Insadong-gil

Insadong-gil, cultural and art street. It takes about 20-30 minutes walk to sight see the street full of interesting stuff.

You will find a big calligraphy brush as a significant landmark that tells you that you are in the right place.

You can also buy a fan as a gift from this guy. Not many people approach him to buy anything. Maybe he was just there spending his past time drawing some stuff.

I found this very interesting stone sprouting out water. It seems to be a drain. However the water was crystal clear and there was even an old aunt washing her knife there.

This seems to be a very girly coffee shop. I like the cute coffee and sandwich decoration.

You can find a lot of souvenir shops along the street. 

I liked the fabric and the Korean clothing but it is quite pricey since my country's currency is small.

They are very interesting motives, pictures, maps and writing, unfortunately I can barely understand any of them except for a few simple Chinese words.

Out of nowhere, suddenly this wooden like structure pop out. Very interesting mix of buildings along the street. You get traditional and a modern synergy.

Walking on the street, you find 80% of the people are women. I guess all the men are working hard to make money for the women to spend.

Here, you can also find the wind chime and other decorative stuff. I did not check out the price though but I am pretty sure artistic stuff don't come cheap.

Well, guess what, if you need to make some traditional medication and soup, you can find and buy the ingredients here.

You can also go with a modern solution of vitamin C. I felt like jumping into the lorry and swim in the oranges.

You also can find pretty sales girl standing outside cosmetic shops. They usually attract you  into the shop by giving some free samples.

There are also small food stalls along the street. This is just a picture, but you must really go there and see them make a demonstration. Each of this type of stall will demonstrate in various language. This one is in Japanese. The video is too big for me to upload.

Inside of insadong, you can find another art fortress within it. Look for Ssaraziegil.

You can get your portrait painted. They have very talented cartoon artist.

Talking about art, even the stair well is decorated or "vandalized".

Graffiti on the wall can be found in almost every corner of the building complex.

This shop offers a chance for you to get some stone cravings. You can emboss something on a custom made stone also.

This coffee shop is on the 4th floor of the art complex. I like the atmosphere and the notes decoration hanging around the cafe.

This is just some of the sights along insadong. Maybe you find something more there and please do share it with me. 

Short Rib Roast Meat (Korean Barbecue)

If you even happen to stay by the airport hotels, maybe you can come to this corner restaurant to try out its korean barbecue pork.

This is how the atmosphere look like inside the shop. Most of them come in for the barbecue.

You need at least 2 person to order this dish. It cost 10,000 won per person. Short Rib Roast Meat (pork) Yang Neem Kai Bi.

It comes with all the standard side dishes, the kimchi, the vegetables, some sambal, a spicy soup and a bowl of steamed eggs. Of course, you get your own barbecue pit with a pair of clippers and scissors.

This is the marinated pork when it just hit the heated stone pit.

The fat from the meat will flow through the drains into a collector. It also cooks the meat and keep it tender in the same while. Smoking hot pork! Smoking.......

Put in the garlic and cook it together. This is the ribs after almost 15 minutes on the hot plate. If only you can smell it from the picture.

The way I cook it is keep pouring the drained "oil" or "fat" with the soy sauce over and over again over the meat until the bowl is empty. I find that it is the best way to seal the taste of the meat. You can wrap the meat along with the other condiments in a leaf of vege or just feed it on with plain rice. It tastes really good.

Find your own method to enjoy this dish when you visit this restaurant. Cheers.

Beansbins Myeongdong

It was raining cats and dogs over Myeongdong, we bunked ourselves in the nearest coffee shop for shelter. Here we are Beansbins Coffee.

Place your order at the counter and wait for your coffee. They sell combo set here, a coffee with a waffle with toppings of your choice. I was not good in speaking korean, basically I just point to the board and say yes yes yes and pay the bill.

Find a good spot in the coffee shop to dry up after soaking in the rain. When the device beep, it is time to collect the order.

I had a hot americano black coffee with cinnamon creamed waffle, the set cost around 6000 won and taste good when served hot.

My friend had an iced coffee with choco flake cake. According to him, it was not bad either.We sat and chat around there till the rain stop before returning to the streets. It was a cozy spot to hang around. Most of the people there were couples and girl friends hanging out together, maybe you can check it out when you drop by in seoul.