Every Sunday, I go to my cousin's house on the very east side of Seoul. I sleep over on Sunday night and I just recently began tutoring her son in English speaking. He's only 10 year old but the education system in Korea is very intense and overwhelming. Not only do they have regular elementary school, most ambitious mothers put their children in: piano lessons (or another type of instrument), taekwondo, swimming, English tutoring, and chinese character lessons.
This Sunday was a special occasion because my cousin's college friend (Sugi) came from England with her Irish/English husband (Ginger). They wanted me to go so I could keep Ginger (*nicknamed from his Orange hair) company and not out of the loop while everyone spoke in Korean. We ate brunch for dinner at one of the most blogged about/rated brunch places in Seoul. Its called SUJIs and it is located just outside the gate of Itaewon. I ate there previously with my neighbor Yuri and her cousin, Nina. I had the denver omelette. It was pretty good. But last night when I decided to try the non-brunch, I chose the seafood cajun pasta. It wasn't BAD but it also wasn't really good.
After dinner, we decided to walk around Itaewon and go to a bar/pub. My cousin is about 40 years old and so I was hanging out with people much older than me. But I have to say, I LOVE hanging out with my cousin, even though she is about 18 years older than me. They're still young at heart. Sugi and Ginger were really young at heart because they don't have any children. We decided to walk into an alleyway, away from the main street of Itaewon and discovered a whole new community of bars/restaurants/pubs. One thing I noticed was BRAZILIAN BBQ. I cannot wait until I get the chance to get my hands on some brazilian bbq meat!
Anyhow, we chose a random bar and I was surprised to discover MOJITOS! I LOVE mojitos and was craving it so bad I was thinking of attempting to find the ingredients to make them myself. The mojito came regular, strawberry, diablo (some berry concoction), and I forgot the last flavor. It was about 8,000 won, which wasn't bad at all. It tasted really sweet and yummy as well. I forgot the name but it's right in front of this restaurant called Gecko (I've seen several places in Itaewon called Gecko so be weary) and in the same alleyway as Copacabana brazilian bbq. I think that was the name of the restaurant.
On Monday, we met Ginger, Sugi, and Sugi's friend from high school at Shinsegae Department Store. We ate lunch there and then had coffee on the building's rooftop garden. It was beautiful since the flowers started blooming in Seoul. But since it was windy, it was a little cold to be out there for long.
My cousin, Sugi's friend, Sugi, and Ginger
The rooftop garden of the department building
The garden outside of Shinsegae Dept. Store
After Shinsegae, we ventured to Namdaemun (huge marketplace for stuff). Ginger wanted to get glasses and so did I. I bought a pair of glasses for $65! The frame was $15 and the lens (which were thinned out to the 3rd level) were $60. Since Ginger bought glasses, my cousin cut the price down for mine to $65. Ugh, I don't know what's wrong with me but even though I want to get different styles of glasses, I always end up getting the same style...which defeated the entire purpose of buying an extra pair of glasses....darn.
Namdaemun was bustling on a Monday afternoon
After Namdaemun we took a taxi to the Seoul Plaza Hotel and then walked to Lotte Department Store. Sugi wanted to take advantage of duty free shopping, which is HUGE in Korea.
The bottom floor entrance to Lotte Dept. Store
the chandelier is made entirely of soda bottle bottoms strung together
My cousin insisted I try the half bulgogi and shrimp burger at Lotteria.
It wasn't bad at all.
After Lotte Department Store, my cousin and I separated from the rest of the group so that we could visit her old coworker's new cafe at SungShin Women's University. It was literally a HILL to walk about to campus. I thought Berkeley was hilly, but this campus is STEEP but it also has an amazing view.
Monday was a full and crazy packed day for me. I came home pooped but I had to prepare for my presentation on ISO 16000 for my internship. I practiced until 1am and went to bed but couldn't fall asleep. I wasn't sure if it was all the caffeine I had that day or if I was nervous. I only slept 3 hours. But the presentation was a SUCCESS! I was very happy it was over.
Time to catch up on lost sleep tonight. Goodnight world!
yummy, that looks good ^^
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