Snapshots of a weekend in Seoul

I've enjoyed many a weekend in South Korea's capital city, but I realized this last weekend I had not actually written anything about this amazing city!

So I left the bars and actually did some touristy things this past weekend to write home about.

Seoul is one of the largest cities on the planet, it's full of incredible places to see, eat, drink, and just meet amazing people!  I spent the entire weekend in Seoul (not that I'd intended to do that... explanation below) and had a great time!

Friday found me in Seoul to meet a friend I had made last weekend in sleepy Hongcheon.  She goes by the English name Jenny (sadly I already spaced her Korean name, yes I'm terrible).  As it would happen, Jenny is the daughter of my landlady, who I happened to bump into on the street last weekend.  As is the odd tendency in this country, meeting with one Korean immediately segued into meeting her entire family.  So I met my landlady's daughter and her two sons, all more or less by happenstance!  Jenny is a lovely girl who was really excited to meet a foreigner, as she's preparing to take her English exams in college.  She was so excited to meet a foreigner that we ended up meeting to hang out and catch a movie last Friday.

I met Jenny in the Dong Seoul Bus Terminal on the easternmost end of the city.  From there we traveled south by metro to Samseong Station, where the COEX mall resides.  Granted, I've seen some massive shopping centers since coming to Korea, but COEX is ridiculous!  The complex sprawls over a huge area, both above and below ground.  The mall possess a substantial movie theater where we hung out and saw an American film "Warm Bodies."
(Movie Critic Aside: Warm Bodies is a decent flick, passing itself as a pseudo romantic comedy set in a zombie apocalypse.  Though its a relatively well made movie, I felt it wasn't quite as "ha ha" funny as I had anticipated.  That and it wasn't particularly graphic for being a movie full of flesh eating zombies.  All in all, I'd give it a 6ish out of 10)
Sadly, the film let out late and Jenny and I had to part ways on the subway before the last trains ran their course.  I made my way to Itaewon where I spent the night in a hostel just up the street from the subway.  For fifteen bucks a night, it wasn't shabby.  Having arrived near 1am I immediately set up my bunk as quietly as I could and slept like rock.

8am arrived earlier than I would have cared for, but still I rose to wash and make my way into the city.  I wasn't much surprised to find the streets sparsely populated with people shuffling to and fro.  In Korea, very few businesses (other than grocers and convenience stores) open before 10ish (often later).  I had set myself on a solemn quest, to traverse the streets of Itaewon (which many call "Little America") for the one thing you can't find anywhere in my town.
A Western style breakfast.
My journey took me to one of the few restaurants that was open at the early hour of 9am.  A place called Suji's where I put up my feet and proceeded to order Eggs Benedict with a side of American Bacon.
It was passable by American standards, having lived in Korea for six months, it seemed divine!
My breakfast was pleasant and relaxed, I even struck up a conversation with a couple of foreigners in the table next to me.  They were a pair of gentlemen working for an engineering company, in the twilight of their career and living abroad for a while rather than just settling down in the States.  Nice guys, it made the start to a nice day.
Having a day to yourself in Seoul is kind of like being a kid let loose in a toy store, there is so much to do!  Though, rather than let myself get side tracked by the comforts of little America, I finished up my shopping early and made my way to the War Memorial of Korea.

The Memorial is actually more of a museum, featuring artifacts and exhibits from throughout Korean history.  Arriving from a side gate I found myself approaching the Museum through the name plates honoring the foreigners who fought during the Korean War.

The fallen from the great state of Indiana

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The view of the plaza from the wings of the Memorial.

 Though the central feature of the facility is the actual memorial to those who died in combat.  Entering through the main doors I found myself in a massive circular hall that broke off into various exhibits and the memorial shrine.

This main hall features a MASSIVE memorial drum (it's actually about the size of my apartment) commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Republic of Korea's Armed Forces.  Sadly, they would not let me play it...


The memorial hall is reached by passing down this corridor.  Warmly lit with soft lights, nationalistic music gently playing as you enter, it's simple but serene.  At the end of the hall is a dark square room with candles that can be lit in honor of the fallen.  In the center of the room, in a glass case, is a series of large books containing lists of names.
I did not take pictures in the actual memorial, out of respect, but I did admire the shrine they had erected there.  Having seen a number of memorials in America, I expected to find an altar full of writing and symbols, flags  and columns.  However, none of those things were present.  The room was circular, and at the center was a gentle fountain.  The fountain itself was the lower half of a sphere, standing about four feet high.  Water gently flowed out of the center and over the edges of the sphere to the pool at the base.  The walls were lit with soft lights, rough patterns (not unlike the shape of Korean mountains) stood out in relief on sections of the wall.  Above was a massive mural of twisted dry plants that reminded me of wheat bundled together.  Highest stood a simple orifice, where a strand of sunlight shot down on the fountain, a sight not unlike images of the Pantheon in Rome.
I walked slowly, respectfully, around the simple shrine taking in the soft sound of falling water.  I paused to reflect on what this shrine conveyed and the men it meant to honor.  I left the way I came feeling rather pleased with the experience.  All in all, I feel that the shrine at the War Memorial in Seoul is the most tasteful memorial I have ever seen.  Simple, powerful, and reverent. 

The central hall of the War Memorial in Seoul

From there I passed into the Museum to see the various exhibits.  The Museum contains lots objects, from the ancient dynasties of Korean kingdoms to the artifacts remaining from the recent war.  I enjoyed walking through the facility, looking on all the old items from Korea's past.

Got to love historical models, they make history come alive in a Lego kind of way!

Back when Bottle Rockets meant business!

I was surprised to find Hobbits had once lived in Korea!

Hobbit doors!

Of course, I enjoyed the Medieval section of the museum most of all.  But seriously, who doesn't like seeing cool buildings, swords, and armor!

After having concluded my visit to the War Memorial in Seoul.  I made my way back to Itaewon where I met up with an old friend.  Our meeting place took us to the section of town just East of the heart of Itaewon where we came upon the second great culinary quest of my journey.
Hamburgers

Totally legit burger joint

Jacoby's Burger is a bit small, though more or less average for a restaurant in Seoul.  As it was a weekend, the place was PACKED with people.  But thankfully, we didn't have to wait long.  Sharing a pint of the local brew me and my buddy James ordered our burgers and onion rings, laughing and catching up.
When our burgers arrived I was happier than I care to describe (see picture below)

The face of ravenous hunger

I was ultimately impressed with Jacoby's Burger.  It was actually an impressive meal, the onion rings were excellent as well. 
From there, James and I hit the town.  Gearing up for an exciting evening, but that's a subject for another blog post....