Kinako『Korea』

Our Trip to Seoul
In fall of 2000 my three friends and I were feeling a little bit of failure. Although we were planning a trip to Seoul, one-month advance was not early enough to make a tour reservation. Instead we visited Kyushu (western part of Japan), but we promised to go to Seoul the next year. One year later, we finally succeeded in making a reservation for the trip after being on the waiting list. One member could not join us because she got pregnant, so three of us took off.

We ate and drank much, laughed, sang and talked a lot for the 3-day stay. Thanks to former Seoul branch manager of my company (hereinafter called “Masahiko”) who accompanied almost whole trip, we did not have any difficulty in staying. Although we went to bed at 3 in the morning every day, we had a big appetite with full of energy.

Seoul was a big city. A highway from the new airport, Incheon Airport had 5 lanes each, and main streets in the city were very wide. But those streets were very complicated, so you should know the streets not to get lost. There was a big rotary in center of the city. There were very few crosswalks, so people had to use underground passes. Because those passes were not connected to each other, we needed to go down and up the stairs over and over. That’s why we saw no bicycle during our stay.

Even if the prices that we paid were set for tourists (means expensive), we were very much satisfied. Since we came all the way from Japan, we chose “the heavenly course.” We were naked almost all the time, 3-1/2 hours.

Sweat robe Covered with a linen bag, we entered into a sauna which temperature was about 100 degrees C (228 degrees F). It was not as hot as I expected. Instead I felt good and relaxed. Wanna try again.
Purple crystal sauna Hot drops from the ceiling were hot! We couldn’t bear for a long time and got out instantly.
Ocher sauna Normal sauna. A lady was making boiled eggs inside the cell.
Green bath About 37.5 degrees C (103 degrees F).
Green tea bath A little hotter, about 42 degrees C (112 degrees F).
Super aroma bath Jacuzzi with green hot water.
Salt massage We had to do it by ourselves.
Body scrubbing As I said, we were naked all the time, but especially this one was embarrassing. A lady rolled me on a bed and scrubbed body. Looking at the dirt collected, I was surprised to see how dirty I was (>_<)
Massage on whole body with oil A lady slapped my body to stipulate blood circulation, and it felt good.
Facial pack with minced cucumber I felt as if I became a pickle.
Downy hair removal A lady removed downy hair on my face with 2 strings. It was hurt a little.
Facial pack with gypsum mask My face was covered with gypsum except for nose and mouth. When my face felt hot and was cooled down, it was done. The mask looked like a death mask. Interesting.
Steamed mugwort My main purpose of visiting Korea was this. Without panties I sat on a chair with a hole in its middle. Then a lady placed a small kettle with mugwort steam was coming out under my chair. I was covered with a robe except for my head. That was terribly hot! But it would cleanse impurities inside womb.
Acupressure (Finger pressure therapy) We were told if it was hurt, we could tell so. But the lady who applied the acupressure on Kane and me did not understand Japanese, so she didn’t stop massaging us. I thought I was going to die… But our bodies didn’t get hurt next day though we were ready for muscle pain.
Massage on acupuncture points on foot It wasn’t hurt as much as I expected, but felt good. (I often go to such a massage in Japan when I get tired. It relieves pain from my neck and shoulders.)

Almost all meals were Masahiko’s treat. Thanks. He took us to restaurants where the local people went. It was a precious experience.

A restaurant at Nandaimon (means Southern large gate) Soup with ribs, fried rice with Kimch, glutinous rice sausage & steamed liver + beer (of course!)
An expensive restaurant included in our tourBroiling ribs with Korean sauce (Even after cut the ribs with scissors, waitresses came to our table and turned the ribs on grill. One waitress even put the broiled ribs on my plate. I wanted to eat at my own pace! Another waitress put a Korean pancake “Chijimi” which was already well cooked on the grill pan again. Please leave us alone!! We felt pushed hard, so didn’t feel like eating any more. Of course the prices were high.)
A restaurant in Itewon area One-pot dish called “Army Pot Dish.” Meat, sausage, plenty of vegetables, Korean rice-cake “Toqqu” and noodles were cooked in a huge pan with spicy soup. Masahiko was surprised because we ate them all. Long time ago U.S. army stationed in the area gave local people some food, and local people made this dish. The name came from this story.
Traditional Korean restaurant in Myon-dongWrapped boiled-pork with spice in sesame leaf or boiled Chinese cabbage leaf. Standard-style rice, meat and vegetables in heated-stone made bowl (Top notch!), Korean-style pancake with leek, seafood and spicy sauce, cold noodle contained herb + Korean unrefined sake (because of hot/spicy meal, we drank one after another).
Myon-dong “Gyoza”Of course, “gyoza” (Chinese meat-and-vegetable fried dumpling), spicy cold noodle (It tasted milder than the one I had in Japan. Sesame oil tasted good.) You can find this restaurant in every guidebook.
Seven ElevenWe bought “onigiri” (rice ball) for breakfast. Those were made with some Korean food such as Kimchi, spicy paste.
Traditional Korean tearoomAn old style house with courtyard was remodeled for the tearoom. We had traditional tea like citron tea and ginger tea, and enjoyed nice atmosphere.

NANTA means to strike wildly in Korean. The English title is “Cookin.” It’s a performance striking kitchen tools as if they were percussion instruments. Sometimes the performers took a beat by cutting vegetables with knives in both hands. As I was told, this performance was drawing attentions worldwide. They had performed in Japan too. Because of a lot of attentions they were receiving, it was very difficult to get tickets. But thanks to Masahiko who arranged about one month before our visit, we were able to get the tickets.

Seoul had an exclusive theater just for NANTA. Our seats were located in the center of the 4th row. The theater was small, so we were sitting very close to the stage. They showed some notices in Korean, English, Japanese, and Chinese languages, and let us practice clapping hands and cheering. They even made us sing a song ♪Happy birthday to you… for their manager because it was his birthday. Then, the performance started. Since there were no lines, we all were able to understand what was going on. The story was a comedy. A restaurant manager ordered 4 chefs（Chief chef, Sexy guy, Female, Nephew）to prepare meals for a king’s wedding party for only 1 hour. Those chefs got into various troubles but finally managed to cook. The audiences laughed a lot. Chief chef appeared alone on the stage (I assumed others were changing costumes while he was doing funny things). If we did not clap or cheer with him, he said to us by gesture “Out!” However, once they grabbed kitchen tools and began to strike, they became heroes. We instantly fell in love with them.

NANTA has 5 teams and they take turns to play it. They must be very tired after one performance. But to us 90 minutes is too short. I want to see it again if I have a chance. Of course I hope to see Mr. Lee, my favorite, will play the Nephew on that occasion. (Comment on 4/16/02 – They are performing in Japan. Kako and I have tickets for next Sunday’s performance in Tokyo.)

Masahiko and the new manager of our Seoul branch office hosted the dinner on the second night. They took us a traditional Korean restaurant. The food was delicious. It was only 8:30 p.m. when we finished the dinner, so they took us to a Karaoke pub. We got in 2 taxis and headed for the pub “Crystal.” Kako, Kane and I were shocked when entered. There was a stage!! In Japan we usually sing songs in small rooms called “Karaoke Box,” just among friends, not in front of strangers… There was a group of local people seemed like they attended a wedding party. The bride was beautiful, wearing a Korean traditional wedding gown. The waiters were wearing dark-colored suits. Is this a “host club” (a night club where male hosts serve women)?! No, no, no. Our branch often takes people from Japan (either employees or customers) to this place. As for songs, they had both Korean and Japanese. They even had title books written in Japanese. At first three of us were too shy to sing a song alone on the stage, but gradually our shyness went away. We sang one after another! In Korea, it seemed a popular style that not only a person singing but also his/her friends went on a stage and livened up. The waiters understood Japanese and were good singers, too. They even sang Japanese singers’ songs such as GLAY, X-JAPAN, etc. Japanese singers were becoming more popular there because of TV programs showing their music videos.

On the morning of our departure, we dropped by our Seoul branch office. The building was located behind our hotel. With my heart beating I looked inside. Then I found my younger colleague who had been stationed from September 2000 smiled at me while talking on the phone. Total 7 people welcomed us. Among them are the person who had had drinks with me in Japan or the person who had spoken with me on the phone but never known each other’s faces. We had coffee, took pictures with them and left the office. Thanks for your kindness.

When traveling I promise to myself that I talk with local people in their language even though they are just “hello” or “thank you.” But Korean was difficult. I had hard time to memorize some phrases. So, I repeated like a fool only the phrase I knew, “Annyohaseyo” (It means “hello” but could be used as “good bye”.). As the guide told us, during the time of war, people exchanged this phrase meaning “are you all right?” when met somebody on roads. Since I said the word many times, I felt my pronunciation improved (self-satisfaction). When I said to a sales lady the Korean meaning “Please discount.” (I finally succeeded in memorizing 2nd phase on last day.), she said to me “OK, then XX yen for two.” in Japanese! Shoot!! Until next trip, I will study more.

Through this trip, Korea became closer to me. I definitely want to visit again. But there are things I don’t like. Firstly, they never apologize when hit other people; in other words, never mind. Even sales clerks thrust customers away. I can’t stand it. They eat fast and talk fast, but walk too slowly. Many sales clerks stopped us to make us buy some souvenirs by talking to us in Japanese. Shut up, shut up, shut up! But if we become friends, we may be able to find good things about them. See? I like the people at our branch and the guide, Ms. Lee because they are friendly.

Kako & Kane, this trip was also enjoyable one, wasn’t it? We laughed our heads off until tears came into our eyes. We made another good memory. Let’s do it again next year.