A correction last night about the the BONE SOUP. It is actually called "haejang-guk", which apparently literally translates into "sick intestine soup". but is understood to mean "hangover soup". I had the "byeonji" variety of the soup, or "pig spine". I mean, I figured it was some sort of spine, based on the shape of the bones, but the actual confirmation that it is so is sort of... unpleasant? I believe I shall simply record this for posterity and conveniently forget that fact.
After purchasing several necessities, such as a small mattress for me to sleep on, we headed to lunch. Today I had Dol Sot Bi Bam Bap, "Hot Stone Pot Mixed Rice", which is a veriety of vegetables (lettuce, mushroom, carrots, bean sprouts, and some sort of root / cucumber-like product) and rice, with a fried egg in the shape of a star on top. Zane: "One of the top five representative Korean Foods".
It was served in a stone pot (still steaming hot on arrival, cooking the rice as it was set before us), and came with a pepper-based paste (Gochujang) and soup. Zane told me that the proper way to eat it was to add the paste into the vegetable/rice mix, and mash everything together. I did so, but as last night's BONE SOUP was too spicy for my tastes, I added only a little bit. The aftermath of my mixing:
However, I found it to be excellent. The little bit of paste I added, probably a third of the total that was given to me, was just right. The mixture contained a slightly sweet taste, but I wasn't overcome by any of the spiciness. My amalgamation of food was a much lighter orange than Zane's.
Following that, we went to a shrine in Zane's town, Nakseongdae ("Place of the Fallen Star"), that is dedicated to a Korean General, Gang Gamchan. Legend says that an emissary noticed a shooting star. He followed it to where it landed, and found a house there. In the house was a woman who had recently given birth. The child was Gang Gamchan. There are tons of stories associated with him, including that he once summoned a Tiger who had been impersonating a Buddhist monk to court and "sternly lectured" it, and wrote a spell on a scroll that was tossed in a local pond to silence the noisy frogs that lived there (an ancient equivalent of the Chuck Norris facts generator?). On a more factual note, he is one of Korea's three greatest generals, and helped to end a period of war and defend the nation that was to become S. Korea.
(I had woefully forgotten my Camera 101 in this picture, so it is far too dark)
It had started to rain by this point, which was bad for my cameras, but good in that we had the entire shrine to ourselves. Even though we were not far from central Seoul, the temple felt very secluded. I suppose it is located on the outskirts. Apparently there are paths behind / near it that lead up into the mountains surrounding Seoul (which we intend to climb one of these days). We spent some time at the temple snapping photos, before the rain drove us away.
For lunch, we ducked into a little diner that Zane frequently patronizes, and had "Jjin Mandu", or "Steam Dumplings" and "Kim Bap", or "Wrapped Rice". Of the two, I preferred the dumplings.
Oh, and Kimchi has been served with virtually every meal we have had. I believe it is an acquired taste. Zane loves it, and insists that he has enjoyed it since he first came here. I could probably eat it regularly, if I had to survive. However, I find myself eating the other items before the Kimchi, more often than not. Describing tastes is difficult for me, because it is all so foreign and I really don't have equivalents. I mean, some things taste better than others (favorite so far is the Bim Bap).
We had intended to go to a small festival tonight, but had screwed up the alarm and ended up sleeping through it. I don't feel too terrible about it, as I really needed sleep. We picked up a small, foldable mattress before we went out for breakfast so that I could have something to sleep on, and that nap we took was probably the best three hours of sleep I've gotten in the past three days. So, upon waking, we could've rushed to see the end of the festival, but I was in no mood for rushing. We ended up walking to a bar where Zane is a regular, "S Bar". Unfortunately, I forgot my camera here.
The owners are both young, and are friends of Zane. Apparently Zane is enough of a regular that the bartenders -call him- if he doesn't come in in a week. He and Andy (the male owner. Andy's partner is known as "Cool", though I don't know her real name) get along very well, regularly engaging in bets and such over dart games or Jenga, where the wagers are things like "Zane's tab" or "loser has to eat a whole lemon in one bite". The owner expressed palpable dismay when Zane said he would be leaving in several weeks. When Zane asked if "S Bar" would hire him, Andy said Zane would have to go on a diet. Only beautiful people can work at "S Bar".
We had a couple of drinks there, and played some darts. It was a cool little business they ran, very comfortable and casual. They had thrown a huge Halloween bash last year, and never took the decorations down. A giant spiderweb hangs from the ceiling, and various hideous masks and plaques line the walls. Characters from the Nightmare before Christmas exist on three different walls, with the male bathroom door having a lifesize Jack Skellington painted on it, while the female door has Sally. Very cool. It is probably one of the only bars I've ever actually liked, largely because there wasn't an army between me and the bar (or chairs), and I was able to sit down and have a conversation with my friend where we didn't have to strain to hear one another.
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