Hawaii: an escapade to the Aloha State

The American tropics have certainly fulfilled all our expectations and more. If we forget the chaos and urbaneness of Honolulu and Waikiki, we can truthfully say we found paradise, with so much to offer, from white sandy beaches to active volcanoes, from diving inside a crater to admiring some of the world’s highest waterfalls. For us, Hawaii is the ultimate travel destination.

Waikiki from Diamond Head

Although we had some of the best food in Waikiki, the crowds and the overdeveloped hotel and resort area disappointed us so much that we changed our flight itinerary and decided to spend one extra night (actually the last one) on Molokai, instead of the initial plan of spending it in Waikiki. Nevertheless, two places will be engraved in our memories forever: Leonard’s bakery, selling “malasadas” since the 50’s, and Ono Seafood, a poke shop which does take away but, if you’re lucky, you might find a place at the table outside, and enjoy your poke on the spot.

Leonard's bakery

Being Portuguese, eating malasadas more than 10 thousand miles away from home had a special feeling. This fried pastry was brought by the Portuguese laborers from Madeira and the Azores who came to work in the sugarcane plantations in Hawaii at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th.

The Big Island was for us the most diverse island, comprising not only 8 different climate zones but one of the world’s most frequently active volcano – Kilauea. Although there was no lava flow when we visited, we still managed to the see the night glow in the crater from afar.

Volcanoes National Park: Halemaumau crater

Hawaii’s Volcanoes National Park, on the southeastern tip of the Big Island, is an obligatory stop. It’s possible to go in with the car and do several trails, which vary in length and difficulty. The best would be to get advice first at the visitor centre, as well as a proper map before starting exploring. Accommodation in Volcano Village is limited (as well as dining options), so it’s better to plan your travels and do some research in advance. Something else to keep in mind when visiting the Park is bringing a raincoat and proper hiking shoes. It rains often and temperatures are not so tropical here as one would expect.

Volcanoes National Park: Kīlauea Iki crater

Hilo, the island's former capital has a decadent, western-like feeling. It didn't come as a surprise that this town is slowly loosing influence and inhabitants. Despite this, the coast is lovely and the swell highly recommended.

The capital, Kailua-Kona, is located on the west coast and is well known for the Ironman World Championship, which is held here every year and the Kona coffee. The scenery is moon-like all around because of the several eruptions and higher dryness on this side of the island. Kona downtown is lovely yet small, with plenty of small businesses, catering mainly for the tourists.

We did a couple of dives, north of the airport, where we've seen manta rays, and dolphins when leaving the harbour. Unfortunately, the corals are suffering and it is heartbreaking to see so many lacking colour.

Makalawena Beach

Maui is a popular tourist destination, but we were positively surprised with how nice and welcoming people are on the island. Instead of staying in a resort we preferred Lahaina and the historic Pioneer Inn, reminiscent of the old plantation days. The location just by the harbor is nothing but convenient. While on Maui, we took the opportunity to dive in the Molokini crater – although we were a large group of divers that day, we still enjoyed two peaceful and easy dives. Food tip: Cool Cat Café has the best veggie burgers in town!

Sunset from Lahaina

Our last island was Molokai, where everything is easy-going and enjoyed slowly. Tourist do pass by, but not in the same numbers as on other Hawaiian islands, which makes this island and its agricultural nature extremely attractive.

"Aloha. Slow down, this is Molokai"

Although a lot of deforestation happened for farming and cattle ranching, the north is still pristine and many spots are inaccessible and can only be admired by plane or boat, like the Oloʻupena Falls. We didn’t do the Kaulapapa Peninsula tour, which is probably on the top of the list of every single tourist who comes here, but we took some cool pictures during our flight with Mokulele Airlines.

Oloʻupena Falls

Coffee used to be big in Molokai but not anymore. Nevertheless it's still possible to visit Coffees of Hawaii in Kualapuu, where they also have a gift shop and a small cafe.

Although malasadas and “pão doce” (sweet bread) are pretty much everywhere in Hawaii, not everything about Portuguese people and the impressions they left is sweet. This is reflected on the many (maybe too many...) anecdotes about Portuguese immigrants to Hawaii. This is one of the funniest… enjoy:

Three construction workers, a Hawaiian, a Japanese and one Portuguese are sitting on a beam 100 feet above the ground at lunch time. The Hawaiian guy opens his lunchbox and says: "Laulau again? If I get laulau one more time I'm gonna jump off this beam!" The Japanese guy opens his lunch box and says: "Sushi again? If I get sushi one more time, I’m gonna jump off this beam!" The Portuguese guy opens his lunch box and says: "Portuguese sausage again? If I get Portuguese sausage one more time I’m gonna jump too!"

The next day the Hawaiian guy opens his lunch box, sees his food and jumps off the beam falling to his death. The Japanese guy opens his lunch box, sees the sushi and also jumps to his death. The Portuguese guy opens his lunch box and also jumps.

This tragedy was such a big deal that all 3 men's funerals were held at the same time. The Hawaiian guy’s wife cries and says: "if I had just known he hated laulau so much, I wouldn’t have given it to him..." The Japanese guy’s wife crying uncontrollably also says, "if I had known too, I wouldn’t have packed him sushi!" The Portuguese guy’s wife looks at both of them and says "don’t look at me! He packed his own lunch!"

French Polynesia, or as more commonly known: Bora Bora and the islands around it

It's almost shameful that having traveled to Paradise, I didn't write a blog post about it. Although I returned home more than two months ago, here it is.

(A good reason to bring this blog back to life anyway…)

Papeete, Tahiti's main city, is not the usual meeting point, but that’s where I met my travel buddy and our journey together started. Coming from opposite directions of the globe (Asia and Europe), and having required demanding organization skills, our 10-day trip in French Polynesia started here.

The atmosphere in general is laid back and locals have an easy-going approach that we definitely appreciated. We were never short on advice and a helpful hand.

Tiaré - the flower of Tahiti

We started in Bora Bora, the island that is not only the most touristic but also the one that many of us have probably heard of or seen depicted on a postcard. The lagoon is considered one of the most beautiful in the world and it’s indeed impressive. Wanting to avoid the hype of the resorts spread around it (you know, the typical over-water bungalow), we decided to stay on the main island, close to town.

Bora Bora Lagoon (from the airport)

One of the funny things about landing on Bora (and on other Polynesian islands) is that the runway is on a motu (islets, surrounding the main island and enclosing the lagoon), and after picking up our luggage we had to take a boat to town. The fare is included on the flight ticket, though not the case on other islands, like Maupiti, where you have to pay for the navette (shuttle) to and from the airport.

Air Tahiti airplane used on inter-island flights 

Our guesthouse (Sunset Hill Lodge) guaranteed our transfer and we were quickly settled in. We also had bicycle available and we took them to go to Matira beach, the only beach on Bora. It seems strange to write (and probably to read) “the only beach” but there are actually not many beaches on the French Polynesian islands, and normally they are located on the motus.

We had lunch by the beach and I had my first Hinano (the local beer), which would be a central element throughout the whole trip. It’s hot out there! Now, being a vegetarian immediately brings some obstacles when finding food abroad but in Polynesia it was taken to a whole new level.
Vegetarian options are simply not available and local options neither. Normally steak and fries are always on the menu. Most of the times you can also find raw fish in coconut or chow mein – yes, there’s a considerable Chinese community whose roots go back to the 19th century with the first migration wave to work on cotton fields, as well as coffee and sugar plantations.

The food experience was nothing short of a disaster. In less touristic islands, supermarkets close very early (around 5 pm) and small hotels normally require that you make dinner reservations 24 hours in advance, so we tried to stock up as much as possible, which was not always easy. Normally there is a snack or a roulotte (camper) in town serving a few dishes but if you want to avoid eating always the same thing… then serious planning is required. But if you do go out to the grocery store, ask for “pain coco” (coconut bread) – we tried it in different places with different levels of success, but it was always a solid staple.

Roulotte

Before leaving Bora Bora, we did a tour in the lagoon, which was so disappointing as soon as we learned that tour operators feed the rays and the sharks for them to get close to us. Furthermore they also give tourists bread to feed the fish when snorkeling. We refused doing it and always stayed away from the rest of the group. Polynesians, wake up! This is your most valuable resource so don’t mess up the ecosystems just because you want to make the extra buck.

Snorkeling on Bora Bora

From Bora Bora we moved to Tahaa island. We first flew to Raiatea and then took the ferry to Tahaa (check the schedule in advance and also take into consideration that there are two ferries going to Tahaa from Uturoa port). Helpful note: there is a big (well, “big” in Polynesian terms) Champion supermarket just across the street from where the ferry departs. Self-catering here is definitely recommended, because Tahaa is a small island.

This island is famous for its vanilla plantations and we visited one of the farms – we arranged through our hotel but would have rather enjoyed it cycling there on our own. Two farms are open to the public and normally closed on Sundays.  Apart from the Vanilla highlight, Tahaa is a quiet island with limited activities. We also scuba-dived but due to the rough sea conditions both the visibility and the amount of fish were not as amazing as they would be on a normal day.

Vanilla pods drying

It could have been a relaxed break if it wasn’t for all the mosquito bites I got on my legs. Our bungalow only had nets on the windows and one of them was torn and since there was no net over our bed, the mosquitoes feasted on my legs during the night. This was the only time I regretted being a heavy sleeper. Mosquitoes are a serious problem on these islands, so go prepared with powerful repellent and make sure you always have nets over the beds in the hotels you stay.

Leaving Tahaa

After leaving Tahaa we spent one day in Raiatea touring the island despite the heavy rainfall. The rainy season lasted longer than expected this year and we were greeted with cloudy skies and some rain almost everywhere we went. Raiatea is a must visit island due to its dramatic landscape and we were open-mouthed stunned with it.

Sugar loaf on Raiatea

We then moved to Maupiti, the “small Bora” as they call it. It’s famous for its manta rays. The dive centre was closed so we had to snorkel to see them. A good experience nonetheless and we thank our guest house (Pension Espace Beach) for having organized a free of charge tour of the island for us, including not only the mantas but also snorkeling on a coral garden. Being a small island, and with no ferry link as in the past, Maupiti has limited supply of food, and this is something to keep in mind.

Snorkeling on Maupiti

Manta ray

We spent the last night in Papeete sipping Mojitos and buying flower wreaths, only the leave them the next day at the airport because we thought the flight between Tahiti and New Caledonia was more “domestic” than it actually was!

In a nutshell, the most memorable moments of this trip (both positive and negative) involved self-catering with poor results, mosquito bites (a lot of tamanu oil), jaw-dropping lagoons with postcard worthy turquoise water, rich underwater life and Hinano!

Skiing in Niseko, Japan: the powder dilemma

We wanted to begin the Lunar New Year in style and speed, so Niseko seemed to be the obvious destination for one reason: powder! It advertises itself as having some of the best powder ski in the world and it’s just next door – what else could we look for?

We packed heavy – fleeces and socks galore, balaclavas, masks – but didn't get to wear half of it. Siberia tricked us big time, and instead of having a big mass of cold air, we got sunshine and rising temperatures instead. First time I cursed against a clear sky!

Annupuri Ski Resort

Niseko is made of 5 different ski resorts: Annupuri, Higashiyama (aka Niseko Village), Hirafu, Hanazono and Moiwa. All of them are linked but only the first four are included in the All Mountain Lift Pass. We stayed in a lodge right off the slopes of Moiwa, but spent only one day skiing there. The rest of the time, we skied in Annupuri and Niseko Village.

Moiwa Ski Resort

Some who had skied there before were praising the weather and the mountain top being open. Others, like the powder-hungry skiers in our lodge, were disappointed with the icy snow and simply stopped skiing. We embraced the dilemma, and enjoyed some powder-less skiing with a powerful sunshine. The downside of it all was the dangerously icy sidewalks – our legs flew in mid-air a couple of times.

Annupuri Mountain top

There’s little Japanese in Niseko in general. The place is so popular among Australians, Singaporeans and European expats, that it becomes a real challenge to hear any Japanese on the slopes, except for the staff managing the chairlifts and gondolas. This could be the toughest level of the “Marco Polo” game, ski slope version. Hirafu is the most international area, where the most restaurants and bars are also located. If not staying there, be sure to arrange transportation back to your hotel. Taxis are limited and normally take at least 20 minutes to arrive after calling.

Mount Yōtei

We were kind of suspicious when we heard some people saying that they had booked restaurants already in November! We took a Portuguese approach and never booked anything. The only time we had a table booked was in Hirafu and we had called the restaurant one hour before – pure luck, ok, but we proved wrong the pessimism of our front desk staff... at least once, yeah!

There is a restaurant though for which you REALLY (but really!) need to book in advance: Sobatei Rakuichi, in Annupuri. The place is tiny, only with seats at the counter, but it serves the best soba in the area, which by the way is kneaded and cut in front of you. They only accept reservations for dinner which means that you can still try your luck and queue up at lunch time – expect a 30 to 45 minutes wait, unless you have some kind of lucky charm. They open at 11:30 for lunch.

Sobatei Rakuichi

In the future, if someone asks us what’s better, powder or sunshine, we say: hot soba!

Since we were staying in Moiwa, we took the opportunity to try the mixed onsen of the Niseko Grand Hotel. It’s the only mixed onsen in the area. You pay 800 yen per person at the hotel reception and then head toward the locker room. Small and bath towels are also available for a small price at the reception and women can also rent a yuami – a special garment to wear in the mixed onsen. Besides the mixed open-air onsen, there are also women-only / men-only hot bath areas. It was one of the few places in Niseko where we could remind ourselves that we were still in Japan! The majority of the people there were Japanese men, accompanied by their longtime friend, the Asahi beer can.

We spent the last two days of our holidays in Sapporo, which might not seem so captivating at first glance, but as soon as you discover that beer is sold at 200 yen in the Sapporo Beer Museum, well... it just gets a tad more interesting! Sapporo may not be the nicest Japanese town, but the river Toyohira cutting it in half and the surrounding mountains create an exceptional natural environment, and spectacular views! It's still possible to spot foreigners, but not as easy as in Niseko.

Sapporo

Japan never ceases to surprise us: albeit its fast-pace, innovative society, traditions are still paramount, at the table or at the onsen. This was quite obvious during this trip. And, who could expect to find the most international place of all Japan on the farthest-north island of the archipelago? Were we disappointed? No way! Despite some thorns, Japan still makes our curiosity bloom.

What lies at the end of the rainbow?

The Palauan islands are described by their nationals as “the end of the rainbow” and they are not very far from the truth, although pretty far for almost everyone else on the globe. Luckily, for us it was a mere four and half hour flight.

Palau is not so much a beach destination as it is a divers’ paradise. Most hotels and resorts are gathered on and around the island of Koror, which is itself and like most of the Palauan islands: rocky! The islands in the Southern Lagoon on the other hand, have nice white sand stretches, but imply a boat ride of at least 45 minutes from Koror.

One of the beaches in the Southern Lagoon

Our trip to Palau lasted 9 days and it started off rather badly. Not only we had to rush out of the house to get the airport after waking up simply too late (damn you jet lag!), but we were also stood up by our guesthouse staff, who forgot to pick us up at the airport in Koror. The interesting thing about Koror is that there is a curfew and at 4 am in the airport (or anywhere else on the island) there is absolutely no taxi that could take us to the guesthouse. Fortunately a Palauan couple who had come to drop off some relatives offered to help and take us to town – we must have looked hopeless. Palauan friendliness: check!

The guesthouse had mixed up the dates and our room was not even ready. We finally hit the sack at 5:30 am and slept a few hours until breakfast. We spent the rest of the day scouting Koror, sipping the national beer Red Rooster (to put it politely, not the best one we have had) and tasting the local food, which revolves around taro, fish and crab. Though the best discovery was kangkung (water spinach) sautéed with garlic (I asked them to skip the bacon).

Red Roster Amber

Japanese food is widely available and with high quality too. The American influence is also quite visible, be it on the supermarket shelves or even more obviously, in the contents of your wallet – the national currency is the USD.

Palau is making huge efforts to preserve its marine life and it appears among the top dive sites in the world. Most of the dive shops have Japanese staff, since Japanese represent the majority of tourists coming to the islands. The other nationality integrating the labour force, especially in the tourism sector is the Philippines. This makes it hard to meet Palauans – but anyway, they are only 20,000 in total and many are studying or working abroad, mainly in the US, we were told, so they should be in some endangered species list.

We started diving the next day, with some pretty awesome sights. We swam with sharks for the first time – white-tip and grey reef sharks, and saw some “fishy” garden eels pretending they were plants, as well as snappers, trevallies, gobies and barracudas.

Diving sites

The next day we went on a “super rock island tour”, which gave us an overview of the southern islands, and scrapped some stuff off the bucket list, like swimming in a lake full of jellyfish! Scuba diving is not allowed since the bubbles can harm the jellyfish. To snorkel in the lake a permit of $100 is required, which is valid for 10 days. This is currently the only marine lake open to the public.

Milky Way

The Milky Way was also included in the itinerary. The white clay at the bottom of this cove gives the water a flashy turquoise blue and visitors scrub their bodies with it. However we saw once a documentary where it was said that it was not really clay one can find at the bottom… so enjoy the spa at your own risk.

From Koror we traveled onward to Carp Island, where we could for the first time lie on the beach, and it was gorgeous! The dives kept on coming and bringing amazing experiences: seeing the mantas in the German Channel made our day and the variety of fish in the Blue Corner, rated by some expert magazines as the best diving spot in the world, was simply unbelievable. The currents are strong and change rapidly, so they are not for the faint of heart.

Carp Island at low tide

Back in Koror, we said goodbye to the water spinach and almost went nuts with the Internet connection. It’s slow all over Palau (well, not really all over, but in a small fraction of Palau!) and it feels like going back to the 56k modem times.

We took the red-eye back to Seoul and put on the winter coats again, which were tragically waiting for us at the airport. Show’s over!

The quest for the perfect Glühwein

It's time for mulled wine and gingerbread and we spent the past weekends benchmarking different spots in Seoul where one can fight the freezing cold. We started two weeks ago in the European Christmas market, in Seongbukcheon Fountain Square, a joint effort from several European embassies. The mulled wine was nothing to write home about (almost bitter tasting), but anyway, we are in Seoul, right?

Seongbukcheon Fountain Square

The square was too small for so many people but we found a tiny empty corner close to the Christmas tree to drink our Glühwein and eat our rösti, which was selling like hot cakes, despite some cooking flaws!

Seongbukcheon Fountain Square

To be honest, we were so disappointed with the Glühwein that we went straight to the German pub Zum Hirsch in Itaewon. Their Glühwein was what is supposed to be, spiced and fruity, fragrantly sweet. We had a winner! We accompanied it with a potato salad. Not a usual combination, true, but the only other vegetarian option was fries...

Glühwein, Zum Hirsch, Itaewon

Last weekend, after missing the French Christmas Market, which closed at 4pm (really?), we went to the German Christmas Market in the German School in Hannam-dong. Funny enough, it opened at 4:30pm and closed at 8pm, a tad more adequate to our Portuguese weekend schedule. We had a very decent Glühwein, which made the -10º C that evening feel like -5º C. The gingerbread was also more on the perfection side. 

Glühwein, German Christmas Market

We finally tried the doenjang bibimbap in 툇마루 restaurant in Insadong. It's soul food, home-made and it tastes great. The banchan are not vegetarian though. You get all the ingredients on the table and then it's DIY: put the lettuce and chives on top of the rice, together with the fermented bean paste and tofu. Mix and this is the result:

된장비빔밥, Doenjang bibimbap

The rest of the week we spent it trying no to fall in the street. With the freezing temperatures the whole city is a giant ice rink. Koreans are pros - they keep running (they are always running somewhere) and I haven't seen a single one fall down.

Hannam-dong

But now it's time for... bolo rei! Europe, here we come!

Quick escape to San Francisco and Napa: with no flowers in our hair

United Airlines had this great deal for San Francisco and craziness made a go for it, with a valid credit card. It’s a 10 hour flight and 17 hours of time difference. We arrived on the same day and a few hours earlier than our departure time from Seoul. How wicked is that?

Nevertheless, as soon as we disembarked and got the rental keys we headed to the Golden Gate Bridge, one of the world’s longest suspension bridges, the ninth longest to be exact. It was so impressive that we crossed the Marin Headlands to Bonita Point for better overview photos.

Golden Gate Bridge

For the ones visiting San Francisco this peninsula across the Golden Gate Bridge should not be missed. It’s not developed and hosts amazing wildlife. While taking photos of the bridge we spotted these ones sunbathing.

Sea lions in the Marin Headlands peninsula

We rode off to Calistoga, where we were spending the night. The nights in Napa are cool and we were happy to have a fireplace in our bedroom (that was a treat!) – Anyway that’s what makes Napa wines so balanced in sugar / acidity: sunny days and cool nights. Though in the last 3 years, California has faced a period of drought, which is seriously harming the Golden State, which contributes the most to the US GDP.

We picked two wineries to visit, one big with a self-guided tour formula and a small one, by appointment only. Both were worth it. Some wines were a novelty to us, like the Zinfandel and others a surprise, like the tempranillo, a grape that brought us memories from our homeland despite being grown thousands of kilometers away from the Iberian Peninsula.

We grew fond of the Petite Sirah (its oaky essence made us bring a bottle home!) and tasted one of the best Chardonnays of our life in Vincent de Arroyo winery. In Sterling vineyards we had an amazing Sangiovese with a Christmassy flavour.

Petite Sirah

Despite the clouds the valley looked stunning dressed in autumn colours.

Calistoga, Napa Valley

Sterling Vineyards

Back in the city we also tried Su Yuen Pinot Grigio, from Coppola’s winery – mild and sweet, marries well with more acidic and sour dishes.

The city itself was not a disappointment but it was not as captivating as we thought it would be. It seemed to us that all the freedom it fought for once didn't entail other social problems, not stemming from sexual orientation.

Our favourite place was no doubt the Ferry Building. A lot of groovy restaurants and small stores concentrated in one place, selling varied items from fresh oysters in Hog Island Oyster to vegetable dumplings in the most popular Vietnamese restaurant in town: Out the Door. We queued like the locals and rejoiced for the creativity being sold at decent prices.

Second favourite place was Alamo Square and the view over downtown. The colourful Victorian houses aka “painted ladies” in Steiner street helped in the ranking.

Alamo Square: "painted ladies" and SF downtown

From the hipster places we have been to (and there’s a lot of them), we can highlight the Sweet Woodruff – the kitchen is bigger than the seating area, so you can see what is important here! Plus, the selection of wine is not bad at all!

In Four Barrel, in the Mission District, they roast their own grains brought from small farms in Guatemala, Ethiopia and El Salvador. Impossible to avoid the queue since the place is very popular but worth the wait, especially for one of their pour-over coffees.

We could skip easily Fisherman’s Wharf, which is probably the most touristic part of town, if it was not for the lazy sea lions hanging out around pier 39.

Sea lions in Pier 39

If you’re going to San Francisco... make sure you don’t miss them.

“Autumn leaves” II and soul food

Three weeks ago we went to Pureun Arboretum near Onsu Station (Exit 3, Lines 1 and 7) for some more autumn photos. The minibus number 07 links Onsu station with the rear entrance of the Arboretum but the distance is also walkable (around 1 Km) – just follow the signs. We were blown away with such intense colours.

It has several theme gardens (rose, maple, hibiscus, herb, vegetable etc.), with both Korean plants and from around the world, spread in an area of more than 100,000 m3. The main attraction for us was the old railway track on which you can promenade.

Old train track

Another reason to like autumn in Korea is that 호빵 (steamed buns) are back. We love the sponginess and the "smoking hot" red bean. There are other fillings, ok... but we only buy with red bean filling (팥호빵).

Hobbang (호빵)

Another breakthrough in the baking field is that we finally managed to get to May Bell bakery, twice! This bakery in Itaewon is one of a kind and every single Seoulite knows it. Interesting facts: it opens at 11am (yes, I wrote bakery!), and closes as soon as they run out of bread, which happens around 2pm (yes, 2pm). Customers start queuing outside even before the opening time, which makes buying here a great challenge.

We had to queue both times, and there's a lot more choice if you're among the first customers. Getting there is so hard that people buy in quantity. This place’s secret is not only quality ingredients but also lower prices when compared to other bakeries. Our favourites: multigrain bread, fig rye bread, cranberry rye bread and the red bean and walnut bread. The focaccia and the baguette are also good but not our favourite types of bread. Our priority is ALWAYS to stock up on read bean bread!

Red bean bread galore

Meanwhile Sambazon (the açaí bowls shop) has opened and we tried it last Saturday. They have three sizes: small (cup), regular and large (bowl). The one in the picture is the regular size (7,500 won). It's packed with tasty fruits (mango, kiwi, blueberries, banana, dragon fruit), chia seeds, goji berries, and further greatness. Hard to believe that a shop like this can survive by only selling açaí, but anything can happen in this fast-paced market.

Açaí bowl

Also on Saturday, and because the days are cold enough, we went to Daejong Sundubu for some heartwarming uncurdled tofu stew. They make their own tofu and, in our opinion, this is one of the best 순두부찌개 in Seoul. The banchans are also delicious and they brought us a refill without us even having to ask for it!

Uncurdled tofu stew and side dishes

정말 맛있어요 (really delicious)!