It’s nice to go to other Asian megacities because you can start to see the similarities and distinct differences between them. Seoul is about an hour and a half away by airplane, but it feels entirely different from Beijing. We thought we should check it out as we’d probably never have another opportunity for awhile. Unlike in China, there were no New Year’s fireworks, though the Lunar holiday was celebrated by all. We spent four days wandering the streets, meeting up with old friends and making some new ones, and drinking more liqor than we thought was humanly possible. As my old friend Boram said, “If you don’t drink, you’re an outcast.” To which I responded, “bring on the soju.”
A nifty “Burberry” branded scooter in Hongdae. This seems to be a popular pattern here.
Forgive me for forgetting the name of this particular street food. It featured a choice of fried meat and vegetables mixed with a spicy red sauce and white rice noodle cylinders. This stand has the honor of having the best in Seoul as you can see from the hordes of snackers thronging around us.
SPAM is so popular here that it comes in gift packs and trust me, these are not cheap.
Getting back to the food. It is plentiful and delicious. Also, the women who make the food are quite pretty.
We met up with Emil Goh, a friend of John and Jiae’s. He took us to some amazing restaurants and a lovely bar where we met some fellow former New Yorkers. Unsurprisingly, we have some shared acquaintances back at home! This is us outside the bar, 5 soju bottles later. Okay, they’re small bottles….
According to our friend Kate, no trip to Seoul is complete without a stop at the photo booth. We eschewed the wigs and sunglasses and went for the post-photo graphics treatment. You can add almost anything to the finished masterpiece, including the words “Pretty” and “Best Friends.”
Another nice aspect of the trip was meeting up with my old friend Boram. He took us to a restaurant where they specialized in squid and beef mixed together. Delicious.
The highlight, however, was having our flight delayed by bad weather for 7 hours! I suspected that dangerous levels of fireworks ash in the air had something to do with the fog that was reported in Beijing, but that’s just a hunch. Apparently, it was thick as cotton in the capital. The airline was nice enough to house us in a hotel for a few hours while we waited for our flight. This is the room we were given.
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