We're in Seoul! After days of planning, then cancelling (because of the G20 Summit which very inconveniently took place in Seoul on the weekend that we'd planned to go!), then changing our travel dates and destination to Tokyo, and then changing it back to Seoul again, we were finally on our way. I was really looking forward to this trip, the food and the shopping but more so, to be able to spend some time with Mum. Being in Hong Kong, I've really missed having her around so this trip was very special.
I was initially very worried about leaving the kids, but Shad was as usual ever so encouraging telling to go enjoy myself and that they would be fine. And fine they were, I doubt they even missed me, having Daddy all to themselves the entire weekend, going out on a junk and the beach! So thanks to my lovely hubby and some wonderful close friends who are always here when I need a hand, Mum and I had a fantastic holiday.
And so our mother-daughter food adventure began. Our plan was to take things easy and work our way through the main sights while at the same time sampling as much local food as we could.
Welcome to Seoul! - we walked straight into this as we came out of the subway entrance at Myeong-dong
These little hotcakes were delicious, especially on a cold night
Skillful cooking of the hotteok (dough balls filled with brown sugar, honey, chopped peanuts and cinnamon)
Everything octopussy
Umuk (fish paste on a stick) - very tasty eaten with the spring onion sauce. Those spray bottles were very clever, protected their clients from those inconsiderate double dippers!
Our first meal - Jjimdak (chicken, potatoes, glass noodles, spring onions, cucumber and darn lot of chillies)
Queueing for some warm comfort at the famous Tosokchon Restaurant
And here it is... Sam Gye Tang (Ginseng Chicken)
I struggled to finish mine, but Mum emptied out her entire pot!
Guards at the Gyeongbok-gung Palace
One of the many pavilions within the palace grounds
Walking through the Bukchon area, we stumbled across this quaint little cafe housed in a hanok
A lovely pit-stop for afternoon tea
Such cutesy presentation
A quick stop near Ehwa University for some street shopping before dinner
Searching for dinner along the little lanes in Insadong
Meat galore
Kimchee jiggae to wash all that meat down - just perfect!
View from the cable car going up Namsan (Mount Nam) early in the morning
Wonder if that beard is real??
At the top of Namsan
Autumn colours
This was a beautiful sight, a gentle breeze blowing the leaves off the trees
Namsangol Hanok Village - a mini folk village which contains several display traditional style houses
It was no easy task making these traditional flutes - drilling the holes, filing them etc... hope the little boy appreciates it!
Some very colourful performers
My favourite pic of the trip
Mum was dressed most appropriately that day, she matched the trees so well :)
One of the traditional houses
Saturday crowd in Insadong
Inside this funnily shaped building, long lines of people were waiting to receive their free tub of "gochujang" (spicy bean paste)
Dried herbs shop in Insadong
Lunch at a cosy restaurant in one of the lanes in Insadong
A winter special - innards stew. Absolutely to die-for!
Seafood pajeon
Late night shopping at Dongdaemun
Deep fried french fries around a sausage - Ryan would have loved this!
One last stop at Myeong-dong
One can never have too much kalbi
Breakfast at Namdaemun market on our last day
Food Hall at Shinsegae Department Store
Cheonggyecheon Stream which runs 15ft below street level through downtown Seoul
Leaders of the G20 countries - the 2010 meeting was held in Seoul the week before
