Tag Archives: South Korea

Temple Time in Busan

09 Tuesday Dec 2014

Posted by in Asia, Busan, South Korea

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This is post nine of twelve on our autumn trip to South Korea. Check out the other posts in this series here:

After a restful sleep at the Park Hyatt Busan, Mrs. Selfish and I decided to hit the road and visit some of Busan’s major attractions. Since we weren’t (yet) templed out, we decided to visit two of Busan’s major Buddhist temples: the Yonggungsa Temple, and the Beomeosa Temple

The Yonggungsa Temple

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Staying at the Hilton Gyeongju

06 Saturday Dec 2014

Posted by in Accommodations, Asia, Gyeongju, Hilton, South Korea

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This is post six of twelve on our autumn trip to South Korea. Check out the other posts in this series here:

Mrs. Selfish and I initially planned to stay in a hanok, a traditional Korean hotel, during our one night stay in Gyeongju. Unfortunately, the more pregnant Mrs. Selfish became, the less comfortable we thought she’d be. Especially since sleeping in a hanok means sleeping on a pad on the floor and using an external bathroom, something which no pregnant woman would be excited to try.

Fortunately, Gyeongju is a major Korean tourist destination and is an odd mix of history, theme parks, and kitschy attractions which means they have a ton of chain hotels (though oddly, no Hard Rock cafe). Since Mrs. Selfish had a fair number of HHonors points on hand, we decided to book a night at the Hilton Gyeongju.

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Eating Our Way Through Seoul

04 Thursday Dec 2014

Posted by in Asia, Food & Drinks, Seoul, South Korea

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This is post four of twelve on our autumn trip to South Korea. Check out the other posts in this series here:

Having eaten our way through the northern side of Seoul during our Selfish Year (and because Mrs. Selfish was less mobile this time around), we decided to try some of the eats on the Gangnam side of Seoul.

Seoul has tons of good restaurants, and is a fairly cosmopolitan city. That being said, I am admittedly and whole-heartedly a cheap eats kind of guy. $10 – $15 per person is my idea of a good meal, so Michelin restaurants were simply not in the cards.

Below are some of the delicious (and affordable) eats we found. Be warned, they are largely Korean chains, but that doesn’t preclude them from being mouth-wateringly delicious.

Fried Rice and Galbi at Yoogane

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Back for One Last Score: Intro to our Korean Babymoon

01 Monday Dec 2014

Posted by in Accommodations, Asia, Hyatt, South Korea

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This is post one of twelve on our autumn trip to South Korea. Check out the other posts in this series here:

For our last pre-Baby Selfish trip Mrs. Selfish and I decided to give South Korea one more go. Having visited Seoul during our Selfish Year abroad, we decided to visit two more locations: the old Silla Empire Capital of Gyeongju, and the beautiful beach city of Busan.

South Korea gets a very luke warm reception Stateside for some reason. My guess would be that it is overshadowed by Japan and China, much like Taiwan.

While it is a shame for South Korean tourism, it’s pretty sweet if you’re looking to get away from fellow Northern Americans.

 Especially with awesome sites like the Beomusa Temple.

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Ending our Selfishness in Korea

10 Friday Oct 2014

Posted by in Asia, South Korea

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Ahn-yong haseyo – Mrs. Selfish and I are once again in South Korea! It feels like we haven’t been here in a long time, but when I check the calendar we were just in Seoul 1.5 years ago.

Of course, a lot has happened since then – we visited 14 countries, drove cross country with all of our worldly positions to San Francisco, and generally tried to find a new normal that doesn’t involve packing our bags every few days.

So why are we back in Korea? Many reasons.

For one, Mrs. Selfish and I love Korean food. We’re also interested in exploring South Korea more since we’ve only been to Seoul, and only for 5 days at that. I have a decent idea of what China, Japan, and Taiwan are like, but South Korea is still somewhat of a mystery though.

Here’s the biggest reason though:

Mrs. Selfish is 5 months pregnant!

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Savoring Seoul Food: The Chicken Edition

23 Thursday May 2013

Posted by in Asia, Food & Drinks, Seoul, South Korea

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Mr. Selfish and I certainly enjoyed the Korean food in Seoul. We loved the bulgogi, galbi, and bibimbap, but there was something missing – chicken. Specifically, we were on the hunt for Korean fried chicken, which is seasoned with many spices, including salt and sugar, prior to frying. We also learned that Korean chickens are different from the ones U.S. since they are typically smaller and have less protein. As a result, the chickens are usually fried whole and then chopped into smaller pieces. The fried chicken is then typically served with pickled radishes of some sort.

Mr. Selfish looked for the best Korean fried chicken places in town, and we decided to go to HanChu Fried Chicken, which was located at 549-9 Sinsa-dong. It wasn’t a fancy place but it sure was tasty.

Chicken 08Chicken 11Chicken 12Chicken 13Chicken 14Chicken 15

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The Second Palace We Visited in Seoul: Gyeongbokgung Palace

22 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by in Asia, Seoul, South Korea

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Mr. Selfish and I visited Gyeongbokgung Palace during our five-day stay in Seoul. This palace is the largest of the five grand palaces in Seoul. It was first constructed in 1395 but since then, it has been burned and abandoned several times. It wasn’t reconstructed until 1867.

We enjoyed the reenactment of the royal guard outside the main gate (Gwanghwamun). Just like the guards at Buckingham Palace, they will remain still when you pose for a photo next to them.

Seoul 01Seoul 02Guards

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Photography Fun at the Trickeye Museum in Seoul

21 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by in Asia, Seoul, South Korea

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Mr. Selfish and I have posted our fair share of silly photos on this blog. This post is to rule over all of those photos. We went to the Trickeye Museum in Seoul, which is located at Seogyo Plaza B2, 357-1, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu. The museum uses the technique of trompe l’oeil to make masterpieces and other scenes into 3-D interactive photo opps.

The first part of the museum consists mostly of converted masterpieces.

Trickeye 01Classic ArtTrickeye 04Trickeye 05Scream

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Savoring Seoul Food: Bulgogi, Galbi, and Bibimbap

19 Sunday May 2013

Posted by in Asia, Food & Drinks, Seoul, South Korea

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Of the primary Asian cuisines, Mr. Selfish and I probably have the least amount of experience with Korean food. We didn’t officially become foodies until our time in Orlando, which does not have much of a Korean food scene. As a result, we knew that we had to maximize our time in Seoul and try as many Korean food as possible.

Bulgogi is grilled marinated beef, and it was listed as #23 on CNN Go’s list of the world’s most delicious food. The meat is typically marinated with soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic, and pepper. It is then grilled and served with lettuce and a dab of ssamjang (a thick spicy paste).

We ate bulgogi from a little restaurant across the street from the Westin hotel that I had discovered from a thread on Chowhound. The restaurant didn’t have an Internet presence otherwise and seemed to be called “Korean Restaurant.” It was quaint, had a great atmosphere with jazzy music, and had traditional real-wood grills for each table.

Seoul Food 30Seoul Food 23Seoul Food 22

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The First Palace We Visited in Seoul: Changdeokgung Palace

18 Saturday May 2013

Posted by in Asia, Seoul, South Korea

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Mr. Selfish and I spent five days in Seoul. Prior to our arrival, we had heard all of the headline news concerning North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric against the U.S. and its installation of missiles on the launch site. I am happy to say that we survived our stay in Seoul, which was entirely without incident.

Seoul has five grand palaces that were built during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897). Most of them were severely damaged during the Japanese occupation from 1910-1945. The first palace we visited was the Changdeokgung Palace, of which only 30% of the pre-Japanese structures are still in existent. This palace is known for being built according to the natural topography as opposed to imposing its architecture on the land.

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