hanging out with tor and becky and eating live octopus

first stop was the kimchi museum. Laurie had been talking about this museum since we arrived in seoul. We finally found it, with in the coex mall. This mall is massive. Museum was not very big but very informative . We read about the different styles of kimchi, the different vegetables, meats and fruits used, and how it was prepared in the old county and now. We were so impressed we bought a dvd on how to make kimchi and will be attempting it when we get back.

Walked around the mall, getting lost a few times. we then took a subway to the fish market. we arrived early , and walked around a little. I called tor and told him we were at gate two. But we came off a different subway and realized the one he was on, had no gate two. Laurie starving tried some deep fried seaweed rice logs. she was in heaven. i asked for a second little piece which she denied. thanks.
we went over to the subway that tor and becky were coming in on. I was keeping my eyes peeled since i had told them gate two and there was no gate two.. A few minutes later I see them both , and they are asking someone on a bridge where gate two is. I quickly grab lauries hand and run over toward them and shout it, "there is no gate two". Tor shouts back , I just found that out.
we introduce everyone and we are off to the fish market.
tor and becky have left portland and are teaching english in a suburb of seoul. they had been to a fish market a month earlier in busan, and suggested we try it out today. The fish market was great. We saw everything that was ever in the ocean and more. we walked around taking pictures and trying to figure out where to eat. somewhere there were suppose to be restaurants. A chinese guy took a liking to me, and wanted me to arm wrestle his friends. As we were walking becky and laurie took the lead for about two minutes, till the men swarmed them and they fell back behind tor and I. I guess tor at 6'3 and me at 6'5 made good blockers for the women. we were confused on where the restaurants were and finally asked directions. A man walked us to a place. we were not sure but it looked clean, and they had what we wanted.
we sat on the ground and the hite beers, and appetizers came out.
i was disappointed cause i thought these ten dishes were all we were going to get, and i was starving.
so far we had kimchi, some other vegetables, some skary looking fish, mackeral, tofu, salad, muscles, and quail eggs. I thought this is it.
next thing i know the doors open and two huge plates of sushi show up, we had some white fish, tons of it, and then we had tuna, sea squirts, abalone, uni, clams, crab, yellowtail, egg, shrimp, friend tempura like veggies, salmon, squid, everything was there.
so the lady then showed us how you should eat the fish, she took a piece of lettuce, stuck some fish in it, put some red miso looking stuff , put some fresh garlic in it, a little chilli, and then wrapped it up, made a gesture towards her mouth and then looked at me and shoved it in my mouth. it was heavenly.
Next to come out was octopus, still moving with sesame oil and salt. you know its fresh when it is still moving. its wild. as you eat it, it sticks to your mouth and is still moving around.
we loved it. even an hour later in to our meal , when you would grab a piece it would still move.

completely full, we walked out into seoul and started strolling around town. we walked to the subway and caught a train to a market laurie and i wanted to see. it happen to be next to a man made creek so we walked in the creek drinking beers . we got to hop rocks over the creek, and tor and I stared down the fish, wishing we had a pole.
we then went on a hunt to find a restroom, which took us to the third floor of a closed market. it was hostel spooky. Tor and i decided to try chicken feet, pork skin, pork face, and pork kidney. we sat a market stall, drinking sochu and beers and trying to figure out if it was polite or not to spit out the loose bones we found in the chicken feet. the food was amazing . we feared for our stomachs, but i was fine that night and the next day. we bought some more beers and hung out near the river again. we then decided to find some more food , before parting. we found a chicken and beer restaurant, had some good chicken and some good beer, before making our way to the train station for the final train of the night. my stomach was in shock of what i ate. I felt like i was andrew zimmerman.
thank you tor and becky for a fun day.