Insa-dong

G and I made another foray into glamorous Seoul last Saturday for more shopping, eating, and checking out the sights. Luckily for me, G seems to enjoy the touristy things just as much as I do and is willing to come along with me :) Of course, we started the day out with an absolutely fabulous lunch at Cook N' Heim...now, I know that doesn't sound too appetizing but it was the cutest little restaurant/cafe up an alley. We shared the Premium Italian Burger (on focaccia, SO delicious) and the Shrimp and Crab Pasta....heavenly. And, of course, lunch would not have been complete without taking pictures of our scrumptious food...BEHOLD:


After lunch, we ambled down the market street, checking out the cool jade bracelets, kiosks selling heaven-knows-what-on-a-stick, and a certain street vendor making and selling a candy thing made of tiny threads of honey wrapped skillfully around some kind of powder...he told me he loved me. Memorable, I swear, to have a sweating street vendor tell you he loves you in broken English. In case you were wondering what happens when you pour your beer into your paper cup too quickly...

Roaming the streets of Seoul is always fascinating. Young and old mix in a cacophony of style, noise, and attitude. There is really cool artwork on the street walls, hidden used bookshops (which are great, but it's freaking heavy to carry around 15 lbs of books all day!), little cafes, and of course, what seems like millions of taxis and buses. Seoul is actually the cleanest and nicest Asian city I've been to though. Pollution isn't horrible and everyone is really nice. I'm liking living so close to such a cool city :)




And the token margarita glasses...big shout out to my pals at Margarita Grill! Miss you and your addicting queso!










The awesome used bookstore was right underneath this awesome sign...I love it when I find them...the last time I saw one was in South Africa.










At Seoul Tower, we took a million pictures and checked out Seoul by night. It is SO beautiful up there, and we didn't even go to the top of the tower! We rode a cable car (after hoofing it up a steep 1/2 mile inclined road) up to the base of the tower where they have a Cold Stone Creamery (holla!), souvenir shops, and overlook places where the fence is festooned with locks. Like, padlocks. Apparently, it very romantic to come to the Tower with your beloved and lock a padlock on the fence, thereby ensuring that your love will last forever. I mean, tons of locks, people. There are lots of lovey-dovey peeps in Seoul, y'all!
Can you see the city in the background? BTW, it was windy and pretty chilly up there...the view (and the ice cream) was so worth it!









On the way home, things got a little crazy. I was exhausted (I wimp out early these days) and as everyone knows, when I get tired, I get giggly and weird. We got on the first subway line where the young man beside me proceeded to fall asleep, head lolling on my shoulder. I was laughing so hard I was shaking...I'm surprised I didn't wake him up! We had to change lines after that, so we headed that way.

Here's the thing about the subway...the doors open and you force your way in, trampling old women and children alike, all so you can get a coveted seat for your journey. You DON'T want to stand the whole way. Anyway, I jumped on the subway quickly and headed for a freshly vacated end seat, congratulating myself for being so adept at managing the "Seoul Train". Well, the elderly gentleman who had just vacated the seat realized that it wasn't his stop and proceeded to "back it up" right into my lap. I swear, it seemed to happen in slow motion as his rump lowered itself into my lap. He rebounded fast, though, especially for his age! I, of course, apologized profusely (in English, trying not to laugh) and tried to avoid eye contact with him for the remainder of the journey.
We had such a great time...me and G's little excursions to Seoul always end up memorable!




BTW, these last two pics are of me waiting for the LAST train...I was delirious by this time, which amused G greatly. There are actually quite a few pics of me looking like I'm a beggar and in other odd poses, but I think these show just how tired I really was. You gotta love the friends who capture you at your best ;)