2017년1월30—31일
Seoul Pt II, Day 7:
I set my alarm that morning because I knew I was gonna meet up with my friend Jaemin for lunch and I didn’t want to be late. After showering and getting ready, I walked briskly to Hongdae Station exit 8, where I was to meet Jaemin. Like Yubin, we hadn’t seen each other since graduation, so it was nice to see him again! We decided to find some place around Hongdae and we were just catching up. He was asking me what I wanted to eat and I was basically going through the foods I’ve already eaten multiples of since coming to Seoul the previous week.
Seoul Pt II, Day 7:
I set my alarm that morning because I knew I was gonna meet up with my friend Jaemin for lunch and I didn’t want to be late. After showering and getting ready, I walked briskly to Hongdae Station exit 8, where I was to meet Jaemin. Like Yubin, we hadn’t seen each other since graduation, so it was nice to see him again! We decided to find some place around Hongdae and we were just catching up. He was asking me what I wanted to eat and I was basically going through the foods I’ve already eaten multiples of since coming to Seoul the previous week.
“I don’t want chicken, already had that twice…not soondubu either, but I want something Korean” I ponder.
“Alright, how about…pig’s feet?” Jaemin suggests.
“Ah 족발? I’ve never tried it before” I reply.
“Alright, how about…pig’s feet?” Jaemin suggests.
“Ah 족발? I’ve never tried it before” I reply.
We had just walked past a restaurant known for their steamed pork belly (보쌈 bossam), but they also happened to serve pig’s feet (족발 jokbal)
“원할머니보쌈, 족발” I read off the sign of the restaurant.
“Wow not only did you lose weight, you turned Korean” Jaemin jokes.
“Wow not only did you lose weight, you turned Korean” Jaemin jokes.
We enter the restaurant and catch up. Last time I came to Seoul, Jaemin had also taken me out for grilled pork belly (삼겹살 sam-gyeop-sal) so it was nice to be sharing another meal with him in his home country.
As the waitress was rushing Jaemin to order, he decided on a pork belly and pig’s feet set that would come with various banchan and soup on the side, my favorite being the yukgaejang (육개장), a type of thick and spicy (just how I like it) scallion and beef stew. Perfect for the cold Korean winters.
As the waitress was rushing Jaemin to order, he decided on a pork belly and pig’s feet set that would come with various banchan and soup on the side, my favorite being the yukgaejang (육개장), a type of thick and spicy (just how I like it) scallion and beef stew. Perfect for the cold Korean winters.
Anyway I was too focused on catching up with Jaemin to actually take any nice #flatlay photos and I didn’t even get a shot of the yukgaejang but here ya go. You can wrap the bossam in thinly slice pickled radish or soy wrappers and the jokbal in white pickled cabbage, and you can top both with kimchi or whatever banchan you desire. The jokbal was a little salty, but I liked the bossam, especially with a little dab of fermented soybean paste (된장 doenjang).
Jaemin told me that he had somewhere to go after lunch so we wouldn’t be able to hang out much longer and I let him know that it was fine, since I was meeting up with another friend at 3 to go to a museum. We snap a couple selfies outside the restaurant with the sun in our eyes bc of course.
My Korean friend told me to meet him at exit 5 of Gyeongbokgung station, which I realized was the exit for the National Palace Museum. He never told me what museum we were gonna go to (at least I don’t believe he did, I might’ve been drunk when he mentioned it) but I got there early so I went back inside the metro station since it was marginally warmer.
When I cash him ousside the exit, we walk across Gyeongbokgung Palace to the other side of the street where he tells me we’re going to MMCA Seoul, the abbreviated name for the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul (국립현대미술관, 서울관 Guk-rim hyeondae mi-sulgwan, seoul-gwan). I was so happy, because I just…fckin love museums.
When I cash him ousside the exit, we walk across Gyeongbokgung Palace to the other side of the street where he tells me we’re going to MMCA Seoul, the abbreviated name for the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul (국립현대미술관, 서울관 Guk-rim hyeondae mi-sulgwan, seoul-gwan). I was so happy, because I just…fckin love museums.
Since it was the last day of the Lunar New Year holiday there was free entrance at the museum (which was dank) so we put our coats and things away in a locker and wandered for the next two and a half hours.
It was marvelous. The first exhibition we went to was in galleries one and two, and featured the work of the 2016 finalists of the Korea Artist Prize, considered one of the most prestigious art awards in all of Korea.
It was marvelous. The first exhibition we went to was in galleries one and two, and featured the work of the 2016 finalists of the Korea Artist Prize, considered one of the most prestigious art awards in all of Korea.
We must’ve spent close to an hour just in the first gallery alone featuring works by Kim Eull (김을) the main ones being a two story-replica of their own studio called "Twilight Zone Studio," and a piece consisting of about 1,450 individual drawings entitled "Galaxy" (갤럭시)
The second featured photographs and other works by Back Seungwoo (백승우), and art installations by Ham Kyungah (함경아) and mixrice (믹스라이스 an art collective consisting of Cho Ji Eun 조지은 and Yang Chul Mo 양철모).
Here's a thirty second clip of visitors interacting with "Galaxy"
"Colorless" by Back Seung-woo
It was probably somewhere between 5 and 5:30 when we left the Korea Artist Prize exhibition and wandered about the other galleries. We sat in on a few short film screenings, one depicting a Native American woman in the American southwest weaving fabrics, and another detailing the journey of a 450-year-old tree in Korea that inevitably passed away. We then walked into a gallery called “void” and although interesting, it was a bit unnerving. There was a projector screening a feed from a cell phone camera but it was all shaky and I got dizzy looking at it too long so we walked out shortly after that.
Before we had a chance to soak in the rest of the galleries it was already five minutes til closing, so we decided to grab our things and find some place for dinner. I suggested we eat something lighter since I had a heavier lunch, and we decided on noodle soup (칼국수 kalgooksoo). We discussed the art pieces we had seen, racism, etc. The usual casual dinner banter (usual and casual for me, anyway).
After dinner I still wanted to try some authentic hotteok, and we remember walking past a street cart that had hotteok along the way to the restaurant, but by the time we had finished dinner, the cart was gone. We decided to go to Coco Bruni (a coffee and chocolate café) for coffee and dessert. I had a caramel latte and he ordered a slice of chocolate cake to share.
It was nice! I’ve always met fantastic people while traveling in Seoul, whether foreign or domestic, and I was glad that this trip was no different.
A wonderful end to my week long Lunar New Year vacation to Seoul. I had a flight to catch at 10:00 am so the next morning I woke up at 6, got ready, left Seoul at 7 in order to get to Incheon by 8, and made it to my flight with enough time to grab a coffee and some honey butter almonds from the duty free shop. I am so grateful for all of the new friends I have made along the way, and although I have to tough it out these next few weeks in Taipei before flying back to the states, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
A better, slightly emptier person,
PK/和平
A better, slightly emptier person,
PK/和平