...I figured I'd write about our cool dining experience we had last night. We went to Gwangali beach to meet up with our coworker, Sue, and a few of her friends; One of which speaks a little English, and the other only a few words here and there. Sue mentioned that we were going to go out for sushi, so being from California I immediately think of a more upscale restaurant. After a few minutes walking down the beach, we get to a large building that looks to be a fish market. We go inside and Sue's friends immediately start haggling with a woman for the best fish. These are not just fish in tanks, but bucket upon bucket upon bucket of hundreds of different fish. It's pretty overwhelming when you are actually there to take in the spectacle in person, but I do have a few pictures of Jagalchi fish market that are similar posted here on Facebook if you want to get the idea. I would have taken pictures, but I already stick out enough just being foreign, I didn't want to look like a tourist too :P So, we buy some fish (a couple flat ones, and a big black and silvery one, and the lady even through in 2 sea squirts and an octopus as "service"- how they say "free" here) and then head upstairs to a restaurant. Basically, you buy your fish downstairs and they transport it upstairs for you to eat. We end up on the 6th floor and sit to watch the nice view of the beach while we wait for our food. Turns out when Sue said sushi, she actually meant sashimi. The first plates brought out were the octopus and the sea squirt. The octopus, having been dispatched only moments before arriving at our table, was of course still moving. To be frank, it looked just like a plate of black worms. But when in Rome.... right? I tried them, and they were actually very good, I even went in for 2nds and 3rds. JOHN even tried them!!! :P They tasted just like very fresh octopus (duh), with a hint of sesame oil, vinegar, and green onion. Simple, and very tasty :) The sea squirt on the other hand... I could have lived without eating that... very salt-watery tasting, and the texture was just... bleh... After the "appetizers" two huge plates of well sliced raw fish were placed on the table, in all of their raw fishy gloriousness. All the fish was really delicious. Overall, it was a very satisfying meal :)
The company was really great too. The guys got to practice a little English with us, and we got to butcher their language with them. But everyone was very jovial (especially after all the soju they had been drinking:P) so it was very good conversation.
After dinner we walked down the beach some more to see the ridiculousness that is Korean video game tournaments... There was a HUGE stage set up right on the beach, complete with 3 jumbo-trons, fireworks, flames on the stage, and multiple cameras swooping across the audience. All this for a Starcraft battle (for those of you who don't know what that is, it's a 14 year old video game that they are still obsessed with. Enough to warrant televised tournaments and 2 TV stations devoted to the game) So that was sort of fun to watch. John had to do some explaining of what was going on though :P
After dinner we walked down the beach some more to see the ridiculousness that is Korean video game tournaments... There was a HUGE stage set up right on the beach, complete with 3 jumbo-trons, fireworks, flames on the stage, and multiple cameras swooping across the audience. All this for a Starcraft battle (for those of you who don't know what that is, it's a 14 year old video game that they are still obsessed with. Enough to warrant televised tournaments and 2 TV stations devoted to the game) So that was sort of fun to watch. John had to do some explaining of what was going on though :P
All in all we've been doing pretty well here. We've met some new people, saw a bit more of the city, and of course the fact that they just opened a Costco nearby always helps matters :P That's all for now! ^_^
