The Candy Man

We went to Insa-dong a couple days ago. We saw this candy maker putting it together in front of a crowd.



The sweets are tasty... He mixed a cereal-like grain (kind of like Kix cereal) with sugar and other seasonings. The end result is mildly sweet, crunchy and a little chewy. Good stuff.

Sanasa Temple

A few photos from the beautiful Sanasa (사 나 사) temple in Yangpyeong. From the Yangpyeong subway station you can grab a cab to get out there.

Yangpyeong Market

Yangpyeong is famous for it's outdoor markets. We lucked out and came to town while it was going on. Here are a few shots.



The fishmonger.



A stall selling bibimbap. It's a bowl of rice topped with egg and mixed veggies and spicy pepper paste.


Is that a carp?



These are our wonderful hosts from the Opirus pension. I bought some jalapenos (front right) and they make the lady give me an extra handful of peppers. A steal at 2,000W (less that $2).


Dried fish waiting for the chopping block.




The baby in the stroller was having a staring contest with the baby hanging on the string.


Dried shrimp, grains and rice noodles.


The bean sprout guy was really popular.

Going on Vacation

We only have one full week of vacation a year, and we need to do some serious relaxing. We head to Yeongpyeong. Mountains, rivers, water parks, markets and delicious food.


Here's me on the way to the pension. It's off the light blue Yongmun subway line. Asin station. Notice the lady rocking the traditional hanbok.



Our room.






This picture is very racy for me.


This is the view from the balcony when it isn't raining.

After I relaxed for a while, I took a walk around the neighborhood.



Coco the dog came with me.





I was hungry when I got home. We cooked some sausage.


Ouch! Then our hostess brought us some kimchee and some dang jeng jiggae (soup with zucchini, mushrooms and tofu).


After dinner, a big old moth came to hang out on our window.


I was chilly and looked for a blanket in the closet. There were no blankets. Only snow pants. So I put on snow pants.


Also, Cassie just took a picture of some really creepy baby knic-knacks next to the tv in our room.


I'm going to have to turn them around so they aren't looking at me when I try to sleep.

Insadong

We went to Insadong recently. It's famous for book shops, calligraphy, tea shops and Korean trinkets/souvenirs. There were lots of white folks, but plenty of Korean tourists, also.



One side alley was filled with stores selling any imaginable ceramic product.






After strolling for a while, we took a side street looking for a traditional Korean meal. It was big, filling and delicious. The entire meal was 26,000W, or $24 American.



Here is the meal, from front and center and moving clockwise. A spicy stew of egg, mushroom, zucchini, onion and shrimp, rice in the metal bowl, a bitter leafy green marinated in hot pepper sauce, a large potato pancake fried with green onion, bean sprout salad, a bitter green salad (similar in texture to collard greens), a hot pot of bulgogi (shaved beef cooked with a sweet teriyaki sauce) with onion, carrot, zucchini and mushroom, more rice, fish cakes with a sweet and spicy sauce, kimchee (spicy pickled cabbage). In the center there are two quail eggs marinated with dried beef and spicy peppers in soy sauce, a sweet and spicy sauce with hot peppers and onions and, finally, a serving of tiny fried fish coated in a sweet and spicy sauce.

I think we ate every last bite.



I read about a place called Ssazmie-gil on a great Korea blog here:

http://discoveringkorea.com/2011/07/06/insa-dongs-ssazmie-gil/

It's a mall with modern architecture, but the wares they sell are a mixture of traditional and modern. There were no chain stores, and each shop seemed to be run by the designer or creator of the goods inside. I usually hate malls, but this one, with it's ramps and independently owned shops, was well worth a look.




Cassie on top of Ssazmie. We're overlooking the courtyard and Insadong-ro.



We'd just finished eating that giant meal, but no Georgia boy can pass a sign that says "Homemade Spicy Sausage." So I ate that, too.



I didn't read about this anywhere else, but we passed a picture of Wonder Woman, so I said, "Let's go in." It was a strange pop culture museum/junk toy collection. It cost about $2 each to check it out. I'd suggest it to anyone.





I was more amused by the Cabbage Patch doll than she was.