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Tag "travel"

Towards the end of November last year, Mattie and I booked our tickets to Korea. My last trip to Korea was about six years ago, and I’ve been dying to visit with Mattie. And five days after we booked our flights, we were in Seoul. If you didn’t know already, we are not much of a planner ; )

In short, Korea is great fun. I was born in Korea and spent my first 11 years there. So take this with a grain of bias, but if you’ve never been there, you are missing out. Big time.

Warning – this post will be a little longer than usual with many photos of food. After all, I was a tourist and had document what I ate.


Gwangjang Market 광장시장


Namdaemun Market 남대문 시장


National Hangeul Museum 국립한글박물관, reserve a free English tour


Yongma Land 용마랜드, abandoned amusement park

 

After a few days in Seoul, we took a bus down to Andong, known for Andong-jjimdak (chicken dish) and Hahoe Folk Village 안동 하회마을. Andong-jjamdak and Hahoe village were all top, but the highlight could be the cream cheese bread from Mammoth Bakery (맘모스제과 크림 치즈 빵). A crowd waited inside the bakery for this bread to come out from the oven, and once they were put on the shelf, everyone grabbed a dozen or more each. Not knowing any better, we just got one. Next time I’m grabbing a dozen too. It was seriously good. No joke.


Hahoe Folk Village 하회마을

 

We then moved to Sokcho, a far northeast fishing town next to Seoraksan national park. We walked around Sokcho, hiked Seoraksan for 7 hours, visited Naksansa and ate the best handmade jjajangmyeon.


Seoraksan Heundeulbawi 설악산 흔들바위


Seoraksan Ulsanbawi 설악산 울산바위


Seoraksan Towangseong waterfall 설악산 토왕성폭포, reopened after 45 years


Naksansa 낙산사

We took a bus back to Seoul from Sokcho, then we flew over to Tokyo the day after.

If you are going to Korea soon, lucky you!

 

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TRAVEL MOMENTS / MARSEILLE - angdoo.com/blog

Ever since Mattie and I returned from Marseille about a week ago, we’ve both been none-stop working and traveling. Although I still got projects to finish up and new projects to start up, today I’m finally winding down a little.

While we were in Marseille for two weeks to prepare for our exhibition (I will share the photos of our exhibition with you very soon!), we were working long hours everyday and that left us no time to explore the city nor visit the calanques, which I really looked forward to before the trip. The first day we arrived in Marseille was the only day we actually had time to walk around the city with friends, visiting the port and eating the best gelato in town.

Even though I didn’t see much of the city, Marseille felt relaxed and honest. I hope to return to Marseille soon and finally go to calanques for a swim : )

TRAVEL MOMENTS / MARSEILLE - angdoo.com/blog

marseille-2

TRAVEL MOMENTS / MARSEILLE - angdoo.com/blog

TRAVEL MOMENTS / MARSEILLE - angdoo.com/blog

TRAVEL MOMENTS / MARSEILLE - angdoo.com/blog
Our flat in Marseille in the afternoon.

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TRAVEL MOMENTS / LOS ANGELES - angdoo.com/blog

I was away from home for close to two months. And I found out that I can’t get my mind to blog when I’m traveling. I habitually draw away from internet and disconnect effortlessly when I’m away.

Last month, I was visiting home in sunny and warm LA. Although I grew up in LA and feel like I know it, so many things have changed since I left home about ten years ago. Many neighborhoods have changed their dynamics, and there are more exciting activities than just going to malls and movies (this is what we used to do growing up in LA). Last few trips back home, I got to explore some places which I’ve never visited before, which refreshed my thoughts on LA.

This trip around, we ate at a local but epic Mexican restaurant, had donuts and a large coffee for breakfast, stuffed ourselves with Korean barbecue, ate at Five Guys (finally!), checked out Frogtown, hiked at Elysian Park, visited Sunken City in San Pedro, drove (which I haven’t done in last ten years), but the highlight of it all was to walk along the LA river and to explore its abandoned surrounding, which most likely will change in the coming years as the city has a huge plan to develop the LA river. Although, I quite like how it is right now, wild and unkept.

TRAVEL MOMENTS / LOS ANGELES - angdoo.com/blog

TRAVEL MOMENTS / LOS ANGELES - angdoo.com/blog

TRAVEL MOMENTS / LOS ANGELES - angdoo.com/blog

TRAVEL MOMENTS / LOS ANGELES - angdoo.com/blog

TRAVEL MOMENTS / LOS ANGELES - angdoo.com/blog

TRAVEL MOMENTS / LOS ANGELES - angdoo.com/blog

Now I’m back in Paris, I hope to stay put for at least a month : )

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TRAVEL MOMENTS / LONDON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

Before moving to Paris a few years ago, I always fancied living in London. Whenever I visited London, it felt like London was calling me. But this time around, despite how lovely this trip was, London didn’t tell me to move. Then I wondered what has changed? Well, only answer to that would be me, I guess I’ve changed.

London is and will be always great and amazing. It just sort of feels like as if I got over a long-term crush, and now I can finally be his friend without any hopeful wishes. If that makes any sense.. : )

And one thing I’ve learned from this trip, London loves rolls with pulled pork.

TRAVEL MOMENTS / LONDON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

TRAVEL MOMENTS / LONDON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

TRAVEL MOMENTS / LONDON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

TRAVEL MOMENTS / LONDON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

TRAVEL MOMENTS / LONDON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

TRAVEL MOMENTS / LONDON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

By the way, it felt great to be in an English speaking country. To participate in cultural events, to be part of a city, to understand and to be understood.. I realized I missed all these more than I thought.

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LISBON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

Our last stop after passing through Barcelona and Madrid was Lisbon. I’ve never been to Lisbon, and I didn’t know what to expect even though I’ve heard only good things about it. As soon as we arrived and took a walk outside, I instantly fell in love with the colors. All the buildings were either painted in soft pastel colors of pinks, yellows and blues, or covered in hand painted tiles. Then as we explored the city, I fell in love with the people and the food. Everything – the city, the people and the food – felt so down-to-earth and unpretentious.

LISBON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

LISBON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

LISBON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

LISBON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

LISBON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

LISBON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

LISBON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

LISBON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

LISBON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

This take away butterflied charcoal barbecued chicken place was on the ground floor of where we stayed. The smell filled the street and our apartment above. It was hard to resist, and we ended up eating this twice out of our four night stay in Lisbon. If you ever come across this in the Lapa area, you must ask for piri piri spicy sauce on the side.

LISBON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

LISBON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

I found their unpretentious way of serving food under bright florescent lights very charming.

LISBON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

LISBON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

LISBON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

LISBON - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

One evening, we found a busy restaurant packed with locals by accident. It turned out to be the best restaurant, and we had the most fun with the server lady and the grandma in the kitchen (even though they did not speak a word of English). The black pork and the fried potatoes were insanely good. If you every visit Lisbon, just go to “0 EURICO, CASA DE PASTO.”

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MADRID - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

MADRID - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

MADRID - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

After spending a few days in Barcelona with my friends from LA, we traveled to Madrid. It was my very first time visiting Madrid, and I didn’t fall in love with the city, which I often do with many cities. But a friend once told me that Madrid takes some visits to actually get it.

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Palacio de Cristal and other moments.

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MOMENTS / BARCELONA - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

MOMENTS / BARCELONA - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

MOMENTS / BARCELONA - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

barcelona-4MOMENTS / BARCELONA - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

MOMENTS / BARCELONA - ANGDOO.COM/BLOG

I traveled through Barcelona, Madrid and Lisbon last week. Barcelona has been one of my favorite places of all time, and I used to go there quite frequently when one of my good friends was living there. Now that she’s in NY, I don’t go there as often anymore. This time around, I went there with my friends from LA, therefore I got to see some touristic side of Barcelona which I’ve never got to see before as I only hung out with locals, doing local things before. These photos are some random moments from Barcelona.

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Cacti from Park Güell, Ham and arroz negre from a touristy restaurant on Passeig Don Joan Borbó Comte Barcelona

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