Macau live diary

Jeju: The Second Day

The second day started with a quick breakfast before we boarded the bus.   We went off for a hike around  a crater.   It was pretty awesome and tiring at the same time.   Walking down was really quite scary as it felt like you could fall down but the view from the top was well worth the enormous amount of sweat that penetrated all my clothes  to the point of feeling absurd.

From there we headed to a weird lunch buffet that was done to look like a European castle or something with copies of all kinds of famous European works of art.  The food yet again was disappointing.

From there we headed to O’Sulloc’s Green tea farm where we saw the green tea fields and a cool museum of tea.   I bought my co-teacher a gift from there and had a green tea milkshake which was quite good.

Then we headed back to our hotel for some time at the beach.  We went down to the beach right out in front of the hotel and swam.   The water was really nice and we played a ball game in the water.

After about an hour of this a group of about 9 of us went to a sashimi restaurant for dinner and it was very yummy.   We got to eat a ton of raw fish, and all the fixings along with some of the spicy fish soup that normally comes with sashimi.

Finally from there we went for some night fun on the beach setting off fireworks, drinking and generally just carousing.  A good time was had by all.

Jeju vacation Day 1

So, for my Summer vacation I  decided to sign up for a trip to Jeju Island with Adventure Korea.

 

The First Day  was pretty good.   We went to Gimpo Airport  and had a quick flight up and down.   We were only on the plane for about an hour and it was a pretty smooth flight.

Upon arrival we headed for a restaurant to have Black Pork–a famous Jeju island speciality.  It was pretty fatty and mixed with a few vegetables.  It really just amounted to some marinated sam gyup sal.   I was pretty disappointed with it, since it’s really built up as a specialty of  Jeju.

From there we set off for Udo island, the largest of Jeju’s satellite islands.   We went to a few places. The first was a horse farm by Lion Head Rock.   It’s  what you would expect, a rock that looks like a lion head.  From there we headed for a black sand beach to take some pictures. Our final destination was a White sand beach.

It was beautiful and  quite enjoyable.  The sand was a bit weird.  You really sank into it  rather than walking on top of it, it had a kind of snow like quality.  The water however was beautiful and blue and  you instantly  dropped off into very deep water after only a few steps.

From there we went back to the main Jeju island and to a restaurant for dinner.  Unfortunately  it was pretty subpar.   The food was all remarkably unremarkable.  It really was the kind of quality you might expect from a school lunch.

THe last part of the day was checking into the hotel.  It’s really nice.   From there we headed down to a night beach and set off some fireworks.

All told a pretty good first day.

Thai Garden

Thai Garden was a delicious Thai restaurant  in Itaewon.    We ordered several different dishes and they were all excellent.

We got a really great chicken and vegetables dish, a green curry a noodles dish, and a  soup.

The chicken and vegetables, were delicious.  The stir fried  vegetables were nice and fresh and the chicken was delicious.

The highlight of the dinner for me was  the  the green curry.  The vegetarian dish was full of flavor and very enjoyable.  The soup was also quite fabulous, it was spicy and full of tons of excellent foods.  It had a bit of a sour edge to it.

 

In addition to all this food they were also running a 2+1 on Thai Chang beer.  We also shared a bottle of Spanish tres velas red wine.  The drinks were on the whole just okay but the 2+1 was a nice touch.

The service on the other hand was exceptional.  The waiter was a Thai gentleman who was super friendly.  They let us stay a good deal past closing time to finish our  food.  We were given a private room for our dinner of  four.

I’d highly recommend a trip to the Thai garden in Itaewon.     It’s just down exit two after about a five minute walk lok up  to the second floor.    I’ve never been to Thailand, so I can’t comment as to the authenticity of the  food but  my friend seemed to think  it was excellent. 

Buddae Jiggae is the best awful food in the world

Budae Jiggae, is something which literally means troop soup.   It dates to the Korean war, where soldiers would  take their  food tins and put them together.  I’ve now been to the nationwide chain of restaurants known as Nolboo Budae Jiggae and smoked meat fish several times.

The food is kind of disgusting to hear it described.  It’s a bunch of  spam and hot dogs and spices, kimchi.  All thrown together  and put in a pot.

However it’s delicious.  It’s meaty and spicy.  I get it with  a portion of ramen noodles in it and it’s excellent.

Nolboo Buddae Jiggae is everywhere, I’ve probably seen 50 locations since I’ve been in Korea.

Weekend Walks: Namsan Tower and Namdaemun

I’d never call myself a hiker but I do love to walk from place to place.  Today I went on a really great walk through Namdaemun market and from there all the way to the top of Namsan tower.

Namdaemun is one of the coolest market areas you’ll find in Seoul.  It’s huge and there’s all sorts of things for sale.  I saw tons of stores for glasses and clothes and food and cameras.   I’d been there before but it had always had a very precise purpose–it was fun to just wander around and look at all the crap for sale at the different stores.

From there I wandered on to Namsan Park.  I started out by visiting a traditional house, which showcased how old timey Koreans lived.

Southeast Asian food in Northeast Asia

Sitting nearly side by side in Noksapyeong are two small cafe style Southeast Asian joints.  Le Saigon offers a selection of Vietnamese food and just a stone’s throw away is Buddha’s Belly Thai Takeaway.

I’m something of a neophyte when it comes to Asian cuisine.  I’ve dived head long into Korean food, but before I came here my only Asian food experiences were sushi and Americanized Chinese.

I went to Le Saigon first.  I ordered a Vietnamese pork chop from their bilingual menu and a Saigon beer.   This was pretty good.  It consisted of a highly marinated piece of pork that was just soaked with flavors.

On another evening I took a trip to Buddha’s Belly and sat outside.  Here I ordered Pha Thai with shrimp.  This is a kind of noodles covered with pha sauce.   I was surprised how tangy the sauce was here.  The few times I’ve ordered a Thai noodle dish it’s usually been a bit spicy so to get something that could be described as sour was a twist on my expectations.  It was pretty good but it seemed a bit on the spartan side, without much stirred into the noodles.

Busan adventures slideshow

Busan review: Jagachi fish market

 

The first place we stopped when Lost in Seoul’s Busan trip got in gear was at the city’s wonderful fish market.   It’s quite a site to behold, and a culinary treat that’s going to be hard for Seoul’s fish market to top when I finally make it there.

When we first arrived we walked around, and took a brief look at the outside of the market.  Got a wiff of the mix of sea breeze and fish in all kinds of different states from alive to smoked.

Then we walked up stairs to the fish market and ordered.  Thankfully I was spared the difficulty of handling the ordering on this trip.  (My K-Seafood vocabulary is quite limited compared to my otherwise great K-food vocabulary)

After Rebecca managed to get our order together we were served a sumptuous feast for the six of us including two whole white fish, some whitefish sashimi, a plate of delicious smooth as they come scallops, a nice and spicy complimentary fish soup, and all the sides and sauces you would want.

Not a single thing on the menu had what you would call a fishy taste.  The one thing that I might be a bit unhappy with is they only serve  cooked fish with the bones in it.  It’s kind of annoying to have to pick out all the bones.

I don’t even especially like sea food, it’s not really my thing but this place hit a home run on everything we pitched at them.   The selection was kind of daunting, they pulled out a sheet of dozens of types of sea animals, some of which I don’t know how you cook or eat.

The fish market in Busan is right outside Jagachi station on the subway.  It was a little bit pricey but no more than I’ve seen at most fish places in Seoul.   One side note of the eight people who ate the food here one person did get somewhat ill and had to turn in early a few hours earlier.  However he had Never eaten seafood in his entire life and it seems more likely it just disagreed with him  rather than the food being terribly bad.

I was really thrilled with this dinner and it was one of the culinary high points of my Busan adventures.

Craftworks: Possibly the best beer in Seoul

Korean beer, hate it or kind of tolerate it.  So I’ve been going to more and more foreign bars looking for a great glass of beer.

Having been to a lot of the bars in Itaewon I had my favorites.

Then I had a book club meetup at Craftworks. Craftworks is a microbrewery just two blocks from Noksapyeong station. It’s a little bit hidden, I walked past it the first time I was looking for it.   It’s a small hole in the wall.

Once you walk in the atmosphere is great.  It’s non-smoking inside and a smoking allowed porch.    It always has seemed pretty friendly, even later in the evening it always has a very jovial atmosphere compared to the bars up the road in Itaewon proper.  The wait staff carries i-devices to take your order.

The food is teriffic.  I’ve had several things on the menu.   Pancakes for brunch.   Soup for lunch, burgers and steak for dinner.  Everything has been delicious.  The pancakes were big and light and were served with maple syrup.

The chili is excellent.  It’s a good soupy style chili served in a big bowl with bread and cheese.   The dinner is amazing.  The burger is very flavorful and meaty.   You can order it with a wide selection of cheese and bacon.  The steak is nicely marinated and comes with a good salad.

But the real star of this place is the beer.   I especially love their Namsan pillsner(pictured at top)   and the Moon Bear Ipa.  They really taste amazing.   The pillsner is my favorite and tastes smooth just like you would want in a pillsner.   Their menu and a word on their desserts after the break.