Seoul Searching (Times Three)

There is a lot to do and a lot to see in Seoul. We still have a few weeks here, and I hope to see more, but here are some of my explorations of the past few days.

The Palace

The throne room palace at Chongdeokgong and the slightly raised King's Way

One day Alrica and I took the metro into Eulji-ro, the same district where the whelk became so popular that I talked about in my last post. And there was a knight in the metro station! Well, a tile knight, but that's similar right?

I'm unsure what the white and navy at bottom right is supposed to be

Now, Eulji-ro wasn't our goal. We walked north and visite Ikseondong. This is an area with Hanok house on tight narrow streets filled with pedestrians. It's very popular with tourists and locals and has tons of cafes and shops. There was one wall that had twelve vending machines in the wall. Above each vending machine was one of the animals from the Chinese Zodiac. There were words in Korean, but I didn't understand them. Still, I assume the idea is to get something out of the vending machine with the animal that corresponds to your birth year. Personally, I'm a pig. But I also live a life in which I have to minimize what I own, so I was not too tempted by the vending machines. Neither was my rabbit wife.

Ikseondong sighting: Hydrant beside a meditating frog

From Ikseondong we walked to Chongdeok Palace (or Chongdeokgong as gong means palace.)

The palace gate ahead

There was much of interest here. It is a beautiful palace. But not all of it is originally Chongdeokgong. Many of the buildings are the original buildings, but not all of them. Some did not survive the war. And after the war, some of the palace buildings at other palaces were moved to this location to replace the lost buildings. Like modular castle design. Except in the move and rebuild, not all of the materials transferred well. So repairs continue to this day.

I like the little figures on the roof

We saw the main throne room palace. This is where the emperor would meet dignitaries or his subjects, where coronations occurred, and where major pronouncements were made. Behind the throne itself is a mural of the sun and moon and several waterfalls. It was representative of the majesty of the emperor.

The emperor's throne

The courtyard that leads from the gate to the palace has some fascinating features. There is a higher part that runs from the center of the gate to the center of the stairs up to the palace. That was "The King's Way". Only the emperor walked on this slightly higher path.

Rank stones

On either side of the King's Way, there are stones, almost like short little milestones. But these are rank stones. Each is engraved and they indicate how all the ministers were to arrange themselves when they came into the presence of the emperor. Those of higher rank were closer to the throne room. Those of lower rank were further away. Military officials lined up on one side of the King's Way and civil ministers lined up on the other side.

The next building we visited was special. It has blue tiles for its roof. These were, apparently, very expensive and used sparingly. This second palace with the blue (not super bright blue) roof was where the emperor spent most of his time. This was his daytime living quarters and also where he conducted most of his business with his advisers. The throne room was good for ceremony, but the day to day work of being the monarch was done in this second palace.

Note that the roof is bluer

One of the officials was the royal historian. The job of the historian was to follow the emperor everywhere he went and record everything the emperor said or did. These historians were so conscientious that it made the emperor's annoyed. In one of the histories, the emperor was out riding and he fell off his horse. He was embarrassed about it and said he didn't want it recorded in the official history. But the historian knew his duty. So the history reads something like "The emperor fell off his horse. He then commanded that this fact should not be recorded in the official history." Disobedient historian for the win!

The sum/moon/waterfall mural is in this building too and you get a better view of it

The third palace we visited was the emperor's bed chambers. This is bigger than just a bed chamber. It is his entire living space. But right behind that, in the fourth palace we visited was the queen's palace, her living space. And there is a fascinating structural difference in this building.

Royal bedchambers for the emporer

In all of the other palaces and in traditional Hanok architecture, there is a horizontal beam that runs across the roof, on the top, on the outside where you can see it. But the queen's palace doesn't have that horizontal beam. The reason is kind of magnificent.

The king's bedchamber, notice the horizontal beam at the top of the roof

The queen's bedchamber, notice that horizontal bar is missing

That beam is called the Dragon's Beam. It is supposed to invoke the spirit of a dragon to protect the home. The emperor is also considered a dragon. His job is to protect Korea. The main duty of the queen is to produce a male heir, the new dragon. They believed that if there were a dragon's beam on the top of her chambers, the energy of that dragon would suffocate the energy of a new dragon and the queen wouldn't be able to produce a male heir.

It was a fun explore. And after it, we got waffle fish. So good day!

The Mountain

I went out for a little solo walk one day. I decided to walk the road that is near our apartment and runs through the market. I would follow it south and see how far it led. And I did. I ended up at one of the high rise complexes. I continued to explore and came to one of the uphill portions of Seoul. The city is primarily built in a flat valley but it is in the midst of many mountains. Some of these are right inside the city. I decided on an uphill strategy. I wanted to see the neighborhoods that were built higher.

A view from Geumho. That tall building on the mountain is the Seoul N Tower

I kept going up and found a staircase and followed that. And soon I realized I was in some sort of park. So I pulled out my phone to find out where I was. Turns out, I was on one of the mountains in the center of Seoul. I was on Geumho Mountain.

Another view, not looking into the sun this time

I explored the mountain. There are some places with beautiful viewpoints. There are badminton courts and basketball courts. There is a lot of exercise equipment. That's huge here. Every park seems to have exercise equipment, and you frequently see it being used. The primary users tend to be older Koreans.

In this direction you can see the Han River behind the buildings

It was a lovely walk. And then, on my way home, I saw a familiar friend.

Hi Colonel!

The Stream

On a different solo exploration, I went back to the Cheonggyecheon Stream. I know I've already mentioned it in the blog. But I decided to walk from where it was closest to where we live all the way downstream until it meets the Han River.

The confluence of the stream and the river

I was surprised at how many different birds I saw at the stream. This is the middle of the city. But the stream does feel like a bit of nature away from the hustle, and apparently the birds appreciate that too.

Bird

Birds

Birds! (okay, that's just one bird)

Nature has some other magnificent sights along the way. I admit, the tulips were probably nature with the help of humanity, but I'm giving nature a lot of the credit.

I did not tiptoe through these.

But there was a lot of loveliness created by humans along the way too. Plenty of sculptures.

He doesn't look happy

Heart and Seoul?

That's bull

Thumbs up

At the confluence of the stream and the river, I found a park. This was an area with some other sculptures and art, but also had ballfields.

Keeping the balance

I saw young kids playing soccer (or they would say football.) And there were older kids, teenage boys, playing baseball.

Clock in the ground, and the time was correct. I checked.

Here's what fascinated me. Everything was in English. One team was WePlay (I assume their sponsor.) The other was something like AngelBirds or AngryBirds. I couldn't make it out. The names on the backs of the shirts were written in the Latin Alphabet. And the scoreboard said "Team" and "Away" and "Home". Plus it marked how many balls, strikes, and outs there were with B, S, and O. All English. In South Korea.

The home team is dominating the away team

On the way home I found a big market where the streets were blocked off and there were people selling things from tables or sitting on the ground. Mostly it was clothing, but there were electronics too.

I saw a place selling corndogs and thought, I haven't had a corndog in a long time. I bought a couple for dinner. Because who says no to corndogs?

That's a lot of exploring, and there is still so much more to check out. So I'm sure I will have more to report.

The Snozberries Taste Like Snozberries

The title of this blog post is, of course, a reference to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when Gene Wilder, playing Willy Wonka, introduces his guests to lickable wallpaper. If you don't know the movie, no worries. You can follow this post without it.

But what you do need to know is that Alrica really likes colby jack cheese. Back in the States, we would regularly buy colby jack cheese. It's delicious and it is one of her favorites. But in most of our travels, we don't ever see colby jack cheese. In many places, you hardly see cheese at all. So imagine Alrica's delight when, early this week while visiting the grocery store, she found colby jack cheese. If you are imagining a lot of delight, good job.

Now, ratchet that up a notch, you have one more scene to imagine. You see, we bought the cheese and brought it home. Now you are imagining Alrica's delight when she tasted it. And she said to me, "The colby jack cheese tastes like colby jack cheese." To which I replied, as you have probably guessed, "The snozberries taste like snozberries."

It's wonderful to find some familiar foods in other countries. But it is fascinating to see the differences. Have you ever seen canned whelk at home?

This is not just whelk. This is premium whelk.

This is even more interesting than you think. The Korean word golbaengi is used for any edible sea snails. The prime golbaengi eaten is whelk. But this is imported whelk. They don't catch a lot of them here. Almost all the whelk eaten in South Korea is imported from the UK. But in the UK, where these are caught by the thousands, nobody eats them. They think they are bait for catching other fish and are otherwise unpalatable.

How did this all begin? It started with locally caught whelk. It wasn't a hugely popular food yet in Korea, only eaten in some of the fishing towns where it was caught. But during a period of industrialization in the 1960s, the Eulji-ro district of Seoul (which is just a bit west of where we live) became home to lots of factories. Restaurants in the area started serving a salad that included golbaengi. In Korea, the texture of a food is considered as important as the flavor. These industrial workers loved the chewy resistance to their teeth. The whelk was mixed with vegetables, strong sauces and noodles, so it was flavorful and filling as well.

This new golbaengi dish became super popular. It spread outside of just the Eulji-ro district. But Korean fisherman couldn't catch enough to keep up with demand. The whelk in Korea live in deep waters, they aren't easy or inexpensive to catch. But the whelk around the British Isles, they live in shallow waters and were being caught by accident. They were just an extra thing in the nets of fisherman when they hauled up their fish.

And boom! (An import boom.) Korean importers started buying whelk from British fishermen. This was fantastic for the Brits. Before these, a small amount of the whelk was used for bait, but mostly it was a waste product. Now there are Korean importers who want to pay for it? Who would say no to that?

We could end the whelk story here. Then it would seem like a happy win-win tale. If you want a happy whelk ending, skip the next paragraph.

For those you reading this paragraph, you probably have a good guess what happens next. Korean demand skyrockets. British fishermen in the Irish Sea start catching whelk, not worrying about fish. The demand is so high, the Brits catch all kinds of whelk, even the juveniles. They catch all year long, even in mating seasons. And what's the inevitable outcome of that? The whelk population crashes. For decades the British government does nothing about it. Finally in 2024, the UK passes regulations on the whelk fishing industry in the hopes that they can save the whelk from total extinction. They put in place size limits (on the individual whelk meaning you can't catch them too small, the juvenile ones), monthly weight limits, areas that are forbidden to be fished because they are breeding grounds, and a total ban on whelk fishing between April and June as that is the mating season. (Does it seem like a long mating season? Well, they are sea snails, they don't move fast.) Hopefully these new rules will help and there will be future whelk.

Another food that has amazing popularity is seaweed. In the USA, you hardly see seaweed used aside from as part of sushi. You can find it, sure, but it isn't common. But in Korea, dried roasted seaweed is huge. It's a snack. And there are so many varieties of it!

Look, the girl is making a heart with her fingers. She really loves seaweed snacks!

Perhaps you prefer your seaweed snacks to have that oakwood flavor

Maybe you like your seaweed roasted in sesame oil

Or perhaps you prefer perilla oil which comes from the Japanese Mint plant

You need one kind of seaweed for your gimbap

But a different kind for your onigiri. By the way, can the Minions market anything?

And garnish, because sometimes that touch of seaweed is all the difference in presentation

Don't ask, "Why would anyone need so many kinds of seaweed?" If you do, Willy Wonka might grab your face and say, "We are the music makers. And we are the eaters of seaweed. No, no, dreamers of dreams. Went off script for a second there. Sorry."

Hanok Village

On Wednesday, we took at trip to Eunpyeong Hanok Village. This is in Seoul, but Seoul has a lot of other "towns" within it, including what is called Eunpyeong New Town. After the Korean War, there was little in this area, and then it became a place of poorly built wooden housing where the very poor lived.

Then, as Seoul grew, and they were trying to eliminate buildings that were unsafe due to being fire hazards or unable to withstand earthquakes, Eunpyeong was selected for the next urban growth. Much of Eunpyeong New Town looks like a lot of other parts of Seoul with high-rise apartments. But in one section, they instead built a Hanok village.

Eunpyeong Hanok Village and a lantern and mountains

What's Hanok? The word Hanok comes from two Chinese characters, the first "Han" meaning Korea and the second "Ok" meaning house. I will show you some Hanok architecture. But this word, Hanok, didn't exist for a long time. The Korean way of building houses was the only way houses were built for many centuries. So Hanok houses were just houses. It wasn't until Westerners came and brought their building techniques that two very different styles of buildings were constructed, western style houses and the traditional Korean style houses. That latter construction became known as Hanok architecture.

Hanok homes

Hanok houses are built using pillars, beams, and rafters, but without using nails to attach them. The cuts in the pieces allow them to fit tightly together. Traditionally, all these elements would be made of wood. That's still common, but other materials are now used as well. In addition, Hanok architecture uses stone blocks as cornerstones and under the wooden beams that make up the outer walls. This means the wood is not directly making contact with the ground which helps prevent water damage and rot.

A detail in one of the walls of one of the homes. I think tiger. Alrica thinks maybe tiger, maybe cat.

Hanok houses also have sloped roofs and overhangs at the ends of them. The width of the overhang and the pitch of the roof depend on where the house is being built and the conditions in the area. The slope is meant to help with dispersing rain and the overhangs block the sun from shining directly into the house in the summer. They overhang the windows so the sun, high in the sky, doesn't heat the house as much. In the winter when snow is on the ground, and when the sun is lower, those slopes and overhangs help to direct more sunlight into the house. This includes direct sunlight, but also the light reflecting off the white snow. Traditionally, the roof would be made of thatch, but modern Hanok architecture uses tiles. And they are not flat tiles, but rounded to better resist hail and sleet.

You can check out the roof and the overhangs

Perhaps the biggest innovation of the Hanok is the ondul. This is the heating system. Fireplaces are inefficient losing a lot of the heat energy up the flue. In a Korean home, the floor of the house was placed over large stones called baking stones. These stones absorb heat well and slowly release it when they are hot. The ondul system consists of a furnace at one end of the perimeter of the house. Fuel is burned here and the hot air, smoke, and exhaust travels in tunnels under the house, heating the baking stones. The vent or the flue is on the opposite side of the perimeter of the house. The fires are lit, and the hot air and exhaust pass under the house, heating not only the house, but also the baking stones. Then, even after the fire is put out for the night, the baking stones stay hot and slowly radiate heat up through the floor of the house, keeping it warm all night long.

I love the traditional old-world style of the door along with the smart doorbell

This is still the preferred heating method for Korean homes today, even those built using Western style architecture. But there has been one change. Rather than the exhaust of an open flame heating the baking stones, now it is heated water from a boiler which travels in pipes around the baking stones. It is similar to a radiator or a baseboard heater in the west. But the difference is the stones which stay hot for longer and the fact that the heat comes up through the floor itself.

It is a very clean aesthetic

Eunpyeong Hanok Village is beautiful and this is only partially due to the lovely construction of the houses there. The backdrop is also amazing, surrounded by lofty and picturesque mountains.

The village and the mountains seen from the museum rooftop platform

While we were there we visited the Eunpyeong Hanok museum where we learned all this neat stuff about Hanok architecture. It also discussed the history of the village. One interesting thing I learned, when they decided to build Eunpyeong New Town, they found lots of old, old graves. Bodies had to be reinterred. And the reason is this. Long ago when Seoul (which was called Hanyang at the time) was the seat of the emporer, there was a law that no one could be buried within the city walls, nor within 4 kilometers of the city walls. (I assume it wasn't actually measured in kilometers back then, but it was a distance equivalent to 4 km today.) Eunpyeong was a nearby station for horses and messengers and travelers going into and out of Hanyang. And it was just outside the prescribed prohibition area for bodies. So it became a major place for burials of people from Hanyang.

This was inset in a wall displaying people in traditional Korean clothing called hanbok

In addition, the rooftop viewing area of the museum offers fantastic views of the village and the mountains. If you're ever in the area, you should visit!

Another detail in a wall calling nature to mind

We had a great time. And we got a bonus moment of magic. We were sitting in a gazebo along the Eunpyeong Trail. Surrounding the gazebo were many cherry blossom trees that still had a good number of petals. We were sitting, enjoying the trees, and how the occasional petal would fall. Then a breeze came through and many petals started streaming down. It was like we were watching snow fall outside a window, but the snow was delicate pink flower petals. It only lasted a few seconds, but it is a memory we will hold on to for years to come.

Beauty and the Bread (and the Ratings Racket)

On Monday, Alrica and I visited the Seongsu neighborhood. This neighborhood is known for several things. It is the home to beauty, to salt bread, and to shoemakers. Let me describe each.

Beauty

In Seongsu, there are many stores selling beauty products: creams, lotions, cosmetics, tools for caring for eyebrows, nails, and teeth. The idea of beauty is very important in Korea, and this is the district where you can find all your beauty needs.

One of the big cosmetics/toiletries chains is called Olive Young. Their flagship store is in Seongsu. And one of the services they offer is a skin assessment. However, this is incredibly popular, and they only give out so many in day. So you are supposed to arrive right when they open if you want a chance at it. We believed that they opened at 10 and we arrived at 10:02. Either they opened earlier than 10 or it really is true that you have to line up before they open, because there were already too many people there and there were going to be no more skin assessments.

Maybe we will go back and try again. We may not. It depends mostly on if Alrica wants to do it or not. Personally, I know the biggest thing to know about my skin, I have psoriasis. But I suppose there could be secondary features I could learn about. But if I am being honest, I'm not likely to buy whatever products they suggest I buy based on my skin assessment. I agree it could be fun to see what a skin assessment is, but I'm not sure if it is fun enough to be worth the effort to me.

A fire extinguisher for the Ultra Facial Meltdown Recovery Cream 

Though we weren't able to get assessed, we still wandered the store a bit. Alrica was probably interested in the products. I was interested in the marketing.

Why would a skinless skeleton be chosen to hock skin care products?

Salt Bread

One of the virally trending foods in Seoul right now is salt bread. Salt bread is bread rolls that are made with lots of butter and, as you might have guessed, are also made with a good deal of salt. They are smooth and soft and definitely very buttery and salty. No surprises on those last two. Seongsu is the part of town where all the elite find their finest salt bread. This is to the point that you have to wait in line to enter the bakeries.

Before we purchased our salt bread though, we saw a shop called Bagel Land. Now, we had not had bagels in a long time. So we decided to head inside and get a bagel sandwich. It was good. No, it wasn't New York bagels good, but it was good. And after a long bagel drought, it was even more attractive.

On a Tangent: Ratings Racket

Throughout our travels, we have used Google Maps to navigate a lot of places. It works great usually, though there are some places that it is not very effective. I'm thinking of the medina of Fez, for example.

South Korea is another exception. For a long time, the South Korean government withheld its detailed GPS information from Google. There are specific South Korean mapping apps: Kakao Maps and Naver Maps. They are fantastic so long as you are in South Korea. They even have a Marauder's Map feature for the metro. I can see where the metro trains are in real time. But they only work in South Korea.

You see, South Korea felt that Google doesn't play fair. They will show you locations of businesses that paid them for the right and fail to show you the locations of businesses that didn't. In other words, they are racketeers. If you zoom in far enough, then you can see the businesses that didn't pay. But if you just do a search for pizza, you are going to see the pizzerias that did pay in the initial map area that Google gives you. So South Korea said, no pay to play! We are opposed to you Google.

Until last month.

South Korea reversed its previous course in regards to Google. Since Google is the powerhouse that it is, and so many foreign tourists use Google Maps, the government decided it had to let Google compete with Kakao and Naver. Basically, South Korea decided in favor of tourist friendly rather than business protectionism.

This has led to the "Google Review Event". What it means is that there are lots of businesses in South Korea that have no Google reviews and no ratings, because until now Google Maps hadn't known those businesses were there. Seeing as how this move was to make foreign tourists more likely to use the app they already know, this is concerning for the businesses. Tourists won't choose them because they have very few ratings and no reviews.

So many such businesses are offering a "Google Review Event." If you complete a Google review of that business (and usually you must include a picture) then they give you something for free. Bagel Land was having such an event. Alrica completed a Google review with a picture and she received a plain bagel for free.

OMG! Free bagel!

This leads me to the second Google racket, the reviews themselves. When we started our travels, I was great about doing Google reviews of places. I felt that it was very helpful to the businesses to have a detailed review (and I am detailed) in English for their international travelers. And I felt like I was giving back to the travel community because my review might help them. (As I said, very detailed.)

When you write reviews, you get points for the review. The number of points depends on how much you write, if you include pictures, and if you answer specific questions. But what do you need points for?

When you've done five review, you become a "local guide". But you start as a local guide level 1. And you need a small number of points to make level 2, maybe it is another 20 points. But then you need like 100 points or something to make level 3. And maybe 500 more points to make level 4. I'm not sure of the exact numbers. But it is a growing scale.

This is exactly like Dungeons and Dragons. You start out as a first level character. Maybe you need 2000 experience points to reach second level. But then you need 4000 more to reach third level and 8000 more than that to reach fourth level and so on. But here's the question. What are the points earning me?

In D&D, as I gain levels I am better at attacking my opponents. I get more spell slots and access to better spells. I can better resist poison or the breath weapon the titular dragons that I might meet in the titular dungeons. Experience points matter, at least for playing the game.

But with Google, what do these points earn me? Well, I have a badge, a little orange circle with a shape in it. At fourth level, that shape becomes a star, one with four points. At fifth level it is a five pointed start. At sixth level, it is a six pointed star. I think you see the pattern.

That's it! That's all you get. You get the title of Level 6 Local Guide and a badge with more points on the star. Google claims you "might" get early access to new Google features. But what features? Unspecified. Has it ever happened? Not in my experience.

What's more, Google started to flood me with emails telling me 100 people have read my reviews. Oh look, someone thumbs upped one of my reviews. Hey Erich, your reviews are really helping people. Why was Google so desperate to tell me how effective my reviews were? That's when I realized it. I'm working for Google. For free.

Every time I complete a review, I'm making their product more valuable. And what am I being paid for that service? Points. Points that don't do anything. I don't gain spells. I don't get better results from Google searches. My Google Translate app works the same no matter how many points I have. If my contributions are truly so valuable, why are you only compensating me with the Emporer's New Points?

So I have scaled way back on doing Google reviews. If I really believe it will help that business and I like that business, I would write one. If I have an exceptional experience, I would write one. If I think I can impart something to my fellow travelers in a super helpful way, I would write one. But I am not going to write reviews about every restaurant, vendor, market, or museum I visit. I'm done being part of the racket.

Okay, rant over, back to Seongsu.

Back from Tangent: Salt Bread Continued

As I said, at the bakeries, there are lines. So we got into one of them for a place called Haz Bakery. We waited maybe 15 minutes to get in. Inside we bought salt bread (cause you have to try that) and some bagel dessert thing. It was like chocolate mousse and a hard hazelnut chocolate layer on a plain bagel. But note: this is not a bagel dish. This is a dessert dish that happens to be on a bagel. Both were good, though I'm not sure what makes salt bread the viral food that it is. It's good bread, but it isn't astronomically good bread. It isn't so exalted over other breads that I am tempted to return to Seongsu just to get more of it.

Some of the options at Haz Bakery

Maybe I just lack a proper Korean palate.

Shoe Making

There are shops in Seongsu where one can go have shoes made. Yes, you can also buy Nike and Adidas shoes at shoe stores. But you could have shoes made to fit. We didn't do so.

Shoe Mosaic

But we did visit a park that is shoe themed. So this is a serious trait of the neighborhood.

That is a HIGH heeled shoe

Also, beside the park was a convenience store and we were thirsty. So we stopped to buy some beverages. Being the brave culinary adventurers we are, we tried this:

In case you don't read Korean, that's an apple cider vinegar drink

Guess what happens when you try something called an apple cider vinegar drink? Yeah, it tastes like you're drinking vinegar. I'm sure my insides are squeaky clean, but I won't be buying a second package of it.

Maybe more confirmation that I just don't have a proper Korean palate.