June 21-22: Seoul Shopping
I had breakfast—a cup of cold café au lait, pastry, and juice I’d bought at the supermarket. I hung out watching TV until the early afternoon. I felt the same inertia about going out into the city that I felt when I lived in Seoul. I still can’t put my finger on why. I finally overcame that lethargy around 2 p.m., and got on the train at Seollung station for Bundang. It wasn’t until I got on the train that I remembered which stop I had lived at (Imae) and which stop was the one for Samsun Plaza (Seohyeon). I got off the train and was surprised that I didn’t see anything on the map about Samsung Plaza. I guesstimated which exit to take (each subway stop has numerous numbered exits) and when I saw “food plaza” I realized that the subway stop was right under Samsung Plaza. The food section of Samsung Plaza was busier than I remembered, and more expensive than I remembered, too—14 dollars for meat? Forget it!
I walked through the food section and then upstairs and out. I was shocked at the front entrance to see that where I thought HSBC bank had been there was now a huge Krispy Kreme donuts! The bookstore also seemed to have disappeared. The place where I used to go with my Samsung friends for soju cocktails seemed to still be there, but I wasn’t about to go there alone at 3 in the afternoon. My favorite gimbap place didn’t seem to be where it should be (on the corner). I went in a gimbap place in the area, but ordered kimchi with rice instead because I couldn’t remember how to say “tuna gimbap”. It was spicy, but not as good as actual kimchi fried rice would have been.
On the upside, I was able to find my way to Lotte Mart, and buy my favorite galbi (marinated meat) and some side dishes. I walked from Lotte Mart and managed to find my old apartment building, though it looked like it had faded over the years. At least I could stop at my favorite French bakery on the way. I also managed to remember how to find the Imae stop and get back to Kathy’s apartment. When I got home, though, I was so full from the kimchi fried rice that I skipped dinner.
The next morning, I woke up fairly early. I had pastries and café au lait. Then I got on the subway and went to Yonsei University to have lunch with Jay, one of my former TESOL certificate students from Riverside. He presented three options for lunch. One was something I’d had before. One was Outback steakhouse, which I thought was too expensive an too Western. The third option was a namyeon place, the Korean way of saying ramen or noodles. I’d never had namyeon in Korea, so that sounded good to me. It turned out to be a good choice. We walked in and took off our shoes and sat on the floor at the table in traditional Korean style. Jay ordered a cold soba noodle soup with egg and traditional Korean hot sauce. Mmm! Jay paid, and I let him only because I knew it was Korean tradition to have one person pay for a meal. Thinking how I could reciprocate in a respectful fashion, I suggested we have coffee or tea. We went to Starbucks, where even a regular cup of coffee is $3!!!! So I ordered a soy latte for only a dollar more. We sat and chatted, and then it was time to say goodbye.
I got on the subway and went to Samseong, the stop for the COEX mall. It was Sunday and clearly the place to be or be seen. There were lots of American restaurants with outrageous prices. $30 for a pizza combo. $6 for a Burger King burger. Insane! I went to the movie theater, literally called Megabox, and thought about seeing “Sex and the City”. But it appeared from the color coded ticket office screen that the next two shows were sold out. That was okay. Around 5 I was hungry and tired of the madding crowd, so I came back to the apartment to cook the galbi. I put the pan on the stove, poured the galbi into the pan, and turned on burner. No gas came out. I kept trying both of them. Nothing. No phone to call and ask, either. What was I gonna do? Wait, I have a working microwave! Not as attractive as the pan, but it got the job done. Phew! I found out later that I just needed to turn the gas valve and the stove would have
worked. Oh well.
Tags: Asia, Korea
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