Day 6: Goodbye Seoul, Hello Kyoto

DID: Day started with a panic when Jason had a low-sugar episode, followed by an alarm clock mishap which led to us being up an hour early. (by the time we realized the mistake, we were too awake to go back to sleep and didn’t want to curl up on those stupid placemats anyway). Train to Gimpo airport instead of taxi since we had loads of time. 1.5 hour flight to Osaka followed by 1.5 hour train to Kyoto. Confusing train ticket system but eventually we had the right tickets. Hotel is very zen, smells and looks like an Aveda spa. Very calming from the moment we walked in (but impermeable to children). Wandered through a corner grocery store. The fish section is literally about 4 times the size of the meat section. The meats are all insanely marbled, looks incredible. Even the pork (would defo be illegal in Australia) Slept all afternoon in a real bed while Jason + Gavin checked out the hotel onsen. Toilet in the hotel room has all the fancy functions, Jason will never leave the bathroom. The beauty of the Seoul hotel experience is that Japan accommodations seem to defy any preconceived notions of small rooms/hard beds/etc. We are just so grateful to be in a ‘real’ hotel room with our own bathroom and even three chairs to relax in if we don’t want to lounge on the bed! Wandered around the hotel neighborhood looking for dinner – found a gorgeous little alley filled with tiny restaurants and bars - exactly fits what I was hoping to find here.  Complete with floor seating, paper lanterns, artful landscaping, and random vending machines everywhere. Nothing is in English, thank goodness for a couple sitting next to us in the restaurant who acted as translators.  The hardest part is not so much the ordering, it’s just knowing what we’re getting into in terms of price. Gavin is really getting the hang of chopsticks, so proud of him! He gets very frustrated but then very happy when he gets it. I keep telling him that I didn’t know how to use them until I was 25, he gets amused by that. Our hotel is apparently in the barber district – there are salons EVERYWHERE. Even more amusing because Rhys says ‘haircut’ about 50 times a day for some unknown reason.

ATE: Muffins at the airport. Japanese buffet for lunch. Fried pork cutlet, fried onion/potato concoction, an omelet filled with tiny little fish, eggplant in a sweet soy-based sauce, some kind of fried seafood stick, miso soup, rice, some kind of green with garlic, chicken salad. Ice cream from the corner grocer. Dinner. Something called ‘obanzai’ which was basically a plate of starters ranging from an omelet to balls of taro to fried peppers and a mushroom something or other. Jason had a sesame tofu thing that he loved. The chef gave Gavin + Rhys rice balls (salted rice) wrapped in nori. Fried crispy fish bones. Sounds disgusting but quite addicting, even Rhys was devouring them. Kobe beef and something like padron peppers on the hibachi. Gavin gave the beef his highest rating of ‘infinity thumbs up’. Cold sake. Fruit/dessert from the corner shop. Also bought milk which the boys spit out. Hmmmm…

SLEPT: Blissfully, although the hotel's beanbag-filled pillow leaves a little bit to be desired. We're staying at the Mitsui Garden Hotel Kyoto Shijo

Airport Greeting

Excited about the train from Osaka Airport to Kyoto

Enjoying the scenery

Meal 1 at Japanese cafeteria (buffet style).

Not sure what this drink was (other than not good). Vaguely lemon beer/radler/shanti-like.

Spacious room with real beds!

Chef shows off knife skills with cucumber frogs for the boys

Sake (recommended by our neighbor at the bar)

Sesame tofu

How did I get stuck feeding both boys?

Obanzai (mixed antipasto plate)

Fried fish bones

Teppanyaki

Restaurant Row near hotel

Day 5: COEX-travaganza

DID: Swept/cleaned the whole room (myself – no cleaning services provided at the hotel although they did do our laundry which was nice!) to try to get rid of the ants.  It was raining again so we decided to go to an indoor mall (COEX) which also has an aquarium. On the way there we found out there was a Kimchi museum at the mall too – bonus! The mall itself was immense and connected a series of hotels, departments stores, a casino, and a convention centre. We were borderline lost all day. We tested new 3D tv’s, played the latest Nintendo games, looked (again in vain) for rain jackets (incidentally there was a woman selling cheapie ones on the subway on the way there, I should have just bought two of them!) and I had a nice browse around several stationary/sticker/toy shops. The aquarium was FABULOUS (and huge!) Totally unexpected. Tanks were composed from an artists eye rather than a scientist/marine biologist type – and most were aimed at young children. There was a Hello Kitty tank, a Thomas the tank engine tank, a fire engine tank, etc. All the displays were low at kid-eye-level (to the extent that Rhys was getting annoyed that he was not allowed to jump into the tanks to swim!) Lots of cylindrical tanks. They had another display of normal objects turned into fish tanks (ie a refrigerator, a phone booth, a bed headboard, a bathroom sink, etc). They had a tank you could put your hand in and the fish would nibble your fingers (Rhys loved it, Gavin wouldn’t put his hand in).  If we lived near this aquarium, I would buy an annual pass – it was that good. Our only disappointment was that the camera had been left behind in the hotel room so we have no photos of the experience! Jason did the Kimchi museum while we were at the aquarium. After a bit more wandering around the mall looking for a fried Korean chicken place for dinner, we happened upon the Hyundai department store. WOW. Amazing food hall with loads of free samples. And bananas at ‘normal’ prices (unlike the $14/kg we’re paying in Sydney). After stuffing ourselves silly, made our way back to the hotel (still pouring rain) to pack the suitcases.

ATE: Breakfast @ paris croissant. No take away due to ant issues. Lunch @ Bulgogi Brothers. Loved it, in particular it came with a beef salad concoction that was really really good. Gavin went crazy for the bulgogi, he actually ate most of it. He also ate two hard boiled quail eggs WITH the shell. Dinner at Hyundai Dept store. First we sampled all the free tastes in the food hall (unfortunately for Jason we stood out too much so he couldn’t go back for seconds as much as he would have liked!) Then bibimbap, dumplings and buns from the food stalls within the store.

SLEPT: Terrible. Put the koala suitcase under my pillow to attempt to solve the pillow height issue. Body is so sore from a combination of trying to curl up onto such a small mat, walking/pushing the stroller all day and carrying Rhys more than I normally do at home.

Display @ Kimchi Museum

Samples @ Kimchi Museum

One of the more disgusting drinks I've ever tasted. Some kind of wheat-y drink mixed with Cola.

A fraction of the kimchi selection at the Hyundai Department Store

Mandu @ Hyundai

Food hall @ Hyundai

Food hall @ Hyundai

Day 4: Sunny Seoul

DID: Sun was out so tried to make the most of it. Saw the “traditional” changing of the guard ceremony (since 1996!) at Toksugung Palace. The boys ran amok around the palace grounds after being cooped up for the last few days. Explored the offerings at the Noryangin Fish Market and the surrounding neighborhood. Fish are kept in tanks rather than on ice and the market is ENORMOUS. Wonder how they get the fish from the boat to the market live – seems like that would require a lot of space. Got lost in the Ichon neighborhood looking for the [stupid] “riverside park” and the “famous” turtle boats. We did eventually find the park (aka the mosquito infested mudhole with a bike path along the river) and a geocache to boot but no boats (much to Gavin’s disappointment). Fortunately the Ichon neighborhood consists of blocks of gated communities which all have nice playgrounds for the kids. Need to find out what the situation was with the housing because it all looked like subsidized/council type housing but the people seemed to all be working professionals. My theory is that it is housing provided by companies for their staff (logos such as Hyundai were painted on the sides of the buildings). Sidewalks were paved with that spongey material they use in playgrounds/jogging tracks – pretty cool! Lots of people jogging/riding bikes in the evening, all the moms at the park were very well dressed. Swings at the park were low to the ground and all the kids were standing on them rather than sitting. One girl seriously nearly did a 360 around the swing frame, Jason had a heart attack. Also lots of exercise equipment for adults incorporated within the playground. Evening spent wandering around the Nam Dae Mun market until it started raining again and we ran for cover.

[Side note: anyone relying on website called travelwithyourkids.com - save yourself the trouble and ignore their itineraries. Much has changed since the early 00's when most of the articles were written.] 

ATE: Breakfast – pastries from Amadine bakery near the hotel (delivered to the room by Jason). Lunch at the Fish Market – what an experience this was! There is a row of restaurants on the level above the market - you can opt to buy the fish in the market and then have them cook it for you. We just went in to one place that was recommended by a blogger and ordered what the waitress suggested (a set meal for 2). I don’t know how on earth two people are supposed to eat all the food that came, there were 3 courses (1st course was several Korean style small plates, 2nd was a platter of sashimi, 3rd a very hot soup) plus tempura shrimp, a grilled fish and corn for the boys. GnR still had room for dessert – ice cream near the train station. We decided to walk around the neighborhood in search of a grocery store (this neighborhood seemed more ‘normal’ than the other parts of the city we’d been in). Ended up winding through tiny streets filled with restaurant after restaurant, street vendors and generally amazing smells – wish it wasn’t so far from our hotel because we’d eat here every night. Couldn’t resist the pull of a plate of dumplings (about $1 for 6!). Later in Ichon we needed a break and stopped in a Japanese coffee shop for very bizarre ice cream dumplings. Gavin wouldn’t take a second bite but Rhys and I loved them. Dinner at Nam Dae Mun Market, we had a few more dumplings, a fried seafood stick thing (Jason said it was coated in msg and hence was very addictive to all 3 boys), chicken skewers, a potato pancake and fruit skewers. Dessert back at Paris Croissant at the subway station.

SLEPT: Rotten. This time I folded the mattress in thirds and rotated it 90 degrees so that it was 3-ply but only went down to my lower back unless I really curled up. Put my pillow on the floor next to the top edge of the mattress to buy myself some more room but surprisingly the pillow was too low and it caused further neck strain. Even worse, because of a few residual crumbs on the floor from breakfast the previous two days, we had ants crawling all over us as we slept. Ugh.

But truly the worst part is that there is nowhere within the guesthouse to sit and relax (unless you count the wooden benches in the rain-soaked courtyard or the plastic chairs in reception.) I am actually beginning to look forward to the flight to Japan just because it will give me a chance to sit in a padded seat for a few minutes.

With the Toksugung Palace guard

With head Toksugung Palace guard

Changing of the Guard ceremony @ Toksugung Palace

Changing of the Guard ceremony @ Toksugung Palace

Toksugung Palace

Toksugung Palace Walls

My princes at the palace

More Toksugung Palace

Guarding the bench from Gavin

Fresca-like soda from palace vending machine

Noryangin Fish Market

Lunch at the fish market

Sashimi platter

Soup

Fish cones

We opted to play it safe

Cereal aisle

Interesting food on display in this window

Mandu (Korean dumplings) maker

Mmmmm, mandu!

Snack-time - Japanese ice cream dumplings

Design inspiration - concrete walls imprinted with 2x4 wood plank pattern

Geocache found in Ichon

Entrance to Nam Dae Mun Market

Fish sticks

Giant mandu!

Day 3: Shopping in Seoul (Myeong-gong)

DID: Looked (in vain) for a rain jacket for Jason/me.  Shopping in Seoul is amazing though. Loads of cosmetics shops (which Jason found intriguing because they mostly show pix of men using the products). Crazy juxtaposition of traditional restaurants/tea houses + global chains (Zara, H&M, Gap, etc) + Korean stores with funny names (like “Teeny Weenie” and “Slim Jim”). Lots of ads around for cosmetic surgery – people seem to be very image conscious. No fat people anywhere, everyone nicely dressed. Seems like a lot of people wear uniforms to work. No sign of gfc, lots of shoppers out even at 10pm. 

Saw the ‘Nanta’ show, a bit like blue man group but with a cooking theme. 

http://nanta.i-pmc.co.kr/en/index.asp

Rhys of course screamed at all the wrong moments in the show and may have even kicked the guy in front of him in the head. We went through an entire back of Singaporean dried beef to try to keep him quiet (much to jason’s chagrin). Gavin was particularly amused by a scene involving a man getting stuck in a trash bin – he was seriously cackling his head off.

ATE: Breakfast from Paris Croissant (delivered to the hotel room by Jason!) Lunch @ Korean soup restaurant in Myeong-dong. I had dumpling soup, Jason had some kind of sliced beef soup, the boys had rice soup. Waitstaff was doting on the boys, Rhys had them in the palm of his hand. Gavin later had a corn dog from a street vendor which had French fries in the batter – weird but of course strangely good. Dinner at a casual bulgogi restaurant (more for the university crowd) – had spicy chicken bulgogi with noodles. Fantastic. A bit too spicy for Gavin but he managed it anyway (it was kind of addicting). Great with beer. Followed by a crazy curly fry on a stick (one continuous very thinly spiraled potato slice about a foot long) and then very VERY tall soft-serve ice creams (which fascinated Jason because the ice cream seemed to not melt as quickly as other ice cream). Saw lots of interesting street food at the market on the way home but sadly we were too full to sample any more!

SLEPT: Poorly. Again had the 1/3 fold thing going but still was not comfortable.

Shops in Myeong-gong

Teenie Weenie?

Soup for lunch

Smiles for more beef jerky

French fry-battered corndog

Nanta comedy

Night shopping in Myeong-gong

Dinner spot

What was left of the chicken bulgogi by the time we remembered to take a picture

Curly fries Seoul-style

Gavin with soft-serve

Rhys with soft-serve