What I ate in Korea
- Thread starter Raymond Lin
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Caporegime
As long as it smells nice it's fine.
As long as it smells nice it's fine.
I bet it tastes amazing tbh! lol
That all looks a hell of a lot better than the food I ate North of the DMZ. Most of it was fairly unidentifiable, this for example:
I think I know what half of those are....
I see seaweed sheets at the far side.
Closest is rice obviously.
Above it is fish?
Then to its right is what japanese call konnyaku, a zero calorie vegetable thing.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2017/03/17/food/mysteries-konnyaku-health-food-aid-choking-hazard/
To the right of that is tofu soup.
Then above that looks like thinly sliced squid? Then cake, and then to the right of that could be anything.
Some greens like Morning Glory.....something..and then dried fish to the right?
No idea top left.
Soldato
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We never did identify most of them.
Rice was the obvious one, we ate a lot of white rice in North Korea. Top left was something sweet with the texture of crushed nuts. The yellow and white thing was egg. Third down from the top on the left hand side was ginseng kimchi was was utterly delicious. Cabbage kinchi is nice but this stuff was something else.
The soup tasted like most of the soups we had there - of salt. I've never heard of konnyaku, but reading the description that sure sounds like that's what it was.
Rice was the obvious one, we ate a lot of white rice in North Korea. Top left was something sweet with the texture of crushed nuts. The yellow and white thing was egg. Third down from the top on the left hand side was ginseng kimchi was was utterly delicious. Cabbage kinchi is nice but this stuff was something else.
The soup tasted like most of the soups we had there - of salt. I've never heard of konnyaku, but reading the description that sure sounds like that's what it was.
The first time I had konnyaku was my first trip to Japan in 2017. I took an impromptu stop at Kobe for some Wagyu and one of the starter/sides was Konnyaku. The chef tried to explained to me what it was, I heard something about potatoes and zero calorie and it looking harmless so I just ate it. It was like jelly in texture. It wasn’t about a year later when I came across another vlog on Japan I saw it explained.
Soldato
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I don't remember it as being unpleasant, I remember it as being a tasteless jelly. Not something I'd rush back to have again but we had no choice when it came to food in North Korea so we ate pretty much everything.
@Raymond Lin I reckon we've got pretty similar tastes, certainly we both see the value in good food but also love eating from a cart in the street and getting something junky from 7-11. We also both have a love for Japan, and I have a keen desire to go Korea. So, that being said, should I go to Korea (mainly Seoul) to scratch my itch of going somewhere new, or should I do something I rarely do and return back somewhere, in this case Japan? I absolutely loved Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto) and it's the only place that has ever made me really want to go back so soon but I do think I should give Korea a go.
So, advise! Is Korea on par with Japan? Will I go and wish I went back to Japan?
So, advise! Is Korea on par with Japan? Will I go and wish I went back to Japan?
In short, Japan is more interesting. For a tourist, Japan > Korea.
The long version is...
I had already been to Japan twice at this point, this was back in October 2019, in November I was itching to go away again. Part of me wanted to go to Japan again and a part of me want to go to somewhere new. Original plan was Singapore but I found out that Singapore was way over what I had budgeted so I quickly scrapped that idea.
During this time I had been started to following this girl on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/user/blurrysmiles
(I also follow this Canadian couple call Simon and Martina who now in Japan and was in Korea for 6 years and watched lots of their videos)
She is an American married to a Korea living in Seoul and videos mostly Korea stuff (through Covid and all), and it was quite interesting on video so I thought I'd give Korea a go.
So then since I am going to Korea the Japan loving side of me thought....why not go to Japan too? It's only across a bit of water! So I did, Japan for the 3rd time. I will make a separate thread on Japanese food that I ate later on. Anyway, I went to Osaka and Kyoto again just because, also took a trip to Himeji Castle for the day. Then I popped over to Korea for a week, starting with Busan then Seoul.
Here is what I came away with:-
Korea, I think this is due to its history and the many conflicts in the 20th century, it has been FLATTENED many times, almost everything is built since either WW2 or Korean War, what is left are either rebuilt or anything original from the old old days are few and far between. Compared to Japan, aside from the 2 Atomic Bombs and Tokyo, most of other parts of Japan escaped pretty unscathed. Also, Japan's main islands (besides Okinawa) has never ever been invaded successfully. The Mongolians tried, twice, and failed. It was also completely closed off to the world for 200 years from about 1700's so in those 200 years it developed a lot of interesting traditions that is fascinating which a lot is still around today (Geisha for example). Japan also has many laws that is specific to preserve traditions, both the physical arts and crafts, and also buildings. They would often build around something old than let developers flattern it.
Take this for example, a random temple I found.
You see, I find this just pure awesome. In the middle of a shopping mall no less. This is besides the whole Otaku and Anime scene. I always allow an afternoon in Akihabara to just browse and window shop even though i don't buy any Manga or Anime there (don't understand a word), I just like the area and love looking at the figurines.
Korea, has not much of that. There really no place like Akihabara or DenDen Town. The history are limited to the palaces and a couple of temples. Japan has lots of Castles, Temples, Shrines, Pagodas just everywhere. Kyoto alone probably have more Unesco World Heritage sites alone than all of Korea. Also, due to all the new building, the city itself feels quite plain and bland. Everywhere feels the same really. The streets on Busan looks like it could be in Seoul and vice versa, besides the fact the Busan is next to the sea.
That's not to say Korea is bad, I mean there is the DMC (was closed when I went), if you are into K-pop then it is a must go. Hongdae with the university students (or just the teenagers) trying to be the next K-Pop star is very interesting to watch. Korean food is very good, the spice thing is real and if you like spicy, you will like the food. Korean drinking culture (albeit I didn't part take) looks fun, they often have their food alongside drinking so that is always good.
What is not good for a solo traveller in Korea is their their culture is more a group hangout culture so eating out it can be limiting as some places only serves 2+ persons. There are more places cater for solo eating but unlike Japan, Japan is solo traveller's dream, with it's Ramen booths and conveyor belt sushi and Cococurry etc. I have never been turned away anywhere because i am eating alone in Japan. I went to some quite expensive Waygu beef place in Kobe by myself no problem.
I think Korea is worth a visit, but I distinctly recall when I left was that "Japan is better". I would go back for the food, but I wouldn't rush back to see the city.
I am sure that is quite a ramble, and probably sounds like I found Korea very bad and boring. It may be because i went by myself, a lot of the activities are for couples for groups, like they have "Instagram" spots but that is useless for me! Where in Japan if you go to a famous spot for photo (like the Torii gate in the water near Hakone), people line up and it is an unwritten rule the person behind you will take photo for you. I didn't see such a rule in Korea, or perhaps they are all in groups!
Also some of the cultural things in Korea you got to know first before you go. Like don't be surprise if people don't hold the door for you even if they are just in front, they just don't. It is a culture of age, so older person immediately demand respect. Even if they are strangers.
Story time.
On the underground, the end seats by the door is designated for elderly or pregnant women or the physically disabled, but when it is dead on the train you'd think no one would care. So one time I saw a young girl sitting on the end seat, next stop on came an old guy, by old he is probably about 50-60? He saw her sitting where she shouldn't and went over to shout at her, kicked the base of the seat she was sitting at. She was very startled (was looking at her phone), saw him then immediately ran off to the other end of the carriage.
He didn't sit down though, he just wanted to make a point.
Associate
Nice bunch of grub right there. (Some quite literally by the looks of it)
Soldato
Dog turd ice cream!
Wow all looks great how was the shake shack
Tastes just like the one from New York and Tokyo
Soldato
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I found Korea in general is cheaper than Japan, by about 20-25%.
Hotels I found in general, Korea to be cheaper. I stayed 5 nights in a 5 star for £350 including breakfast (the photo where the breadfast was high up). So that's like £70 a night, in Tokyo I would be expecting to pay like £120 to £150 for something similar.
Seoul has 2 airports, one is about an hour out and one is in the city. A bit like Tokyo. So if you fly between the inner city airports both ways you can save some time. Note that there is an airport in Busan if you want to go there, internal flights can be like £50, or you can take the train which takes twice as long for like £75 lol which I did because I forgot there was an airport until after.
There are enough to spend 4-5 nights in Seoul to do, a couple of Palaces, Seoul tower, the Bukchon Village, the Lotte Tower, there is a Korean version of Disneyland by Lotte, eat and then eat some more.
But the feeling i came away with was that Seoul is like Japan, but less interesting. I don't see the quirks like Salary men drinking, or people playing Pokemon Go, or Shrines in random places things like that.
Oh, one thing I don't really like is salesman in shops in Korea, they are quite pushy, they really do try to sell you stuff. In Japan they leave you alone until you ask for help. That bit is complete 180.
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Associate
Amazing video, and i very much enjoyed reading about the contrasting experiances. Korea is supposed to be hip these days, not just because of K-Pop but also cinema, I know a lot of Japanese and Chinese young people are eagarly learning Korean because of the cultural significance. Sad to read so little of it has survived. I once saw two girls in London in traditional Korean garbs walking down Regent Street, as you do, and thought they were one of the most beautiful traditional dresses i've ever seen. Out of interest, what lenses do you use when you travel?
Korean cultures these days are certainly trendy but a lot of the things I find is hard to find on the ground in Korea. Korean cinema itself, you don’t interact with it when you are in Seoul, I mean there are lots of movie locations in Korea if that’s your thing. Learning Korean too seems cool, but like Japanese, outside their respective countries, their language is next to useless compared to English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, unless you go to a Korea restaurant. I had a quick look into their language and it is quite simple to learn, the entire language was designed that way because originally they used Chinese and to simplify things and to create their own, they had a scholar who created Hangul which is the modern Korean language. You will still see the odd Chinese character here and there however but compared to Japan, it is much less.
Oh yes, their traditional outfits, big dresses, it is strange that they are very colourful, but modern Korean fashion is very muted in comparison.
On this trip I used the Sigma 24-70 Art. Normally I just use a 35mm.
