Seoul, Day 6 - The Pig Did Not Die in Vain

After our night out, we took our time getting going this morning. Our host made us a great breakfast scramble and we did our laundry in her apartment.

Our last full day in Seoul, we weren't encouraged to go outside because it was cold. The entire trip it's been unseasonably cold for spring, but at the least the sun came out today. We bundled up and walked to AK Plaza and I bought a lovely natural pink lipstick that I will wear all the time and remember Seoul.

For lunch we walked back to a random restaurant across the street from our host's apartment building and went to a random restaurant on the second floor. We ordered samgyeopsal, which is cooked on a grill in front of you like galbi, but instead of beef it's thick, fatty cuts of pork. My favorite barnyard protein.

The samgyeopsal came with lots of banchan, the side dishes/condiments. We also had tofu soup that was very spicy, but I didn't eat much of it because I was busy stuffing myself silly with pork.

My favorite way to eat the samgyeopsal was to make a lettuce wrap with chili sauce, rice, and onions that I macerated in the bowl of sweet soy wasabi sauce we were each served.

This was my favorite meal in Seoul. Perfection.

We took the bus into Seoul and planned on taking a cable car up to the Seoul Tower since the sun was out and it wasn't too hazy. Unfortunately, it was too windy so the cable car was closed. The surrounding park was pretty, but it was too cold to hike up the hill to the Tower. We were forced to get on a bus which drove very slowly around and around and up the hill.

By the time we got to the top of the hill and hiked up to the Seoul Tower, I was ill with motion sickness and had to sit for awhile, take a Dramamine, and sip a Sprite.

There were lots of young people at the Seoul Tower. It seemed to be quite the high school date spot.

First time I've seen trees of lover's locks.

Seoul has many, many 20-ish story buildings, but no striking skyscrapers jutting into the skyline. The tallest building in the city is 60-something stories. But the city's sprawl is impressive.

As the sun set, the city lights turned on. Beautiful.

We took the bus back down the hill and hopped on the subway to a restaurant that served jeon and homemade makgeolli. The restaurant was dim and cozy, seemed like the perfect date spot.

I was inspired by the jeon and adapted my own recipe for it here. To recap, it's a sort of fried crepe/omelette with kimchi in it, topped with a grand slice of cream cheese. It was so good, serious bar food.

Unfortunately, I still was feeling under the weather from the motion sickness, so I didn't eat as much as I wanted to. And I certainly didn't drink as much as I would've liked to. The homemade makgeolli was excellent, I just wasn't feeling the white liquid on a weak stomach.

3 makgeollis + jeon = 19,000 W.

It was freezing, literally. 28 degrees. So we decided to spend the remainder of our night in Bundang.

We went to a more commercial restaurant called Wara Wara, which came off as a Korean TGI Fridays, but with better drinks. Their fun fruit cocktails were mixed at the table using fresh juice, so we indulged in a pitcher or two of those. The night drew to a close with good drinks and great conversation.

By the time we stumbled past the dopoki stand that we'd passed multiple times every day, I was ready for it's strange, spongy-yet-starchy texture and hefty kick of spice, layered over tempura shrimp and vegetables.

It was the perfect gut-warming food for a tipsy girl on a cold spring night. And a fine dish to bid us farewell to Korea.