Ruth's first weekend in Seoul went like this: dinner and noraebang Friday night, the DMZ and various food and drink experiences on Saturday and a palace and some shopping on Sunday. Busy weekend, but delightful all the same.
We stayed in a cozy hostel in Hyehwa (a bustling university neighborhood) for the weekend, so after finding our digs and assembling our rather large group of people (Ruth, Desiree, Diane, two of Diane's friends Grace and Lena, Sunny and me), we headed out in search of dinner. We quickly settled on a very Korean restaurant in our general neighborhood and ordered an obnoxious amount of deliciously traditional food. We sat around, eating and talking for quite a while before heading out in search of a noraebang. Let me just tell you, Ruth pulled out all the stops in her first noraebang experience. No stone was left un-turned. Homegirl is a champ.
The next day, Desiree, Ruth and I woke up briiiight and early to make it to our 7:00 AM tour of the DMZ. This time, our military guide was much less intense and much more enjoyable. Many of the same emotions as last year ran through me on this trip (click here for a full run-down) but with less intensity, given that this was my second time to hear most of the information. Ruth and Desiree, though, were blown away at the reality that is North Korea. Pretty heavy stuff... At our last stop on the tour, though, the mood was lightened by watching two Korean soldiers chase each other around the train station when they thought no one was looking.
After our tour at the DMZ ended, we made our way to the Korean War Memorial Museum to have a look around. But, instead of looking at any war information, we opted to explore the museum's special exhibit: Body Worlds. I'm no science buff, but this exhibit was really freakin' cool. The whole exhibit was filled with people who had donated their bodies to be used in the exhibit upon their death. Their bodies were then configured in various ways to show muscle use, certain body parts when exposed to various diseases, etc. Watching Ruth look at each component was just as exciting as viewing the exhibit itself - she told me later that, for her, it was very much a spiritual experience. I was so glad that I got to share something like that with her.
After the museum, we met up with Sunny for dinner and makgeolli at an obscure basement establishment called Sanchez. This place is awesome! Its door is a flowered bed sheet. The decor is totally random in a laughably comfortable way. The man who runs the place is delightfully awkward, has a fantastically wide range of different flavors of makgeolli and man, can homeboy cook! We sampled many different flavors of makgeolli, most memorably, corn (which tasted kind of like creamed corn) and citrus (which tasted on the yummy side of the citrus flavored fluoride I had to gargle in middle school). Next, we found ourselves in the attic of an adorable cafe, sipping lattes and discussing who knows what. Our night ended, after a brief stint in a street food tent where we introduced Ruth to the delightful flavor of duk boki, in another coffee shop in our hostel's neighborhood. A good night, for sure.
The next day, we woke up at our leisure, took our time getting ready and eating brunch and met Diane and Grace at Gyeongbukgung Palace. It was a gorgeous, albeit chilly, day to look around the palace grounds. While Diane, Desiree and Grace dressed up in traditional Korean clothes, Ruth and I wandered (and hobbled, respectively) around the palace. I still marvel at how large this place is, given its location in the middle of the city. Post-palace, we ventured to Insadong for Ruth to take care of some souvenir shopping. Homegirl didn't mess around. And, thus ended Ruth's first weekend in Seoul. A delightfully tame experience.
Next up: the following week and all its glory. Get excited.
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