Adventures With Yeseul

Arrgghhhh I wanted to blog earlier this afternoon but my Internet connection drove me up the wall.

I guess 2:27 is one of the only times I can get uninterrupted, wonderful, fast Internet connection.

Alright this post is about the things that I did when I hung out with Yeseul in Seoul. I never met Yeseul before I went to Korea, but I knew her because she used to come to House of Bread before I started attending. When Kim heard that I was going to Seoul, she quickly put Yeseul and I in touch so that we could meet up and go to church together on Easter Sunday. 

I was really looking forward to meeting her, and finally got the chance to do so two Sundays ago.

I'd told Yeseul that I would prefer to go to an English service in the morning, so she found this church near Dogok station.

Here's Yeseul and I, barely thirty minutes after meeting each other for the first time.

The church we went to is called Onnuri English Ministry. 

The pastor is Korean American, and the congregation was a good mix of Koreans (mostly English speaking) and foreigners.

I really enjoyed the sermon that day. The pastor shared an interesting story of how he used to wear socks everywhere to protect his feet. He said that as a child, he had hurt his feet a few times by stepping on sharp glass and other things. Over time, his fear of stepping on sharp things made him wear socks ALL the time, regardless of whether it was practical to do so or not. He even wore socks in the hot weather in Kenya, though everyone else wore sandals. 

The point he made was that, we too wear "socks" around our hearts, in fear that it would be hurt again. Whether the hurt came from a broken relationship, or something else, we numb ourselves by hardening our hearts. 

As he was sharing this story, I thought about how I have so hardened my heart to people who have hurt me in my life. I cannot trust them, nor do I find it easy to trust people who remind me of them... Still, that's just me forgetting that Jesus has already taken all of those hurts and put it behind me. 

After service ended, we walked to a nearby restaurant for lunch.

Yeseul said she looked up this place online. 

The size of the lunchtime crowd seemed to validate the positive online reviews.

When we were thirsty, we looked for cups to pour water in to, but all we saw were plastic bowls. Upon inquiry, the waitress informed us that the bowls were indeed meant to be used as drinking vessels.

I was a bit amused/confused to see us drinking water out of bowls. Don't people just do that with tea and alcohol?

Anyways...

The highlights on this table include a mackerel jigae (stew), do-it-yourself bibimbap and dwenjangjigae (Korean miso soup).

My tastebuds basically died and went to heaven.

We had an awesome meal!

After lunch, we went to Dongdaemun to walk off our food. I was struck by how similar the place looked, smelled and felt like New York City. 

Yes, the streets even smelled the same, to me at least.

Some famous long-standing shopping mall. 

Take away one "o" and get "DOTA"! YEAH!!!

We wandered on to Cheonggyecheon, a manmade stream that used to be a covered sewer.

This long river park has been so beautifully redone, that you would never have guessed that it used to be an underground sewer. 

Easter Sunday's weather was bright and beautiful, so there were many people out for a stroll too.

Plenty of young sweethearts everywhere.

Next to Cheonggyecheon is a market called Gwang Jang Si Jang. 

Besides selling delicious street food, this market also sells cheap hanbok. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to buy anything.

With our stomachs still full with lunch, we made a beeline for a booth selling traditional Korean street food anyway. 

If you asked me which dish was my favourite in Korea, well, this photo shows it in all it's savoury orange glory!

EAT ALL THE DUKBOKKI!!!!!

Ok some things that I learnt about dukbokki during this trip:

1) It's best eaten freshly cooked, on the spot

2) "Duk" means rice cake and "bokki" means fried

3) Dukbokki is generally a favourite food among the younger generation

Think my stomach just growled, looking at this photo...

There are some food that people try to avoid eating if they have to go on a date or for a job interview. Onions and garlic are examples of those food. Up here in this photo, is another example. It's called "soon dae". It's made of some sort of pork leftovers, noodles and a truckload of spices to mask the smell. 

I LOVED IT!

You eat it by dipping it into a small pile of salt on the side. 

Last Saturday, I met Yeseul again at Hyehwa Station. She wanted to show me around her neighbourhood and took me to this little cafe. Think it's called "Miss Lee's Cafe", or something like that. 

It's famous because... 

You can come in here and write all sorts of nonsense and stick it anywhere you like!

It kinda reminds of the Graffiti Cafe in Cineleisure here in Singapore. Ms Lee's Cafe on the other hand, is almost filled to the brim with couples. Yeseul said that she'd wanted to come before but didn't, mainly because this cafe seems so couples-dominated.  

This cafe must be every fireman's nightmare. 

Oh yes, it's also famous because an episode of We Got Married was shot here! This is where the couple Seoyong came on a date. I've never watched more than one episode of We Got Married before getting bored so... I didn't really care LOL

So glad that we can hang out and talk over a hot cuppa tea on a cold rainy day.

We ordered some traditional Korean dessert to snack on.

We had no idea what this was, but it was very chewy, kind of like duk, but even more chewy than duk. I enjoyed it because it wasn't too sweet.

When we left Ms Lee's Cafe, they told us to pluck a tab from the lucky draw board, and I picked the FIRST PRIZE!

First prize = coupons to Ms. Lee's Cafe. 

Guess Yeseul will have to come back here, regardless of whether or not she has a boyfriend to come here with!

After tea, we walked around for a bit and hung out at Yeseul's place. For dinner, she brought me to this little restaurant selling traditional Korean food. She said that this was one of the famous food places that her friends had recommended to her. 

Boy oh boy were we in for a treat!

Famous for all their jigaes (stews), the dwenjangjigae did not disappoint. I can feel my drool starting even as I type now.

This was probably my second favourite, if not favourite meal out of the entire trip.

Kimchi jigae.

Into my tummy you go!

Seoul is circled by hills, and so we climbed one after dinner, in the cold drizzle.

The view from up there was a sight to behold.

These shots were quite difficult for me to take as it was raining and I was holding an umbrella, along with my gigantic bag and cellphone.

On our way to a different side of the hill, we saw a beautiful sight... 

The lamp post's light shining through and reflecting off the water droplets on a tree. This photo just doesn't do the scene justice. 

Another nice view from a different perspective.

Tried to take a shot of us together but failed.

On our way down from the hill, we passed through the artsy neighbourhoods of Hyehwa. 

I love that people can just express themselves in public spaces like that. It makes the whole otherwise boring neighbourhood feel interesting and quirky.

We stood in the street for a while, huddling under our umbrellas.

So that we could take "spy photos" of people and zoom in on them real close.

It was kinda fun. Stalkerish, but totally fun.

Had a waffle each from a street stand.

Before we parted ways, we looked at a public photo exhibition in Hyehwa subway station. I loved all the photos, and this one especially. It's a photo of the Namdaemun area in 1963. The traditional building in the middle still stands and I recognise it because it is right next to our hotel. 

Thanks for sharing your world with me Yeseul!!