Traveling - China & SKorea

[josalo]

Re: Traveling - China & SKorea

i hear north korea is nice this time of year.

hahahaha

[feather]

Re: Traveling - China & SKorea

I have a few days of work in Hong Kong, Jinan, and/or Shanghai.

Then for holiday, I'm thinking Hong Kong, Guilin (and the surrounding scenic areas), and maybe Shanghai if I have time. Hong Kong is a definite, but the rest is still up in the air. I keep reading great things about Guilin, and I especially like the fact that it's only a short flight from Hong Kong. As much as I'd like to go to more rural areas, I don't have enough time to waste 10-20hrs on a bus or train.

Have you been to Hong Kong? How does it compare to Shanghai? I love mega cities, and while I'd like to visit the most populated city in the world, if I had to pick between the two I'd probably go with Hong Kong. It just looks so beautiful, vibrant, & exciting!

Guilin looks nice, colleague just went. They put on this crazy light show on the river at night which feels a bit over the top and commercialised for such a tranquil scenic-looking place, but otherwise worth checking out. I can get details of where my colleague stayed if you want.

Another rural area you could check out is Moganshan, two friends have stayed at this place and the pics look good too.

Err yeah between HK or SH I'd pick HK too.

[Petra]

Re: Traveling - China & SKorea

Seoul is amazing. Make sure you find the best Korean BBQ's! The W hotel is very very very cool - they played the Burial album at breakfast

[pr0ficient]

Re: Traveling - China & SKorea

Guilin looks nice, colleague just went. They put on this crazy light show on the river at night which feels a bit over the top and commercialised for such a tranquil scenic-looking place, but otherwise worth checking out. I can get details of where my colleague stayed if you want.

Another rural area you could check out is Moganshan, two friends have stayed at this place and the pics look good too.

Err yeah between HK or SH I'd pick HK too.

Great info. The photos from Moganshan are great, especially the album titled 'Moganshan Nature' --quite breathtaking. I will have to look into this place, it doesn't look too far from Hong Kong. And the eco-friendly hotel also looks very cool & just my style!

And you're right about Guilin being a heavy tourist spot. However, I keep reading that there are many tranquil places that can be reached an hour or two outside of the city. For instance, Longji is suppose to be pretty amazing and it's only 100km away from Guilin City:

[djkix]

Re: Traveling - China & SKorea

Hi Michael, about your follow-up questions on Korea...
Noryangjin is the sea food market in Seoul. You can get there via train; there is a noryangjin stop. It's like Tsukiji although nowhere as big. There are many live fish, mollusks, and crustaceans there. Korean's love sashimi but interestingly they don't have the same appetite for sushi and you don't see as many sushi shops there compared to Japan. They have their own way of eating sashimi (in addition to the Japanese way which they also eat) - which is to dip it in the red hot chili bean paste by itself or as part of a bowl dish called hwedupbab - it's like a raw fish version of bibimbab. Pics here:

http://korean-cuisine.blogspot.com/2008/08/hwe-dup-bap-rice-mixed-with-sashimi.html

I personally don't enjoy them much as say a bowl of chirashi b/c they use such strong condiments (hot bean paste and sesame oil) to mild fish... it's hard to taste the fish. It's still yummy though.

Anyway, you can check out my FB pics videos of just Noryangjin. You'll definitely want to go there with a big group if you can manage... at least 4 ppl. So here's how it goes - you'll walk down the market and pick a vendor out of the hundreds that are there. There's a lot of window shopping before you pick a place. Then you will haggle, haggle, haggle, get them to throw in freebies, etc. So it's really important to take a native with you who can do that for you. Depending on the number of ppl you have, you can buy one big live fish (e.g., flounder, sea bass), and get other smaller sides like live shrimp, abalone, live octopus (san nakji), sea squirts (mungae), and yes, even the "penis fish" (youtube it). On my trip there, we ended up getting 1 flounder, 1 sea bass, 8 small live octopus, 10 live shrimp, 3 abalone, a few sea squirts and one penis fish (thrown in free just for kicks) for 120,000 won, or roughly $90 (in 2008 ) which fed 8 people! So after you come to a deal, they'll cut the fish for you right there and there. Meanwhile, they'll call one of the restaurants located right above and next to the market to confirm seating where you can have your meal. The table charge to the restaurant is only 2000 won ($1.75) per person. There they will give you a table, finish preparing all the other stuff you bought (like octopus, shrimp, etc), give you plates of banchan (sides like kimchi, bean sprouts, etc), fresh veggies, rice, etc. At the end of your meal, they'll bring out haemultang which is a spicy soup made with the leftovers from your fish (head, bones, leftover meat) with veggies... yummy! It's such a good deal and fantastic eating. Very different from Japanese way of eating fish but that's why they are different. The beauty of different cultures, even when next door is astounding. Enjoy it man.

Other things - The only time I've seen an eel bbq in Korea was when I took a trip to a city called Jinju BUT that's not to say Seoul doesn't have them so look for them... I would love to try some eel bbq... I'm already drooling. Also standard are other typical Korean places - Galbi (Korean short rib bbq), samgyupssal (pork belly bbq), dak-galbi (chicken bbq), soondoobu (tofu soup), naengmyun (cold buckwheat/potato flour noodles), samgaetang (Korean chicken soup), kimbab (rice rolls with different stuffings - great hangover food or late night snack), etc. You may also want to try boshintang (dog soup) and bundaegi (boiled silk worm pupa) for kicks. For boshintang, it's not like you can just stroll into any restaurant and order a poodle. There are specialty restaurants that serve this and the breed of dog is specific. Bundaegi, you'll often see them at street vendors in Dongdaemun or any other popular shopping districts - they give off a peculiar odor and you'll know it when you're near one. I tried it once... put one in my mouth, chewed it, but could not swallow it... the natives there eat them like an afternoon snack (literally).

Booking clubs are one of those exclusive Korean guy things. You basically get a table or a private room, order bunch of seriously overpriced drinks and fruit platters, and the club hosts will pick out girls from the floor and bring them to you. Then they sit with you for awhile, you talk and drink with them (keep in mind you're paying for the whole thing - girls typically never pay in Korea)... if they like you, they may stay, if they don't, they'll get up and leave. These girls are other club guests, they are not paid employees or anything. Now as for whether you should go there... well I don't know. I for one have never seen a foreign guy at a booking club and they may not even let you in. If you do get in, language barrier will keep most girls away, plus you're going to drop a huge stash of cash. There's no going in and out of one of these places for cheap. You'll spend a good $300-400+ (and that's being cheap) for your table. With the Korean GDP being so much lower than other industrialized countries, I don't see how some of the guys do it... but they do. As for the music, well it's mostly Korean dance songs, western hip hop, and western dance.

But never fear, aside from the booking clubs, there are plethora of great clubs that have that underground vibe and great music, great crowd. Koreans don't bump and grind like you see in the US (but then you typically see that in cheesy top-40 type clubs anyway, not at DJ events)... although, don't get scared if you see 2 guys getting awfully close on the dance floor... but they're not gay...lol.

[floridaorange]

Re: Traveling - China & SKorea

So here's how it goes - you'll walk down the market and pick a vendor out of the hundreds that are there. There's a lot of window shopping before you pick a place. Then you will haggle, haggle, haggle, get them to throw in freebies, etc. So it's really important to take a native with you who can do that for you. Depending on the number of ppl you have, you can buy one big live fish (e.g., flounder, sea bass), and get other smaller sides like live shrimp, abalone, live octopus (san nakji), sea squirts (mungae), and yes, even the "penis fish" (youtube it). On my trip there, we ended up getting 1 flounder, 1 sea bass, 8 small live octopus, 10 live shrimp, 3 abalone, a few sea squirts and one penis fish (thrown in free just for kicks) for 120,000 won, or roughly $90 (in 2008 ) which fed 8 people! So after you come to a deal, they'll cut the fish for you right there and there. Meanwhile, they'll call one of the restaurants located right above and next to the market to confirm seating where you can have your meal. The table charge to the restaurant is only 2000 won ($1.75) per person. There they will give you a table, finish preparing all the other stuff you bought (like octopus, shrimp, etc), give you plates of banchan (sides like kimchi, bean sprouts, etc), fresh veggies, rice, etc. At the end of your meal, they'll bring out haemultang which is a spicy soup made with the leftovers from your fish (head, bones, leftover meat) with veggies... yummy! It's such a good deal and fantastic eating. Very different from Japanese way of eating fish but that's why they are different. The beauty of different cultures, even when next door is astounding. Enjoy it man.

That seems so awesome.

[pr0ficient]

Re: Traveling - China & SKorea

Hi Michael, about your follow-up questions on Korea...
Noryangjin is the sea food market in Seoul. You can get there via train; there is a noryangjin stop. It's like Tsukiji although nowhere as big. There are many live fish, mollusks, and crustaceans there. Korean's love sashimi but interestingly they don't have the same appetite for sushi and you don't see as many sushi shops there compared to Japan. They have their own way of eating sashimi (in addition to the Japanese way which they also eat) - which is to dip it in the red hot chili bean paste by itself or as part of a bowl dish called hwedupbab - it's like a raw fish version of bibimbab. Pics here:

http://korean-cuisine.blogspot.com/2008/08/hwe-dup-bap-rice-mixed-with-sashimi.html

I personally don't enjoy them much as say a bowl of chirashi b/c they use such strong condiments (hot bean paste and sesame oil) to mild fish... it's hard to taste the fish. It's still yummy though.

Anyway, you can check out my FB pics videos of just Noryangjin. You'll definitely want to go there with a big group if you can manage... at least 4 ppl. So here's how it goes - you'll walk down the market and pick a vendor out of the hundreds that are there. There's a lot of window shopping before you pick a place. Then you will haggle, haggle, haggle, get them to throw in freebies, etc. So it's really important to take a native with you who can do that for you. Depending on the number of ppl you have, you can buy one big live fish (e.g., flounder, sea bass), and get other smaller sides like live shrimp, abalone, live octopus (san nakji), sea squirts (mungae), and yes, even the "penis fish" (youtube it). On my trip there, we ended up getting 1 flounder, 1 sea bass, 8 small live octopus, 10 live shrimp, 3 abalone, a few sea squirts and one penis fish (thrown in free just for kicks) for 120,000 won, or roughly $90 (in 2008 ) which fed 8 people! So after you come to a deal, they'll cut the fish for you right there and there. Meanwhile, they'll call one of the restaurants located right above and next to the market to confirm seating where you can have your meal. The table charge to the restaurant is only 2000 won ($1.75) per person. There they will give you a table, finish preparing all the other stuff you bought (like octopus, shrimp, etc), give you plates of banchan (sides like kimchi, bean sprouts, etc), fresh veggies, rice, etc. At the end of your meal, they'll bring out haemultang which is a spicy soup made with the leftovers from your fish (head, bones, leftover meat) with veggies... yummy! It's such a good deal and fantastic eating. Very different from Japanese way of eating fish but that's why they are different. The beauty of different cultures, even when next door is astounding. Enjoy it man.

Other things - The only time I've seen an eel bbq in Korea was when I took a trip to a city called Jinju BUT that's not to say Seoul doesn't have them so look for them... I would love to try some eel bbq... I'm already drooling. Also standard are other typical Korean places - Galbi (Korean short rib bbq), samgyupssal (pork belly bbq), dak-galbi (chicken bbq), soondoobu (tofu soup), naengmyun (cold buckwheat/potato flour noodles), samgaetang (Korean chicken soup), kimbab (rice rolls with different stuffings - great hangover food or late night snack), etc. You may also want to try boshintang (dog soup) and bundaegi (boiled silk worm pupa) for kicks. For boshintang, it's not like you can just stroll into any restaurant and order a poodle. There are specialty restaurants that serve this and the breed of dog is specific. Bundaegi, you'll often see them at street vendors in Dongdaemun or any other popular shopping districts - they give off a peculiar odor and you'll know it when you're near one. I tried it once... put one in my mouth, chewed it, but could not swallow it... the natives there eat them like an afternoon snack (literally).

Booking clubs are one of those exclusive Korean guy things. You basically get a table or a private room, order bunch of seriously overpriced drinks and fruit platters, and the club hosts will pick out girls from the floor and bring them to you. Then they sit with you for awhile, you talk and drink with them (keep in mind you're paying for the whole thing - girls typically never pay in Korea)... if they like you, they may stay, if they don't, they'll get up and leave. These girls are other club guests, they are not paid employees or anything. Now as for whether you should go there... well I don't know. I for one have never seen a foreign guy at a booking club and they may not even let you in. If you do get in, language barrier will keep most girls away, plus you're going to drop a huge stash of cash. There's no going in and out of one of these places for cheap. You'll spend a good $300-400+ (and that's being cheap) for your table. With the Korean GDP being so much lower than other industrialized countries, I don't see how some of the guys do it... but they do. As for the music, well it's mostly Korean dance songs, western hip hop, and western dance.

But never fear, aside from the booking clubs, there are plethora of great clubs that have that underground vibe and great music, great crowd. Koreans don't bump and grind like you see in the US (but then you typically see that in cheesy top-40 type clubs anyway, not at DJ events)... although, don't get scared if you see 2 guys getting awfully close on the dance floor... but they're not gay...lol.

Great information. I just got done looking at your photos of Noryangjin. Wow, this looks awesome, pretty massive as well. You guys have so much amazing looking food on that table on some of the last photos in the album, it's got me drooling. This place is going to be a must! I love sashimi, but it is interesting about the hot paste instead of something more bland like soy sauce. I wasn't aware that Korean food had such an emphasis on spicy & hot flavors? I know this is especially true with SEA countries, and while I do love both sea food and spicy foods, it does seem to be quite of a contrast to its neighboring states.

Should I be going to Noryangjin early morning, like everyone does at Tsukiji? (6am)

I just youtube'd penis fish btw. holy shit man, I don't know if I could handle that. Maybe cooked, but I dunno about raw! Eel BBQ, now this is something I'll have to look into. Eel has become one of my favorite fishes to eat.

Also, I would like to give dog a try. Is poodle the primary type of dog available there? This shit totally freaks people out over here, but I don't get the big deal. I wouldn't slaughter a dog and eat it, but if I'm in Korea why not try it if it's on the menu? I couldn't imagine it tastes different than the dozen other mammals that I'm familiar with. Did you spit it out b/c of the taste or just b/c it was dog? (**I'm waiting for someone on [ms] to blast me for saying this**)

Booking clubs, definitely not my cup of tea then. If I'm scouting down girls, it will definitely be somewhere more appealing.

Thanks again for the information.