We woke up at around 8 am last Saturday. By 9:30, we were on the road going to Kangwondo. The weather wasn't good, the skies weren't clear and it was foggy. We had breakfast while we're in the car so we could save time. As we expected, there was moderate traffic... Our first stop was Yang Pyeong where I saw this beautiful icy lake.
For lunch, we went to a restaurant by the river that serves 빙 어 회 ("Bing Oh Hui"), it's a small fresh water fish that resembles 멸 치 ("Myeol Chi") or Anchovies, a local winter specialty in the area. But here's the deal, there are two ways they serve this; One is they serve it in a huge bowl filled with water and the fish are freely swimming around. I don't know how you catch it, but I don't particularly think that's an appetizing way to eat it. The other way is like in the picture below, there's a huge bowl filled with vegetables and sauce like that of a salad, buried underneath are the wriggling fish. It was hard grabbing them by chopsticks cause they move a lot and they tend to jump, so we used our hands instead. They wriggle and writhe a lot in my mouth so I couldn't stop giggling the whole time. It was a totally awesome and different experience! An order of this costs 20,000 won and it's good for two.
After the meal, we saw a couple of people selling fishing equipment nearby. We were told that the place is famous for ice-fishing. Chris wanted to try it so bad, but we couldn't agree as to how we are going to be able to break the ice on the surface of the river. So we just retreated to the car, as he slammed the door harder than necessary. I could see he was disappointed but we came fully unequipped that I think it was best to just go another place and try it some other time. I let him free to think undisturbed, so I yanked the mp3 out of my pocket and listened to songs in full blast. It wasn't long before I drifted to sleep...
I woke up feeling dizzy, we were driving on a familiar zigzag mountain road, and I was dangerously close to vomiting... I thought I needed some air, so we rolled the windows down, and I tried to absorb as much mountain breeze as possible. He stopped the car at a view point, and I hurried to take some pictures. The weather was strangely warm that day, but the wind blew so strongly that I still shivered. The view was familiar, but still breathtaking. I was completely absorbed, spellbound by the picturesque view that I didn't know Chris was looking all over the place for me.
Next stop was a familiar beach. I went here last summer, and at that time the waves were really big. This time however, was different. It was just a normal beach, no big waves or anything. It may sound silly to some, but I like visiting beaches in winter. Swimming of course is impossible, but it's the only time I could really appreciate it since it's quiet and peaceful.
Our next destination was the famous burnt temple called 낙 난 사 ('Naknansa'), it was under construction for as long as I can remember... Slowly but surely, they are rebuilding it. I noticed they recently installed this "foot massage pavement" where people remove their shoes and walk there barefoot. Chris was trying his best to convince me to walk there with him.. It looked uncomfortable but curiosity got the better of me, thought a foot massage can't be that bad, so I took off my shoes and socks and walked there with him. I winced and flinched midway.. the pebbles and stones were so sharp that it was a hell of pain every friggin step of the way. But I felt better afterwards, so I guess I shouldn't complain about it anymore... ^^
It was already dark when we got back to the car... We drove back to 석 초 ("Seokcho") area to see the Fire Festival happening there. I just saw it from afar. Parking was impossible cause there were too many people at that time. I was hungry and tired so we moved to 대 포 항 ("Dae Po Hang"), a famous harbor that sells different kinds of alive seafood for 회 ("Hui") or sashimi.. Chris let me choose what I wanted to eat commensurate to my hunger. He didn't have any idea how hungry I was, so his eyes popped out when I chose two large fish called 우 럭 ("U-reok") and 광 어 ("Gwang-oh"), and also two large 어 징 어 ("O-jing-oh") or squid. Like that wasn't enough, we even added some 멍 개 ("Mong gae") or sea squirt ~ this is a make or break seafood, not a lot of people can appreciate the taste and texture but I inexplicably like it.. ^^ Everything cost 35,000 won and the quantity was a lot! I didn't bother to take pictures as it was a bit gruesome to look at, they skin and slice them while they were still alive. The squid still moves even when all sliced up. The ajumma put everything in separate styros, then we headed out. We ate it in the condominum we rented, along with 상추 ("sang chu") or korean wrapping lettuce, 쌈 장 ("ssamjang"), and garlic. We also drank 백세주 ("Baekseju"), a mild korean liquor that goes really well with sashimi. I was so full with all the raw seafood that I worried about having stomach ache in the morning. Good thing I was ok. But the thing that got me all peevish were the bedsheets and blankets there. Obviously, we weren't the first ones to use them and that freaked me out. I immediately told Chris to complain to the ajumma and ask her to change the room or something. She came after a couple of minutes and saw we just finished eating. She said she can't change the room since we already messed it up. So I told her to just change the bedsheets and blanket cause I can't sleep smelling the stench from people (God knows how many of them) I don't know. She halfheartedly convinced me that she'll try to look for replacement, and I was not surprised when she called a few minutes later saying she couldn't find any available new sheets. How could that even be possible? I was dumbfounded how blatantly rude her response was... But I was tired and needed rest, besides Chris paid a lot of money for the condominium and I can't bear to just leave and waste it (the evil ajumma refused to issue a refund). So I looked for towels and arranged it on the bed to serve as cover. Fortunately, there were enough towels there.. Chris assured me that we'll sleep in a much better place the next day, as he saw how worried and anxious I was... I fell asleep imagining how that other place must look like.
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