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Buddah's Bday
HyoJoo and the lamps. I haven't written in a couple of days since there's been lots going on. Anyway, here's a somewhat short resume...
Thursday
Went around the touristy places around Gwangwhamun. In the evening HyoJoo had a friend, HaeYoung, over who was studying for exams and needed a break. We went to a Korean restauarant where we fried different kinds of sliced meat at the table and had lots of small dishes together with that...mainly different versions of gimchi, the Korean marinated and light fermented china cabbage. The evening ended with a shared bottle of Tenuta Albrizzi at home, the one I had brought with me. Hyojoo passed out after a tough week and I tried to keep the very talkative HaeYoung under control.
Friday
Me and Hyojoo went to Buddah's birthday party at a temple in the city centre. The temple was actually more like a big cut'n'paste work shop where people produced paper lanterns and attached written down wishes. The creatings were later collected and hung up in the ceiling with German precision.
After that is was time to pick up Jin and Andrea at the Seoul station. Andrea is a Canadian girlfriend of Hyojoo's and Jin is her
Korean Restaurant
Kneeling and lots of dishes! Korean boyfriend. They came up from Busan to visit over the weekend. That evening we went to Itaewon, a small street shopping area and hangout for western people mainly American soldiers stationed on the base nearby. I almost had my hands on some good looking bread and hummus when YuJeong called and said she was waiting down by the subway station. YuJeong is another friend from University of Victoria (UVic). We went around with her Samsung car that evening to some different places..."mad for garlic", a tasty restaurant...Apgujeong...before we ended up at some classy high budget penthouse bar in the city centre where we had nice talks and great views of the Seoul night sky line. So nice to see her!!! When I met up with the others again around midnight they were shopping like crazy at Dongdaemun...the shopping area that never closes...so I joined in on the fun which lasted til around 3am.
Saturday
HyoJoo had to work again before lunch. The rest of us slept. When we finally made it out of the house, the day was almost over. We rented a car and went to Icheon and some pottery making. Before going back to Seoul we
Seoul by Night
Seoul seen from Namsan mountain. had another traditional Korean dinner...sitting on the heated floor at a low table hidden under tonnes of plates and bowls. I really like Asian food and I think my body is starting to adapt to the spicyness. We'll see if I have any tastebuds left when I go back to Germany.
Back in the city we climed the Namsan mountain south of the centre to get to the Seoul Tower...which closed down just as we got there. The view was nice anyway though. Down again and on to Insa-Dong, the place where me and HyoJoo went my first night. Lots of walking...and even though we all were pretty tired we then went on to Hongdae, a big student and party area in Seoul...where we found a cafe and acted like the old and responsible adults we are. Another 3am night.
Sunday
For once I finally made it out of the door before 10am. This was my day with Yujeong, who I told you about before, and SunMi, another UVic friend. They picked me up and we spent the whole hot and sunny day together at different places they thought I should see. We had a great view of
In the Sun
YuJeong, me and SunMi up at the Sky highway. the city from the sky highway and wandered around one of the palaces in town, among other things. It was maybe one of the best days I had in Seoul. So much fun! Hyojoo, who had done some serious 5km running in the morning and some even more serious catching up on sleep in the afternoon, met up with us and we went to eat before it was time to say bye. I wasn't really up for the sadness though so I managed to make lunch plans with Yujeong and coffee plans with SunMi the following day in order to procrastinate the goodbyes.
Monday
My last day in Seoul was spent around the city centre where I did some shopping and scouting. Had the lunch and said bye to Yujeong...sad, but hopefully I'll see her in Europe next time 😊. I went to the campus of Yonsei University to meet up with SunMi. She's writing her phd on international culture. We went via shopping and her office to one of her favourite places, a nice Italian restaurant not far away. It was very sophisticated with old furniture and a classy atmosphere. The very nice and polite owner spoke fluent German after a year in Austria and if it hadn't been for the Korean people in the restaurant I'd have thought it was a Vienna coffee house. The Tiramisu was PERFECT!! SunMi tried to make me go with her to a student party in the evening but I had already made plans with Hyojoo. I wanted to let her too experience something new after all the Korean things she had showed me before. I found a Scandinavian restaurant with a buffee that stood the test. Was funny to taste a real good "Sillsallad" after a week of all Asian food 😊. Before heading back home and my late night packing and washing, we walked the Cheonggyecheong river. There used to be a small stream running through the city centre a very long time ago but it was destroyed during road construction. Last year it was restored by the mayor and is now a very nice walking and talking area with small bridges, cool waterfalls and nice lights. One of the best spots in Seoul and a good way to end a wonderful week!
I'll be back with more updates later. Right now I'm in Fukuoka, Japan and I'm feeling like THE tourist! Korea felt different but Japan feels like another planet. Everything is backwards...help 😊. I'll tell you about the busses tomorrow!
Take care
/Magnus
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Mamma
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Spännande!
Kul att höra att allt är bra o ha en fortsatt trevlig resa önskar mamma o pappa