soda, chocolate and your future

Fortunetelling is not a lost art, at least here.  There are lots of little temporary huts and kiosks that contain red curtains, candlelight, and a tiny lady reading to read your hand or your tea leaves or perhaps something else of which I am not privy.  I quite liked the look of this machine that will read your palm if you dared place it in the mask's mouth.  If I had had a spare coin and more time as I passed by, I think I would have dared!

Kitty Cafe

In Hongdae, a young,hipster place that comes alive after dark, there is a place for those of us who love kitty cats but can not have one as a pet.  Not because our landlord forbids it (our landlord is a paragon of virtue!) but because we are both allergic to cats, as well as dogs and horses, so no horses in the house either.

Up the stairs we go, into a closet between glass doors where we exchange our shoes for slippers, get our hands squirted with anti-bacterial gel, and enter the most cheerful little coffee house you will ever see.  For a rather expensive beverage and an inexpensive dish of soft morsels, we are let loose to spend some quality time with a bevy of kitty cats.

We see them sleeping and lounging and hanging and running and yawning and licking and scratching eating.  They sometimes come to be stroked or played with but to be honest they mostly come for the food.

There are humidifiers dotted around no doubt to remove the static that would wreak havoc between cat fur and Seoul's dry, cold air.  soem cats are friendlier than others, and we've been told not to stroke certain cats as they tend to scratch!  There is a huge vaariety of breeds, colours, ages and personalities, and we spent an hour cajoling and exhorting and thrilling to touch, scritch and nuzzle animals that are no doubt so overstimulated that they do not purr.  In fact most of them just sleep, and they resemble fluffy pillows dotted about the place.

Oddly enough, the cafe does not smell of cat at all and we wondered where they went to 'do their business'.  Thankfully, that is one element of kitty care that we did not feel the urge to do. 

Other patrons were mostly young Koreans, many on dates (and many in matching clothing, a romantic Korean exercise!). Some come on their own and just sit working on their laptops or reading, seemingly oblivious to the felines in the room, but perhaps they are students homesick for their pets miles away.

Food!

the martkets are usually where you can find the best food, as it's cooked right in front of you and often has a quick turnover time.  That's not too different in Seoul, and the colours and smells and shapes of food laid out is wonderful.  However, a loto of the food is laid out for hours on end, pork touching mushrooms, chicken touching egg cakes, and we were a little less adventurous then usually.  This was alos due in part to the sensitive stomachs of our hosts, not to mention their extensive experience, so we most often took their advice.

 

No complaints here - it was all delicious!

 

 

 

Market food as beautiful tonight as it was originally laid out this afternoon



Kimchi galore!

Best let them order for us



The end result, 4 different and delicious Korean soups with all the condiments
that come with the average meal.  Imagine the washing up!

The samsung name....

.... is pretty well everywhere.  One of the largest companies in the world is located here,and not just connected to household products.  The Leeum Samsung Museum of Art is a modern building in Itaewon, just up the road for us, and is recommended highly from all sources.

Many museums of art, and there are others in Seoul, are filled to the brim with items that all deserve time and attention, but after awhile your head starts to swim and one painting or shard of pottery starts looking like another.  This museum is the perfect size, with pottery (for which Korea is renowned) on the top two floors, then caligraphy and painting on the lower floors, with comtemporary works and temporary exhitis on the ground level and outdoors. 

Every artifact is displayed on its own, and the path one takes is circular, ending where it begins, with the stair well reminiscent of New York's Guggenheim museum. 



classic 12th century Korean pottery shape

ingenious but damnably uncomfortable pillow

pottery within pottery

It was a wonderful way to be introduced to Korean works, especially the pottery. So many of these pieces were quite delicate, and yet over 1,000 years old.  Quite a feat given Korean society seems to be less reverant of old things (other than family members), with a tear 'em down, build 'em up attitude.

The temporary exhibit was of works by Anish Kapoor (we love his "cloudgate" in Chicago, which looks like a chrome bean) and it did not disappoint.

Even the cafe was an artpiece, with painted flowers gaily framing patrons (the custard bread was like biting into a cloud - heavenly!)

best drink of the day

Every morning (except the days that Donny and Grace have to leap off to work early), starts with a smoothie. Mango juice, a banana, yogurt, greens, nuts, berries, maple syrup - whatever is to hand.  It's breakfast in a glass!

autumn in Korea

 

The gingko leaf is a common shapein the art of Korea - pottery, painting, graphic art. But it is most beautiful on a dark tile just outside the door, a talisman of Autumn underfoot until next year.

Seoul train

The Seoul subway system is excellent.  And not just because it is efficient, clean and organized.  There are many such in the world. What makes this system unique, in my experience anyway, are the many little additional courtesies that are provided to the traveller.

It's pretty easy to arrive at any station and find out what line you need to take and what platform is correct.  And the doors that separate the platform from the tracks indicate very clearly where you need to stand to gain access to the train when it arrives.

But how long do you need to wait, and where exactly is the train now?  There is one screen that shows a little train-like object moving from station to station. That's cute. 

But what's cuter is the theme music every train station plays according to the imminent arrival of that particular train.  Sometims it's a Korean folk sont, sometime it's a trumpet voluntary.

And if you have to change from one line to the next, there is a way to advise you of the fastest way to make that transaction.  A relevant screen indicates the station/s from which the change is to be made, and a triangle with two numbers in it divided by a hyphen.  These indicate the car and the exit number that will allow the quickest change. 

And then alll you have to do it find the platform triangle with the right numbers in it.

Other intriguing things found in this subway system are the coin operated kiosks for gas masks should an attack be made.  The only real necessity for a gas mask would be gas, and what's most tacitly clear is that a gas attack would likely come from North Korea.  I suppose this sort of thing is just everyday common sense preparation here, much like a smoke detector or a fire extinguisher elsewhere, but I kind of expect that wearing a gas mask might not completely protect one.

But my favourite thing about this subway system? Easy. Some of the carriages have heated seats. Mmmmmm....