Field trip to Kyoto – going zen...

After Osaka we spent the remaining 4 days of our short escapade to the Land of the Rising Sun in Kyoto. We got there in a local train from Umeda station for about 4USD, not bad! They have men in white (literally) helping foreigners in the main stations. Their help purchasing the tickets was priceless.

We were not very lucky with the hotel we picked but at least its location was central, in Kawaramichi dōri. The city was flying off the handle with the sales; it was a challenge to squeeze ourselves between the crowds. We gave in and bought some goodies, since prices are considerably more interesting than in Korea – especially when it comes to booze.

We started with a warm bowl of udon and bought some senbei (salty rice crackers) with sesame seeds for the road. Since ramen was out of question (not vegetarian), udon did just fine. We ended up by buying some takoyaki in the evening but they didn't taste as nice as in Osaka.

The best day was no doubt when we went to the Zen Buddhist temple Kinkaku-ji, the Arashiyama bamboo forest and the Fushimi Inari shrine with its intriguing red tori. Since it was the beginning of the year we managed to get some more treats in the food stalls at the entrance of the shrine: fried sweet potato and some azuki pancake.

Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavillion

Bamboo forest in Arashiyama

Red tori in Fushimi Inari

Another worthwhile experience in Kyoto is Shimbashi (sometimes called Shirakawa Minami-dōri) in Gion, claimed to be the most beautiful street in Japan (even in Asia).

The restaurants in Pontocho were also a nice discovery although touristy. The restaurant we went to (Mimasuya) had some interesting vegetarian options (some not gluten-free) and acceptable prices.

We said goodbye to Kyoto by going to the Nishiki market. There we bought some treats: tonyu doughnuts (sold just next to a bio store) and some sesame balls filled with cheese (to die for) and azuki. We had lunch in one store / restaurant which sells only beans or bean-based products. The meals they served in the restaurant were also prepared with red / black beans, to level our protein intake up.

We almost felt home sick when leaving the market and seeing this stall in one of the shopping arcades:

Pastéis de nata (Portuguese custard tarts)

Até breve! Dewa mata!

Field trip to Osaka – All you can eat!

We spent New Year's Eve in Osaka this time. We took a Peach flight from Incheon airport to Kansai and the price was quite reasonable taking into account how late we booked it.

Apart from the Osaka castle, whose main tower is closed for visits this time of the year (we got impressive pictures from the outside though), there is no much sightseeing to do in Osaka. It's a city where concrete and elevated motorways rule.

Osaka castle

So we spent our time there filling our tummies with "yaki" (=grilled) delicious food: okonomyaki, yakisoba, takoyaki and the like. We finally understood why Osaka is Japan's capital of food. It's like they say: Dress in kimonos till you drop in Kyoto, eat till you drop in Osaka! 

Yakisoba (grilled noodles)

Okonomyaki (pancake with vegetables and, in this case seafood)

We loved the Dōtonbori area: it's bustling with young people every night, and also good for shopping during the day if you can bear the crowds. If a restaurant is moderately good and cheap, there will be a queue, but also a bench where you can seat while you wait. There are also street food stalls where to buy takoyaki on the go. 

Dōtonbori 

And while strolling in Osaka we also discovered a mile long queue of people (some were there from the night before) waiting for the sales in the Apple store. Apparently the main attraction in the sales season in Japan is the "lucky bags" (fukubukuro). Sold by almost every store in the first days of the year, they are surprise bags (normally closed and sold by size, if applicable) and their content is always worth more than the price you pay for it. Apple fans take it to the next level, it seems…

Dewa kore de.

The road to Seoul – Step 2: House hunting II

The New Year brought us a new round of house hunting, since the owner of the apartment we had chosen previously received a better offer. Or at least he said he received a better offer.

But things happen for a reason and we were on the ground again, starving for a nice place to put our things, whose arrival was imminent at the Busan port.

We started by seeing a beautiful ground floor apartment in Pyeongchang, with a lovely view.

Downside: far away from civilization. There is a bus every half an hour that takes residents to the main road. And from there’s another 30 minute bus ride till the city centre. It felt too much “cabin in the woods” for me so we dropped it.

Another heartbreak came with a modern and preciously decorated duplex in UN Village. But as there is a crack in everything, we looked out the window ant there was the motorway. It was so close and noisy that we wouldn’t manage to hear the veggies barbecuing in the terrace in a summer evening. So we dropped it. This one was tough – there was a home cinema in the upper floor… I still think about it sometimes.

At the end of two frustrating days we had to make a decision. So we compromised and took a nice and compact apartment in Hannam-dong. The only two minor things about this one were the vis-a-vis and the laundry being next to the living room. The first shouldn’t scare us because we live with it in our own apartment. And I can survive doing laundry in the morning.

Plus, we will be a five minute bike ride from the river, 10 minute walk to the metro station and half an hour metro ride from Gwanghwamun.

The move is scheduled for the 28th January. The road to Seoul is about to end.

The next step is to learn how to pronounce 나는 채식주의입니다 – the last time we went to a restaurant we repeated three times “no meat” and still got beef in return.

Tip of the day: don’t leave the restaurant before drinking your cinnamon tea – the meal is not over till you sip it.

So far, so good. Korea has been somehow kind to us. And we are thankful for the trust!

The road to Seoul – Step 2: House hunting

28-29 November was house hunting season! Since our expectations were low (by this time we are immune to relocation side effects, aka cultural differences) we were not surprised by not finding our new home then.

We visited around 10 gloomy and sometimes weirdly arranged apartments in Itaewon-dong (the foreigner's area), Hannam-dong and close to Seoul station. We were more inclined to the city centre at first. But it became rapidly clear that living in Itaewon would make our lives much easier, since the English spoken there must surely represent 95% of total English spoken in the entire country.

Anyway, landscape is not that artistic in the city centre. This is our current view from Fraser Place, our temporary home in Jung-gu:

Most Koreans live in high-rises in the outskirts, but we believe that commuting reduces life expectancy, so we didn't expand our criteria.

Our main impressions:

• American with a twist – Koreans love American open kitchens. But apparently they feel their cuisine is rather smelly and need a second separate kitchen, where they can imprison the kimchi stew in the making.
• Size doesn't matter – the number of bedrooms is more important than their surface.
• Not so magic pipes – so whoever designed the sewage system forgot to take into account the need to deal with toilet paper and made the pipes too narrow. The basket production industry must have been happy with this omission.

The most positive outcome of these two days of house hunting was that our relocation agent made us discover this amazing yet expensive restaurant called Sanchon, in Insadong. This was the result, a variety of meat-free delights:

Sanchon: 30-21, Insadong-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul 

서울특별시 종로구 인사동길 30-21 (관훈동)

There was one apartment that we didn't manage to visit then due to an issue with the main door code. It turns out this was OUR apartment. It has a happy name: Primavera (= spring in Spanish, Italian and Portuguese) building. It's big, has an oversize fridge and two balconies. I visited it on the following week and was convinced by the time I took off my boots at the entrance hall to comply with the Korean custom.

It will be uma casa portuguesa, com certeza.

[Update 19/12/2013: back to square one. The landlady backed out of the deal. House hunting part II to start very soon.]

Day 2 - November, 28th, 2013 - Begging for a quest.

Today we started the 'house hunting", and we're not thrilled. It's now around the twelfth time we look for a roof. Hurray...
First day, we were shown ten flats, in the Itaewon and Hannam-dong areas (the major expat areas). Quoting someone: "Mainly, coco" or the leftovers of the previous 20 house hunting's that our relocation company organized.
Key takeaway: never settle for the first flat. They are always shown in "crescendo" and the more you'll refuse, the better they will look at your criteria. And, BTW, one of the land marks in Itaewon is a mosque at the top of the hill, visible from almost everywhere!

PS: The Turkish Airlines office in Seoul's downtown is located at the Seoul Centre Building, in the City Hall Square (Turkish Airlines office in Seoul), and is open only until 18h.

Day 1 - November, 27th, 2013 - The beginning of a New Era in the Korean Peninsula

19:00 - First finding: it's cold, very cold!
19:30 - Second finding: the Turkish Airlines office on the second floor of the ICN airport, only deals with "flight irregularities"
19:40 - Koreans are very precise when talking about waiting time: "Please wait SEVEN minutes."

The road to Seoul - Step 1: the move

After almost seven years in the land of chocolate and beer, and the so-called "home of the French fries" (I read it on a billboard outside Zaventem airport and will never forget it), I'm leaving to the land of kimchi. Yes, because Geneva was not far enough for weekend commuting.

South Korea is completely unknown to me, except for kimchi (obviously!), Kim Ki-duk and Psy (I'm not proud of this one). I will visit for the first time next week and write down my impressions.

Step one: the move started today and will take two days. We will send 150Kg by air and the rest in a container, by boat. Today is packing day. Pilão, our mascot, is already boxed up. Here he is, just seconds of going in the box:

We are only allowed to take a bottle of wine per person, otherwise they will make us pay 68% dutty - kind of restrictive to say the least. So we decided to take 1,5 liter bottle of Brunello de Montalcino (Banfi) 2004. I hope it will survive the sea trip and I will enjoy it with a nice vegan bulgogi.

1st damage done: one light bulb glass cover, which will be hard to replace. I find hard to imagine that they will manage to do everything in two days. They are only two!!

Dinner tonight will be in one of our favorite restaurants in Brussels - the traditional Chinese "Beijingya", close to St. Catherine. It's cheap and authentic, serving very reasonable portions. With this we start scrapping items in our bucket list. Still to do one last time:

• eat mussels in "Le Pré Salé", 
• spice up in "Toukol" Ethiopian restaurant, 
• drink mulled wine and eat empanadas in the Christmas market, 
• buy chocolates for the family in St Hubert galleries, 
• have breakfast in "Pain Quotidien", 
• watch a movie in Actor's Studio, 
• buy beer & pumpkin bread in Charli, 
• go window-shopping in rue Dansaert, 
• have a stroll in Parc d'Egmont. 

One almost down. 9 to go!