Bim-bim-bap!

One of the irritating things about my business trips is that they are always decided at the last minute. As a result of that, there's always a last-minute frantic rush for tickets. And because of that, we sometimes end up unable to get on SQ and end up on Korean Air. Like this time.

On the positive side, this at least gives us more interesting meal options - like do-it yourself Bimbimbap! Severed complete with instructions.

First, you take the rice and dump it in the big bowl on top of the veggies. Then you take the cute tube of hot red pepper sauce and squeeze it all over the rice.

Add sesame oil, the MIX! (No pics of the mixed dish since it didn't look all too photogenic once I was done with it).

Yummy. But it doesn't make up for the fact that there's no TV!! For the entire 5+ hour flight!!! We were going crazy. Thank goodness I had Shopaholic and Baby to keep me occupied all the way back :)

Not Quite Winter Sonata

For someone who has been to Korea 3 times now, I think I've honestly seen precious little of the sights of Seoul, let alone the rest of the country! Instead, I've come to learn odd little really random things about the place. For example, did you know:

1. The surname "Choi" is pronounced "Chue". We were all majorly confused when our lawyers kept referring to "Mr Chue" when there seemed to us to be no such person.



2. If public holidays fall on a Saturday or Sunday in Korea, it's just too bad - they don't make it up to you. The Koreans get 3 days off for CNY (Reunion Dinner night and the 1st 2 days), but since 2 of the days were Sat and Sun, they only got a 1-day break this year, which was pretty sucky.



3. A married woman does not adopt her husband's surname - she just changes her title to "Mrs". I think that's a great idea! :)



4. It seems to be a big part of Korean office culture to brush your teeth after a meal. All the offices I visited provided shelving in the common toilet for staff to keep their toothbrushes. The photo on the right was taken in the Ladies' at our lawyers' office.



5. Koreans get off the plane incredibly fast, and they will mow over anyone who gets in their way!



6. Lotte sells absolutely the cutest swimsuits - they come in 3 or 4 pieces, the extras being the sweetest little skirt to wear over your bikini bottom, and the optional tankini top. I totally LOVED the skirts!

Okay, I'm sure any regular shopper would have known the last one! Sadly I didn't get any cos I couldn't bring myself to spend more than $250 on a swimsuit. :/

At least this time, we did go visit somewhere of note - Sam Cheong Gak. Then again only becuase we finally managed to complete the matter we were working on and our business partners invited us there for a celebratory dinner.

The place looked amazing! Nothing like an authentic-looking old-style buildings to make you feel like you're in Korea, no?

Dinner was at Yi-Gung, a restuarant serving traditional Korean fare where diners are seated at royal court-style tables. Apparently the food served were royal court dishes? That definitely brought images of Dae Jang Geum to mind man...

The dishes were really interesting, and no doubt expensive, being liberally peppered with ginseng, but I think they may have been a little too posh for our plebian tastes. Where was the spicy soup??? My colleague and I both agreed that this was the better meal:

The perfect thing to warm the tummy on a cold day!

And since food was our only outlet, we made frequent trips to our favourite restaurant, Tani! :)

Overall, it was better trip than the previous ones, mostly I think cos we were un-policed since the bosses didn't come up with us. Still it was 4 days of working from morning to night and 0.5 a day of shopping... Hmmm. And I have to say I'm really glad to be home, hanging out with a husband who has been beaming from ear to ear on seeing his wife back home.

No more Korea for a while for me! Please?

Korea, but not on Holiday

Back!

Since last Friday actually - left Seoul on the 6pm flight and I was home safe by midnight. But the work has continued so the blog has taken a back seat. Somehow coming home after a long day just leaves me wanting to just zone out in front of the telly... :P

It was a busy time for all of us in Seoul the previous week - it was meetings galore. And for minions like me, lots of running around to manage the voluminous paperwork. The office where we had our daily meetings was literally a 1 minute dash across the road from our hotel so you can image that I didn't see much! So, no, I didn't get to shop, and no, I didn't get to sightsee - just what I could see from the my hotel, what we drove past in cabs and what we came across on our various ventures out for meals! Haha. Acutally seeing Korea would have to wait till anor time.

Not that it was all bad though. For one thing, I actually got upgraded to Business on the way to Seoul! This is the first time I've ever gotten upgraded, and I was beside myself with excitement. My lucky break was due (I suspect) to the fact that I got a really late confrmation and the the flight was really over booked. Not that I cared at that point. Business would have allowed me to sleep better on my way there, but DD (who knows me too well) knew I just wouldn't be sleeping - why would I when I would want to maximise my Business class usage? :) Pity it wasn't SQ though...

Business was fun, but I didn't realise how much better it was till our return trip when I realised to my dismay that Korean Air Economy has no personal in-flight entertainment! Dang! I knew I shouldn't have slept at all! :P

Hitting the ground running was tough though. Watching day turn into night in meeting rooms... But there are the perks that sometimes come with getting round to dinner late, combined with the need for private dining rooms for discussion. Sometimes, you end up having to eat at some place nearby. Some place nice. Like The Ninth Gate at the Westin. You know those poncy places you see only on TV where your food comes covered with these gold covers that they whip off in synchronised motion? It was that kind of place. And an amazing view + great food = happy me. Pity the dinner conversation was all about work!

But on other times, when we were not being policed by management, us low level minions got away for some really good - and fun - meals. Since most of my colleagues have been to Korea many times before, they brought me to the gorgeous Tani Next Door.

And on the last day when we had a bit more time, we ventured out to the classy Wood & Brick where we spied many Korean tai-tais having lunch. Incidentally that was where I learnt one of my now new list of random facts about Korea - they serve kimchi/pickles at every meal. Notwithstanding the fact that we were at an Italian restaurant, we were served pickles together with the bread! Only in Korea I believe...

But aside from the fancy restaurants, I had more than my fill of local Korean food, in particular hot pot/spicy soup, which clearly kept me happy.

Ramyun (which tasted almost exactly like our fav Shin instant noodles) with Seafood Pancake

Spicy Tofu Soup with clams and scallions. My colleagues call this the national dish.

(Real) Korean BBQ. No finely sliced pieces of meat here! Just thick slices of pork belly laid on the grill which the server later comes round to cut up into bite-size pieces with a pair of scissors (no kidding)

Spicy soup (yes, again) with rice cakes and dumplings

(No pics of bugolgi cos those went real quick :P)

And did you notice random Korean fact #2 - small Korean eateries all seem to use the same kind of chopsticks - flat silver ones, quite unlike the types we use for back here.

Overall impression: Korea is expensive, but intriguing enough to merit a proper visit another time... Working trips just ain't good enough when there's real work to be done!

Modern and Ancient Disjunct

Doesn't this strike you as being incredibly incongruous? Spied this Starbucks joint across the road from our meeting room and it amused me, so much so that I had to snap a shot.

Hello from Seoul! The weather it's cold but clear today and it makes me wish I was out in the open rather than being stuck in a meeting room. It's been a long week...