Monday, April 22, 2013

dream fortress: seoul sunday



The following day after Grimes, we got off to a relatively early start despite our late night. This was in an attempt to squeeze in as much as we could before we'd have to go home. For brunch, Kevin took us to the Templestay Information Center for a vegan buffet. 7000 won a head, for as much animal-free goodness as we pleased.

Human traffic
So good. I'm no vegan/vegetarian, but that never means I'm not just as satisfied by a meal like this!

The center was offering activities on the main floor, and we decided to sit down and join in on the arts & crafts. It was fun being a kid again - why not, #yolo, alla that. We ended up spending a good amount of time painting some mandalas to soothing spa music. Surprisingly very therapeutic. 


After our artistic kindergarten moment, we made our way to the pretty area of Samcheongdong, just north of Jongno-gu.

Bubbletea!
Those bangs
A crazy amount of people in the narrow street leading up to Samcheongdong - it was like a giant funnel
"It sure is!!!"

We made a pitstop on gallery-ro (gallery road) to check out the small Basquiat exhibit at the Kukje Gallery. The collection was limited, but it was still cool to see selected works up close.

Gin described this really well - a robotic shell holding its own fleshy inside?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Loved this "dipped" paint job
Model train set in the works
A lot of unique Hangul typography all over the neighbourhood
Not-so-Hangul
 

Continuing past Samch, we made our way up the hill to the Bukchon Hanok Village, a neighbourhood of beautifully restored/preserved/rebuilt traditional Korean houses. The people who reside here are obviously very privileged - all the houses look very expensive. I can't imagine dealing with the tourist crowds that frequent the village every weekend though! 

:)
 
Mirrored in the window
This poor little car doesn't fit in its garage!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

As the sun began to set on us, we headed back for the subway to make our separate ways home.

 
Only a couple security bars away from penitentiary/mental institution status
 
 
 
"Seoul Metro"
Seoul popo
 

Jaimie and I had later buses to catch, so we decided to return to Shinsadong and have some pizza at Jane's Picky Pizza. It was quite good. Thin crust, not sweet, and no corn! Miraculous!

 
 
 
We ordered a sampling of three
 We did a lot of people watching as we nibbled on our mini pizzas
Cute mom and daughter wearing funny grey couple outfits

We met up in Seoul for a second consecutive weekend to attend the Future Shorts event at Platoon Kunsthalle. The next post of our Seoul adventures (round two) will be Instagram-exclusive. Shortly after that in the queue, I've got our weekend get together in the small, idyllic, rural town of Hwagae. Check back soon! xo

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