Despite a relaxing weekend in the boonies, I moved into Seoul proper in search of 热闹 (re4nao5, “hot & noisy”, i.e. bustling). I have a dorm room booked for the entirety of the Spring Festival (as determined by the official holiday in China). The place is more cramped and smelly, but the cheapest accommodation yet. I did discover on my way out of the last guesthouse, that Ctrip was charging me nearly 50% more over what the base rate would be if paying cash. This presents something of a pickle as I don’t want to be overpaying, but so long as I can pay for accommodation from my Chinese bank account, that may be the only way I can ever get my money out of China.
Planning to feast in the evening, I wanted to skip lunch, but after arriving at the hostel, my stomach started growling something fierce. I set out to find some food in the Hongdae neighborhood where I was staying and was surprised to see just how many shops, restaurants, and cafes had paper signs on their windows announcing their closure for a number of days. The lunar new year (새해 “saehae”) is only a single day public holiday in Korea, and I’ve heard conflicting reports as to whether it is a big deal or not.
Like many a hostel in Seoul, the Bird’s Nest is mostly staffed by an assortment of “volunteers” who are friendly enough, but it was difficult to get more than a couple words out of any of the guests. It’s funny how much the vibe of youth hostels varies from country to country.
Towards nightfall, I started researching food options in the area, wanting to do something fairly extravagant, even if I was dining alone. I settled on a pork bbq all-you-can-eat place and headed through the Hongkik University night market strip to reach it. The cluster of lanes with restaurants, bars, food stalls, and street musicians certain check off the box for an exciting atmosphere, though it was hard to tell if the holidays had any affect or if it was a typical Monday night. At the restaurant I asked for a table and was informed that I would have to pay for two portions. I decided to have bbq another night. This conformed with a vague notion I have that anywhere where you are cooking at the table has a two person minimum.
I settled for a Japanese curry house with tonkatsu (a breaded fried pork chop) ordered one notch down from the spiciest available and topped with roasted garlic flakes. I wouldn’t exactly call it settling, though doing Japanese food in Korea to celebrate Chinese New Year is a bit of a stretch. At least I had pork in honor of the Year of the Pig.
Back at the hostel, the common areas were full of people eating, drinking, and playing cards. It was like a completely different hostel than the afternoon. I played cards for a couple hours, stuck to water, and was in bed well before midnight
| Lunch (Mixed noodles with miso) | 5,500 W |
| Curry Set | 13,000 W |
| Hostel (6 nights) | 367 RMB |
| Total: | 479 RMB (USD 71) |
Running Total: 2720 RMB (USD 403)
Daily Average: 340 RMB (USD 50.4)