Let's start with one of the many cocktail bars I went to in Seoul. The place loves their cocktails (granted, there were similar establishments in most of the cities I went to). Alice was quasi-gimmicky, in that it was Alice in Wonderland theme - but they didn't hit you over the head with the theme, but instead hit you over the head with great cocktails. There were interesting ingredients, from utilizing soy bean paste, to beer foam and flowers, to so much more. Even the names were whimsical - like "Hippity, Hoppity" and similar things. The best part I appreciated is that none of the drinks were overly strong or bitter, just perfectly balanced, perfectly inventive.
B. is for Bibimbap
Drink and food items won't make up all twenty-six letters, but probably get pretty close. Bibimbap took a leading role for multiple meals of the trip, starting with a starring role in my first meal of the trip. Korean Air's First Class is known for their giant bibimbap main, and it was a great start, including my first experience with the scores of little plates that come with any standard Korean meal. The bibimbap only got better from there, having it twice in Jeonju - a city known for its bibimbap. I had it twice there, one at the most famous spot (Hangkook Jib) and once at a more hole-in-the-wall type place, both fantastic. The real skill I want is the way they professionally mix it all up for you, doing it in a violently fast and efficient way that puts me to shame. There were other culinary treats in Korea, but bibimbap was a mainstay.
C. is for Chungdeokgung
Technically I'll be talking about both main "palaces" in Seoul, but they deserved representation. It's so cool that an incredibly dense city like Seoul can make time to have two giant parks surrounding palaces right in the middle of the city. They are beautiful locations, from the buildings themselves, to the larger well manicured grounds, to the imposing Bukhansan Hill in teh background. You can see why the Joseon kings picked these areas for their palaces. I never truly understood why there were two of them, why they were right next to each other - but for a tourist in the year 2022, I'm grateful for it.
D. is for
E. is for Eathai
I've been fortunate enough to say that I've eaten at the original Eataly, in Turin. I've been to the Eataly in New York as well. I don't know if in twenty years we'll have Eatthai's all across the world, but for the first one, they had a great set-up. About 25 different carts and stalls selling Thai food from all across the country, from various traditional street foods, to stalls with foods from specific areas of Thailand. They even had a fairly sizable shopping area with local produce, mixes, snacks, etc. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery - well if that's the case Eathai is doing Eataly proud.
F. is for FindTheLockerRoom
The term speakeasy is thrown around a lot, and I feel like there's almost competition in how bizarre you can make the entrance to a bar. Well, FindTheLockerRoom is about as good an attempt at that, with it in a nameless, somewhat dirty alley, up two flights of stairs with a set of lockers with semi-hidden handles to swing them open. But inside was magic, a great cocktail bar with really inventive cocktails, great flavors and really great, personable mixologists, and a really nice crowd - far less pretension than a lot of Bangkok spots. Odd to call a speakeasy a place without much pretension, but here we are.
G. is for Gaggan Anand
My booking at Gaggan that I shifted date roughly seven times was the other anchor of the trip. Of course there were high expectations. And while the food was maybe only 95% as good as it was the first time, the experience was better, mainly because of hte presence of hte namesake Chef. Reinventing their approach, he only serves 14 diners a day, in a chef's table set-up, with Chef Gaggan Anand there each day. He was there to regale us, discuss things with us, shake our hands at the end of hte meal, talk to briefly about him loving Goan food. It was great to eat his food, of course, but it was just as good to be able to converse with him, learn from him and make it a true experience over just a truly great meal.
H. is for Hanok Village
Jeonju is known for a few things, the most notable beings its sprawling Hanok Village - Hanok loosely meaning home. It was a 3x9 block space or so, designed to look mostly like an old Korean style area, but lost in this region, fill with home stays and houses, were a series of trendy coffee-shops, restaurants, shops, and even an outpost of Nomadic Brewing, arguably my favor craft brewery over the course of the trip. The Hanok Village was such a great place to just get lost in and walk around. Even the landscaping was great, with a man-made creek running the side of one of the main roads within the village. Jeonju was as far as Seoul as you can be in terms of the type of city, mianly shown by that little beauty of a village.
I. is for Itaewon
Seoul has a few different late-night (read: clubs, lounges) areas. Gangnam is the most famous, but also the flashiest, glitziest, and an area where many places will only allow either (a) Koreans or (b) people dressed to the nines. Hongdae is another, but caters to a more younger, hip-hop esque crowd. I found a happy medium in Itaewon. The main drag of Itaewon is as busy, glitzy, light and hopping as you wouild expect, but on the parallel roads were some gems, such as Club Faust, a very authentic EDM club where it was too dark to think anyone went there to be seen. The place was everything it was purported to be, and it was also a hoot to find out that even in Seoul, Korea, the busiest go to very-late night eats were still gyro spots.
J. is for Joseon Dynasty
This is a stand-in for Korean history as a whole, which was a major component of multiple museums there. Overtime though I kept on getting bombarded by the history, art, culture of the Joseon Dynasty, the group that unified Korea in the 1300s, up to the Japanese takeover in the late 1800s. From their palaces and portraits in Jeonju, to the two main palaces in Seoul, to their jade and white porcelain artwork that filled the galleries and halls of their musuems. The Joseon dynasty lives on as the major inspiration for the culture, food, art, clothing, etc., that dominates modern day Korea today and it was cool to learn about them as I had no real knowledge of their importance prior to the trip.
K. is for Kimchi & Small Bowls
I'm sure there is a name for these little bowls. I need to look up what they should be called. It isn't just kimchi - some of the bowls have kimchi in it (various fermented vegetables - the radishes were my favorite), but others were dried fruits, caremalized fruits, glass noodles, tofu, and so much more. The max I had was about 10 bowls at one of the bibimbap places. I remember taking a photo of a nearly filled table, and this was before I got the actual bibimbap bowl. Food in Korea is not cheap. It's not expensive either, but when you add in getting all these bowls in the price of the meal, maybe it is fairly cheap on second thought.
L. is for Le Du
I realize too many of these letters are just taken up by various restaurants, but sadly these restaurant are overly present and overly important on the success of the trip. Luckily they're all generally quite good. Le Du was a bit of a gamble, one of the few Thai-focused tasting menu spots in Bangkok, and while it isn't as reputed as say a Suhring (German), it was fantastic. Their ability to present Thai food, somethign we think of as extremely comfort based (kind of like Indian), but in elevated, unique and inventive ways was amazing. Some of the best seafood based dishes I've had, to be honest. And it was a seriously unpretentious place to boot.
M. is for Mingles
I was supposed to do this trip, or at the least the Korea portion, in May 2022. I had the tickets booked on Korean Air, and was just starting my research in earnest, when the Covid outbreak in Busan hit. One of the few things I had locked in during my brief time prepping for the trip was a meal at Mingles. I knew it then and I experienced it now - it was the best meal in Korea. Standard incredibly well thought out, executed, tasting dishes. From featuring king crab, to pork jowl, to lamb in three inventive quasi-Korean ways, to long lost Korean dessert fruits. Maybe the best part was the Korean Liqueur tasting that went along with it. Mingles was everything I could have wanted from my fanciest, best, meal in Korea.
N. is for Noir: Dining in the Dark
Yup, another restaurant, but I wanted to highlight Noir again because not only did the gimmick (dine in a pitch black room, using only your sense of taste to enjoy dishes) not get any more grating, but if anything was even better the second time around. I knew going in the food is very good (still very much true). I knew going in my waiter would be blind, and I would be getting to experience a meal as she would. I knew going in this place offers jobs for communities of people that otherwise live on the margins of society, even more in a place like Vietnam than they would in the US. It all adds up to a fascinating, meaningful, and of course, tasty experience.
O. is for (the) Observatory
A couple months ago I ranked The Observatory as my favorite EDM club in the world, and after going back it holds the spot. The music and the actual set-up in the dark back-room is great. But its more than that. It is the birds-eye view of Saigon from the 10th floor and the semi-open air outer area (with its own more pop-focused DJ). It is the baloons, the greatest local invention that I can't believe hasn't become mainstream elsewehre. Even the drinks are fairly cheap. Nothing may have made me more sad than The Observatory not living up to my memory of what it was when I went in 2019. Instead, it was every bit as great a time. Sometimes things live up to your memory.
P. is for Porcelain
Korean Art became a recurring part of my time in Seoul, from a full barrage of it at the National Museum of Korea (which two of the three floors are effectively an art/archaeology museum). The best part of that was their use of white porcelain, beautifully detailed, designed, painted over and calligriphied to beautiful results. The porcelain stood out from the serious of beautiful jade jewellery and tools, and the calligraphy on paper or folding screens. The porcelain was more uniquely Korean and more beautiful.
Q. is for (BB)Q
Unsurprisingly, Korean BBQ was consumed during my time in Korea. I guess also usnurprisingly, it was quite different (read: better) than it is in the US. The main difference was the variety. I went to a place that served exclusively cuts of pork, where I got two strips of pork belly that were immacutely grilled, sliced and grilled some more by the server - replete with the series of little bowls as per usual. Another place was serving perfectly thin slices of galbi short rib. And I did patronize one establishment serving high-end dry aged rib-eyes (that admittedly was a bit too much, but damn was it incredible). I never went to what we would consider a Korean BBQ place, and glad I did it that way. It's better to branch out, and certainly better to let them cook for you.
R. is for Ryunique
Last food based letter, I promise. Ryunique was the first tasting menu I went to on the trip, and it offered a more vibrant, more unique (pun intended - the name is a combination of Chef "Ryu" and "unique") experience than I'm used to. The dishes looked like art pieces, more so than a Mingles a few nights later. Some were a little too out there - like their food sculpture to resemble a dragonfly. Some were just perfect, like their underground potato, fish and truffle soup dish that I still think about. On the whole, Ryunique showcases an extremely confident view of what Korean ingredients can be used for, in a truly charming way.
S. is for Suwon
Suwon is not a small town - with about 1.3 million inhabitants, but I went there as an afterthought, being the town that the Hwaseong Fortress is located. The fortress itself is beautiful, nine km long, with ornate turrets, mini temples and hideouts. The city of Suwon looks beautiful also from the fortress walls, nice buildings, great shop-faces, the resplendent park that surround the fortress wall. The city even has its own baseball team (one of my few regrets: not going to a KBO game) and a soccer stadium that hosted world cup matches in 2002. I feel bad that I went to Korea and only visited two cities, but in reality it was three - Suwon deserves to count.
T. is for Temples
I guess some places call them Wats, other pagodas, other temples, others something else, but they're all somewhat religious, really serene and my favorites were the places that were strewn out randomly in busy streets and dense areas, little oases within the mayhem. The best examples of these were in Saigon, where they truly were in the busiest areas at times, but had large, well manicured, pristine grounds, with smiling, golden buddhas. The Wats in Bangkok were more impressive and ornate - enough so to warrant its own letter. The ones in Korea though were so clean and perfectly shaped. The mix of clean woods. The use of hte common 'royal' light green as a consistent throughline. Sometimes it's hard to even tell which religion each one is, but all are just great places to wander around.
U. is for Uber (and related apps)
This is a story of at first terrible anxiety, to relief, to embarrassment. One night into the trip, when I spent 45 minutes aimlessly trying to flag a cab, I was ready to say that I should just leave Korea that night. Then I found their local Uber variant (Kakao T) which worked well throughout Jeonju, but not so much in Seoul. Then one day I decided on a lark to turn on Uber, and what did I see: the app worked just fine. I was annoyed at myself for not doing the right level of research. In Thailand and Vietnam, Uber definitely does not work, but Grab works about as well. Nothing is more 2020s than saying that the lack of Uber almost derailed my trip, but getting it back defintiely helped.
V. is for Vietnam War
One of the few tourist sites I returned to in my time in Saigon was the War Remnant Museum, a three story museum, with just eight or nine exhibits, but all focused on exploring the atrocity that was the Vietnam War. Understandably (and fairly), the Americans are painted in a bad light, with entire exhibits in beautiful honesty, through award winning photography, painting, sculpture and facts, exposing the needless brutality of the war. It is harrowing, sure, but also damn important. Of course, to give them credit, they also had a whole exhibit on how the American people are not the American government, and many Americans resisted to the point of being jailed fighting in an unjust war. The War Remnants museum toes a great line between the Vietnamese government viewpoint (which blurs too much into propoganda at say the Hanoi Hilton) and the reality of what took place.
W. is for Wat Pho
At times I've had mixed thoughts about going to Bangkok intsead of spending of a few more days in Korea. To some degree that was driven by an outstanding reservation at Gaggan, but I could've moved it again. Anyway, I did go, and I am glad because it gave me a chance to experience Wat Pho, and the Royal Palace grounds next to it, again. I first went there in 2003, a trip I sadly have limited memory of. It was like going back for a first time - the incredibly intricate wat turrets. The giant reclining buddha being a sight to behold, with so many angles with shimmering gold behind you. The various other buddha status and beautiful grounds. Very little was "new" about my time in Bangkok or Saigon, and while this wasn't it was as good as new.
X. is for (E)Xcel based planning
I have an excel format that I use to plan trips. Yes, that says more about my picadillos and work issues than it does about trips, but all in all it is a format that works. And it was so amazing to be able to use it again for a multi-week trip. The reserach, the planning, that is all part of it. In the end, the typhoon turned some of research useless, but at least even in that situation, I had a stable format to edit off of when adding back in Jeonju. Some may find this level of planning to cross the line easily into over-planning, but to me the planning is part of it. Envisioning the trip, getting excited, seeing it on paper, and then living it in reality.
Y. is for No Y Class
It took till the second to last letter for me to shoehorn in getting to talk about the two main flights I took, my longest flights in business class, or in the case of Korean Air, first class. This was my first real First Class flight, and it was incredible, from the truly large bed, to the restaurant quality meal served on better than restaurant quality crockery. To of course the flowing bottles of blue label. Everything about Korean Air's performance was perfect. The way back on Singapore may not have been as spectacular, but flying business class on the world's best airline is a decent way to spend 19 hours, with pre-selected meals and a comfortable mattress and sheets. I've been lucky to accumulate enough points to make these luxury flights a reality. If anything, it was the expiry of some of these points that necessitated this trip in the first place, and thank God for that.
Z. is for Zero Regrets
My 'Z' is almost always the same, and for two reasons. First, admittedly it is hard to come up with meaningful words beginning with 'Z' that have some relevance. Second, it is true. It would suck if there were regrets given the investment of time (planning) and money (paying) involved in the trip, but I do think I got a lot out of this trip. With two years of anticipation behind it, and a rocky, typhoon-altered start, there was some risk of failure - only heightened by my mini-freakout around taxis. But I first found an app to get me a car, and then found a love for Korea - the food, the culture, the drinks, the people, the sites, everything. I left wishing I spent more time, which is almost always the feeling you want when leaving a place. I was able to eat at Gaggan again. I was able to experience The Observatory, and the various great bits of Vietnamese life again. Asia is a daunting place, with significant language barriers and traffic and mental math at all times converting currencies, and time differences. But go in with an openness to experience something new, and it is unendingly beautiful.
