If you are looking for the wedding site for Matthew & Rebecca please click here. If not you can continue to read below about Matthew’s adventures in Korea.
Today marks the completion of 1 month stay in South Korea. I feel very thankful to have had such gracious hosts during my time in Seoul and I hope some day they can all make their way out to San Diego so that I may return the favor.
The Crew
Now I get to look forward to a 11hr flight back to the US and 1 month worth mail waiting for me to sort through. I’m thinking I’ll pick up Mojo first then let him sort through the mail for me since 99% of it will be junk anyways. So you all on the flip side!
While I still technically have a few days left, last night the Seoul Product Planning team held a farewell dinner for me.
The last supper
The particular restaurant we went to served traditional Korean cuisine, and while the food was good, the purpose of going to this particular place was for me to try Makgeolli. Makgeolli is a traditional Korean rice that was popular among farmers in Korea. At first glance it looks like milk, but the actual taste is similar to a very sweet white wine.
Looks like milk, but sure doesn't taste like it
It is not very strong (6.5–7% per volume), but because it is very sweet (and served by the bowl) I’ve been told that it is very easy to get a little carried away with it.
Just drinking my...umm...soup...nothing to see here :)
The entire team I’ve had the privilege to work with here in Seoul has been great and after expressing my gratitude to them for their hospitality I was presented with a few surprise gifts:
Mr. Yoon & his team suprised me with gifts
As the night came to an end, reality set in for everyone that we would have to say goodbye for now…and to be quite honest I think TJ & Neil took it the hardest:
...contemplating work with out me....
This being the last weekend I’ll be in Seoul the members of the product planning team invited me out to see some of the local sites and of course eat some more good food. Saturday morning started off with a movie with TJ at a theater not to far from my hotel. After many attempts to find a Korean movie that had English subtitles, we gave up and decided to see “The Final Destination” instead. Yeah I know what you are thinking…but it was between that and Fame (FAME!!!!!!!) so for me the choice was easy.
Movie Posters
The most interesting aspect of the movie experience (defiantly not the movie) was the size of the movie theater itself, I’ve seen home theaters that are about the same size of the theater we were in:
Humm..wonder why the theater is empty?
I didn’t go for any concessions at the theater itself because it all appeared to be the standard stuff I can find back home (e.g. Soda, Popcorn, Sour Patch Kids, etc.), but upon exit I did find a street vendor selling walnut cakes. This wasn’t just any regular walnut cake though…this one was shaped like a fish!
What can I say...I'm easily amused and a sucker for food in fun shapes
After our movie adventure was over we met up with Tom and hit up a popular Dim sum restaurant in Seoul. The line for this place was out the door and down the street. Luckily for us there is one random table in the place that only seats 3 people so we got bumped up to the front of the line. The great thing about most traditional restaurants in Seoul is that they usually focus on one type of dish with a few variations (this place only had 4 things on the menu), so all the food is prepped and and at your table just seconds after ordering.
The best noodles and dumplings I've had here in Seoul
Because this particular restaurant is so popular / crowded they make you pay right as you sit down and order, then when they see you slowing down they very politely ask if you want any more, or tell you to leave so the next people can sit down.
On Sunday I met up with Jae for what turned out to be a more “cultural” tour of Seoul. We started off by walking around the palace that is near my hotel and watched the changing of the guard.
Just doing my part to distract the guard
Marching band...Korean style
The guards with their flags
After the guards did their thing we hopped in the car and headed toward the Seoul Arts Center:
Main Opera Hall
Music House
The facility is quite large and consists of an Opera House, Music House, Hangaram Art Museum, Calligraphy Art Museum and Arts Library. Our destination for the evening was the Music House were we were treated to a traditional Korean music performance:
Jam Session from Matthew DeHamer on Vimeo.
So tonight was the Sprint teams turn to treat everyone to dinner, and we decided to head over to the Noryagjin Fish Market to eat. This Fish Market is located very near the LG twin towers and is the largest fish market in Seoul.
If it swims, you can find it here (dead or alive)
Seeing as to how we were going to a fish market for dinner it was a given that raw fish would be on the menu, but I didn’t expect there to be live octopus waiting for us when we arrived.
IT’S ALIVE!!! from Matthew DeHamer on Vimeo.
I wasn’t sure at first if I could stomach it, but after I saw everyone else dive in I figured why not:
Eating Live Octopus from Matthew DeHamer on Vimeo.
So what does it taste like? Well it actually tastes mostly like sesame oil (that is what it is soaking in) so it tastes pretty good…but the texture is what will get you. The best I can describe it is, imagine trying to chew through a shoelace. It is really tough and chewy, and at some point you just have to give up and swallow the sucker. The hardest part really is grabbing a hold of it. When your food slippery AND moving you really have to channel your inner Mr. Miyagi or you are going to go hungry. So….will I eat it again? Probably not, but I’m glad I tried it.
Tonights meal was never ending, I swear the second you finished one thing they were dropping off another. Here is a small sample of the different types of fish we ate:
Platter of various types of fish (raw):
Raw fish anyone?
Next up was broiled (i think) shrimp:
I hate when my food is looking at me...
Then we had some king crab:
Chomp!
…followed by a crab based stew:
Spicier than it looks..
By the end of the meal we had completely wrecked the joint:
The aftermath
For today’s adventure I decided to visit N Seoul Tower which is 236m tall sitting on top of a 243m mountain (no idea what that works out to in feet but it is pretty high up). I consulted with a few websites / tour books before I left to find the best way to get there but promptly got off course as soon as I got off the subway. This actually worked to my advantage as I found my own way to the cable car ($6) instead of hiking up the mountain like I had initially intended.
Much better than walking...
At the end of the cable car you still have to climb up a set a pretty steep stairs that leads you to the base of the tower.
Looking up
Once at the base of the tower it is $6 to go up to the observation deck but it is worth every penny to see a the 360 degree of Seoul.
View of the Han River from N Seoul Tower
It is crazy to see just how densely populated Seoul is
View from N Seoul Tower from Matthew DeHamer on Vimeo.
How does this guy keep getting into my pictures?
Back down at the base of the tower there are thousands of padlocks locks on every fence all inscribed by couples professing their love for one another.
"Locks of Love"
Awwww (I assume it says something sweet)
So yesterday I had the privilege of enjoying my first walnut cake, and today I found out how these little guys are made:
Walnut Cake Machine from Matthew DeHamer on Vimeo.
While the actual process of making the walnut cakes might be more interesting than the mini donut machine at the Del Mar Fair, I still give the mini donuts the edge when it comes to taste. How can you not love fried batter coated with cinnamon sugar?!
On the way back into Seoul today we stopped off at a “service area” to pick up some Korean sweets:
In the US we would call this a truck stop 
Hot walnut cakes right out of the oven
Gooey rice cake filling...yum!
From what I’ve been told you can find these at just about every service area but ones at Jukjeoun are the best. Since this was my first time trying them I have no comparison, but I did manage to polish off the entire bag if that gives you any idea of how good they are.
So I went back to Lotte Mart today and decided to capture a little bit of the madness on video so you get a feel for just how crazy it is in there. Check it out:
Grocery Madness from Matthew DeHamer on Vimeo.
Saw this baby at the Korean Village today and just had to take a picture of him:
The little hat just kills me