Korea Life Blog - Zen



After anju at and beer at the The Oregon Trail, we headed here to Zen, a small little club next to Dunkin Donuts on a main drag in Sinchon. It's early yet but the hiphop music is already blasting.



It's early yet but the hiphop music is already blasting. This is what is scary about bars. Those two girls across the way didn't look so bad at the time. I told Julie the girl with the long hair looked like the famous (in Korea/Japan) and pretty singer BOA. Keep in mind I drank all but a few gulps of that big pitcher of beer at The Oregon Trail. Looking at this pic now, I must have been out of my mind. Oh well, it wouldn't be the first time. Judging by the enormous amount of KGB (a sweet, vodka based wine cooler-like drink) bottles, I think this place is frequented by young female customers. To balance it out, later they played an uncensored Ice Cube/Eminem concert which showed girls stripping to fully nude in the audience and backstage. That was a surprise.



Here's Julie. She rarely drinks so after just a few gulps of beer and 1/4 of a KGB she's already half drunk. That must be nice. I have to drink jugs of beer to feel the same then end up going to the bathroom every 5 minutes. There were several US soldiers in the place and whenever I went to the bathroom they would squeeze in and pee in the sink and/or the drain hole in the floor rather than wait a minute. It's no they have a reputation of fighting. One guy stood right behind me and kept telling me to "hurry it up, buddy."



As the night went on the place got very busy. We actually ended up having a great time. After 3 or 4 more Coronas and Julie drinking another 1/4 of her KGB, we hit the dance floor for a couple of hours. You can see a Korean guy wearing glasses. He spoke perfect English to me while taking a leak. (Why is it that guys don't talk to you in the bar, but the second you're in a bathroom together they strike up a conversation?) Turns out he's American and in the army. That must be weird, being Korean by blood and serving in Korea in the American army.


It's not really a dance club, and there's no cover charge to get in. The place is pretty small but it attracts a decent crowd. If you want to get a seat, you'd better go a little early. Most importantly, the music is good if that's your style. I'm not a huge fan of the genre, but after for drinking and dancing with girls it's perfect. And outside the bathroom the atmosphere wasnt bad at all - certainly better than a place like Stompers in Hongdae or anywhere in Itaewon.

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Fusion Food

Fusion food is getting more and more popular in Korea. As the name implies, it's when they take Korean food and "fuse" it with another cultural food. Julie took me to her favorite eatery in Nowon near her home. Even though it was early in the afternoon the place was busy with lots of young people - mostly women in their early 20s. And what can be better than a place like that? Julie said that at night you have to wait for a table. While I've done a lot of fusion cooking of my own (kimchi hamburger, kimchi taco, kimchi omelet, kimchi spaghetti, kimchi filled donuts, etc.) I couldn't remember eating any at a restaurant. If I had, it was a long time ago. Well, that has now changed.



I was actually quite surprised. I didn't expect much. We ordered haemul bokumbap (fried rice/seafood) and kimchi and cheese bokumbap. Both were exceptionally delicious. While I prefer keeping the food genres separate, it was a refreshing change from the usual. Each dish was around 6,500 won and included free Pepsi and refills. As usual, Julie barely ate. I ended up eating about 75% of this. However, she ate all the pickles.

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Anju

Has this ever happened to you? You walk into a bar, sit down and order drinks only to be to told you have to order side dishes or leave? Probably not unless you've been in Korea. These over priced side dishes are called anju, a word that strikes disgust into the hearts of foreigners. The dishes range from dried squid to big fruit platters (I really don't understand eating fruit with beer) to fried cheesesticks. Koreans like to eat food with their drinks, which is fine, but to refuse to serve people who aren't hungry and only want drinks seems pretty stupid, especially when the place is practically dead and even if you offer to sit at the bar.

I remember one time in Ulsan a gang of about ten of us went into this "western" style bar. I think it was called Arizona Bar. Anyway, the place was practically empty. We sat down and started to order bottles of beer. Then the owner said we had to order two side dishes. Having just come from a kalbi dinner, we said we were full and wouldn't like anything. He said we had to order anju, no option. We refused and incredibly he let us all leave. Rather than forgo the side dishes, not only did he lose possibly a lot of money from drinks, he let us leave angry and lost any chance of us returning as repeat customers. Advertising yourself as a western bar and then upsetting a large group of foreigners in a small city is just bad business sense.

Walking around areas like Sinchon, it becomes a guessing game. If we go here do we have to order anju? I'm not hungry, man - I just want beers. Well, let's try it. Then walking all the way up to the third floor and then all the way back out minutes later to try another bar.



An example of anju at a bar in Sinchon. For breaded and fried potato sticks, 3 small cheesesticks, and a skimpy salad: 10,000 won. Oh well, it wasn't too bad this time as we were a little hungry. But the place was mostly empty and to have let us leave because we wouldn't order food seems silly.



As you can see, the name of the bar is Oregon Trail which clearly would indicate to anyone that they are a foreign styled bar. But they make you buy anju and they play loud and annoying Korean pop music. After awhile you come to get used to this kind of thing.

After we finished we headed to a pretty cool little hip hop bar that Julie knew about. I took a few pictures and will post them sometime during the week.


Update: Added section 17 to Geoje-do Part 5 section. (and edited this morning...)

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Shawn's Kimchi Chigae


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Now that I've got a rice cooker and a bap sang table I've been ordering out less and less and experimenting in the kitchen more and more. Here is my kimchi chigae dinner I made tonight. It tastes even better than it looks (there are a few secret ingredients). Julie tried the batch I made last weekend and said it's the best she's ever had. I've got to admit, while I can't cook many dishes, I can make damn good chigaes. Yes, that's right, I'm eating it directly out of the pan because well, because I'm a bachelor and this is how I want to eat it. This pot-full made three meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner! Now, if I can learn how to make side dishes, that will be even better. In time...in time...

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Jongro Cinecore Trip 4


Here are yet more pictures from around Jongro. Grab a beer and enjoy.



I love these massive collections of sticker pictures. I'm not sure who these people actually are. Did they give permission to be displayed? I tried to get Julie to go in, but she refused again. I want to put my sticker picture on letters to my friends back in the states.




A typical vendor cart for typical fast Korean foods such as o-daeng and dokbokki. Where's the actual vendor? Maybe asleep or ducking down and watching TV.




Another shot of a similar cart but here the vendor ajumma is in action. I wonder how much the actual cart costs. I can see myself out there selling kimchi tacos and beer, o-daeng, and copies of my much anticipated book.




Here are a couple more vendors out there in the Korean night. The mandu shop to the left is getting more and more popular. Julie and I couldn't remember seeing these before this year, now they are everywhere.




It's been a damn long time since I've had a sandwich. Julie wanted to eat dinner at Popeyes, but I suggested Subway.



Here's a quick shot from within the restaurant. It brought back memories from back home. A couple of girls from another restaurant are ordering subs. The Subway franchise in Korea is pretty similar to the one back home, except there's less a selection of bread and there's not nearly as much business. While I've seen endless advertising fort McD's, BK, and Pizza Hut, I haven't seen much for Subway...maybe they should step that up.




Here's out meal. Julie of course ordered half a sub: turkey. I ordered the Italian classic, full size for a full stomach. Yum! Julie's holding up the menu for everyone to see.




This was the first time in her life eating a Subway sub. She really liked it a lot. I tried but failed to get a picture of her happy face. We'll be eating there again someday.




Jongro at night. Lots of people, lots of things to do. I love the energy in the air.




Yet another shot. There's a lot of lights here - almost looks like Las Vegas. Here though are no casinos, only places to eat, singing rooms and bars.




All good things must come to end. After a fun-filled evening we head off on the subway. I have to get to Sadang to catch the last bus to Nowhere-dong. On the way we're treated to a classic performance by a Subway Salesman. At first I thought he was selling milk, which seemed quite weird. However, what he was selling was actually a plastic zipper for keeping food packaging sealed after opening. I probably would have bought one had I not been trying so hard to get a picture when he wasn't looking.


That's it for Jongro. I hope you enjoyed our trip. Stay tuned for a updates on my most recent trip to Seoul this past weekend.

written by shawn matthews    -|link