Saturday, February 15 2014
Tokyo, Japan
Slushy, Rainy, Windy, Miserable Day
Meant to post this last week but got busy. Given the weather is horrible in Tokyo this morning decided to catch up on writing about my weekend trip to Korea last month. Can't believe it's been almost a month!
Eunice has a nice car so we decided to escape the city and go to the countryside of Korea. I'm always amazed on how mountainous the country is. We left early in the morning on a very cold day. First stop was a new hotel Eunice wanted to check out as a possible weekend getaway.
We drove North along the river and it started snowing! We had a matcha latte at the hotel and enjoyed the snowy view.
The next stop was a restaurant along the river that Eunice used to take her kids too. It was very nice and cozy. There were outdoor fireplaces for folks to sit around and inside were authentic woodburning fireplaces. Very nice. I had my first taste of a traditional "peasant" food of Korea which is basically a seafood soup with noodles. Perfect meal on cold blustery day in Korea.
We then took a short drive to the residence of Jeong Yakyong, commonly known as Dasan. He was one of the greatest thinkers of the Joseon period (early 1800s). He was a philosopher, inventor, architect and scholar. In other words a genius. He is still revered by many scholars worldwide and is loved by all Koreans.
Dasan's house and also where his grave is located (no photos allowed of the grave)
Just a short walk from his residence is a beautiful view of the Han river that is probably the most important river in Korea. It flows through the Seoul.
We had a wonderful day trip to the country. The next day Monday, Eunice had to work, so I scheduled a cooking class in the morning. I found a great cooking class on the Internet - O'ngo.
Our teacher was a lovely young lady who learned to cook from her grandmother and spoke fluent English. I was to be the only student but at a last minute, 4 ladies from Taiwan arrived and asked to join. Two were doctors and two were nurses. I enjoyed speaking to them very much. We had lots of fun where I learned to make the spicy seafood and tofu stew, and Korea's famous savory pancake. Next time I'm in Korea, I'm going to take another class with them.
Our teacher started the class by explaining the basic but necessary ingredients in Korean cooking: soy beans and chile. She explained how bean paste and soy sauce is made. Her grandmother used to make all of this from scratch!
Our wonderful and enthusiastic teacher
My tofu and seafood spicy stew
My scallion pancake
We also got a bonus trip to the market. Markets are fading in Korea due to supermarkets, etc. The area where our cooking school is was once a bustling and large market. Today it still exists but is very small.
As I was there a couple weeks before the Lunar New Year, the rice shops had many rice based sweets for sale.
The market: bean paste, etc
Handmade tofu
Chilis
Everywhere we went there was a pig's head. Apparently the word for pig is similar to gold/money so it's supposed to bring good luck. Everytime I saw one, it strengthened my resolve to not eat pork.
More chilis!
After the cooking class, I went to Ewha University where Eunice is VP of International Relations. It is one of the most prestigious women's university's in the world. Many famous women (Angela Merkel, Hilary Clinton, etc) have visited and given speeches. The campus was GORGEOUS. I especially loved the museum which was fascinating and the student shopping center where works from the students were being sold. I bought a brooch and a beautiful scarf.
Lovely, lovely trip to Korea, especially since I was able to catch up with Eunice. Can't wait to go again but I'm hoping next time she'll come to Tokyo for a visit.
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