Hyehwa

We decided to put our training blog until next weekend. Sorry!
This past weekend Ian and I decided to adventure to another market. This time it was going to be the Filipino Market in an area of Seoul called Hyehwa. The past markets have been huge disappointments, so our expectations were rather low...
Before starting our adventure, Ian and I needed some breakfast. Having little food in the apartment, we ate at a local bakery called Paris Baguette. There are literally hundreds of these bakeries around Seoul. At first, Ian and I balked at the pastries they serve and the bread they offer, but having lived here for a little while, our tastes have changed substantially and now we actually really enjoy P.B. (as Ian calls it). So, we each had green tea and two croissants. Might I say a great way to start the day! We then took a bus ride and the subway to Hyehwa looking for some tasty Filipino food.
To our surprise the market was decent. It wasn't very big but it did have a fair selection of food. Since we were still full from our croissants we decided that food would have to wait. So, instead we explored Hyehway a little more. Thank goodness we did because it has become one of our favorite areas of Seoul.
The buildings are not extremely tall, there are a lot of independent shops and eateries, and you can even see the hillside! Sadly, it was amazing to actually be able to see the hillside with houses and trees. Being surrounded by huge buildings, roaring buses, and never seeing open space, is something neither Ian or I will ever get used to. Fortunately, this area also had avenue-like streets with trees lining the edges. With the yellow and orange leaves on the ground it was actually very pretty.
We walked around the area for about an hour planning where we would eat or drink when we would be back next. Lunch time came and we decided that Filipino food would have to wait for another day, because we stumbled upon a restaurant that only serves Japanese style noodle soups. The entire menu was in Korean, so we just pointed and crossed our fingers that we would not be getting something inedible. To our surprise the soup was delicious! It consisted of a very flavorful pork broth with egg noodles and some vegetables. The bowl of soup was only $5.00 and it gave you a considerable amount of food.
With full and happy bellies we decided to try out a tea house that we found. As some of you know, our previous tea house experiences have been rather retched, so we entered with caution. Ian got a Darjeeling tea and I got a black papaya tea. Both were absolutely delicious. The only down side was the price. The combined price of our teas was 14,500 Won (more than our food)! But they were worth every cent.
Completely exhausted we made our way back to the apartment and collapsed. After relaxing for a couple hours we decided to make dinner at home. With only a few possible options, we decided that breakfast for dinner sounded delicious. Fortunately, we were able to find regular American bacon at a specialty store. So, we had bacon, scrambled eggs, homemade hash browns, and even biscuits! Since we have a crock pot and bisquick we attempted to make a bisquick loaf and it worked out to be surprisingly very tasty. We ended the night with eating ourselves silly and watching a movie. It was definitely a perfect Korean weekend!

Pictures of Hyehwa coming soon!