Seoul and More Food

My trip from Chiang Mai to Seoul went smoothly. The flight was only 4 1/2 hours, so I had a very short sleeping time. Once in Seoul, the directions to the express train were well marked. I bought my ticket and only had to wait about 15 minutes for the next one. 45 minutes later at the Seoul Central Station, I remembered how to get to the exit where the taxi stand is just outside. The cold air (upper 40s F) actually felt quite good to me! I did get out my winter jacket, which had been in the outside pocket of my suitcase. I had to wait a bit for a taxi; there is always a line of people there. Once I was in, I showed the driver the map to where I needed to go. I also had some directions in Korean on my phone and showed him that, too. He seemed to have no idea of what I wanted and I did feel some uneasiness as he drove off. At a red light he pulled out his reading glasses and looked at the map again. I read some of the things on it to him, and when I said "War Memorial," he seemed to understand. We continued on and soon I was extremely happy to see the base gate right in front of us. I got out and Anjali was there waiting for me. We were able to get my pass processed very quickly and drove back to her home.

For most of the day I felt quite out of it (I don't do well with less than three hours of sleep!). We went out for lunch at a salad restaurant. They chop the ingredients quite small and give a spoon to eat it. The Red Oats salad was a delicious blend of greens, grains, and even some apple chunks. After a good night's sleep, I felt much more human! On Friday we had lunch at home and then her friend Nopa came and we went out for her to have lunch. It was a walk of about a mile and it was good to get out into the air and move.

We are spending the days mostly around home, doing some computer work and loafing. Friday evening when Domingos came home from work, we went to their favorite fried chicken place, Kyo Chon. They had been raving about it and I was eager to try it.

The first one is pieces of boneless chicken in a very crispy coating. Delicious!

The second bowl is chicken wings with a very garlicky sauce, also delicious!

Saturday afternoon we walked into Itaewon to try some soft-serve ice cream. No picture, but again very good. We stopped an an international food store and at an optician. I will be getting new lenses for my glasses here; it's a good deal less expensive than in the US. In the evening we had reservations at Ciuri Ciuri, a Sicilian restaurant in another part of the city. Traveling on the subway here is so easy -- everything is clean, well-marked, and not overcrowded. Cold water was put on the table in this beautiful hand-painted bottle. 

We had arancine for an appetizer, one shared by all three of us. It is a deep-fried rice ball stuffed with cheese and spinach. They reminded us of the supplee we enjoyed in Rome.

My main course was circular pasta in a meat and tomato sauce wrapped in thin slices of eggplant. Nothing like Spaghetti-Os, which I presume might be based on this!

Anjali and Domingos both had the truffle ravioli.

It was overdoing it by a bit, but we even had dessert. This is Domingos's tiramisu.

Anjali and I shared the cannoli, which fortunately came with two pieces. The cream stuffing was wonderful and the candied orange peel on the ends added a nice touch. 

I stopped saying how delicious everything was, but believe me, it all was!