Hi and welcome back to my posts about our trip to Seoul!
Today's post is going to be on what we did on Friday, July 24th~
After breakfast we asked the receptionist, Jimbo, if he knew of a good, traditional tea house and he told us about a place not too far away in a dong/neighborhood called Insadong (인사동)
John was going to meet his girlfriend near Busan (부산) some hours later and Philip still hadn't come back so Alex was stuck with us girls for now. I don't think he minded though, he's culturally interested from what I can tell.
Even though it was hot outside that day, as any other day during our trip, it was raining from the moment we went out. Quite an unusual feeling for us Scandinavians. Good thing the hostel had a bunch of umbrellas for the guests to borrow!
We didn't have to walk very far before we reached one end of the main street, Insadong-gil (인사동길), where Cindy is standing in the picture below.
On both sides of the street were a lot of different shops and little alleyways leading to restaurants and galleries. Following the map Jimbo had given us, we went down one of these alleys and found the place. We doubled checked to make sure though. Look at that super serious expression ㅋㅋㅋ
The name and address is:
Traditional Korean Tea House 30-1 Gwanhun-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.
(서울시 종로구 관훈동 30-1 전통다원)
What we found was exactly what one would imagine when thinking 'traditional tea house'. A small pavilion, ceramic pots, plants, and the sound of cicadas characterized the open space outside the building. It was a beautiful and somehow calming sight.
Selcas of our little group before going in!
At the door we were greeted by the employees who let us decide whether we wanted to sit in the room with 'normal' chairs or hunched around a lowered table in what I believe was the main room with a view of the garden. We chose the latter.
Alex and Cindy sat down on one side (you can see Alex's shoulder) and Camilla and I across them.
Aaawh
The floor in the room behind Camilla and I was raised a little and you were supposed to take off your shoes before walking in there. Imagine sitting there, drinking hot tea while watching the pouring rain. Aaah~
They had a huge variety of teas and some of them you could order either hot or cold depending on your preference. We ordered 4 different teas and passed them around in order for each of us to taste them all.
Cindy and I got huge cups with already-made tea while Alex and Camilla had to pour and filtrate theirs by themselves.
The one I ordered, maesil cha/plum tea (매실차) was definitely my favorite! It had a dark red colour and a strong sweet taste, kind of like the gummy candy from Haribo. Oh, and it helped my intestinal health! Score! #whodoesn'twanthealthyintestines
According to Camilla, her tea tasted like cooked bark, Cindy's tasted like 'sweet lemon summer', Alex's tasted like tea, and mine tasted 'sweet sweet sweet'.
We also ordered these from the dessert section. I forgot their name but I remember that they were made of puffed rice rolled in some sort of flour.
While we were sitting there, John messaged us that he'd missed the train because the queue had been too long, and was now on his way back to the hostel to take a nap of disappointment. We, of course, showed great compassion. I couldn't fit Cindy's answer into the picture but she wrote, and I quote: "HAHAHAHAHHA".
When it was time to pay, Alex wanted to be smooth and do it but Camilla refused to let him so he came up with a plan. He was going to 'teach her how to serve tea the Chinese way' and told her to put the cup with hot tea on the back of her hand. He was then going to put his own cup on her other hand so he could pay without her being able to move but I guess the cup slipped and he spilled the hot water all over Cindy's legs. Smooth Alex, smooth.
After tea we strolled around Insadong and found the Ssamjigil complex (인사동쌈지길), which is a multi-level mall.
To the left of the white sign with green, blue, and red on was an 'opening' that led to the basement with workshops where people were decorating porcelain and making dolls. We'd wanted to join but it would take 2 weeks before our things would be done and sent to us and by then we'd be back in our own countries. Too bad.
Can you spot the hedge in the picture? There was an opening there with a small path leading to a friendship/relationship wall where people had left their messages on little discs of plastic in different colours.
The room with the red, blue, and green letters written on the windows was a, no kidding, poop themed café.
Back at the hostel we took a nap since all of us were pretty worn out. I guess we hadn't avoided the jetlag completely. Philip still hadn't come home but at least John was able to join us for dinner. Tonight we wanted BBQ and asked another one of the guys in the reception, Gunwoo, if he knew of a good restaurant nearby. He gave us directions to a place and wrote down what dish he'd recommend - samgyeopsal (삼겹살), which is pork belly.
Gunwoo told us it was a 3 minute walk straight down the road and that we could not miss it. Boy was he right. We were walking down a narrow, dark alley and 3 minutes later: BAM! Restaurants!
The one we went to was named 광주집 and it was located right on the corner.
The address and name for the place is:
Gwangju house 3 Donhwamun-ro 11na-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul.
(서울 종로구 돈화문로11나길 3 (돈의동, 1층) 광주집)
The owner seated us outside around two round metal'ish tables to the left in the picture. Time was approaching 8pm but it was stillwarm hot outside and I was pretty satisfied with our spot. It must have been so hot inside with all those people.
When we had to order, the man spoke Korean to Alex and he did not understand a word of English. Well, despite Alex being half Korean he doesn't speak a word of the language but fortunately we had Gunwoo's note with the name of the dish and we got away with saying the name of it and making hand gestures.
Short after, the wife (I assume) came over, turned out table into a grill (yes, a grill!), and fired up under it!
The man also came back and together they placed bowls with soup, plates with kimchi (김치), little baskets with salad, and a bunch of other interesting ingredients. The amount of food was a bit overwhelming and the table was barely visible from food when they were done.
They left and then came back again short after with a plate full of thick, fatty pieces of pork belly and big pieces of mushroom. We'd though that they would put the meat inside the plate but instead they put it on top and it was really hot. Then they left again.
We weren't exactly sure what to do from now. Were we supposed to cook it by ourselves? John tried moving some of the meat but noh! - almost immediately the woman came back, grabbed the pliers, and moved it back. Okay, don't touch the meat ･-･;
When the meat was about done'ish, the man came back and cut it into smaller pieces. He grabbed a piece with the chopsticks, went over to Alex, and motioned for him to open his mouth where after he put the (very hot) piece of meat into his mouth. Poor Alex looked so confused and the rest of us were just laughing at his expression and the whole situation. Goodbye personal bubble and welcome to Korea!
The man then went to John and put a salad leaf in his hand. He was teaching us how to eat it! He grabbed pieces of meat, kimchi, and all the other interesting things placed on our table and placed them on top of the leaf before folding it like a taco. The rest of us followed suit and when he'd made sure that we all knew how to do it, he left.
Our hunger was slowly dying out and the amount of meat was decreasing... right until the woman came back with a whole more plate, that is!
This man also made his comeback and this time they brought mint leaves and refilled whatever ingredients we had eaten the most of. As we were eating, both of them started preparing new 'tacos' (they looked more like little salad pouches with filling if you ask me) for us and as soon as we had swallowed our food, they'd hand us a new one and not look away before we'd begun chewing. I swear they stayed there for like 10 minutes but they seemed pretty happy, almost parent-like, proud even that we were eating so much. And the food was good indeed! I was sooo full when we left the place.
Two of the guys working at the hostel were sitting outside when we returned and asked what we were going to do now. When they heard that we had no more plans for the day, they invited us to drink with them and go to a noraebang (노래방) later when the three Spanish girls, who also stayed at the hostel, returned. Alex had gotten a stomach ache from the food and went to the room. Meanwhie John, Camilla, Cindy, and I joined the guys outside and played cards.
Gunwoo made us a drink consisting of blueberry soju (소주), crushed ice cubes, tonic, and orange juice. It was pretty good!
One of the things I love about this hostel is how helpful and friendly the staff and owners are! Tonight was not the first time they had invited us to drink with them but it was the first night we had had time to accept their offer.
Ugly selca before leaving~
When the Spanish girls returned, we went to a noraebang nearby - a noraebang is the Korean version of karaoke. You 'rent' a room fully equipped with a karaoke machine, mics, disco lights, and tambourines (because you can not be noisy enough) and then you sing the night away with your friends!
Well, sadly all the rooms were occupied the next half hour so we went to a bar owned and run by some of their friends - Seoul Beer Pong 서울 비어 퐁- until.
If you'd like to go - and you really should - you should find it on this address:
102 Jongno 2-ga, Jongno-gu, Seoul.
서울 종로구 종로2가 102-1
This was drawn on the wall across the bar.. why not?
At the bar we played beer pong in 4 teams at first. The tables lit up and the round thingie above the table acted as a disco light for a few seconds every time one of us hit a cup. I have no idea how it worked but it was pretty cool. Gunwoo and I played against Jimbo and Cindy and we won! Afterwards we played us Scandinavians against the rest. We lost that one though.
Yaaay more selcas~
Camilla didn't drink so Cindy took her cups + her own and ended up drunk so we walked her back to the hostel. Since I'm the oldest we've been joking that I'm the grandma of our group. Well, on the way back to the hostel, Cindy said I was the sweetest grandma and that she hoped she could have a grandma like me. I told her I hoped my future grand kids would be like her and she got very confused as to why I didn't have any yet. Hahah Cindy I'm going to use this against you forever~
When we had made sure Cindy was back and safe we went back to the noraebang.
At first I wasn't too fond of the idea if the noraebang (singing in front of people I barely know or Camilla who was super good, edhr!) but the Koreans said that it wasn't supposed to sound good. And it really didn't! There was so much echo on the mics that even the best singer (Camilla) sounded bad at times.
The room had a big couch and table (I've heard that you might be able to order food/drinks?) and THANKFULLY a fan! Here's John the moment we found the books including the different songs available. The girl who looks like she's about to crawl on top of the table is Mar, one of the Spanish girls.
We sang everything from Korean ballads and raps to ABBA and Spanish party songs. It was so much fun! I definitely wanted to do that again!
Gunwoo and John made a pretty good rap duo!
We didn't come home before 3.30am! Cindy was actually still up and completely sober and Alex wasn't feeling bad anymore so that was good!
You can find recordings from what we did today in Cindy's video below starting from 2:41 through 5:34.
Except for a faint sweetness there wasn't much taste to them but I liked the sound they made when you bit into them.
When it was time to pay, Alex wanted to be smooth and do it but Camilla refused to let him so he came up with a plan. He was going to 'teach her how to serve tea the Chinese way' and told her to put the cup with hot tea on the back of her hand. He was then going to put his own cup on her other hand so he could pay without her being able to move but I guess the cup slipped and he spilled the hot water all over Cindy's legs. Smooth Alex, smooth.
After tea we strolled around Insadong and found the Ssamjigil complex (인사동쌈지길), which is a multi-level mall.
To the left of the white sign with green, blue, and red on was an 'opening' that led to the basement with workshops where people were decorating porcelain and making dolls. We'd wanted to join but it would take 2 weeks before our things would be done and sent to us and by then we'd be back in our own countries. Too bad.
To get to the top of the complex you walk around in 'circles' on the ramps shown in the picture.
The ramps were neatly decorated. Everything was so cheery and colourful~
Woooh another selca
The room with the red, blue, and green letters written on the windows was a, no kidding, poop themed café.
If you're interested in reading more about the complex, I found a nice article on it here.
Back at the hostel we took a nap since all of us were pretty worn out. I guess we hadn't avoided the jetlag completely. Philip still hadn't come home but at least John was able to join us for dinner. Tonight we wanted BBQ and asked another one of the guys in the reception, Gunwoo, if he knew of a good restaurant nearby. He gave us directions to a place and wrote down what dish he'd recommend - samgyeopsal (삼겹살), which is pork belly.
Gunwoo told us it was a 3 minute walk straight down the road and that we could not miss it. Boy was he right. We were walking down a narrow, dark alley and 3 minutes later: BAM! Restaurants!
The one we went to was named 광주집 and it was located right on the corner.
The address and name for the place is:
Gwangju house 3 Donhwamun-ro 11na-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul.
(서울 종로구 돈화문로11나길 3 (돈의동, 1층) 광주집)
The owner seated us outside around two round metal'ish tables to the left in the picture. Time was approaching 8pm but it was still
Short after, the wife (I assume) came over, turned out table into a grill (yes, a grill!), and fired up under it!
The man also came back and together they placed bowls with soup, plates with kimchi (김치), little baskets with salad, and a bunch of other interesting ingredients. The amount of food was a bit overwhelming and the table was barely visible from food when they were done.
They left and then came back again short after with a plate full of thick, fatty pieces of pork belly and big pieces of mushroom. We'd though that they would put the meat inside the plate but instead they put it on top and it was really hot. Then they left again.
We weren't exactly sure what to do from now. Were we supposed to cook it by ourselves? John tried moving some of the meat but noh! - almost immediately the woman came back, grabbed the pliers, and moved it back. Okay, don't touch the meat ･-･;
When the meat was about done'ish, the man came back and cut it into smaller pieces. He grabbed a piece with the chopsticks, went over to Alex, and motioned for him to open his mouth where after he put the (very hot) piece of meat into his mouth. Poor Alex looked so confused and the rest of us were just laughing at his expression and the whole situation. Goodbye personal bubble and welcome to Korea!
The man then went to John and put a salad leaf in his hand. He was teaching us how to eat it! He grabbed pieces of meat, kimchi, and all the other interesting things placed on our table and placed them on top of the leaf before folding it like a taco. The rest of us followed suit and when he'd made sure that we all knew how to do it, he left.
Our hunger was slowly dying out and the amount of meat was decreasing... right until the woman came back with a whole more plate, that is!
This man also made his comeback and this time they brought mint leaves and refilled whatever ingredients we had eaten the most of. As we were eating, both of them started preparing new 'tacos' (they looked more like little salad pouches with filling if you ask me) for us and as soon as we had swallowed our food, they'd hand us a new one and not look away before we'd begun chewing. I swear they stayed there for like 10 minutes but they seemed pretty happy, almost parent-like, proud even that we were eating so much. And the food was good indeed! I was sooo full when we left the place.
Two of the guys working at the hostel were sitting outside when we returned and asked what we were going to do now. When they heard that we had no more plans for the day, they invited us to drink with them and go to a noraebang (노래방) later when the three Spanish girls, who also stayed at the hostel, returned. Alex had gotten a stomach ache from the food and went to the room. Meanwhie John, Camilla, Cindy, and I joined the guys outside and played cards.
Gunwoo made us a drink consisting of blueberry soju (소주), crushed ice cubes, tonic, and orange juice. It was pretty good!
One of the things I love about this hostel is how helpful and friendly the staff and owners are! Tonight was not the first time they had invited us to drink with them but it was the first night we had had time to accept their offer.
Ugly selca before leaving~
When the Spanish girls returned, we went to a noraebang nearby - a noraebang is the Korean version of karaoke. You 'rent' a room fully equipped with a karaoke machine, mics, disco lights, and tambourines (because you can not be noisy enough) and then you sing the night away with your friends!
Well, sadly all the rooms were occupied the next half hour so we went to a bar owned and run by some of their friends - Seoul Beer Pong 서울 비어 퐁- until.
If you'd like to go - and you really should - you should find it on this address:
102 Jongno 2-ga, Jongno-gu, Seoul.
서울 종로구 종로2가 102-1
This was drawn on the wall across the bar.. why not?
Yaaay more selcas~
Camilla didn't drink so Cindy took her cups + her own and ended up drunk so we walked her back to the hostel. Since I'm the oldest we've been joking that I'm the grandma of our group. Well, on the way back to the hostel, Cindy said I was the sweetest grandma and that she hoped she could have a grandma like me. I told her I hoped my future grand kids would be like her and she got very confused as to why I didn't have any yet. Hahah Cindy I'm going to use this against you forever~
When we had made sure Cindy was back and safe we went back to the noraebang.
At first I wasn't too fond of the idea if the noraebang (singing in front of people I barely know or Camilla who was super good, edhr!) but the Koreans said that it wasn't supposed to sound good. And it really didn't! There was so much echo on the mics that even the best singer (Camilla) sounded bad at times.
The room had a big couch and table (I've heard that you might be able to order food/drinks?) and THANKFULLY a fan! Here's John the moment we found the books including the different songs available. The girl who looks like she's about to crawl on top of the table is Mar, one of the Spanish girls.
We sang everything from Korean ballads and raps to ABBA and Spanish party songs. It was so much fun! I definitely wanted to do that again!
Gunwoo and John made a pretty good rap duo!
We didn't come home before 3.30am! Cindy was actually still up and completely sober and Alex wasn't feeling bad anymore so that was good!
You can find recordings from what we did today in Cindy's video below starting from 2:41 through 5:34.
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