From Seolleung, we walked up the street after buying some ice cream. Ice cream in Korea is terrible, but it's nostalgic, I'd heard about Coex, which was a short walk away and was across the street from 봉은사 (Bongeunsa), a shrine I had wanted to go to.
Coex was...... a good way to freak Miranda the hell out. It's crowded, full of stores that aren't any fun (like Zara or Gucci, places I could go in the US), and it's all underground with no windows, We found a map and tried to find the kimchi museum, but had no luck on either the English or Korean map. I found out later that the kimchi museum has closed, and had reopened the day before we got to Korea, in Insa-dong. We decided to walk the length of it, since Bongeunsa was on the north end and we'd entered in the south, so we walked..... and walked and walked and walked. Seriously? There seemed to be no end to this place. When we finally made it outside, I had to stop and calm down because I was starting to hyperventilate from the claustrophobia. Across the street though, this was waiting for us:
Bongeunsa is one of Korea's oldest and biggest shrines. It's home to a Maitreya Buddha (the Buddha to arrive in the future), which at 23 meters is the highest in Korea. The bodhisattva that I saw in Da Nang was 67 meters, each was impressive in its own right. Bongeunsa ended up being one of my favourite places. It was beautiful, peaceful, impressive but strangely humble. One of my favourite sights was seeing a monk and his pregnant wife walking around (Seon Buddhism doesn't require vows of celibacy). I highly recommend making time to come visit here.
진여문 (Jinyeomun)
법왕구 (Beopwanggu)
I'm not entirely sure what these were.
I think these lanterns were put up in preparations for Buddha's birthday (which is today this year).
종루 (Jongru)
The drum next to Jongru. It's enormous. The diameter is probably as long as I am.
선불당 (Seonbuldang), this was the only picture I got of this building, but I love this painting. It reminds me of a Korean folktale in which a man rescues his wife from a nine-headed giant. The illustrations looked like this.
This is a bronze bell cast in 1392, the same year the Goryeo dynasty ended and the Joseon began.
Beyond this point was the monk's private quarters. I could see an air conditioning unit and laundry hanging. It struck me as stranger because it was so normal.
대웅전 (Daeungjeon), the main hall with the Buddha. I didn't get any pictures because people were worshiping in there.
I'm not sure if the monks put these here, but but nice to know they have a sense of humour to let them stay.
Bongeunsa is really in the middle of skyscrapers and the business of Gangnam. It's an oasis of peace in the an area known for nouveau money and lots of it.
영산전 (Yeongsanjeon)
Coex and the convention center across the street.
This painting was about the 칠성 (Chilseong), the Korean name for the Big Dipper, literally "7 stars." Chilsung is the brand of the most popular soda in Korea, and if finally dawned on me while the logo was a star.
영각 (Yeonggak)
북극보전 (Bukgeukbojeon)
I checked inside to make sure someone wasn't worshiping before I took a picture. There was someone in there- an asleep schoolgirl. I took the picture anyway.
Cairns.
해치 (Haechi) alternately known as 해태 (haetae). This is a mythical creature with the body of a lion covered in scales, a bell around it's neck and horn on it's forehead. It was supposed to be a guardian for royalty (which is why they're all over the palaces) and also know in argument who was right.
미륵대불 (Mireuk daebul)
I love the carving of this lotus.
These names meant something, and I'm really frustrated I can't remember what it was.
Up this path was the temple stay. You can sign up for a stay of a few hours up to a couple of days.
종루 (Jongru), the same building that had the drum from the other side.
These monks were super into gardening. There were fresh flowers planted everywhere.
This "spring" was a blessed fountain that you were supposed to drink out of for health.
Haechi
종루 (Jongru) again
보우당 (Boudang), there was a huge commotion coming from this building as we approached. We took a peek inside and found it was set up like a gymnasium (with Buddhist paintings everywhere) and they were holding a drumming class in there.
해수관음상 (Haesu Gwanseum Sang) This is the same type of statue I saw in Da Nang, the Bodhisattva of Mercy
There was a tiny turtle by her foot. I feel in love with it.
Bongeunsa was good for the soul after Coex. As we were leaving at about 6 o'clock, a monk started drum on that giant drum at Jongru. We spent about an hour and a half at Bongeunsa.
We walked back over top of Coex (phew) so that I could get on the right line that went through the Gangnam station so I could see the underground shopping center there. Yeah, that was a colossal waste of time. Skip unless you're looking for trendy women's clothes. We hopped back on the subway and headed for the express bus terminal. It was the closest station to Banpo park. We walked in the general direction of the river when Justin started laughing. When I asked him why, he said that we had just passed a bunch of signs that essentially said yes, it really is this way to Banpo park. To get to the park, you actually have to cross half a street and then follow the path UNDER the road, otherwise you'll walk onto an 8 lane highway and be 20 feet off the ground.
There were two reasons I wanted to go to Banpo park. It has the Moonlight Rainbow Fountain, the world's longest bridge fountain. It has nightly shows that supposedly are every 30 minutes, but when we got there, it was just a constant show of music, water, and lights. The other reason I wanted to go, was the Banpo bridge was the bridge we use to cross to get to Itaewon. When I saw a giant neon crown from the hotel (the hotel is still there, the crown is not), I knew we were going to be home soon.
The way home.
Itaewon and Namsan in the distance. That's the N. Tower in the distance, the place we went the first night.
There were tons of crowds since it was a warm Saturday night, but it still was a nice place to sit and rest a while. If you get hungry, there are plenty of deliverymen you can flag down for fried chicken, jjajangmyun, pizza, or any junk food. After we'd rested and enjoyed the show for a while (Justin was amused they played Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver) we walked to Jamwon station. On the way I saw one of these:
Korea has a ton of these exercise parks. They actually exist where I live right now, but there's only a few machines. This have everything including weight lifting machines. I don't think these would last in the US without being vandalized every two seconds.
We took the subway over one stop to 신사동 (Sinsa-dong). Sinsa-dong is a pretty happening place due to it's proximity to Apgujeong, where all the entertainment agencies, foreign shopping centers, and plastic surgeons located. However, we didn't come to catch people debuting their new faces, we came for the 간장게장 (ganjang gejang). There's a famous alley right off Sinsa-dong station that's full of restaurants featuring ganjang gejang, which translates as soy sauce crab. It's raw horseshoe crabs that have been marinated in soy sauce. Despite sounding weird and gross, it's actually really delicious.
I'm a fool for crab anyway, but this crab is a soft shell crab (unlike the dungeness crabs we get around here) was delicate and perfectly seasoned. I was afraid it would be too salty, but paired with rice, it's perfect. It's known as "the rice thief" due to the desire to eat lots of rice with it. The restaurant we went to is called Pro Ganjang Gejang, and it's open 24 hours a day. Also, there is no graceful way to eat this crab. You're handed a bucket for the shells and are expected to dig right in.
We ordered a set of the small crabs, and it was plenty of two people.
You're supposed to take the shell and mix rice into it. The orange stuff is the crab roe and it's smooth and delicate.
Justin also ordered a steamed egg, something I'd never had. It was like a really good scrambled egg, smooth, light and fluffy.
I really wish we could get it here, but we have the wrong type of crab here. I guess it'll have to stay a nice memory until the next time I can get back to Korea.
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