Friday 22 March 2013

Pink Rice Cakes, Palaces and Bungeoppang!!!!

Ooohhh Hiya from South Korea!!!
So yesterday I took the chance to get out and about in the city....I've been very much the hermit over the past week and next week is going to be hardcore in terms of my to-do list for my projects ~ so this was a golden opportunity to go and check out some palaces and the likes in Seoul with Angie, another of the fellow artists in residence here!!! It was a wake up at 6.30am type of day as there was so much we wanted to squeeze in yesterday....of course we stopped for coffee and a yummy pastry en route just to get the day started!!!  
Firstly we went to Changdeokgung Palace and the Secret Garden which was amazing... we took a tour around the grounds which was great and I absolutely loved this palace....my favourite so far! So many amazing colours!!!! We also went for an AWESOME vegan lunch at the Templestay Centre which I was super excited about!! Best meal EVER!!! To round off lunch we went to check out the nearby Jongye Sa Temple which was of my favourite places I've been to since arriving here in South Korea... there were colourful lanterns galore and it was such a beautiful building...we were lucky that a ceremony was going on as we were there so that was pretty incredible to see!
We spent some serious time checking out the local area as there is tonnes to see around here and then came the total highlight of my day.... in the afternoon we were ready for a tea and cake break and we stumbled across the 'Jilsiru Tteok Cafe' a place serving  traditional Korean rice cakes.... this place was amazing....fake flowers and wooden pews galore...kind of reminded me of a weird wedding venue! They had endless varieties of tea and rice cakes.....mugwort, sweet pumpkin, ume blossom, matcha.... there was so much to choose from, so we pretty much picked one of everything and then settled down with our tea to start ploughing through all of the flavours!! The ume blossom was the ultimate favourite ~ all cute and pink in the shape of a flower!!!

Also slipped in a visit to the Jongymo Shrine before going for a bit of a shopping session.... It was then I came across a treat I've been in search of for 3 solid weeks.... I finally found Bungeoppang!!!! These are the sweet waffles in the shape of a fish filled with red bean paste, served warm!! I was obsessed with them when I was in Japan and when I heard they also have them here in Korea, I have been on the trail to find them ever since arriving!!! I was SOOO happy when I spotted them! Anyway I shall leave you with a few more photos as it's off to bed for me!!! Until next time!Love Emma xxxxx

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