All posts tagged: travel

MMCA | what’s new in modern art

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Love the art scene in Seoul? I’m with you. I like to prepare, research, gear up and eat well right before heading to a new exhibit at a museum or gallery hopping in this crazy cool city. So when I headed out to see what was new at the MMCA in January, and I expected to be wowed. Just like the time I went before.  the day began Being excitable, and more than a little hungry, I decided the first stop needed to be food. Luckily as I walked down Yulgok-ro, a wonderfully pushy ajumma summoned me into her mandu restaurant where I promptly ordered this beauty : Honestly, I didn’t have much choice. She was very persuasive. Next, I cut through the alleys to get to the MMCA from the back, where I met this beautiful view. I admit, sometimes at modern art museums, you can be thoroughly underwhelmed or even walk away uncomfortable and confused. The first exhibit was a hipster spectacular about food called Activating the City: Urban Gastronomy. They had some information …

The Princess Temple | chuncheon

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If you’ve spent any amount of time in Korea, you’ve seen your fair share of Buddhist temples. Sometimes it feels like you can’t throw an empty bottle of BB cream without hitting one. (Don’t throw bottles, folks. Recycle!) But, every so often, you get to see one that is just wonderful and unique enough that you feel like an innocent young girl seeing her first Korean temple. Cheongpyeong-sa is one such temple for me. I visited in possibly the hottest of summers I’ve lived through in Seoul. The air was thick with humidity, smog and just millions of people’s breath. It was the perfect time to escape to Chuncheon in Gangwon-do. The area is gorgeous and full of greenery. The temple sits at the basin of Obongsan Mountain.  It was misty walking up to the entrance due to the heat and I began to fear that maybe I too would dissolve into sweaty mist. But, in the luckiest of circumstances, I saw just what I needed: an older couple soaking their feet in the crisp, streaming …

Jalgachi | fish market

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Do you feel that? That’s  that mean girl winter FINALLY getting the hell out of here. The sun is out and we only have a scant amount of time before the weather turns on us again here in Seoul and becomes an abhorrent shade of humidity and heat. So let’s enjoy the spring! The best season in Korea. And let’s break in the season with some raw fish! Last year my friend, Phil and I headed down to the the southern tip of Korea, Busan. We headed straight to a spot for lunch at the  Jalgachi Fish Market. Downstairs is a wonderland of fish and seafood…with a pungent smell and wetness just, everywhere. Upstairs is a restaurant where we parked ourselves for a giant raw lunch. There were some definite good things: the steamed lobster, the flatfish, the abalone, the boiled potatoes, the kimchi. There were also some let downs: the raw lobster tail and the raw moving squid come to mind. Overall, I was happy with what was set down in front of us. I believe it …

Daytripping | Chinatown

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  The only official “Chinatown” in Korea is located in Incheon and takes a long, boring ride on the subway to get out there. It’s a full on tourist destination and it has a quintessential selfie tourist trap, the barf-worthy Fairytale Village. But, as much as those things irk me, and they do, don’t let it stop you from heading out there just once. It’s an interesting and quirky place. There is a different feel to the area, in no small part due to the different smells and different building styles. There are many restaurants and spots to buy a snack. We found a dim sum restaurant that squelched some cravings I’d been having for weeks. It’s also the birthplace of the ridiculously popular Chinese-Korean dish, Jjajangmyeong. After eating, you can wander around and find a beautiful cafe, like one we found that doubled as a gallery. TLDR: A Brief History The history of the area is…interesting. When Incheon Port opened in 1883 a small settlement of Chinese people grew.  The population has remained small for …

Kyoto Food Collection

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After taking a healthy hiatus from blogging, I’ve returned ever so gently with a blog about food.  I took a jaunt over to Japan for Christmas this year and ate some amazing things. I travel to eat in a new location. You too? We are probably very cool. Just like you, I spend more time researching food and restaurants than possibly anything else before a vacation. I will gladly leave a monument early to get to a restaurant rated well on Tripadvisor. You can learn a world of things with just a picture of food. So I spent a good deal of my very precious time usually reserved for rewatching 30 Rock to research all the amazing food I could shove in my mouth in Kyoto. The city of Kyoto is breathtaking. It looks like a fairy tale, it’s immaculate and people have manners. I felt like it was a world away from the rushed and stressed life I sometimes live here in Seoul (🖤  you Seoul) although it’s only a 2 hour plane ride away. At different …

Winter Vacation!

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year…to travel! Actually, I’m not sure if it’s the most wonderful, but I am having winter dreams about this one…Kyoto. I’ve saved up all my yearly stress for this holiday vacation and now it’s Crystal-time! The history. The architecture. The food. I can’t wait to walk aimlessly around for seven days, landing in coffee shops and stationery stores (oh, the money I will spend).  I will take loads of pictures of all the touristy things and then try to snap every Christmas in Kyoto-y thing I can find. If I see a geisha posing near a Christmas tree I may pass out. To organize my thoughts and enthusiasm, I’ve made my ideas list below. Any suggestions? Things you loved in Kyoto that are worth it, things that are tourist traps? Please let me know! Please visit soon! Likes and follows are loved! Facebook Instagram Bloglovin Tumblr

Autumn Views | Seoul Fortress Wall

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Time and tide wait for no lady. Even when she’s like, “Can you wait a second, I’m not like…super ready for November.”  Oh, there it goes. There went November.  It’s December! I know that’s a fact, but it seems nuts. November and most of October was a blur. I went out, did things, ate things… lived my life. And now it’s cold and dark when I get off work, so it’s back to blogging I go. I return to blogging season.   Sometime in November, I went on an amazing hike in the wilds of Seoul. It was sometime after I ate pounds and pounds of Halloween candy and was feeling especially awesome guilty. The trail is tough but worth it. There are steep inclines, beautiful scenery and fresh air plopped down just for the taking. I was thrilled to find it on my second attempt after we followed a very knowledgeable and talkative dad guiding his two kids to the trail. We were especially lucky to have such a beautiful, clear day to see far and …

Taejongdae | a brief guide

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Beautiful views. Cool breezes. The smell of pine and ocean together. Taejongdae offers all these things and is a great little getaway in Busan. I was thoroughly impressed with the beauty and atmosphere offered here. Just like every tourist place in Korea, there were hundreds of people at the base of the mountain in the shops, buying souvenirs and coffee and  waiting to take the trolley up. But, if you walk up on foot, which is a reasonable incline but not taxing (I did it in flip flops), it is wonderfully peaceful (something rare and beautiful in Korea at times) and you can get much better views for a much longer time. The blue ocean views from the cliffs were very calming and we seemed to be the only visitors to the small temple on our way up. It is a charming place altogether. And one I would recommend. Taejongdae To get there: From Busan Station, take Bus 88 or 101 and get off at Taejongdae Cliff Bus Stop. Other buses bound for Taejongdae: No. 8, 13, 30, 88, or 101. …

autumn | design

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Nothing is like autumn. Saying adios to 90 degree heat and the ever persistent humidity that creeps into my hair sending it whisping all over my head like a maniac’s crown  gives me a renewed energy. Saying hello to crispy weather, comfort foods and colorful ginkgo leaves makes it all worth the torture. It is the best part of the year and the part I wait (somewhat) patiently for during those other three seasons. This autumn: I’ll be making amazing things in the kitchen (and probably some disasters as well 🙂 ). Going to new places (getting my Vitamin D). And getting the most out of this weather. My Pinterest page has exploded with ideas, itineraries and designing the most autumnist of autumns. I will rule Autumn 2016.     to make wild mushroom lasagna by delallo kimchi udon stir fry by pickledplum savory tomato tarts with goat cheese by yellow lemon tree weeknight vegetable curry by smitten kitchen portuguese chicken with crispy potatoes by feasting at home last but not least, korean spiced chili from hapa …

Chuncheon | The Home of Dak Galbi

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This has been a mean and petty summer. Nearly every day since  July has been blistering and it’s too hot to enjoy getting out of the apartment and brushing off the cabin fever. My school had it’s annual quick summer vacation and I took the time to go on a foodie adventure to Chuncheon, where one of my favorite Korean dishes, dak galbi, is said to have originated and pretend I was one of the castmates of my favorite Korean show, Tasty Guys. My plan was simple: eat too much and ignore the sweat beaming through my shirt. Tasty Guys is a reality eating show where 4 loveable comedians eat more food than you ever thought was humanly possible. It’s just…wow. They can really pack it in. So I visited a city based on food and I pretended to be a host of a Korean TV show. I think that’s totally acceptable, right? Luckily, there are several wonderful things to do in Chuncheon, which I will post about later, so we didn’t just eat all day. But, the food was …