[This interest in returning to blogging was actually triggered by a old-school parchment paper journal I just received for my birthday. I forgot how much I enjoyed writing about my trips. So here it goes.]
From: Seoul/Incheon
To: Home
Location: Incheon Airport
It's 6:00am in the Incheon airport. I like the buzzing silences of airports early in the morning, mostly because it is so uncommon. A groggy airport waking up from an evening sleep.
Being the first one in line and watching the JAL ticket agents hover around preparing the checkin gate for the days work. All 6 identically dressed (down to the purse and hair-pins) ticket agents stood in front of me & 70 other women Japanese tourists and gave us a courteous bow as a morning welcome to their airline. I'm connecting home through Tokyo and expecting a lecture from someone in my family because of this.
Last night was my last night in Korea. Michelle (a Seoul colleague and now friend) and I went out for sashimi in old Songdo. Together we had a 20 course Japanese meal. They put us in our very own dining room with the paper screens. We sat on the floor with the bottom cut out (sushi restaurant-done-American-style). I prefer this set-up because that way I can't smell my feet while eating. Ha!
A Summary of the Plates
1. Salt Porridge
2. Roast Garlic, flax, seaweed.
3. A 1.5ft platter of 5 types of fish (pink, blue, white, cream).
4. Egg roe, seaweed & sea cucumber internal organs
5. Eight individually served dishes of:
- crab meat,
- stewed figs
- flounder
- autumn mushrooms
- a dark violet Abalone, very chewy like pig cartiliage (why is it that I know that?)
- purple abalone with a white stripe
- a crunchy, creamy brown abalone with delicate black spots.
- A Sea Squirt (another word that Michelle looked up while the food was in my mouth)
6. A bright green seawood soup.
7. Smoked Salmon Salad.
8. Flounder sashimi slices
9. Kimchi, Japanese pickle, and leaves (doesn't really count as a dish though)
10. Thin Strips of beef cooked on a hot stone
12. A fish, rice, and veggie soup
13. Fish grilled in the skin and scales.
14. Sweet Juice for finish
Most of the translations, especially the internal organs of sea cucumber, Michelle found on babelfish once I had already put the food in my mouth. After a while, I told her I didn't want to know what I was eating. The meal between the two of us was only 60K won/person (around $60). Not too bad.
After dinner, we headed over to a house-warming for a colleague who had just moved into the city. If not already stuffed, as a gift I picked up a chocolate & white chiffon cake from new Parisian cafe (the city is trying their best to appear to expats).
It was a long day, I was stuffed, and headed home soon after.
Highlights of This Korea Trip
1. I learned how to hit a golf ball! I am wondering why I never learned before.
2. Visited the Royal Palaces in Seoul. Simply made but beautiful places. Nice for reflection.
3. Walking through the thousands of textile, fabric, clothes, and food street vendors.
4. Asian/Korean Dragon Hill Spa - Got to run around naked in the Korean Spa among all the Asia women. That was interesting! Here are a couple of observations on my Asia spa experience:
- They had 8 different pools of different temps, water-type, location.
- The bathing part was different, almost collaborative among friends. Asian friends go about aggressively scrubbing each others arms, backs, and butts.
- You *can* pay extra for being washed by a professional. Strange.
- You can pay 40K won for a Hip Washing. Look it up if you want to know what it is.
The coed parts of the spa get even more exotic. In these areas, you can go to the:
- Salt sauna
- Charcoal kiln (yup, basically a warming oven for humans. I didn't like it)
- A freezer room (with its own snowman) - only men seemed to prefer that. I was only in for 60 secs.
- or eat at a Korean BBQ restaurant that played a dubbed version of Avatar.
Of course, there was a lot of work in between all the fun stuff. Really glad to be heading home.
-Jen.
