Meow and Forever

{travel & eat} 2 Nights in Seoul

The first week of October is national holiday here in China, and the whole country pretty much takes the entire week off.  We took advantage of the week-long holiday and traveled to Seoul and then Bali.  Since we didn’t take a honeymoon after our wedding last year, we made it our honey/babymoon.

Saturday, October 1

Our first pit stop was Seoul.  M and I stayed with my 3rd uncle and his wife in Itaewon.  We arrived into Seoul early evening on Sunday, and ate dinner with my aunt and uncle.  After settling in, M and I wandered around the neighborhood, looking for something yummy to eat.

We started the evening at Jesters, a shop that sold pies, both sweet and savory.  I’ve never heard of Jesters before but I guess it’s from the US.  The guys working inside spoke perfect English with no accent.

Blueberry pie from Jesters. It was nice and hot, but just okay. I've had better pies.

Next stop, Caffe Bene.  First of all, they are EVERYWHERE in Seoul.  It’s kind of like Starbucks, where there’s one on every street corner.  In Seoul, every block has a Caffe Bene, a Starbucks, and a Paris Baguette.  However, they sell little Belgian waffles, which were super popular last year and still has a strong following this year (Korea is very trend- conscious).  I’ve been totally craving waffles and could’ve eaten three more by myself (sorry, M), but I restrained myself and shared the one we ordered with M.

Waffle with strawberry gelato. Very yummy!

Strawberry shaved ice with red bean and (more) strawberry gelato on top.

After our sweet snack and a little break, we decided it was time to eat something more substantial.  By this time, most of the street vendors had set up shop so we were in business!

Street vendor selling skewers, corn dogs, various tempura, wantons, potato wedges, and my favorite, ddukbukki (rice cake in spicy pepper sauce)!

After some traditional Korean street food, Malcolm wanted to try the ethnic street vendors also very popular in the area.  While walking around, we came across a vendor selling Moroccan sandwiches.  I didn’t know Moroccans ate sandwiches, but the line was long and very popular.  So of course, we joined in on the wait.

Took a blurry picture together while waiting for the sandwiches.

Ready at last!

M ordered the beef sandwich, which was ground beef, onions, potatoes, eggs, secret seasonings, white sauce, and cheddar cheese (from Costco!).

I ordered the veggie, which was onions (both raw and sautéed), potatoes, eggs, secret seasonings, white sauce and cheddar cheese. Yum!

Upon finishing most of the sandwiches, it was almost midnight and we were both stuffed and tired.  We headed back to my uncle’s place and called it a night.

Sunday, October 2

Sunday was our only full day in Seoul, so M and I started off the day filled with plans for eating more yummy foods.  Clearly, eating too much was (and is) not a concern for us.  After a morning that is not worth mentioning, M and I headed off to the Apgujeongdong area of Seoul.  In preparation for our Seoul trip, I searched the interwebs for some good eats recommendations.  On one of my favorite blogs, I read about a bakery called Le Alaska.  After checking out their website, I definitely knew this had to be our first stop.

It was fortuitous that we ended up taking a cab there, because there was no way we could’ve found this place on our own.  Situated in a tiny alleyway, Le Alaska was surrounded by other cute cafes and shops.

When you first walk in, you are greeted by shelves upon shelves of pastries, and the warm smell of pastries freshly baking in the ovens.

M's latte. It was really good coffee! I had just a little sip, which re-whetted my desire for coffee. *sniff sniff* Oh coffee, how I miss you!

My berry smoothie came with shaved ice, topped with a sugared raspberry. It was tart and refreshing, but not as good as M's latte!

M devouring a pastry

Not only were the pastries delicious, the decor of the bakery was super cute and quaint.

Such a cute cafe, with outdoor seating

After enjoying our pastries and drinks, we wandered around the area and came upon this super cool barbecue restaurant.  Fashioned out of two cargo crates, the restaurant was eye catching and we could smell delicious smells wafting out.  Sadly, we were too stuffed from breakfast AND pastries, so we took a few pictures and walked out.

Another popular area is Garosugil in the Sinsadong neighborhood of Seoul, which is a tree-lined street with shops and cafes.  It’s similar to 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica.  Known as a foreigner area, many of the shops are foreign brands and restaurants serve various ethnic foods.

M in front of the Marrimekko store with his new work bag.

While wandering around, this woman walked by with 6 little dogs following her.  While none of them were leashed, they faithfully followed their mama.  The whole sight was pretty cute.

I tried on some jewelry at a street vendor's shop. Everything was so pretty!

It was so ironic to come across a Forever 21 in Korea.  I mean, it’s a Korean-owned company based in the States.  It’s like the company returned back to the motherland.

A 3-story Forever 21!

After walking and shopping for couple hours, our poor feet were tired, so we decided to take a break at a cafe called Cafe des Artes.  Situated on a second floor building, we sat on the balcony and had a great few of the street below us.

My husband, Mr. Smooth

One of the best things about Seoul is the free wifi everywhere!  So while we were resting our tired feet at the cafe, we checked email, people watched, and enjoyed the cool fall weather.  While looking around, I noticed a restaurant (also 2nd floor) across the street.  Check out the kid at the table!  Hee hee…

Poor little boy fell asleep at the table! Too cute!

One of my favorite places in Seoul is Cheonggyecheon.  Originally a dirty stream that ran through downtown Seoul, the entire area was renovated during the mid-2000′s in an effort to beautify the city.  The end result is a gorgeous babbling brook with waterfalls, lighted pathways and indigenous plants lining the pathways.  As we were there on a holiday weekend, Cheonggyecheon was packed with families and tourists alike.  I swear, I heard Chinese being spoken more often (or is it just more loud?) than Korean while we walked the path.

Babbling brook in the middle of downtown Seoul

On our way to Cheonggyecheon, we made a pitstop at Dunkin Donuts and picked up a bat-shaped donut to enjoy.

A bat! Just in time for Halloween.

While walking by one of the bridges, there was a guy doing acrobatics above.

We threw a few coins into the stream after we read a sign that said that all money is donated every few months to orphans.

After talking to my dad, I learned that October 3 is a national holiday in Korea celebrating the unification of the country under one king (I don’t remember which king).  That Sunday, as M and I walked around the area near Cheonggyecheon, there were parades and actors dressed up in traditional clothing to celebrate the holiday.

A miniature replica of a turtle ship, the world's first iron-clad ship built during the 15th Century.

Me in front of a statue of King Sejong, who created written Korean.

M's new buddy

We came across this scooter that had a little guy in it!

This was the sign in front of the doggie in the scooter. It says, "Don't touch! He will 'RARR' bite you!" Hehe.

That evening, we met up with my eldest aunt and uncle, and my cousin J, for a buffet dinner at Hyatt Hotel.  After stuffing ourselves silly, J, M and I decided to hit up the night markets for our last night in Seoul.  Of course, because of the holiday, most of the night markets were closed, but we managed to go shopping for clothes at Doota, an open all-night mall.

First up, the night market.

Mung bean pancakes! My favorite!

M pouring some Sprite into J's traditional rice wine. Apparently, it's how all the young kids drink the rice wine these days.

Doota shopping mall. It's really big.

The following morning, M and I headed to the airport for our flight to Bali.  Next post – BALI!!  (Hopefully, it won’t take as long as this Seoul post!).

{travel & eat} Taiwan

This past weekend, M and I headed over to Taiwan to visit his grandma and dad.  It’s turning out to be an annual trip, as I looked on my passport and it turned out we had gone to Taiwan almost exactly one year ago to the date (it was off by a few days!).  Grandma is getting older (she’s 91 years old!) and with Baby Shu making his appearance in January, M and I will try to make another trip out to Taiwan in the spring so Grandma can meet her great grandson.

We decided to spend our first night in Taipei and indulge in some food goodness.  We arrived at the brand new W Hotel Taipei, where we were greeted in our room by a plate of pretty and pretty yummy macarons.  They hit the spot!

Our room was really nice!  Just as in the States, the hotel provided us with Bliss products and a tastefully modern room.

After settling in, we met up with M’s dad and M’s godmother for dinner at the hotel’s buffet.  It was pretty tasty.

The following morning, we went to Taipei 101 for some brunch.  We tried some burgers at Mos Burger (I guess a popular burger in Taiwan) with some dou hua, a soft tofu dessert with boba and jelly and peanuts and other yummy goodies.  We tried the fish sandwich and a seafood rice burger at Mos Burger, and both were really good!  I thought that the fish sandwich was better than the filet-o-fish at McDonald’s, although it might be because it was definitely super fresh.

Seafood rice burger. The buns were made out of rice cakes. Pretty yummy!

That afternoon, M and I made our way to the high speed railway station to catch a train down to Taichung, M’s family’s hometown.  Just an hour by high speed rail, we arrived at the station early and grabbed some lunch while we waited for our train.  While waiting, I took a picture with my new (Mexican gingerbread man) friend.

On all the subway stations and railway stations in Taiwan, these signs are posted everywhere.  I guess the stick figure with a soccer ball for a tummy would be me??

Our 2 night stay in Taichung involved mostly eating.  Granted, we ran a few errands, went shopping, but mostly, it was just eating.  M’s grandmother, while 91 years old and frail, out-ate all of us.  So we ate a lot, and after eating some more, M and I went to the night market at night.

One of the things I love about Taiwan is that they sell these HUGE drinks.  I heard that Half and Half in CA also carries these huge 1000 cc drinks, but I have yet to see them.  But in Taiwan, they are quite prevalent.  So imagine my surprise when we went to lunch with M’s grandma and his dad, and the restaurant had GINO drinks!!!

M's dad ordered the medium boba.

Big drink!

We found a stand that sold little Hello Kitty buns filled with red bean and other goodies. Unfortunately, Hello Kitty was just a gimmick and they actually sold egg shaped buns instead. Boo!

Eggs, not Hello Kitty. These weren't very good.

Fresh fruit with plum powder. We ate a ton of guava. So yummy!

The following morning, we ate breakfast on the street with the locals.  We ate some sweet rice sausages, lou bo gao (turnip cakes), and two kinds of soups.  Some of the food was good, some not so good, and I have never sat so close to the street before in my life.

After wandering around, taking a nap, and eating some more, we headed back to the night market on our last night in Taichung.

Bear donuts to tide us over in-between meals. They were cute, but not that tasty. Note to self: Do NOT eat bears!

Waffles with "nutella" and bananas

Not too bad, although the waffle itself could've been tastier.

Chewy, crunchy pancake things.

It was pretty tasty. We ordered it stuffed with a fried egg, basil and some chicken. (I picked out the chicken).

M really wanted the Chinese sausage "hot dog." Rather than a normal hot dog bun, the sausage was wrapped in-between a sweet rice sausage split in half. M really enjoyed it.

Something that I noticed this time was the prevalence of Korean influences.  It definitely wasn’t present last year, so it was amusing to see this time around.

A vendor selling duo bokki (Korean rice cakes in spicy red sauce)

All in all, it was a quick but good trip.  We saw Grandma, hung out with M’s dad, and did the things we needed to do.  Next up: Korea and Bali in less than 6 days!!

Good bye, big drink!