I am the Worst

So my friend is going to Seoul in March when I won't be here and she asks me if I had to eat at ONE place where should I go.

I send her this RIDICULOUS email. I might as well start writing my own guide book at this point. If you plan on going to Seoul, this is what you need to know in a nutshell:

OK the one place I would go to eat is 678 in Apgujeong or Mapo ( they have several locations, ive been to two both were good). If you can BALL OUT, samwon garden is suppose to be amazing (expect to pay like 100 per person but the bbq is suppose to be unreal)

If you have time for a second meal go to choon chun dak galbi. This is a chain, the one in sinchon is the best. I took earl, he died.

Here are some recommended day trips depending on what you want to do:

SHOPPING/LAZY DAY: Garosugil (near sinsa station) for a day of shopping and stop by at coffeesmith (because all people do here is sit at cafes). It's quite small, garasugil is just 2 blocks of cute shops and cafes. there is a cute dessert place called deux amis cafe for all sorts of cakes. go to apjugeong for more shopping and have dinner at kogi kogi for samgyupsal.

TO SEE NEW SEOUL: gwanghwamun to see the cheongyecheon stream and the statues of admiral lee and king sejong. Around there you can also go to 토속촌삼계탕 which is the president's favorite restaurant. There are crazy lines so going at an off lunch hour is best.

TO SEE OLD SEOUL: Bukchon is a preserved village in the middle of seoul and its quite pretty to walk around the alleyways and look at the old architecture. Bukchon is also right next to samcheong which is a chic little area with tons of galleries and cafes and restaurants. Lots of good photo opps here.

TOURISTY SHOPPING: Myeongdong. Everyone feels obligated to go because it is an authentic korean shopping experience, personally i hate myeongdong. If you do go check out the Aland in Myeongdong, this is a great 3 level store with both korean and western designers. also great men's dept if you want to shop for ernie. There is also a new aland in garosugil.

TOURISTY THING BUT TRADITIONAL AND FUN: Walk around Insadong, good place to get souvenirs. Good traditional street food, like fresh shikhae, traditional candies, watch people make yut, all that. You can also get traditional tea and beautiful dduk at the tea houses. There is a place called Miss Lee's cafe has frozen persimmon, sounds weird but really good. Right near the insadong subway is this buddhist temple called josegye if you want to hit that up.

If you wanna go north of the river you can walk around hongdae (seoul's brooklyn, very hip area), shop at edae which is the area around ehwa university (the largest girls university in the world so they have a million girls stores) and at night go drinking in sinchon. Those 3 neighborhoods are all in order on the subway so its possible to do all 3 in a day. also, go to that dakgalbi place i was talking about in sinchon.

IF YOU JUST WANNA GET WASTED: area around gangnam station is the best sit down korean style drinking in town. You can get a bottle of goose for like 40 bucks. If you want to do traditional soju and anju type place go to Angus or Tree Hoff. If you want to go clubbing in gangnam go to NB on a weekday they play american hiphop. It is worth going to Gangnam on a friday or sat night, because shit gets crazy there. I've seen people hit by cars, people get that trashed.

I personally dont love the fancy clubs here because they only play house music and also we have bf's but if u wanna try it I would go to eden or answer. both are ok

also, to get a feel for the neighborhoods i did this blog post.
http://liaonkorea.blogspot.com/2010/11/best-places-in-seoul.html
let me know if you have any questions or want directions to anywhere. sorry this email is so long, there is just so much to do in this huge city.

Korean Bowling Shoes

I didn't think it was possible to find shoes worse than American bowling shoes. I was wrong.

I bowled a 122 which is prob my best score in real life bowling ever. In Wii bowling, (anyone of Peter's roommates will attest to this) I am redonkulous. Like if I get a spare that's weird. I don't kid around in wii.

It's a weird world we live in when you have to specify real life activities vs. virtual activities. I am scared for my imaginary children.

Board Game Cafe

Unbeknown to me, there are these cafes in Korea where you sit drink coffee, eat snacks and play board games. You order games from a game menu. I had a lot of wholesome fun.

Also, what is a better way to get over language barriers than to play a game designed for a 6 year old?

NY Times Seoul in 36 Hours

I did my list and found that NYTimes just posted a to do list of Seoul in 36 hours.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/travel/14seoul-hours.html?src=dayp

The Tea Tree Hotel at the end of the article always looks cute and I have always wanted to stay there. Couldn't find a website though and alas the link that the NY Times posted is broken too :-T

Bukchon

Bukchon is a preserved neighborhood of traditional style houses. It is lovely for a nice walk around the little alley ways. Nearby is Samcheong which has numerous art galleries, restaurants, and cafes.