Chicken Ginseng Soup for the Seoul

With a new year underway and a holiday season now come and gone, I feel compelled to put down a few first impressions of my new home away from home, South Korea. Having been forewarned that our first stop, Gwanju, would be “the armpit of Asia,” I was pleasantly surprised to find a beautiful, clean city packed with restaurants, department stores, boutiques, spas, and everything one could ask for in a so-called “armpit.” Hardly, to say the least! The people have been nothing but friendly and helpful, a majority of whom speak very good English, dress to make my Friday night outfit look like I’m lounging around my living room, and seem to go out of their way to help us; the familiar foreigners.

Gwanju pretty much emptied my wallet of per-diem with the onslaught of appetizing stores, western products, and even more appealing seasonal sales, and the hiked up Starbucks prices have fortunately made it much easier to kick my coffee habit. My favorite experience, however, was going to “Doctor Fish,” a cute little café/bar with a pool of thousands of tiny fish that you sink your feet into, giving live bait to the “exfoliating fishies” that eat bacteria and dead skin off your feet. It sounds gross, but it is more hysterical than anything else as everyone sits around giggling and squealing while hundreds of bait attack and tickle every inch of your feet.

Our “super deluxe” Seoul Plaza Hotel sits right in the bull’s-eye of town, a short walk away from the largest market you’ve ever seen and a ‘walking street’ district decorated with thousands of neon lights and signs that, accompanied by the recent snowfall, make it seem forever a winter holiday. Whereas the four-story gym overlooks the entire city with its glass-walled exterior, my quant but beautifully decorated room is a mere stone’s throw away from the gigantic ice skating rink in the City Hall park, an extravagant display that I have already spent two nights sitting at my window and admiring (and one night skating!).

An underground “arcade” seems to connect just about every hotel, department store, and street corner in all of downtown Seoul, its never-ending hallways packed with clothing stores, bagel shops, and CD marts, making it possible to walk to the supermarket, the cinema down the street, and the subway station without ever bundling up for the bitter cold winter air. But to walk around in the brisk January (can you believe it’s January??!!) weather is a treat here; after endless cities stationed on the outskirts of town, it’s nice to be able to get anywhere without having to take a cab.

It’s certainly an experience, and already, being in such a metropolis with so many English speaking locals, I need to remind myself that I’m still in Asia. Today’s lunch was a reminder for me. We stopped into one of the seemingly identical Korean restaurants boasting an “English menu” sign in its window and were promptly seated by the owner, who proceeded to point to the “best dishes” that we would enjoy. We ordered bibimbap, which is pretty much a hodgepodge of rice, noodles, veggies, meat, and egg all mixed together in a hot pot at your table, creating a sort of casserole-like consistency and taste.

And my personal favorite, Chicken Ginseng Soup: an entire chicken packed with dates and ginseng, shoved into a pot of broth with garlic and scallions and cooked and served at the table, where you add a salt mixture for flavor and seasoning. In fact, the owner added the salt and seasonings for us right in front of me, tasted the soup with a spoon, gave it its approval, and proceeded to explain every step along the way of how to consume it. Good thing he did. I probably would not have figured out on my own how to eat soup with tongs, a pair of scissors, and chopsticks.