Working out

It's been a long time since my last post because of our trip to Thailand. While I'm sorting out my pictures and stories I thought I'd share my more recent experience of joining the gym that's just across the street. The gym is spacious, clean, very modern, and it's also quite beautiful. There are actually plants and trees on the gym floor seperating the free weights from the stretching mats. (What kind of work out could you possibly get if you could see the free weights from the strech/ab mat. I mean, really? But aside from the physical landscape of the gym - which, did I mention, is fantastic - it's the other perks that really won me over.


First you get two lockers. A permanent one for your shoes and deoderant, etc, and then one that changes daily for your clothes. This way you can keep your stinky gym shoes in the locker and you don't have to put your clean clothes in with them. The gym also provides towels and gym clothes that come in a variety of sizes and colors. I especially think this is fantastic because I didn't bring much workout wear with me to Seoul. Now I don't need to buy any because I just wear their clothes and use their towels and they wash them for me. No more gym bag, no more worries. There's also a large sauna/steam room in the women's shower room and the locker room is equipped with all kinds of toiletries including body lotions, hair dryers, q-tips, etc. Great! Personal training costs about $2.50 a session and the membership is about $80 per month with a discount if you pay for 3 months at a time. Today I took a yoga class and I didn't have to sign up for it. There were only 3 of us and I got a lot of personal attention.

All in all it's just another example of how the Korean's do it so right!


(I have to admit that there was one element to the gym that surprised me. It was the glass balcony attached to the gym (it's on the 4th floor) that is labeled: smoking. There were actually a group of guys who went from treadmill to weight machine to smoking section back to weight machine. Fascinating!)

Ordering In Korean Style

When we first moved in we found a menu for a local restaurant stuck under our door. Obviously it was all in Korean (sadly no pictures) and we didn't know our address or how to order in Korean so the menu was trashed and forgotten about. A few days ago I went to drop of the dry cleaning with Yelim and we smelled something fantastic coming from a small place next door to the cleaners. Yelim told me it was a food delivery and that they often serve the people who live in our officetel. I told her that I thought I got their menu and she said it was them. She told me to tell her when I wanted her to order for me and she would arrange it.

Today I knew I was going to have a full day of work in the morning and evening and thought I'd have an early dinner at home before my night class began. I called Yerim and asked her to order me some Bulgogi for 5:30. At 5:30 on the dot someone rang my bell. I opened the door and stuck out the 8,000won - about $7.15 (Yelim told me how much it would be) and grabbed the basket of food.

Not only was the food delicious, there was so much of it (for so cheap) and it was presented so nicely in bento style boxes. No plastic silverwear either. I got a soup spoon - the meal came with soup - and chopsticks, soup, bulgogi, rice with a fried egg, and lots of delicious and beautiful banchan. I ate all I could and, as instructed, put everything back in the basket and left it outside my door. A few hours later I heard the clanging of the chopsticks and peeked outside. It was all gone.

Just another example of how Korea does it so right!

Yelim's birthday Party

Saturday night we had a great time celebrating Yelim's birthday. We started out at our local Japanese tapas joint and then moved on to our, um, other Japanese tapas joint. Yelim is a big fan of Japanese food and drink. She and her friends had sake-tini's all night! I stuck with Mekju (Beer) and Soju.

We had a great time and learned some fun Korean drinking games. Take a looksie:

Showing their Sogang Pride.

Jjimdak (chicken stew over glass noodles)

Jjimdak is becoming one of my favorite Korean meals. It's sort of like chicken boiled in a soy based mixture then stewed with garlic, red pepper, and some vegetables over thick and chewy glass noodles. The noodles are so thick that they can only be eaten with the help of scissors.

As in most Korean meals, when you're almost done with the stew the rice comes out. And if it's a really good Jjimdak place the rice will be lightly fried with seaweed and sesame oil and it will have a dark crunchy crust on the bottom. Add the rice to the saucy mixture and you have a perfect meal. I love it! Here's a pic before the rice:

And After

Togani (Beef Knee Gelatin Soup)

Last week Wannie - a good friend of Yelim's, invited us out to dinner. She and her boyfriend found a well known Tagani (gelatenous beef knee soup) restaurant in Jongo, the old city center of Seoul, and she wanted to introduce us to it.


I never had gelatenous beef or beef knee (that I'm aware of), and I was a little nervous. I rationalized that beef knee might be a very tasty and "special" cut of the animal, you know, since cow knees are, um, small. As for the gelatin part I just kept thinking Osso Bucco, after all, the gelatin is the best part, right?  I happily accepted dinner with a "special" Osso Bucco type of meal in mind.

When we arrived Wannie took the lead and ordered for us. The first thing to arrive was a big plate of gelatenous beef that I mistook for slabs of raw beef fat. After being reassured that it was not raw beef fat I fingered my chopsticks and approached the plate. This is what it looked like:

I can't lie. I was afraid to try the knee gelatin straight on. I wondered where the soup was but quickly realized that I was taking too long and that Wannie invited us here because it was good and that she liked it. In fact, she said it was famous and the best Tagani she'd ever had. So I dug in and took bite out of it and was instantly relieved that the texture was firm and chewy and not jello-ish. In fact, the gelatin had the texture of su je bi or hand pulled noodles and tasted like beef. It was certainly not my favorite, but it was not horrible. I knew I had to eat some more than just a taste though. I didn't want to insult Wannie and Yelim. Luckily ban chan (korean side dishes) can help almost any meal. At this restaurant we got radish kimchi and garlic kimchi. The garlic kimchi is one of my favorites and will dilute the taste of just about anything. So I dug in for some more Tagani and followed up with whole garlic bulbs.

When the soup came the broth was extremely bland. Salt and pepper were on the table and we were instructed to help ourselves to it to our liking. Once I put in the salt and white powdered pepper the soup transformed. The broth became rich and savory and the pepper added the perfect punch. Adding rice to the soup made it even better. In the end the meal turned out to be pretty good (of course the soju and the company always helps). I might not be running back but I certainly won't be running away either.

Here's the soup, garlic and restaurant info for Apollo :)