Seoul, South Korea in Photos

Hello everyone!

We wanted to share with you our South Korea pictures, sorry it took so long.

We spent one week in Seoul at the end of October, staying at our friend’s apartment in the heart of the city. It was wonderful staying in an apartment (with a kitchen!!), hanging out with friends and being so close to all the action downtown. We spent the week exploring Seoul, eating Korean food (not the best place for vegetarians but we managed), taking a tour to the border of North Korea (surreal, strange and fascinating), playing with our friend’s three month year old baby, going to a fun show, trying to stay warm (brr Korea, your fall was a contrast from the Dubai heat) and relaxing.

Seoul is a bustling, modern city. Clean, spacious and easy to get around. I enjoyed seeing all of the fashionable girls, the Koreans are very concerned about looks. We  learned that South Korea is the place to go and get plastic surgery done inexpensively. In fact, they say one in five Korean girls go under the knife (and men get it as well!). A lot of this happens in their teenage years. Very interesting and sad (if you ask me). Also, a note about food. I’m always fascinated by local fare, and in Seoul (and Taipei) I was interested to see that the Koreans don’t eat sweets like they do in the West. Instead they eat sweetened beans such as aduziki beans for dessert. They are usually in a sweet coconut milk soup with tapioca, basil seeds and fruit. We also sampled some white bean cakes (picture towards the end of the post).

Time for pictures!

A typical street in Seoul, lots of restaurants, people and shops.

Touring Seoul with Laura and JD who came for the weekend from Taipei

Traditional shoes made of straw

Traditional Korean House

Kimchi Hut!

View from Seoul Tower Hill in the middle of the city

Traditional houses with a backdrop of modern buildings

Our lovely host with her baby Owen, a friend Ashley and Annalisa

Dumplings on the street! These were filled with red bean paste. Delicious!

Amazing white bean cakes. The white “frosting” is made of white bean paste and the cake is rice (or se believe!)

Apple tea

Fruit stands everywhere