We had a bit of a weekend away. We went out to Gangnam (almost an hour away) to pack into their busiest of subway lines and to see some of their sights.
I have been following the Seoul Photostream on Flickr where they mentioned the restaurant Gorilla in the Kitchen. Highbrow pasta and bread combined with gym culture and the opportunity for a health analysis and personal trainer. It was not cheap, but we shared, and it is nice to have pasta instead of rice sometimes. The restaurant was at the entrance of Dosan Park, so we walked through the park and let the trees ameliorate some of the heat of the day.
We finally got to do Dr. Fish! The only skincare fish we know of left in Seoul is at Restree in Gangnam. It was hilarious. It tickled on the soles, but there was some bite to it too. W2000 and a beverage purchase gets you fifteen minutes with the fish.
And then we were off to Coex Mall, which is a huge Western-style mall and exhibition center. Dan is a great lover of kimchi and so wanted to to visit the Kimchi Field Museum in the basement of Coex. It was all right. They did a good job making a museum out of a recipe, but there is not a whole ton to be said about vegetable pickling. We did learn about all of its health benefits, though, and that was informative. Chief among them: cancer fighting anti-oxidants, digestion aiding lactic acid, metabolism boosting red pepper paste.
Friday's dinner was okonomiyaki, a Japanese cabbage and egg pancake. I think it actually means something like "how you like it". Dan apparently made this face while we were there.
We got pork, but their specialty was squid, hence the seaside theme, complete with pirate ship.
Our okonomiyaki chef.
Pop and pancake.
A book cafe we spied on our walk home. We'll have to go in sometime.
At the beginning of our Saturday, I tried to get Dan to make a funny pose under this bird mosaic. He waffled, which queued up some polite Koreans who refused to pass in front of our picture, so the mission was aborted. I don't think Dan minds.
Fish & Stech is a fish and steak restaurant in Apgujeong. They spelled steak correctly on the menu but not on the building. Curious.
Our gorilla restaurant. No cream save the kinds iced and aged, so...
A pink bike at Dosan Park.
It was a really nice little park.
We figured this was a path for bare feet for the purpose of stimulating pressure points. It was intense, but oddly invigorating.
We would have stopped in to Holly's Romantic Space, but we had a date with Dr. Fish, and we could not be delayed.
Just a sample of the subway line.
Having made it to the Restree (rest+tree) Cafe. It felt sort of like a Panera with free bread and a toaster oven island. It was probably also the roomiest cafe we've been in so far.
We waited our turn; there were groups both before and after us. Dan bode his time with a strawberry smoothie, I by reading about shaving's murderous effect on my very femininity. That seems harsh, magazine.
Feet and fish.
Gearing up to chomp on Dan's leg.
The Dr. Fish hostess, who did an excellent job keeping everything dry and running, offered to take our picture.
I was propositioned outside of a chicken restaurant on the streets of Gangnam, probably because of my newly tidied feet.
Coex was busy and huge. Our only official recommendation is not to go down to the designated spooky food court. There are several other food areas and they are more engaging and brightly lit (and not spooky).
In the Kimchi Museum. Some pots for fermenting things like bean paste and soy sauce and a teepee for burying your kimchi.
Dan making good work of the photo zone.
The old way. It used to be quite the community affair. I would buy this doll set if it was purchasable. I really like those Brussels sprouty cabbages.
Other peoples' pickles.
Tasting zone.
Dan likes kimchi more than most of his students like kimchi. I think he would marry kimchi if she smelled better.
Unrelated but that I bought these at the Hyundai Department Store in Coex. It had been too long since I'd had s'mores and I wanted some more.
-Serenity
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