Sunday, November 7, 2010

They Did The Mash


Last week was our Hallowwweeen Party at work. Halloween isn't widely celebrated in Korea, but with the increasing popularity of English schools, and the resulting exposure to Western culture, more and more Korean children are beginning to take part. However, the costume selection is still pretty limited so you get a lot of witches, wizards (boy witches), and devils. The kids loved it and really how could they not? dressing up, eating candy, and  playing games. Nathan's class even learned all the words to Monster Mash and treated me to a private show on the day.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Dino Meat


Yeah, this place actually exists. Sorry to disappoint, no they have not been able to make Jurassic park a reality and thus they do not serve actual dinosaur meat. However, aside from having to accept that crushing truth, this is possibly the greatest thing ever, if you love copious amounts of grilled meat that is. The way it works is you get a table, which may require some waiting, something that is unheard of here in South Korea. Your server will then bring you an array of sides, salads, sauces and of course kimchi. Then you take your silver tray over to the meat fridge and take as much of whatever you want. There is a wide selection from side beef ribs, to thinly sliced deliciously marinated beef, to sausages and other strange ground meat patties. Once you have selected your meat you take it to your table and grill it however you want, as every table has its own charcoal grill. Once you have finished your first tray you simply repeat the previous two steps endlessly. You will run out of pretty much every side, sauce and salad. Don't fret, you just push the call button on your table and someone pops right up and is more than happy to bring you more of whatever you want. You can order various beverages, both alcoholic and non, including the very fun and fitting Korean alcohol soju, great both for shooting between lettuce wraps or mixing with "cider" (sprite). All this can be yours for the costly price of 14,000 won (roughly $12.75 Canadian) plus whatever you drink, roughly 3,000 won per beverage, or any meat you take from the fridge and don't eat, I have no idea what the price for this is.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Dongdaemun Market

The Infamous Dish


We went to Dongdaemun Market in Seoul last weekend. The Market is huge and you can find pretty much anything and everything your heart desires; whether it be new kicks, a bow tie or a metallic picture of Jesus; and everything is cheap cheap cheap. We really enjoyed exploring this place and taking in all the diverse sights and smells. We also ate our worst and most expensive meal to date here. It was some sort of blood sausage and cuttlefish stir-fry that smelt like dog. We learned a valuable lesson from this experience: In life it is important to always take risks and try new things, but sometimes with food it pays to stick to the somewhat familiar. Overall though, a great day.