Thoughts on Seoul
This past October Christine and I took a trip to Seoul before heading to Japan. She grew up in the city whereas I had never been. I really only had two major expectations of Seoul:
a) Good food
b) Bustling metropolis
The city exceeded both criteria and blew me away. From our very first day, we dove right into exploring its history and culture. We strolled around Bukchon Hanok Village admiring the hanoks (1) dating back over 600 years ago to the Joseon Dynasty.
At a random roadside stall near the village, we had delicious tteokbokki, eomuk/odeng (fishcakes), soup in small paper cups, and soondae (blood sausage). The cut sausage was accompanied by a tiny saucer of dipping salt. The simple meal was an impressive, filling one. And all for about $5 total.
I've had soondae before and strongly disliked it. This one changed my mind- it was fresh, soft, and had a unique taste to it akin to a savoury meaty glutinous rice. The older lady behind the counter was welcoming and smiled widely when, at the end of the meal, I gestured that I appreciated the food.
After a brief break, we headed to Gyeongbokgung Palace and spent hours there. The palace was enormous. Given the sunny weather, it was also packed. Hundreds of people were visiting, with many tourists dressed up in hanboks (2) and dozens conducting photo shoots with a myriad of selfie sticks, tripods, and professional photographers.
I admired some of the more intricately designed hanboks we saw that day. At the same time, I felt so warm for those in them. An hour into exploring the palace grounds and we had both taken off our jackets and were only wearing thin tees. The hanboks must have felt sweltering by comparison. We made full use of the complimentary lockers located just past the Heungnyemun Gate to store our things while we explored.
We saw a re-enactment of the elaborate royal guard changing ceremony which involved dozens of performers, lots of interesting musical instruments, and loudly pronounced orders.
After we got our fill of the palace grounds, we headed over to the National Palace Museum of Korea located between the subway exit and the palace itself. The museum fascinated me. I learnt a ton about the backdrop leading up to the Joseon Dynasty, as well as how the emperors lived and ruled. I also discovered about the short lived Korean Empire after the Joseon Dynasty ended.
The exhibits offered a solid amount of information about things I had never thought about, like how carefully a royal seal has to be wrapped in cloth and enclosed in boxes multiple times before being secured. Another exhibit I was captivated by was the one on ondol (3). The mechanics of the heating system were well thought out.
Christine was a magnificent help guiding us along so much of the trip what with her fluency in Korean and explaining the cultural nuances I missed. Unfortunately, most of the accompanying descriptions in English were brief and often literal visual explanations. The Korean ones Christine translated for me were hugely different, layered with historical context and depth tailored to each exhibit. Not to mention most of the exhibits only had Korean write ups without any other languages for the many tourists I saw at the palace.
There was no entry fee to enter the museum, which I was taken aback by. The quality and maintenance of the exhibits, many dating back to the 15 and 16th centuries, was well worth at least an entry by donation. Yet, if the focus was to remove the financial barrier of accessing local arts and culture for Koreans and visitors from abroad, this makes sense.
An interesting observation: water coolers in Seoul typically have small flimsy paper slips for drinking water. The water dispensers tend to dispense water from near the top of the machine, unlike water coolers elsewhere where you press a button and tilt your head to drink. I was utterly confused by the first dispenser at the museum we came across. I took out a paper slip and looked at it from all angles before deciding these couldn't be for water. I reported with dismay back to Christine and she left briefly before coming back with a slip filled to the brim before poking fun at my initial confusion.
Another museum we made sure to visit was Seodaemun Prison History Hall. Now a museum and memorial, Seodaemun was a prison used to confine Korean freedom fighters during the Japanese occupation of Korea. Hundreds were tortured and executed. The former prison buildings have been maintained and we walked through the former jail cells. Many cells had characters carved deep into the walls, visible through the coats of white paint.
The sombre atmosphere in the vast compound was dampened a little by the mischievous shouts of bus load after bus load of elementary and middle school students on school excursions. Nonetheless, the torture devices on display and the harrowing stories of the prison survivors were a testament to their unspeakable treatment in prison. The execution building left me feel uneasy, despite it being a warm sunny afternoon.
When we visited Kwangjang Market, I noticed it was primarily older women manning food stalls. I didn’t see many older men doing so, unlike say, in Singapore. The few I did see were in the bulk fabric stores. I loved how the market was so busy and bustling and people sat on narrow short benches right in front of huge pots of piled food ranging from jokbal (pig’s trotters) to soondae.
I had the chance to try yukhoe (steak tartar) and yukhoe bibimbap (rice bowl topped with vegetables and meat) at one of the restaurants there. It was a lot of raw meat for me in one meal. After about 3 or 4 mouthfuls I was feeling a bit jelak. If not for the rice, sliced pear strips, and gochujang (red chilli paste), I would have probably stopped eating. After the meal, we walked around and shared a dense doughnut with a thin crisp caramelized sugar layer, served piping hot. Super sweet. Super doughy. Super delicious.
We also bought kimbap (Korean sushi rolls) deftly made in front of us at the market but didn’t have the stomach capacity to eat them till hours later. Kimbap is filled with pickled vegetables and preserved or cooked meats/seafood. The ones we had were still very much moreish, with the sprinkled sesame seeds adding a nice crunch to the soft savoury-sweet rolls. We demolished them in minutes.
All the food we tried in Seoul was amazing. Across the board, the meals we had tended towards the well seasoned and savoury. Sides or dishes that were intended to be complementary were saccharine, or in the case of the fermented sides, pungent. Whatever flavour profile we sampled tiptoed the line between deliciousness and excess. Whether it was a deep fried yachae hotteok (vegetable filled pancake) or sundubu-jjigae (soft tofu stew) or a deep fried donut, everything contained so much flavour.
So when we sat down for dinner at Myeongdong Kyoja Main, I was prepared for pungent kimchi and garlicky dumplings. Here’s a tip: when people say a restaurant serves garlicky kimchi, they mean it. My breath and tongue still smelled and tasted of garlic the next morning, despite brushing thoroughly the night before and in the morning.
The steamed dumplings were soft and the filling packed to the brim, the chicken broth soup was rich and had such tender silky noodles. The noodle soup contained small dumplings as well and a generous proportion of sliced onions. It turned out if you ordered at least a bowl of noodles each, you’re entitled to free noodle refills. This was mildly absurd to me because each bowl was huge. We shared one and were full.
Transit wise, the subway system in Seoul was punctual and outstanding overall if not a little bewildering. Some stations had signs that made little sense to me directions wise. Why on earth would you number and colour the numerical exit symbols the same as the ones for various train lines?!
I liked that all the subway stations we stopped at had well serviced toilets. The train platforms were also well heated. I appreciated how much thought they put into designing the train carriages. We happened to sit in one which had a notice stating "Higher Temperature Carriage. This carriage is 1-2°c higher than other carriages. If cold sit in this carriage." I had never seen such a deep concern for passengers’ comfort before this trip.
During this trip, we thankfully stayed at a fairly central location in Seoul. The entry point of the nearest underground walkway connecting us to a train station was 50 steps deep. I counted after climbing them a few times a day, in addition to the countless staircases at every subway station. Another observation about the city is that around the downtown core, it seems to be crowded at just about any time in the day or night. Particularly at peak hour, if you didn’t pay attention as everyone was exiting the train, you might get swept up in the rushing horde and involuntarily head in the opposite direction, away from your intended exit.
It was definitely startling to see the impact of K Pop culture everywhere. On one of our ambles through the long underground walkway to the train station, I glanced at a giant advertisement screen with the face of yet another K Pop idol. I didn’t think much of it until Christine exclaimed softly after reading the ad. It turns out that the concert advertisement I thought I passed was actually a gesture of admiration by some fans to very publicly wish their K Pop idol happy birthday. Ad space isn't cheap.
Digital advertisement bought by K Pop fans
Style wise, it wasn’t uncommon for older men here to dress with more flair than I’m used to. It was quite refreshing. In the span of 5 days, I saw plenty of flair. I passed an elderly man at a subway station in a bright yellow suit, hat, and bejewelled shoes. He had slight difficulty walking but his back was ramrod straight. I also saw countless others with brightly patterned socks peaking out beneath their trousers and fashionable handkerchieves in their breast pocket.
The evening before we left, we squeezed in time for a stroll along Cheonggyecheon Stream. It was a sight to behold. The effort to fill downtown Seoul with a variety of greenery, foot bridges, and human traffic is truly quite impressive. The entire waterway stretches over 10km long, with staircases and slopes connecting you to the streets above. Unsurprisingly, we saw lots of couples on dates here.
The people we interacted with were friendly and welcoming, whether I spoke in English using hand gestures or Christine in Korean. Everyone moved with a sense of urgency and purpose. Especially among the younger crowd, Koreans seemed very trend focused. The younger women we saw mostly wore pale almost white makeup and used bright red lipstick. The younger men tended to have top heavy permed hair and a street preppy look.
Seoul was spectacular. There are quite a few more foods I would have liked to try here if we had the time and appetite. I also treasured being able to see Christine’s childhood neighbourhood, the memories she shared while pointing out various buildings, and the elementary school she attended. It added a valuable layer of nuance to our trip. The next time I visit, I’ll just have to stay a little bit longer to soak it all in.
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(1) Hanok: traditional housing during the Joseon Dynasty, famed for their use of ondol and environmentally conscious design
(2) Hanbok: traditional attire during the Joseon Dynasty
(3) Ondol: traditional heating system dating back approximately 2,000 years which transports hot air along flues to heat stones installed beneath a room, conducting heat evenly for an extended period of time