Snow Day

At the beginning of the day, the sun was shining and the temp was just a little below zero enough to make me think, "What a perfect day to take the kids and Tashi to Namsan for a bit of a walk."  We got dressed, packed our stuff, got in the car, and then...the skies quickly darkened and snow started to fall, and fall, and fall.  We decided to forge ahead--how much could it possibly snow, after all?  Our first stop was a McDonald's that is connected to a gas station. While this is a familiar site on America's highways, it is super freaky in Korea.  This is the first time, ever, I've seen a McDonald's, or any fast food chain for that matter, joined with a gas station.  We decided to try it out.  There, I discovered that McDonald's has imported the quarter pounder with cheese and the double quarter pounder with cheese.  This is also freaky since Koreans don't do things in pounds but in kilograms.  Still, I was happy to see my favorite burger on the menu.  The McDonald's, although joined to a gas station, was the nicest, cleanest McDonald's I've ever been in Korea (they're usually pretty nasty), plus it had this really big front window through which we could see the snow fall and accumulate.  It felt as if we were inside a giant snow globe.

Once we had our meal, we went through the drive-through (another new thing here in Korea--not all McD's have them, but we're starting to see more drive-through's), got some icecream and sundaes, and headed to Namsan to go through with our original plan, which included a trip to a sauna and spa. 

So much snow had already fallen at Namsan that, when we got out of the car, Tashi was like "I'm sorry, but if you seriously think I'm going to walk in this as if it weren't freaking cold and uncomfortable you've got another think coming."  So, that didn't last long. After the quick across-town pit stop, we headed to Itaewon Land, a sauna and spa for which we can get discount tickets online.  We had to go since Jack had already bought the tickets, so we laid out blankies and chew toys for Tashi and went into the spa for some sauna time and a bath. 

I like Itaewon Land  (the front of which you can see to the right) since they are used to non-Koreans. It is located in Itaewon, which is near a military base and the sight of 'foreigners' is not so unusual.  People tend to stare less in Itaewon and people don't pay so much attention to us here like they do other places.  Still, I have one complaint:  why the heck are the fountains in the women's bath shaped like giant penuses?  Seriously people, that is just gross.  I really don't want to sit in a tub with water spouting out from a giant faux urethra.  This is the second time Dahin and I had bathed there, and I thought she hadn't paid attention to that so was not that concerned beyond the gross factor.  But, out of curiosity, I asked Jack, "In the men's bath, are the fountain's shaped like penuses?"  He said that no, they were shaped like frogs.  And I said, "I just wish they had some other kind of fountains in the women's bath; the giant phallic structures there just make it feel like a brothel."  And Dahin said, "Oh, I KNOW."  And shook her head.  Little pitchers.  Oh well, so she had noticed.  Certainly, this little aspect of Itaewon land exposes the Itaewon neighborhood's old school rep as a seedy spot, a rep that has improved dramatically over the years, but little traces remain here and there.

Once we were done with our penus-fountain baths (well, just speaking for Dahin and me), we headed to the car and took Tashi to the park for a bit of a run and potty break.  Namsan Park has many different sections, and this one I like because it has some pretty walking paths located at the foot of the hill on which Dongguk University sits. BTW, Oliver's glasses, above, are fake--no lenses. He just thinks they're cool so likes to wear them.

Tashi was still not super-happy to be out in the snow, and this walk occured before Tashi discovered it was fun to walk with us and that he should, indeed, follow us (an epiphany that happened this weekend).  Still it was nice to be out in this park and Tashi got some energy out. The park was just gorgeous with the snow on the buildings and trees. The lights of the city in the background lended a festive atmosphere to the park.

The photos below are from our second trip to the park. On our first trip to the park after the spa visit, Dahin had taken her glasses off in the car since they had fogged up. When had she opened the door to go to the park they had fallen to the ground. We didn't notice this until we had left the park and finished eating dinner when Dahin said, "Oh my gosh, where are my glasses?" Beforing killing our eldest child for losing her glasses, a brief interrogation revealed that the glasses had most likely fallen out of the car since Dahin had placed them in the pocket of the car door.  We decided to head back to the park to see if we could find them since we had guessed they could have fallen where we parked. When we got there, an initial inspection revealed nothing, but Dahin kept looking up the curb a bit and, voila, "I found them!" Redeemed.

Next, we headed to Taegukdang for some dessert (we'd eaten dinner after the park visit).  Taegukdang is located near Namsan park, across from Dongguk University, and has been around since 1946 (one year after liberation from Japan and four years before the start of the Korean War).  I believe it is, arguably, one of the oldest continuously-running businesses in Seoul.  It is very unusual to find a building, let alone a business, that survived the Korean War since Seoul was devastated.  Jack and his mom have memories of this place and many of the pastries, cakes, breads, and especially the ice cream treats have not changed much since it was established.  The inside of Taegukdang was super cool with giant reliefs (like one huge one featuring General Yi Sun-sin's famous turtle boat battle), murals,  and chandeliers, but they said I couldn't take pictures inside (except of the kids).  That's a shame since there was so much cool stuff to see that Jack said reflects kind of an old mid-20th century Korean decor that you just can't see anymore (even the bathroom which Jack said takes him back to 1970s Seoul).  It was like going into an antiques store. So, I tried to capture bits of the decor while taking some family shots.  I'm not sure why the no photo rule, but it might have something to do with the current food blogging craze in Korea and competition.  Anyway, I saw a fabulous cake and told Jack I wanted that cake for my birthday. It was loaded with walnuts, fruit, and almonds and looked so incredibly yummy I bet it is worth the 30,000 won ($30) they charge for it. Cakes in Korea ain't cheap so it is way more affordable to make your own; plus homemade American-style cakes tend to taste better than the wierd Korean spongy cakes (Dahin refuses to eat them).  30,000 is actually a good price for the size of that cake, which was pretty large, and it looked so tasty that I just have to try it.

The kids had cupcakes (which were not spongy and, therefore, surprisingly good--even Dahin loved it and she is the harshest critic of Korean-made pastries and desserts) and Jack and I had icecream.  Then, we got more ice cream for Ronan and Oliver who just had to try this Taegukdang specialty, which is icecream sandwiched between two pieces of  styrofoam-like stuff that snacks tend to be made of here.  It is made from rice, that much I know, but totally tasteless and bland and, I swear, like eating styrofoam.  Still, as part of an icecream sandwich, a treat called "Monika", it works. Above, Jack eats rice cake surrounding ice cream, and, below, Oliver eats the 'Monika" treat.  Jack's been eating this ice cream snack ("Monika") since he was a kid.  Yummy!  He has memories of walking here as a kid and buying icecream; still very affordable (just a few cents). 

In back of the bakery/snackery is this bar-like structure with chairs that looks a lot like a soda fountain. I didn't ask, but I'm pretty sure this place once had an active soda fountain spot where people sat, socialized, and ordered colas, etc back in the day. Besides the snacks. we bought a loaf of wheat bread which was very good. Hope to visit again soon.