Oct. 13, 2019
Seems to me that the autumnal atmosphere in Korea compares favorably with the fall foliage in New England.
This month marks my Asian anniversary. My autumnal Asian anniversary, to be specific.
That’s right, 3 years ago, or 2 1/2 before I made a home in Da Nang, I decided to move to Asia and this journey began with a week in South Korea. It should have been just a few days, but visa complications forced me to extend my trip.
It was serendipitous.
My Airbnb hosts took me, and two other guests, to Namyangju. We went to a park in a small village. The calendar was crossing into autumn and the trees were screaming red and gold. It was also fairly cold so the foliage would probably fall sooner rather than later.
I’m not sure if this park compares with the best of New England, but it’s gotta be close, if not equal.
It was a nice break from the city. Seoul is big. It’s home to nearly 10 million people, always coming and going from sun up to sun down. At least there’s a great subway system to get anywhere you want, and I did. I visited the fish market, Bukchon Hanok Village and the arts district (of course). They had a funny caricature of Kim Jong Un.
I ate some great local food too. Kimchi, gimbap, bibimbap. And the latter with octopus, the first time I had it that way. It was quite spicy.
The best meal, however, was the omakase I had in the Gangnam Business District, the place made famous in Psy’s music video, Gangnam Style. For $74, I had unlimited miso soup and salad, a parade of sushi and sashimi, and green tea ice cream to wash it all down. I was so full I had a hard time walking to the subway.
It was the best omakase experience of my life and I began to wonder what this would be like in Japan. I was only 13 going on 14 when I went to the Land of the Rising Sun, and I had yet to develop my sushi palate. So thank you, Seoul, for helping me love those soft slices of raw fish even more.