Friends, a Fish market, and Future City revisited

Vacation season in Korea is coming to a close. The students return to school next week. Corey and I will have one week to say goodbye to everyone before we head back to school ourselves--in Canada.

We've had some incredible experiences throughout our year here. Here's one last blast of August events to sum up our adventures in Korea!

Corey's co-teacher who previously took us to the National Museum invited us out again. This time we went to Bucheon where we ate a delicious Vietnamese pho dinner with her and her friend Sylvia. After a stroll around the park, we stopped into a pub called Moon Tribe that Sylvia recommended. It was delightfully eclectic. The decor is quirky bits and bobs strung together on little shelves, hung on the walls, and placed all around. Breakfast at Tiffany's plays on a loop on the small TV screen at all times. It was the perfect cozy spot to wait out the storm that started while we were enjoying drinks and conversation inside.

At Moon Tribe

On another rainy day, Corey and I took the subway to Noryangjin Fish Market. We wandered around the neighborhood a bit, but when it got really rainy, we took cover in the extensive covered market. Each stall had aquariums full of ocean life. We wandered around trying to take it all in. Eventually, we chose to purchase a snapper from one of the vendors. They turned it into sashimi before our eyes and then delivered it to the restaurant next door where we ate it with Korean side dishes. 

Laundromat cafe near Noryangjin

We will miss the strange English slogans that are found everywhere here

Fish market

Look at those rows of pendulum lights that just go on and on

Corey and fish

Crabs escaping from their bucket

Our snapper

Snapper's friends

Snapper sashimi

The first bite

We wander around the neighborhood and see interesting sights all the time, but we rarely have a camera. On this particular walk, we got a picture of some gochu (hot red peppers) being dried out in the sun. We walk past a lot of these drying mats on a daily basis in Incheon, but I guess they'll be a bit more rare to see in Ontario. 

We visited Songdo Future City once again. This time we did some boating on the artificial river. It makes for some interesting photos to see the river with huge buildings in the background. 

Corey and paddle

We're in a canoe in the middle of the city

We had sushi for lunch, but I was too hungry to remember to take a picture before we ate it all. This is a recurring problem and the main reason I could never be a food blogger. Anyway, enjoy some more pictures of the neighborhood and the park.

Happy Corey and a fancy drink

Just loved the sign on this restuarant

Rooftop garden on a school, I think

View of Songdo from a hilltop in the park

Down the hill

On the hill

half a chin-up

squash growing in Central Park

In the Squash laneway

July Events

July has been wonderfully busy. I'll just go over the highlights.

I went shopping with my friend, Chris, at D-cube city. The mall is a typical western-style mall with a bunch of clothing stores all selling the same kinds of clothing. The best part of our shopping day was definitely lunch at the chain restaurant Burger Hunter. We've been to another one near City Hall in Seoul, so we knew we'd be in for some delicious burgers. We were so excited we almost ate the menus! Luckily the food came out pretty quickly and looked as good in real-life as it had in the photo.

Eating the menu

The real deal

We also got a really nice invitation for dinner with Julianne's family who live in Korea. We met her parents, sisters, brothers-in-law, and adorable nieces and nephews. The children even put on singing and drama performances for us in English. Everyone made us feel very welcome and the homemade Korean food was delicious!

Julianne's family

We also made the trek down to Mud Fest with a few thousand other people from near and far. Corey and I did paint on some of the mineral mud, but we avoided the giant mud pool and mud wrestling area.   The beach was extra crowded, but still really nice. The waves were super high, which was fun too.

Jets perform a flying show over the festival

Vats of mud and mud slides

The beach

posing in front of the mud slide after washing my mud off

sunset 

I ran summer English camp the week after mud fest. We did a writing activity each day, but also had time to listen to some music vides, watch Hannah Montana, perform skits, play games, and make ice cream. I enjoyed getting to know the students throughout the week. On the last day, the students did a scavenger hunt. When they couldn't find some of the items on the list in the time allotted, they drew pictures of them or wrote the words in the sand. I gave them partial points for creativity and problem-solving. 

making and eating ice cream 

scavenger hunt item

Finally, Corey and I found time for a calm date night. We went to a Chinese restaurant close to the apartment that we've been meaning to try for a while. The food was really good and the place was so interesting. It's on the second floor of a plaza and each table had its own closed off booth with privacy curtains. Even though its hard to spot because of the location, the restaurant was full of couples and families.

Corey with bingsu (shaved ice dessert) and soju

Bulgogi and a baked potato

Muuido Again

Last time we went to Muuido, Corey saw the huts on the beach and suggested we stay over there. I had only prepared mentally and physically for a day trip, so this weekend we went back to camp out in one of those funny little beach huts.

Corey in front of our beach hut

Soon after our arrival at Hanagae beach, we toured the open set of a Korean Drama called Stairway to Heaven. There are a couple small Western-style houses and a big beach house with tall glass windows. 

Stairway to Heaven

Corey visiting the Western-style house on set

Emily in front of the beach house

At the edge of the set, there was a bridge. We crossed this and found that it led to a pile of rocks. When we climbed down, we kept walking away from the main beach. We saw some huge rock formations and there were even people rock climbing out there. It looked a lot more extreme than the rock climbing I've seen where people climb up a wall using strategically placed hand and foot holds.

Corey standing on the bridge

Rock climbers

We didn't take too many pictures this time since we'd been there before. After a bit of touring, mostly we just hung out on the beach. We did swim a bit in the high tide, even though the water was freezing. At night, we watched fireworks being launched by people on the beach. Overall, it was a nice break from the city and now I can say that I've been "camping" while I was in Korea. 

Gangnam Style from Street Level

It's been a few months since Corey and I visited Gangnam. The last time we were there it was freezing cold and we opted to stay indoors in the huge maze of an underground shopping world that is COEX.

This time, we wanted to see what Gangnam was all about from street level. We started at Apgujeong station, which is the land of plastic surgery and also home to the Hyundai Department store. We went to the latter to find a Tiffany's and see if they had the earrings I've been dreaming of for over a year. 

Hyundai Department Store

Three ads for different plastic surgeons

Second Coming Plastic Surgery

Alas, they did not, so we carried on toward the Hangang River Park. The weather was perfect for walking along and looking at the interesting boat-shaped restaurant and actual boats zooming along the river. We saw a bird that I believe to be a heron, but if any of my ornithologist readers (Emily Piché) want to weigh in on this, I'll provide the picture here. 

WAV boat restaurant on the river

Close-up of WAV restaurant

Heron?

After the park, we went back into the consumerism-driven city. We walked along the Seoul version of Rodeo drive and got some lunch. We decided to go to BurriBurri to get, what else? Burritos. There are only two "entrees" on the menu anyway--burritos and tacos. Yet, somehow our order was completely mixed up. I asked for a non-spicy chicken burrito and got the spiciest chicken burrito ever. Corey asked for a regular chicken burrito and got a completely non-spicy beef burrito. We swapped and it was fine.

Burri Burri restaurant

Then we walked down a street that was lined on both sides with every designer shop you can name. That's where we found the Galleria department store and the second Tiffany's that Corey endured visiting with me that day. This time, I found the earrings I had longed for and although they were more expensive than they would have been in Canada or the US, I bought them anyway because they are exactly what I wanted, plus they are truly Gangnam style. Corey and I will just skip eating for a month or two and things will balance out. See how I thought this through in the whole year and four months that I've been plotting my first purchase at Tiffany's?

Galleria Department Store

My first Tiffany's purchase!

My new earrings

Pink-themed shopping

Everything else I write now will be anti-climatic (in my opinion) but there was still more to do and see in Gangnam. We found a park with some nice trails to take our second break from the shop-lined streets. It was a pretty peaceful place to walk and think, until we came across the driving ranges where about a hundred people were lined up on three different levels, hitting golf balls at the mesh that surrounded the place. I don't really understand how that passes for recreation, but what do I know, I've never progressed beyond the mini putt.

Corey and Me

Golfers

We took a circuitous route that brought us back out onto the street from where we'd come in. This time we walked toward COEX. Even from the outside it's pretty cool. It was a Saturday so there wasn't much action around the International Trade Tower, but there were a lot of tourists snapping photos of the sculptures all around it. We joined them.

I was tired from walking so we took a break to get some drinks and macaroons at a Paris Baguette. Corey says it was the best cappucino he's found anywhere. The macaroons were pretty great too.

Paris Baguette 

The best cappucino

gilded blueberry macaroon

Finally, we headed back to COEX and actually went inside this time. We found out there was an International Book Fair going on this weekend, but it was just closing when we got there! Foiled again. So we just had a quick dinner at Lina's Sandwich Restaurant and then headed back to Incheon.

Seoul International Book Fair

We missed it!

Lina's

Happy Corey with a pastrami sandwich

(For Caitlin, Brandon and Beckah) 

What do you do with a BA in English?

Oh yeah, did I mention that there was some kind of street festival going on right at our own quiet subway station, Dohwa, in Incheon (This was before we left for Gangnam, but I just remembered now). I think it may have been fundraising for one of the local preschools or kindergartens. Everything seemed geared to that age group.