13 November 2014
We spent the morning in a relaxed pace and was almost the last couple taking our breakfast at the hotel. The hotel staff helped to call for a taxi to take us to the Sokcho Express Bus Terminal where we bought the tickets for the next bus to Seoul.
Our hotel in Seoul was the Ibis Ambassador Myeongdong. I selected this hotel for its excellent location at the fringe of Myeongdong shopping district and walking distance to the Euljiro-1(il)-ga subway station.
We took a cool taxi, with a cool driver, from the Gangnam Bus Terminal to our hotel. This was why I find the taxi “cool” – its decor within, with many interesting objects and memorabilia of USA and bikes.
One of the many items on the dashboard.
The weather forecasted for this day was a cold spell and it was accurate. The temperature dropped to near zero although the sun was out. My original plan was to go to the Skypark to view the golden eulalia reeds which is at their best during autumn. The Skypark is also a good place to view the sunset over the city.
I figured it would not be fun to be in an open park with the wind and temperature near freezing point without the proper clothes. Best thing to do in bad weather would be shopping and eating. So we went for lunch at the Myeongdong Kyoja, a highly recommended restaurant within Myeongdong, There are actually two Myeongdong Kyoja shops within Myeongdong, located a short distance apart.
There were only 3 items in their menu - Kalguksu (knife cut, handmade noodle), Bibim guksu (cold noodles with vegetables and red hot pepper paste) and Mandu (steamed pork dumplings). Each item cost 8000 KRW and comes with kimchi as a side dish.
The steamed pork mandu and the cold noodles were both very good. The free-flow of kimchi was one of the hottest I have tasted in this trip. I will be back at this restaurant if I ever visit Seoul again.
Myeongdong is a crowded place, full of tourists and locals. Lucky visitors could get to meet a Korean celebrity too.
Cosmetics and beauty products are the best buys in Korea. Clothes would be too, but the stores were selling mostly autumn and winter wear. It seems that a high percentage of the stores were using Korean celebrities to endorse their products, especially cosmetics.
Another restaurant in Myeongdong that was highly recommended is the Yoogane Dak galbi restaurant. Again, there are actually two Yoogane Dak galbi restaurants within Myeongdong.
There are many variants of this dish but we went for the standard - spicy stir fried chicken with gochujang (chili pepper paste) sauce, sliced cabbage, sweet potato, bean sprouts, onions and korean rice cake, stir-fried together on a hot plate at our table.
Rice was added halfway to make a nice fried rice with the remaining sauce, vegetable and meat.
Best meal for a cold day.
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