TWICE on this trip. And doesn't he just look dapper in his cool hat.

Getting a little hot and sweaty...

More obligatory door lean pictures. This one is right after I accidentally smacked the hair pin Mandy was wearing, pulling her entire head to the side by the hair... oops. Sorry, babe!

You can see in the background more people dressed in hanbok. You can get into the palace for free if you are wearing a hanbok so it is pretty popular. There were a lot of people wearing hanbok.

A regal looking Dan.

We then took some time to cool off in the museum (air conditioning!) before making the short trek back to the rental company where they cheered and said we made it. I think it was funny because we were SO SWEATY and red in the face. But we did it!

On the way out, Mandy found another drum.

We then had lunch at a tiny place close to the hanbok store. We were all hungry at this point and in need of sustenance. However, we were still so hot that I couldn't finish my food... again.

After the palace, we headed back to the hotel to rest. Maddie didn't feel well and Mandy was exhausted after our two weeks of hiking around in the heat. I did some blogging and watched Brooklyn 99 while those two took naps and Dan went exploring. He found the Coex Mall aquarium and had a good time.

Maddie and Dan bought tickets to go see Nanta, a comedy cooking show and they had a blast. It seemed like fun, but Mandy didn't really want to go out and I didn't care about spending the money on it. Dan and Maddie had fun. Dan even got called up on stage.

After the performance, I met up with Dan and Maddie to buy street food. I wasn't hungry, but I wanted to go out so we could try a bunch of things.

Got some tasty skewers.

A tornado potato.

I also got a stick of tteokbokki that was way too sweet and kind of old. Sad day. And I didn't even get a picture.

But we did find some good lemonades and a fluffy pancake that Dan had wanted to find in Japan. He even shared.

We also got croissant waffles which was probably the best thing I have ever eaten. They took a croissant, put it in a waffle iron and then covered it in sugar cinnamon and a little maple syrup. Oh my god... I want one now. 

Then we walked down a cool lit up side street to buy a few more makeup items from Tony Moly (which now has a US website and I'm in trouble).

The next day was going to be our last day of our trip.

Seoul Day 5: Cooking Class!

 After our adventurous Wednesday in Suwon (recap: Korean Folk Village, Hwaesong Fortress,, we were a little pooped and decided to not do anything besides our afternoon cooking class. It was a good decision. We Mandy slept until forever, Dan went somewhere to explore, and Maddie and I ate leftover chicken on her bed while watching Queen Charlotte. 

Overall, a good morning.

Then, at 2pm, we left to meet our cooking instructor, Jung Hee, met us at the subway station before walking through a market to buy a couple extra ingredients while she talked about some of the different things we could see in the market.

Jung Hee was really personable and fun. One of the things she showed us was this little machine that is constantly turning out toasted sesame seeds.

She picked up a roll of kimbap for us to share. It was the only kimbap I ate on the trip and I am sad. I need to learn how to make it myself... I know it's easy, but I've never done it.

We continued walking and she showed us different kinds of things to see in the market. It was really hot and she stopped and got us ice cream: MELON BARS. My favorite! I dream of melon bars...

We continued on to her house where we switched to slippers, washed our hands, and got ready to cook!

She had such a great set up for the lesson and everything was set up so well. Honestly, I was super impressed by how well organized and well timed everything was. And her entire back wall covered in little cubbies filled with snacks like chocopies and chappaghetti. So cute.

After mixing up all of the ingredients for the chicken that she was going to cook in the other room, she gave us the veggies for our bibimbap that we chopped up, seasoned, and cooked on the hot plates in front of us. Starting top left and going clockwise we have zucchini, carrot, dikon radish, blanched sprouts, blanched spinach, and enoki mushrooms (called paeng-ee beosut in Korean).

Then we made pajeon. Well, most of us made haemul pajeon (seafood pancake), but Maddie and I made veggie pajeon cuz I didn't want octopus in my pancake... no.

We did not get spatulas and I was only a little freaked out that I wouldn't be able to flip the pancake in my pan. Jung Hee assured us we could do it ("Fighting!!") and that, if we didn't, we would not be the first to throw a pancake on her floor.

But we did it! Including me... though it took me a couple tries to get it to flip.

Look at my pancake! I made it! And flipped it! (It was supposed to be round... it's round-ish... it's fine.)

While she went to cook the chicken up, she gave us each a fried egg to add to a bowl of rice and arrange our bibimbap veggies. Mandy went classic and arranged her veggies around the egg with a little extra sauce on top.

I made a little happy face on my egg with sauce and a carrot. And here is all of our food! The bibimbap is in the front and center. To it's right is doenjang jjigae (a bit like miso soup), my pajeon to the left, dakgalbi (spicy chicken) in the black pan in the back, and a small bit of assorted banchan in the white dish. 

We each got a dish of makgeoli (traditional rice wine), cheered, and dug in.

It was an overall great experience and we had a really fun time. If you ever go to Seoul, we highly reccomend connecting with Hello K Cooking!

Seoul Day 4: Suwon!

 Our 4th day in Seoul was longer; longer than we anticipated. 

Dan had expressed interest in going to, like, a traditional or folk village. There was nothing near Tokyo that we could find, but there is the Folk Village in Suwon, just south of Seoul. I took my dad when he came to visit and it was really cool. Only problem is that it is a bit of a trek out there. 

As I was trying to find a way out to Suwon, I came across a tour that would not only take us straight to the Folk Village in an air conditioned bus, but would also take us to the Hwaesong Fortress and a traditional market. All for less than $20 more than the cost to get into the Folk Village. Good price! 

So we got up on Wednesday and took the subway a couple stops down to Dongdaemun History and Culture park to wait our bus. You could see the cool metal building thing from our waiting point.

The bus arrived right on time and we got a nice, clean, air conditioned bus to drive us about an hour out to Suwon.

Now, I had figured that, for the price we paid, this tour would be more along the lines of "here is the place... we'll meet you here with the bus in a couple hours," but it was a full on guided tour. We maybe would have liked less of a guided tour so we could stop and look at what we wanted or whatever, but, it was fine. 

The first stop was a little building that talked about traditional pottery, called onggi. I thought it was really cool seeing all of the different things that pottery was used for. I liked how they showed that a kimchi pot buried in the ground served the same function as a kimchi fridge (you can see it right next to the pot with the slice out of. 

A lot of families in Korea will have at least two fridges, one specifically for kimchi. That's cool. We'll talk more about kimchi when we talk about our cooking class later in the week.

More pottery!

We walked around some more, seeing a more traditional, peasant house as well as one for a noble family.

Obviously, the cool deer mosaic was on the fancier home.

There were a lot of pretty pagodas around. The ones by the little river had a nice cool breeze blowing through them. 

We did not get to enjoy the nice breezy pagodas. We continued walking. In the sun. And the 90 degree heat. And humidity. I copied the Chinese tourists and took out my umbrella for some personal shade and discovered I had bought a UV protected umbrella. I was very happy with this discovery. I would like to bring this trend to the U.S., please. Personal portable shade. On a stick. I love it.

We continued on to a tree with little stacked rocks in front of it of for wishes. The four colored streamers on the tree represent the four cardinal directions (blue is east and the other colors... are the other directions. You figure it out.)

Some cool guys to keep away bad spirits.

Then we got to sit for a bit and watch a cool dance and drum performance. I love how when they would spin, the skirts made, like, a perfect bell. I also wanted one of the fans. They were not for sale.

Some drumming and... tooting on a cool instrument that I don't know the name of. I'd ask Mandy, but she is watching her Dungeons and Dragons show right now and I don't want to interrupt her. I guess I could look it up. It's called a taepyeongso. A double reed instrument in the oboe family. Cool.

After the show, we went to a something like a municipal building that talked a lot about traditional torture methods. A choice.

The tour guide pointed out little pipes under the chairs and said those were to collect the blood. That's cool. Cool. Also, no one laid out on the paddling cross. I encouraged Maddie, but she just gave me a dirty look.

Some more walking, saw some more pretty buildings, a random cute flower moon. It was lovely. Just hot.

After a while, we were set free for the final hour or so to grab lunch and do some solo walking. We got bibimbap and Dan got oxtail soup and a pancake. Being so hot, I could not finish my food. 

We started a slow walk back towards the entrance and Mandy saw a drum that was bigger than her.

More open air cool things.

There was an area with some traditional games like yut, swings, and arrow tossing.

At the front, Mandy and I got some fresh fruit juice. I got watermelon and it was just delicious, cold, blended watermelon. Very happy. I was a little worried I wouldn't finish it before I had to get on the bus, but I didn't need to worry because I sucked it down in record time.

There was also a cat! He did not allow pets, but we were happy to see him anyways.

Dan split off from us to go to the adventure land portion of the park. It was rides and stuff I guess. He wanted to see the haunted house. Maddie warned him not to buy a ghost, but he made no promises.

We were very relieved to get on the air conditioned bus afterwards. We were rather tired at this point from the walking and the heat. 

It was as we approached the fortress wall that we started to realize that we might have signed up for something a little outside of our realm of comfort, activity-wise. There was no shade. And the wall was very long. This was going to be a lot of hot walking.

Oh no.

But we got out, got watered, and prepared for our hike with our big group.

We started at the east gate (see the blue flag? Like on the tree from the village? Oh yeah... Mandy got ginseng candy for remembering that).

There was a really cool blue dragon mosaic inside.

We hiked up some stairs... and then some more stairs. Then started to trek along the wall. 

There were some very cool things to see. I love the painted beams. Reminds me of the palace.

A cool door in a tower.

Further out along the wall, you could see a tethered gas balloon doing rides. It was neat looking. We did not go out there. We walked enough. 

At this point, some of us (me) were a little tired (dying; more sweat than human). There was zero shade and it was a lovely, sunny, hot day. We kept on keeping on and made our way across the wall. The view was rather lovely.

I love how in this picture Maddie is, like, "Look! The blue means east!" and I'm outside the frame, like, "If I stop, I will die. Take pictures as you move."

When we got to the bottom, we sat in some shade, bought some water, and then Mandy got us some ice cream. While Mandy and I slowly became more human, Maddie and Dan decided to try their hand at Korean archery.

They did pretty good! Maddie explained how these bows were easier to pull than the ones in the states. Something about single vs double and how this would have been important for horseback. Cool, cool, cool. I was now a regular human temperature.

The cool down did not last for long. We got on the bus, drove for five minutes, and then pulled into the Suwon Young-Dong Traditional Market. 

We started over by this gate and walked a little ways to the main food area.

The market was pretty cool (interest-wise; not temperature). It was lined with vendors with fresh meat, produce, traditional treats, and street food. However, we were hot, tired, and a little overwhelmed so we were not much interested in getting food. I did want the little kimbaps, but you had to buy a pile and I couldn't eat an entire flat by myself *sigh.* 

Maddie needed a bathroom, so we headed back to the meet-up point (back by the gate) and found the bathrooms by this guy. I think he represents all of the different things you can find at this market (food, jewelry, etc.), but I am just kind of impressed by the fact he is juggling sliced bread and an entire bowl of noodles while managing to keep them together. Talent.

Then it was time to get on the bus and head home. I was a little sweaty. There was no more makeup. BUT! There was mild toasting of the face, but no burning! Thank you sunscreen and UV protected umbrellas!

Once we got back to Myeoung-Dong, Mandy went back to the room to die while Maddie, Dan, and I went to Two Two Chicken for dinner. Maddie had been so freaking excited about this place since she saw the name in a way I can only describe as Jennifer-esque. It was adorable (don't tell her I said that). We got potatoes and chicken to take back to our rooms and then bid each other goodnight.