Korea Update, 3/31/18: Zapangi

 South Korea, travel
Apr 012018
 

I have been lacking with the vacation updates but everyday is so jam-packed with activities that it’s hard for me to find one thing to focus on, and also I’m fucking exhausted by the end of the day! Saturday was full of palace sight-seeing, the Hangul museum beneath Gwanghwamun Plaza, Bukchon Hanok Village where we went to another Gentle Monster and randomly found an entire collection of Bambi figurines still in the box at some vintage toy shop.

[SIDE BAR: Chooch is obsessed with the Disney cartoon Bambi and has even changed our cat Drew’s name to that last year. Anyway during this whole trip, he’s been stopping at every single sock vendor to see if they have Bambi socks because each stall always has a Disney section. They even have Chip n Dale socks, but never Bambi. When we were in Insadong last week, there was a cell phone case shop and I was all, “I bet you any money they don’t have a Bambi case” as he was prowling through the selection.

Anyway, guess who’s been walking around since then with a motherfucking Bambi phonecase? I can’t even believe it!]

We capped off the day with some night action in Hongdae but before that – Zapangi.

Seoul is a freaking haven for Instagram-aesthetic stores and cafes. It was definitely too much for Henry but I loved that stuff just as much as the traditional aspects to Korea.

I had a list of cafes I wanted to go to while here but there just wasn’t enough time to do every single one. I had to pare down the list and Zapangi made the final cut. I follow their IG account and I’m sorry, but the idea of entering a building through a vending machine is super appealing to me.

I like things like this, I can’t help it.

Henry was annoyed but still diligently figured out which subway lines we would need to take and this was actually one of the few places we made it to without slamming into Henry every time he stopped to check the map on his phone or pull out his fucking sun dial. Or my favorite: walk a mile before Henry realizes we’re going the wrong direction. Or arrive and find that the building is under construction.

Zapangi was meant to be.

I saw it from a block away and got so giddy while Henry muttered, “Oh Jesus Christ.” There was a line of passers-by stopping just for the photo-op but when it was our turn, I told Chooch to stop before going all the way in so I could take a picture.

“Wait—we’re going in?” Henry sighed.

Um, yeah big boy. Mama didn’t come all this way for just a picture. I wanted the whole experience.

The cafe itself isn’t very big and it was crowded when we arrived, so when the barista asked us if we wanted it to go or for there, he stopped and said, “Oh, well it looks like there are no seats, so…”

I wasn’t sure if he was like, “TOO BAD SO SAD NOW GFTO” or what, but I think I was just reading too much into things as usual because I always feel like I’m not cool enough to be in these types of joints. Anyway, before our drinks were even done, a bunch of people left so the barista’s tune changed and he was all, “YES PLEASE HAVE A SEAT AND STAY AWHILE” and Henry was like, “Thanks, I just paid $25 for t wo fucking drinks and a cake in a tin-can the size of a thimble so I think I will.”

Honestly, prettttty pricey but everything did taste good, so…

I had the Sakura latte which was 9,000 won (about $9) but so pretty and it tasted like maybe it was worth 7,000 won but still — we were there for the experience.

Shit son, I was so sick after this. Henry actually had to finish the whipped cream on my drink, the remainder of Chooch’s chocolate drink, and the strawberry cake because he’d rather go into sugar shock than waste money.

I personally enjoyed it. If I lived in Seoul, I feel like I wouldn’t go out of my way to get there but I would definitely take visiting friends. It’s very novel. And it was good, don’t get me wrong, but too rich for me (cost and taste-wise)!

His review is, “Overpriced. Didn’t impress me.”

But did you really expect Henry to be impressed by a cafe with a vending machine door?

Korea Update, 3/31/18: Cherry Blossoms, boiiiii.

 South Korea, travel
Mar 302018
 

Hi guys! It’s Friday evening and we’re on the KTX back to Seoul. Busan was really cool and Henry at one point said, “You’d need at least 5 days here to be able to get to do everything” and I took that to mean our next trip here will be three weeks long, so thanks for giving me something to look forward to Papa H!

One of many reasons I wanted to squeeze in Busan was because their cherry blossom season starts a bit earlier than Seoul’s and I feel like we’d be remiss to come to Korea without seeing a cherry blossom. Henry doesn’t get the appeal and made some remark about how he used to see cherry blossoms all the time when he was a kid wearing cardboard taped to his shoes in the 1940s.

Whatever, Hank.

Here are some photos of cherry blossoms!

I’ll do a proper Busan recap in the near future, but I will forever associate it with Chooch and I spraying the streets with our hysterical giddiness (I had to keep standing with my legs crossed so I wouldn’t pee) while Henry would stomp off and say, “to hell with you assholes!” Oh my god, we’re having so much fun and sometimes Henry tries to get in on the joke until he realizes that the joke is him. Why is everything he does so hilarious to us?!

For example, while I was in the restroom at Busan Station, Chooch took like 25 pictures of Henry squatting while putting stuff in my backpack and then showed me a few minutes later while we were in a cafe waiting for the train and we were laughing so uproariously that Henry got up and left us and now I’m sitting on this quiet-ass train thinking about it all over again and trying not to laugh out loud.

Oh, another thing we’ve been laughing about is that since we were only coming here overnight, we just packed the backpacks that Chooch and I brought with us. Chooch shoved the Kakao Friends plush-pillow thing he bought the other day into his backpack which took up every last centimeter of free space.

It ended up being really chilly in Busan last night since it’s right on the beach and Henry was wearing a t-shirt.

He was so angry, because Chooch and I both packed jackets but he blamed Chooch’s stuffed animal for why he didn’t pack a jacket.

“Chooch had to bring that fucking thing with him so there wasn’t any room for me to pack my stuff!

” Henry whined. I’m sorry, you couldn’t have tied your jacket around your waist like I did with mine?!

Oh, another day, another lament.

Ugh I love Korea so much!!

P.S. Chooch just leaned over and said, “it went rippin’ past” and now we’re giggling all over again because that’s what Henry said earlier about one of the high-speed trains and I don’t know why but it was SO FUCKING FUNNY to us so we kept saying it over and over while making circles with our heads and Henry was like GOODBYE. Also, he said something about how the beaches here are probably “rockin'” in the summer and I keep picturing Henry at a fucking sock hop ever since then.

Wednesday Korea Update, 3/28/18: Jonghyun Shrine

 music, Obsessions, South Korea, travel
Mar 282018
 

We’re on the train to Busan (insert obligatory zombie jokes here, har har) and I’m taking advantage of the free WiFi so here’s a quick update from yesterday! We spent the morning hiking up Namsan mountain to N. Seoul Tower, which Henry kept saying was going to BE SO CROWDED but then it wasn’t. I will do a proper post on this and also our lunchtime in Myeongdong, but right now I just want to quickly update about seeing the Jonghyun memorial at SMTown in Gangnam.

I was one of millions of people who were devastated when Jonghyun from SHINee took his life last December and it was important to me that I get to pay respects and add a note to the wall. Part of the process, as my friend Alyson Hell would say.

Here are some photos.

This was playing on the gigantic, seriously the largest I’ve ever seen on a building, screen outside of SMTown.

The Jonghyun shrine is on the top floor of SMTown, in a back corner room. The mood was understandably somber, and the people in there (maybe about 20 at the time of our visit) were very quiet and respectful.

I started crying immediately. I mean, do you know me? #emotionalhurricane

Chooch and I both wrote notes to add to the wall (his was so freaking sweet, I wanted to die) and then we slowly walked around looking at the fan art and other beautiful and thoughtful messages from around the world. It was really enough to take your breath away. You could just feel the love and pain radiating from those notes.

My heart ached so bad while we were there. But I feel grateful that I got to see it and just the simple act of standing in a room with other people who are still mourning and remembering was really special.

xo.

Namdaemun Market: 3/27/18

 Food, South Korea, travel
Mar 272018
 

Here are some photos from our morning at Namdaemun Market, which is a sprawling traditional market. You can get everything from fresh fish to Supreme knock-offs, street food to G-Dragon posters, unless you’re with Henry who will act like a tight-wad dad every time you want to buy something and then throw all the money at you when you remind him that it’s your money and he’s just holding it. NOT THAT THIS HAPPENED.

You gotta allow for one blow-out a day when traveling with your family, I guess.

Once we got that out of the way, the rest of our time in Namdaemun was swell!

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My favorite part was when Henry asked someone from the tourist information center where the market was and in the politest way possible, she circled it on the map instead of just flat-out saying, “You’re standing in it, dumbass.”

Being a Tuesday morning, it wasn’t overwhelmingly crowded, but i can only imagine what this place is like on a weekend.

The lady selling dduk kept saying, “Cute, so cute” to Chooch.

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Later in the day, we were in one of many subway stations of the day (Henry is turning us into mole people because he always second-guesses himself and then we have to stop while he stares at the subway map for so many minutes), Chooch was going to sit down while waiting for the train, but two older men sat down first. There were still two empty seats so they were like, “No, sit! Sit!” and I shooed him back over there because people were being friendly and that is always such a relief to encounter in a foreign country! So he was sitting with these two ahjussis, and only one spoke a bit of English, so he just kept saying, “Handsome boy!” to Chooch and asked him general questions like his age and where he’s from, and then he would relay the gathered intel back to his non-English-speaking friend. Then another ahjussi came over and they were saying “Handsome boy!” to him and pointing at Chooch. We all got on the train together, but our stop was before theirs so they waved and said goodbye to Chooch which was just the cutest thing in the whole world. I love old guys so much (insert Henry joke) because I see my Pappap in so many of them.

“I wish the guys here in their 20s would say ‘Pretty girl!’ to me as much as you get ‘handsome boy’ said to you,” I whined to Chooch and he was so disgusted.

Anyway, back to Namdaemun!

Ugh, handsome boy.

When we first got to Namdaemun, we walked through this narrow alley full of street food vendors and actual restaurants. An elderly woman started excitedly calling out to us in Korean, waving her arm toward the doorway of her restaurant while pointing at all of the dishes she had available. She was so adorable, but it was only 10:30 and we weren’t ready for lunch yet.

However, we kept her in mind and instead of filling up on fried goods, we made our way back to her alley and she happily ushered us inside and suggested various tables for us to sit.

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She had so much energy!

What a great decision. I got mandu and dduk soup and it was exactly what I needed. I don’t know what Henry got, and Chooch ordered sticky noodles which came with a whopping dollop of gochujang, but that kid powered through like a champ. He is really trying! We were so worried about what he was going to eat here because he is notoriously picky, and he usually will pout if we go somewhere he doesn’t want to be.

One of the ahjummas brought him a fork, lol.

This place was LEGIT. Each table had a freaking pot of kimchi.

As we were leaving, I turned around to take a photo, and that sweet lady totally was waiting for it. Look at her back there smiling!

Be back later!

Tuesday Highlight: Aori Ramen in Hongdae

 music, Obsessions, South Korea, travel
Mar 262018
 

My highlight for today* is probably vastly different from Chooch’s (we went to the Raccoon Cafe and he got to molest a Corgi AND Shibu). But here it is, quickly while we’re resting up before venturing out for some late night patbingsoo!

*(I didn’t get a chance to do a quick post on Monday because we spent the whole day at Everland, Korea’s largest amusement park, and I for once didn’t wake up at a god awful AM hour. I have a ton to write about Everland, so that will happen at some point when I’m home!

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)

Today, the plan was to hit up Namdaemun Market, which was awesome once Henry stopped being a jackass to us. After that, we went to Hongdae because there are a bunch of super-extra shops I wanted to check out (Ader Error takes the cake, only because the Hongdae Gentle Monster was under construction). We originally wanted to get patbingsoo at that time, but the place we were looking for either changed locations, closed, or only appeared to us in our dreams because we basically walked in circle for an hour. So the new plan was to eat at Aori Ramen, which is owned by BIGBANG’s Seungri. I originally wanted to eat at the Gangnam location, but I figured we all needed to eat before we murdered each other, and it was right in front of us.

There was only one couple there in line when we got there, but the place only seats like 32 people so we had to wait for about 20 minutes. The guy who was managing the place was so nice even though he was in there hustling. The line kept growing and growing, and he kept popping his head out to tell us “almost, almost.

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”

After a few minutes, I started to wonder if he could possibly be Seungri’s dad. I mean, he looked just like him! But then the girl in line behind us started excitedly talking to her boyfriend in Korean and I heard the word “appa” and she kept giddily peering through the glass of the door.

Henry and I looked at each other and mouthed, “IT’S SEUNGRI’S DAD!”

You guys! Even if Seungri’s dad hadn’t been there, it was the best freaking ramen I’ve ever had. (I mean, I’ve never been to Japan, though.) I really appreciated the ordering process too because don’t listen to what people say about South Korea being English-savvy – the language barrier is real.

Chooch ordered “spicy” because he thinks that just because he’s been here since Friday, his spice threshold has risen. The poor kid had bee-stung lips by the time he was done but I gotta give him props because he is legitimately trying new things here and has developed a taste for gochujang of all things.

Anyway, while we were eating, Henry said, “Those people just got their picture taken with Seungri’s dad.

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” So that settled it. Chooch agreed to be my picture=proxy as usual since I hate having my picture taken, and after Henry paid, I asked as politely and hopefully as non-sasaeng (crazy fan) as possible if we could get a picture, and he happily said, “OK OK!”

DYING. DEAD. DECOMPOSING FROM THE CUTENESS. This is just the sweetest thing ever and I am internally freaking out.

Image result for seungri and his dad

(Seungri and his dad.)

Naksan Park 3/25/18

 South Korea, travel
Mar 252018
 

Sunday in Seoul was full of activity, from Insadong (first official Korean bibimbap!) to Yeouido (we went to 3 Birds, a cafe owned by YG Entertainment, BIGBANG’s agency!

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), but for my quick update I want to focus on our hike to Naksan Park for some sunset-viewing. Henry rues the day I watched Joan Keem’s vlog about the best sunset view in Seoul because I became fixated on it and when I become fixated on something, well, you know the outcome.

Fun fact: In Hangul, “nakta” means camel and “san” means mountain, so that’s where Naksan Mountain gets its name, because it’s shaped like a camel’s hump.

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We left our hotel a bit after 5 to set off to Naksan, which Henry swore was “super close” yet it took us about an hour to get there. We almost gave up at one point because the directions Henry got online were super vague, and but then suddenly we rounded a corner in a super-popping college neighborhood and saw a sign that said NAKSAN PARK with an arrow pointing up the steepest fucking cobblestone-y road. Chooch was like *groan groan groan* and Henry’s moustache had turned into an undulating mass of middle fingers aimed at my direction, but then once we reached the top of the park, where all the observation areas were, everyone was suddenly in a great mood again. I mean, how could you not be, the view was breathtaking.

Here’s a shitload of photos from my camera and phone.

This place was definitely a date-area.

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There were so many adorable young couples and believe the hype, you guys – couple culture in Korea is STRONG. It’s just like what you see in dramas — they love to match, they hold each other while walking, and the aegyo (over-the-top cuteness) is off the charts. We even passed a couple playing kai bai bo and I almost cried.

I love it here so much.

You can see the tops of the DDP down there to the right.

Chooch was happy because he saw many dogs and also got to pet TWO cats.

“I love it here,” he exclaimed at one point during our walk back to the hotel, suddenly forgetting about how much “pain” he was in on the trek there. I warned him months ago that he better get his ass in shape because I don’t play around when traveling!

Chooch waited patiently for a young couple to finish taking pictures of each other petting this cat, and when it was his turn, he was so excited that the couple turned around as they were walking away and giggled at him.

“Cat!” the guy giggled to Chooch and it was so fucking charming.

His face in this picture, though.

After walking back down from the park, we dined on street food. Chooch has decided that twigum (fried food), specifically the kimbap variety, is his favorite food here so far. I’m still down with tteokbokki though. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of it!

I would stay here forever if I could.

Seoul Fashion Week 3/24

 South Korea, travel, Uncategorized
Mar 242018
 

For my quick Saturday update, I just want to talk about Seoul Fashion Week! I thought that it ended on Friday, but when we walked over to the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, it was still happening! I mean, you have to be invited to the actual shows, of course, but there was so much to take in outside so much to Henry’s chagrin, we decided to hang around for a bit.

Everyone was taking pictures of EVERYONE so Chooch and I didn’t feel shy at all about whipping out our phones and cameras. There was this one girl escorting around a guy wearing something made out of magazines and plastic I think, so when I took his picture, she smiled and took pictures of us too but I’m convinced that she was actually photographing Henry because SUCH TREND SO STYLE.

“Sir, what are you wearing?”

“A Faygo snapback and Everfresh Juice brand windbreaker, natch.”

I’m telling you, when Middle Aged American Warehouse Manager style starts trending Fall 2018, you heard it here first.

Korean street fashion, though. At first I was like, “Wow, it’s cool that these models just hang out and let randos photograph them” but then I quickly realized that these are just super fashion-obsessed people who turn up to show off their personal style by lining up against a wall and baiting people to take their picture. I figured this out when the couple in the above photo noticed my camera and immediately stopped smiling and posed. It was incredible and I want everyone to react this way when they see me creeping with my camera.

Seoul is spoiling me!

Can this be Chooch’s future wife though, please.

I would totally wear that girl’s jacket and spent a good hour obsessing over it.

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I think it was pleather with some type of Big Bird fabric at the bottom and it brought back memories of senior year when I used to wear furry cropped sweaters and had a yellow one that everyone called my Big Bird sweater. I miss those sweaters and I miss Contempo!

I would wear this jacket too. I love outerwear.

Here’s Henry showing the kids how to really wear dad jeans.

My favorite part was before all the crowd photographing action, when we walked past a roped off area and a crowd of girls with their cameras pointed and ready. I wanted to know who they were waiting for, so we sat on a wall and observed. Eventually, a small fleet of super official looking SUVs rolled up, so Chooch and I walked over to the crowd to get a better look. Several fancy people got out of the first several cars and people started snapping pictures. I figured they were celebrities but Chooch and I were on a side where we could only see their backs.

But then some guy got out of a car on our side so we were able to see him very well.

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I still couldn’t recognize him though but when he walked around the car, the crowd on the other side started screaming hysterically. I found out later it was Jeong Sewoon, a singer/songwriter who was on the second season of Produce 101. He’s super cute!

The guys who got the biggest reaction were cool-looking even from the back but I have no idea who they were and still haven’t figured it out. I thought maybe it was several guys from Vixx but I don’t think they’re in Korea right now?

I found out later that Seulgi from Red Velvet and Key from SHINee were also there and I’m sad we didn’t see them! I would have died.

Meanwhile, we’ve been here for like 24 hours and Chooch is suddenly obsessed with designer sunglasses and shoes, and also “11 for 10,000 won” street socks (he stops at every vendor selling them) so I think he already has the right idea re: street fashion. Maybe someday he’ll borrow a pair of Henry’s jeans and be a part of Seoul Fashion Week himself.

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ETA: Two week’s later and I’m watching vlogs on YouTube to try and figure out who was in my video and I think possibly some of the guys from either Pentagon or Astro?* I’m in the background of one of the vlogs I was watching and I’m stupidly excited about it lol.

ETA, Part 2: Two years later, and I can confirm that it was Astro, lol.

We Made It!

 South Korea, travel
Mar 232018
 

Hey guys! We landed safely yesterday (Friday the 23rd) around 4:30pm. It was 7:30 by the time we got to our hotel in Jongno (we took the airport bus and Henry made friends with an ahjussi who helped make sure we got off at the right stop, bless his heart, we probably had giant HELP US WE’RE DUMB expressions plastered all over our faces because let’s face it, we can barely manage to find places in our own country!

After we changed clothes, we went for a walk around the area. It was nearly 9 by then and the sidewalks and alleys were full of drunk people and it was so seedy and awesome, hahaha. I was in a jet lag-induced haze and just couldn’t believe we were actually there. It was like walking through a k-drama and I couldn’t tell if I was dreaming or not. I can’t believe I’m here!

There was a guy selling 붕어빵 (fish-shaped fried dough filled with sweet red beans) outside of our hotel so that was our first official street food purchase, after I stopped Henry from buying nine of them because he couldn’t read the sign – he wanted three but they came in sets of three so the guy was trying to make him take nine until I stepped in and Henry was so mad because we’re finally in a place where I have an actual life skill so I guess I will be doing all the ordering while we’re here.

Then we walked to Cheonggyecheon Stream for a short stroll where Chooch almost ruined a young couple’s romantic moment by trying to walk across the stream at the same as them, because that’s what Chooch does – inserts himself into other peoples moments!

Once we had enough of the stream, we came back up to street level and realized we were in Dongdaemun! (I have looked at a map of Seoul a million times but that has done little to prepare me for actually being here since I was born without an internal compass). It was really cool to turn a corner from all the modernity and run smack into Heunginjimun Gate. We’ll definitely be going back during the day at some point too but I’m glad we got to see it at night.

On the way back to the hotel, we walked behind four young people and I desperately wished I was part of their group.

I'll try to update again tomorrow! 안녕하세요!

Peace Out, USA!

 South Korea, travel
Mar 222018
 

We’re leaving for Korea in less than an hour and I am so scared/excited/grateful. It feels like a dream!

I’m going back to my paper journal roots for this trip and have already logged about 15 pages of Henry antics, but I also love writing on here a lot so I plan on doing quick posts here and there while we’re away, and you better believe there will be like a month of recaps after we get back so…

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unsubscribe now if you’re already annoyed, I guess!

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