somewhat violent relationship

Saturday January 26, 2008

Leeum Museum

A Void in Korean Art is the current special exhibit at the Leeum Museum. And no they aren't complaining about the lack of Korean art or the absent quality, but rather negative space. One of those situations where the translation makes sense, but kind of looks funny anyways. Suffice to say "Avoiding Korean Art" was low in foreigner turn out. The highlight of the attraction was a racquetball sized room whose walls and eilings were covered in grease. There were inflatable cusions that lined the floor that matched the color of the orangy yellowy grease. I lay in the room for about 20 mintes or so feeling like I was in a giant can of crisco. I couldn't resist touching the walls so that I could know for sure it was grease. Something about the Ender's Game book series reminded me of the room. 7,000 won for special exhibit. Near to Hangangjin subway stop.


On the Border

Monica, Annie, Ryan and I all headed out to On the Border last night in what we soon found out was the finest and most expensive in Mexican dining in Seoul. We were seated in a corner booth that could accomodate 12 people with a nice view of the bar which was lighted by a chandilier made out of old beer bottles in a tasteful and brilliant manner. Food arrived and plunked before us were Jalepeno poppers bigger than swollen tennis balls, Mushroom stuffed torpedo sized burritos, and Quesadillas that are as think as thick as your arm, oh and did I mention Margarita glass globes that could double as aquariums for a full grown catfish? Needless to say we ordered too much food and are still eating leftovers. The endless supply of freshly baked tortilla chips and salsa were a nice touch. If salsa aint your thing you can order a bathtub full of spicy jalepeno infused nacho cheese for a mere 6900 won.

A special Kudos to the staff. Our waiter "Huey" could be spotted sprinting back into the chip room as our bowl of chips were nearing distinction. All the waiters of which there were about 20 or so greet you with "Hola" and wish you farewell with "Beunos Dias, Muchos Gracias" The manager came buy to sprinkle us with coupons for our next visit to make us feel better about our astronomical bill. But to be fair it was just under 100,000 won for four people and we all ordered twice as much food as we needed. A bargain in NYC, but having grown accustomed to spendng 4 bucks for a low end meal and 12 bucks for a hgh end in Korea it was a bit of a yipers. Near Shincheon station, exit 4. Walk straight two minutes.

Doctor Fish

After walking out of On the Border massaging our bloated bellies we sauntered around until we found the Hongdae area just south of Shinchon. Meaning only to pop into one of the many bars that litter the congested streets full of 20-somethings and 20-wannabes, Serendipity smiled upon us when Monica spotted a color changing neon sign on the seventh floor of a building and there it was "Doctor Fish". Monica and I conspired to keep the mystery of what "Doctor Fish" is away from Annie and Ryan so that we might surprise them with it one night. They were extremely puzzled when our waitress began with, "So first, you have to clean your feet, and then you can go have them nibble your toes, and finally you clean your feet again with a little bit of oil"

At Doctor Fish you order a beer and a slice of cake and you get to dip your feet into a pool of water filled with fish that specialize in eating dead skin cells. I miagined a somewhat more relaxing experience that what happened but my compatriarts all said that I was way too sensitive and a total wimp. Not that it hurt at all, but the tickling drove me insane. I was able to leave me feet in the water the whole time though as long as I kicked off the fish every 20 seconds or so. Because of my agression toward the fish no more than 7 or 8 fish were ever chewing at my feet at the same time. However when I looked over at Monica's feet I would see a good 40 fish all taking little chomps of the top of her feet. We all experiecne a sensation of more sensitive feet after we stepped out of the water. The cake and beer were good as well and Annie and Ryan opted for tea which came in a kettle slightly smaller than my fist. Doctor Fish cafes can be found all over Seoul.