Gyeongbuk Palace + Random Photos

This guard looked like a wax figure, with his obviously fake beard and shiny skin. It was a little creepy. 

Maria, Julie, and Kelly at Gyeongbuk Palace.

Benny at Korea House. Those were just two out of the 14 dishes we were served (not counting the banchan). It was really neat to try so many different dishes, some of which I still have no clue what they were.  

Maria took this photo at the Korean Folk Village. I would've been a giant if I had lived there. 

This post is coming a little late, but I've been pretty busy and will be till I leave. So, I probably won't update very much in the next month. Although, I will make an effort to post about Tokyo. I'm sure I will have a lot of photos to share. 

The Dr. Fish Experience

Maria, Kelly, and Julie heard about "doctor fish" before coming to Seoul, so they wanted to try it out. Also, Jenn has been to a Dr.Fish cafe here and said it was worth experiencing. Basically, you stick your feet in a pool with "doctor fish" and they nibble off the dead skin from your feet. This method has been used to treat psoriasis, but is now becoming a popular "pedicure."  I put that in quotations because it's not what I think of when I hear the word pedicure, but that's how it's advertised. Anyway, we decided to be adventurous and we found a place in Insadong that offers it. The place looked like an ordinary cafe downstairs, but upstairs it had a row of sinks for washing your feet, and a small tub filled with fish. Maria and I went first.  The first couple of times I put my feet in, I only lasted a couple of seconds. It felt too creepy and gross. On some parts of my feet, it felt like a little pinches and other parts it just tickled a little. After awhile, I got used to it. 

Sinks to wash your feet, in preparation for the pedicure (although if you ask Julie, I think she would replace pedicure with torture) 

The fish loved my feet, a little too much. It was creeping me out. 

There was a lot less love for Maria's feet. Even when I took mine out, so they would go to her's, some of them would still stay by my side, waiting with their mouths open for me to put my feet back in. 

Maria enjoying her tea during Kelly and Julie's turn. Benny is in the background playing dead. 

The fish also really loved Kelly's feet. Maria suggested a foot-off, which would've been really interesting but one doctor fish experience is enough for me. 

Dr. Fish verdict: I think to notice a real difference in your feet, you'd have to spend a lot more than just 15 minutes in the tub. It was super cheap (2 bucks) and my feet felt a little softer, but I think a regular old pedicure gives better results. Regular pedicures are also more relaxing. I was feeling anxious the whole time my feet were in the tub. 

BTW, bonus points to anyone who can name the punk rock band that inspired my blog post title. Brings me back to 8th grade. 

More Visitors + Korean Folk Village

Maria and Julie left Seoul today. I had a really great time with the both of them. We explored Insadong and Samchung; visited Gyeongbuk palace; ate a lot of frozen yogurt and pajeon; tried out Dr.Fish, I'll post photos and explain this one later; enjoyed a 14 dish royal dinner and a cultural performance at Korea House; and we went to the Korean Folk Village. 

At the Korean Folk Village, there were a lot of old houses set up to walk through, acrobatic and cultural performances, stores selling Korean goods, some museums, and various activities (like pottery making) set up. They even had a haunted house. When we passed the haunted house,  a kid came out of it crying. This deterred me from trying it out. I get scared quite easily. If you've watched scary movies with me, you probably already know this and understand why I skipped out. 

My camera ran out of battery life pretty early on, so I don't have too many photos. But here are some from the performances we saw. I'll share some of Maria's photos when she gets her's online. 

The See-Saw girls were neat. They got pretty high and some of them did flips in the air. 

These guys were awesome. They would flip/twirl/spin in the air multiple times in a row. I have no idea how to describe it or what the technical term would be, but it was cool. I would've gotten so dizzy.

This guy did some break dancing. Some of the drummers had ribbons attached to their hats that they twirled around by moving their heads. It was a much cooler version of the ribbon dancing that I was forced to do in my 3rd grade P.E. class.

We also saw a tight rope walking performance. It was a very old man and he was really impressive. He hopped across the rope on one leg, he would sit on the rope and bounce back up on his feet, and then he did some sort of duck walk across the rope. 

Love for Vayama

Thanks to Vayama, I found a much cheaper flight to Chicago than the ones on Kayak, which I booked right away. This means my Tokyo sushi/shopping spree is back on.

I'm really excited because Maria is coming to visit this weekend. She'll be here tomorrow afternoon. Also, my trip to Tokyo is one month away. When I get back, I'll be in Chicago two weeks later. All of a sudden, everything is happening so fast. 

That's all the news I have for now, so here's a random photo:

Cathy took this photo of Greg at a restaurant by my work. My coworkers and I refer to it as "The Closet." It's so teeny, even I feel tall in there. 

Funky Shops, Cool Architecture, and a Lonely Cat

This shop had neat bags, clothes, and jewelry. I got some nice aviators here, not to wear as a joke like the other sunglasses I've purchased.

Love the orange details. This house was on a nice, quiet, uphill street.

Dog Menu?

Awww.

Cafes, Art, and a Lonely Pink Bear

Despite what my last two blog posts may suggest, my little vacation this week wasn't just a giant nerd fest. I also spent most of it in my favorite neighborhood, where I went cafe hopping, people watched, took many photos, and ate some delicious snacks. Oh, and there was some studying involved too. The cafes were perfect for that. 

Behind that tree is a little take out window for Sunny Side Cafe where you can get coffee or pick up a yummy Liege waffle. I got one and it tasted just like the ones you get in Belgium. Don't confuse them with the Brussels waffles though- those aren't as good. Also, I think that is the first STOP sign I've seen in Korea. 

When I'm walking through Samchung, I pass a cafe every 5 seconds that I want to go in, but even I can't drink that much coffee. After passing up about 20 cafes, The Present's funky design was too intriguing to pass up. 

It was really cozy inside. It was furnished with antiques and even had some for sale.

The windows made for some good people watching. 

Eight bucks for Iced Tea is a little pricey (maybe not for that neighborhood though), but it's one of those places where you're paying more for the ambiance than the drink. 

Cute cafe. Apparently, waffles are in this season. Almost every cafe was advertising them.

All doors should be this colorful. I didn't go into this cafe, but it's on my list.

Tiny, yummy frozen yogurt place. 

My frozen yogurt had fruit loops and frosted flakes on the bottom. 

Wine bottles outside of a restaurant that was tucked away in a side street. I love stumbling upon things like this.

I love this. It's painted on a wall of a building. I like to get at least one piece of artwork from each city I visit. I haven't found a piece that I've been absolutely crazy about yet. Can I buy this wall?

 

This made me smile, although she looks a little lonely sitting there, by herself, with two glasses. 

Yes, I'm a huge nerd.

Samchungdong's Toy Museum

As soon as I saw the cabinet full of Nightmare Before Christmas toys, I knew I'd like the place. 

The Simpsons room was insane. That's just 10% of the stuff they had.

John looks like Jay Leno in this one, they overdid the chin just a little.

They had newer toys too, like these cute ones from Ratatouille. BUT, they're missing Collette!

See, this is what Edward Scissorhands is supposed to look like. The eyes are dead-on. The Robot Museum needs one of these to replace their evil-eyed, yarn-haired one.

I would never buy useless stuff like this for myself, BUT if someone bought them for me... I would LOVE them. 

I would also love these, especially Sloth. I totally wanted to be a Goonie when I was younger.

I do NOT want this. Child's Play gave me nightmares for weeks. 

I have more photos, but I think you get it, there were a ton of toys. After leaving, I made a mental list of about 10 movies I want to watch (12 if I count the LOTR's trilogy separately).