Buddhas & Bikes

The business directly across the alley from our traditional Korean restaurant had the most incredible collection of stone Buddhas. We're a little obsessed with Buddhas, hence the title of this blog and the fact that we have quite a collection of Buddhas ourselves. We love them and there were some great ones along the side of this building.

We love the fact that Buddha interpretations can be very regional with very distinct Buddhas and Korea has some of the most serene Buddha statues.

There were numerous traditional Buddhas we are all familiar with lining the side of the building as well.

So, what was this business with so many Buddhas out front? A Harley Davidson Shop called Big Bear Choppers.

Who said bikers aren't zen?

Here is a picture of the Harley Shop from the freeway. We didn't even notice the eco-roof until we got home and saw the picture we had taken.

Memorable Meals: Seoul, South Korea

Asians love having communal meals that consist of a pile of hot foods in the middle of a table, a wide selection of condiments that could be eaten alone or with the main dish, and of course, rice. Sometimes the main dish is in a boiling broth or bouillabaisse, sometimes on a grill or hotplate, and in the case of Korean Bulgogi, the main dish is a little bit of both ways.

Korean bulgogi is a communal style meal with slices of sirloin beef simply marinated with typical Asian sauces like soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and scallions. This bulgogi marinade flavor has been adopted recently in western meats like McDonald's bulgogi burger.

The cooking method, which leaves the slices of beef tender and full of the salty, sweet and savory marinade taste, along with the inclusion of enoki mushrooms and thinly sliced onions and scallions is what sets bulgogi apart. Typically the meat is seared and then combined with the other ingredients to finish, but the bulgogi we had in Seoul looked almost raw, even though the thick brothy gravy was bubbly when we arrived at the table. The thinly sliced sirloin was melt in your mouth tender, beefy, tangy and warmed our bellies to the core. We happily dug into our traditional-Korean-restaurant-included-with-the-tour-lunch. It was well beyond our expectations for a tour group meal, especially a free tour meal. Shows you that you can never go wrong with traditional communal food.

We arrived at the traditional Korean restaurant, took off our shoes and piled into the back of the restaurant where some tables set up for lunch and some were empty.

There is something about cooking your own food to the consistency you prefer and taking the time to prepare and present your mouth and stomach with the perfect bite. That is what bulgogi is. Fresh greens, spicy pastes, kim chi, pickled items and rice allows each bite be a unique one.

Korean Bulgogi is an easy dish to like, the comforting taste and texture of the beef along with the different textures and tastes of the fixin' flavoring the white rice is familiar and comforting. The salty, hearty and spicy flavors of Bulgogi also go well with beer, which is always a plus plus in our world.

Reminder

This is a reminder that not all things

are what they seem

He gave us a chuckle while walking the streets of Seoul, South Korea.

The Sights of Seoul, South Korea

We were very excited to find out that Seoul, South Korea's Incheon International Airport is ranked one of the the top airports in the world. When airline tickets connecting through Tokyo skyrocketed we began to look at alternative routes. Having flown in and out of airports all over Asia including Tokyo, Taiwan, Bangkok and Singapore, we wanted to find a different connecting city.

We also knew that connecting through Hong Kong meant trouble for our budgets and personal desire to spend an extensive amount of time there, so connecting via Hong Kong was out of the question unless it meant another week of traveling. Therefor we settled for Seoul, South Korea and its mandatory 10 hour layover. We were excited about getting an opportunity to check out what Seoul has to offer.

Our midnight flight got us into Seoul's Incheon Airport around 6am. Luckily as US Citizens no visas are needed. We just head through customs/immigration and started mapping out your 10 hours. Our first glimpse of the caliber of Seoul's Incheon Airport was when we were filling out our customs/immigration paperwork. These little beauties were provided just in case you needed some assistance, along with pens that actually work.

After easily making our way through customs/immigration we headed down into the main terminal where we heard our airline Asiana arranged free shuttles and tours into the heart of downtown Seoul. We wanted to maximize our time in Seoul and had done research on areas to tackle, where good food could be found and maybe if we were up for it some temple sightseeing. It turns out the tours were organized on a very tight schedule, so all our research was a bit in vain, but the tour did involve historical sites, a temple, a free lunch and some shopping. Win, win, win for all and we happily piled into a comfy tour bus for the 90 minute bus ride into downtown.

We were constantly reminded by our cute little tour guide Amy that if we wandered from the group and missed the our ride back to the airport it would cost us 80,000 Korean Won to catch a taxi to the airport, that's $80! Thankfully the group was small and easy for Amy and us to manage.

Seoul was very cold, especially compared to the 90 degree temperatures we had in Vietnam, but fortunate for us we were well prepared and knew to pack our winter clothes.

First stop was the Presidential Blue House, named for the blue roof tiles. As you can imagine we simply walked around the main tourist area since the Presidential residence is off limits to the general public. It wasn't particularly exciting, but people are always proud of their political figures and like to show off the grandeur of their compounds. We were more interested in the fact that there was actual snow on the ground and we were mesmerized by the traffic controllers. Their uniforms were very ornate and they should be if they were going to be on display like this.

Before we knew it, it was time to head to the next sight, a large palace compound, but mostly we milled around the front gate area, which had this incredibly intricate roof and mural on the ceiling.

We didn't get a chance to wander far into the compound because we were on a tight schedule, but that didn't matter since we were more interested in the mundane aspects of life in Seoul, such as the handlebar hand warmers on the bicycle and scooters! HANDLEBAR HAND WARMERS - brillant!

We were also enthralled by the full body down jackets all the grounds staff wore. They sure looked warm.

Enough time to take some pictures and we were off to the only Buddhist Temple in Seoul.

The only buddhist temple in Seoul meant it was going to be crowded. There are many buddhist shrines, but this was the main temple. It was beautiful. Located smack dab in the middle of the city with shiny skyscrapers in the background the temple couldn't help but be a hive of activity.

The interior of the temple was just as ornate and packed with worshippers.

We really enjoy the beauty and serenity of buddhist temples. We find buddhist temples to be wonderfully informal and personal. We could have easily spent more time at this incredibly ornate wooden temple with so many details, we rushed around hoping to capture as much of it as possible.

Many people come to just pay respects to the Happy Buddha or leave a prayer at the tiered temple representing the ascent into nirvana or light a candle as an offering.

This temple had so many interesting features and wonderfully colorful panels that contrasted with the surrounding modern buildings. We could have spent much more time here and in fact were the last to arrive at the bus, we were absolutely mesmerized by the beautiful temple.

Soon we were back on the bus and heading for some quick shopping before heading back to the airport. It was a fast paced tour of Seoul and we didn't get to wander around in the neighborhoods which we love to do in foreign cities, but we did manage to capture some of Seoul's everyday life, even if it was from the window of a tour bus.