8:30 AM - in search for decent coffee
After our sad experience at Angels in Us, Hubby did a bit more research for nearby coffee shops that would satisfy his coffee craving. MK2 had good reviews online, was within a 10 minute walk in the artsy gallery district, and we were eager to try it. Unfortunately, this coffee cafe, like many others in this area open later. While there are plenty of other coffee shops, we decided to go to Starbucks. We both ordered a Venti Iced Coffee (though I think Venti/Large is really a Grande/Medium in the US). While there was no half & half or equal, they did offer simple syrup and had self serve cinnamon which helped me compensate for those missing ingredients.
At 1PM, we met two lovely 3rd year university student volunteers, Ji Won Lee and Noah, from Meteor Youth who took us around Insadong, Samcheong-dong, and Bukchon Hanok Village. Our very generous guides made reservations for lunch at --- where we got to know one another over sam gyup ssal and jigae. They are both volunteers with Meteor and when asked why they were interested in this particular club, Ji Won said it gave her an opportunity to meet people and provide a good impression of Seoul. She was really outstanding, very courteous and impressively good English. Noah was a bit more shy, but a fun young man that has a nice sense of humor.
We walked around a lot, taking in the traditional Korean houses of Bukchon Hanok Village where residents still live today. The lunch at Insadong was very enjoyable and we had a chance to preview the wide selection of souvenirs, such as hanboks, traditional arts and crafts, and picked up some magnets for my office mates. We also had some patbingsu at Ms.Lee, a recently more popular cafe after a visit from the girl group, Girls Generation. We parted ways around 5PM where our friendly guides went onto the rest of their day. Ji Won joined us after class this morning and was headed back to school for a lecture from 6-8P. Noah, who took a 1.5 hour train ride to meet us, had a long train ride home. We were so appreciative of their time and genuine eagerness to show us around. Very lovely representation of the young people of South Korea today - bravo.
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| Hanok Village |
We ended the night with a late night at Korean Fried Chicken pub. I think I am too used to southern fried chicken which I prefer, but still found this tasty.