Buon Posto at Mok-dong

Last week my father came to visit me in Seoul. Before left he gave us 160,000 won to have a nice meal in a restaurant on my boyfriend’s birthday. “Go somewhere really nice like a hotel restaurant,” he said.

My boyfriend tried to scare me by suggesting raw fish at the seaside. “I’ll make sure they chop the head off and don’t give you a live one.”

I had a feeling he was trying to wind me up because he knows travelling for hours to eat something like that isn’t my cup of tea. I don’t understand anyone who will spend hours in the car for the sake of a simple meal.

I stayed quiet because it was his birthday and I didn’t want to stop him choosing what he wanted. I went to the loo and tied my shoes up hoping that it was a joke but not saying anything. By the time we were waiting for the lift I couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“Don’t you fancy a nice hotel restaurant in the city centre? The Somerset Palace Hotel (near Anguk station) has very good German food.” I went there last week with Dad and thoroughly enjoyed my meal.

Eventually we decided on the Italian restaurant at the Hyundai shopping centre in Mok-dong. Omokgyo station on line 5 is located directly underneath it so on a rainy day you don’t even have to get wet. We went there in the car and had a cross 15 minutes trying to find the floor with the restaurants on it. The first lift we found took us up to a swanky sports club well out of our budget.

Finally we found the restaurant area, which has Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Italian restaurants. I realised that I had overinflated the poshness of the place in my imagination. It was a little more expensive than the places we usually visit, two spaghetti carbonaras with 2 cokes set us back 33,000 won, but essentially it was just an upmarket shopping centre food court.

We ate at a place called Buon Posto. It was clearly a popular choice because we had to wait 10 minutes for a table. Once inside you can see the chefs at work in a sushi bar style kitchen and watch the shoppers go by through the glass windows that make the outer walls of the restaurant. My one criticism of the interior was that the air conditioning was on too high a setting so we were a little cold.

When the pasta arrived we weren’t disappointed. It had a good breadth of flavour with just the right amount of black pepper. The spaghetti looked cheap but was actually the best I’ve had in Korea because it actually tasted of something. My boyfriend found it too creamy for his Korean palate, but that’s not surprising because when properly cooked in Italy, carbonara can be quite a heavy dish.

We left feeling pleased that we had saved enough money for another nice meal another day.

Seoul Foreigners Cemetery

Yesterday I visited the Seoul foreigners cemetery. Unfortunately I cut my fingers on a sharp join in a handrail there and needed seven stitches so I can’t write in great length about it. The instructions on how to get there are at the bottom of this Web page.

There are over 500 graves in the cemetery. A third of the dead are missionaries and the rest are diplomats, sailors, foreign visitors etc… Before I sprayed blood everywhere I had the chance to admire a very nice 19th-century (I think) funeral column of a British diplomat.

My one criticism (apart from the handrail of doom) is that the graves have been fenced around and one can only view them from little paths. This makes it hard to stand in front of each one and think about it properly.

Seoul to Busan on the KTX

This morning I caught the KTX train to Busan from Seoul station (subway line 1 & 4). The journey takes less than three hours. On a Tuesday morning it wasn’t crowded so we had no difficulty buying tickets. On other occasions such as Chuseok and the Lunar New Year seats are bought up on the internet within minutes of going on sale. Last Lunar New Year we thought we had lost our chance to go by KTX but then we heard about standing up tickets. We bought those from a ticket office the night before travelling.

The track between Seoul and Busan passes through pleasant green farmland and forested hills, with some mountains near the Busan area. South Korea has some very impressive national parks but you won’t see anything of those from this train. Instead expect to see farming villages, rice paddies, people working in the fields and glimpses of towns along the tracks. This is throughly well utilised countryside so even the most bucolic stretches are sprinkled with electricity pylons and building sites.

When we arrived in Busan we got on the city’s clean and efficient subway system and met a relative at the famous Haeundae beach.

National Assembly Building

The National Assembly Building

This morning I went to visit the National Assembly building in Seoul. I must admit I only went there because I mistakenly thought that Yeouido station (line 5) was on that island in the middle of the Han river with all the birds on it.

The National Assembly grounds are open to the public but the building itself is off limits. When I was there I saw two young policemen chasing escorting away a couple with a child who had wandered beyond the barrier to take photographs on the front steps.

There are some interesting sculptures in front of the National Assembly. I like the two stone Korean tigers, the fountain and the bronze of a female Korean with men behind her (it had a twin fronted by a male Korean). I can’t think of the style of the bronze, it looked like the kind of heroic statue one associates with Communist countries.

The rest of the grounds are rather like a large park. I saw signs to something called the Memorial Building but I didn’t find out what it was.

Yeouido station is actually quite a walk from the Assembly Building. When you arrive at the subway you’ll see a sign directing you to the appropriate exit, after that walk straight on through an area of offices, through the central square of Yeouido park and then onwards. You can’t miss the Assembly Building because it has a green domed roof.

On the way back I had lunch in the Outback Steakhouse next to Yeouido station. The food there is better than Burger King (which is also nearby) but rather expensive.

I’m sorry I can’t give clearer directions. It was hot today so I’m whacked.

View from the National Assembly Building

Changing of the Guards at Gyeongbokgung

This afternoon I went to see the changing of the guards at Gyeongbokgung palace in central Seoul. Gyeongbokgung was the seat of power when Korea was a kingdom. Now the president of South Korea’s house is just behind it.

The palace is a short walk from a number of subway stations, including Anguk, Jonggak and Gwanghwamun. However, if you’re worried about getting lost take the subway to Gyeongbokgung station on line 3.

I’ve seen the changing of the guards ceremony twice now. I enjoyed it most on a Monday afternoon when there were few tourists around (it doesn’t happen on Tuesdays). Today on Saturday afternoon there were too many people laughing, chattering and generally getting in the way to allow the performance to have much atmosphere.

The ceremony takes place at intervals throughout the day. I don’t want to record the times here in case they change. This government Web site gives current information.

I am told by Koreans that the ceremony began in the mid-1990s and was inspired by the popularity of the changing of the guards in London. According to the government Web site I link to above it is an amalgamation of three separate traditional ceremonies. My favourite part of the ceremony was the traditional music played over the speakers, the beating of the drums and the large flags carried by the guards. In a city where so much tradition has been lost it is a nice thing to see.

I found out today that until the early 1990s there was a Japanese colonial period government building on the site of the palace. It was demolished so that the old palace could be reconstructed. Knowing that made me appreciate the rather uninteresting palace buildings a little more.

Can you imagine if a foreign power occupied your country, demolished much of the seat of government and built its own palace on the site? Once that colonial palace was demolished and the original structure was restored, wouldn’t you feel some fondness for it even if it was just a shadow of its former self?

Train to Incheon International Airport

Yesterday I took the new train link between Gimpo International airport (subway line 5) and Incheon International airport. The link is run by a different train company but you can use the same T-money card that you use on the Seoul subway system.

The train ride took about half hour and was largely above ground. Not long after Gimpo it stops at Gyeyang (line 1) so you can join it there if you wish.

The carriages were nice and wide with seats along the length under the windows. After dark it’s quite boring because you can’t look out of the window, but there are tv screens mounted on the walls showing the usual comedy clips and news reports one finds on airport trains.

In daylight passengers are treated to views of paddy fields, traditional farm houses, greenery and the usual grey concrete expanses of modern South Korea. At one point as the train passes over the bridge to Yeongjong-do, the island where the airport is sited, you feel as if you are gliding over sand flats.

I think it’s a nice way to come into Seoul after a long flight and it avoids the traffic jams, but be warned, once you get into the subway system you may have some long walks between platforms if you need to change lines.

A Place to Hang Out and Two Books to Read

“Let’s meet at Express Bus Terminal station,” my friend said. At first I was rather alarmed. I’d never even taken a bus in Seoul, so how was I going to get there on my own? To my relief it turned out to be a subway station on line 3 and line 7.

My friend said I should meet him at the main entrance, which I never found because the station is so large and has so many levels. There’s a Marriott hotel there, lots of shops, food places and a Shinsegae department store. It doesn’t look like a bad place to hang out with friends on a bad weather day.

In the end we met at the main entrance of Shinsegae. If you’re interested in cheesy mish mashes of European culture in Korea you’ll appreciate the giant figures on either side of the department store doors: British soldiers with their red jackets and black bear skin hats standing guard with Swiss guards from the Vatican.

I’ve read a bit more Korean literature in translation since I last blogged here. I bought Photo Shop Murder by Kim Young-Ha and Mujong by Yi Kwang-Su. Kim’s book is actually two stories, one about a detective solving a homicide and the other about a man having a very bad time trying to get to the office. I enjoyed them but didn’t find them very satisfying because they seemed a bit light. Having said that, they undoubtedly do say something about Kim’s view of society.

I found out about Mujong after attending a lecture by Michael Shin at the Royal Asiatic Society. It’s got a good page turning story line and says an awful lot about changes in Korean society 90 years ago.

Anyangcheon

I’m not a bird watcher but I believe that I’d be satisfied with Seoul if I was. The mountains come in so close around the city that it’s not difficult to find tree covered areas teeming with bird life. Plus there are the parks and gardens like Yongsan Family Park and the grounds of Jongmyo Shrine.

The Han river and its tributaries are also a good place to look for our feathered friends. The platforms at Guil station (line 1) are built on a bridge over the Anyangcheon. Koreans translate “cheon” as “stream,” but this is clearly a river.

I haven’t been measuring the bird population of the Anyangcheon but it seems lively enough. Herons, cranes and a variety of ducks waddle in its often shallow waters and there are usually magpies and pigeons on the banks. I’m under the impression that there is more activity in the winter because migrating birds come down from the north.

You can get down to the riverside by taking the sloping path directly in front of the subway station entrance. Turning right at the bottom of the path will take you towards Mok-dong, which can be identified by tall towers in the distance. Turning left will take you to Geumcheon. I haven’t explored the second route for a long time because when I first arrived in Seoul it was very underdeveloped. However, the local council have been putting a lot of effort into the riverside area so it may be different now.

The Mok-dong direction is particularly interesting on weekends and holidays because of the sports pitches and rollerblading areas. Companies and clubs often hold football matches by the river as well as barbecues and group aerobic sessions and other fun and games. It’s a great place to see Koreans relaxing.

I enjoy looking at the plants along the riverbank. Sadly most of the spring flowers are gone now but there is a lot of lush green growth.

If you’re hungry after your walk there’s a food court in the Lottemart supermarket near Guil. A good selection of restaurants can also be found in the large white apartment complex opposite the subway station.