korea :: seoul :: general

[dismalfuture]

honestly, they're all the same man. You get a hobak juk and a light kimchi to open, namul or gujeolpan, a muk naengchae, some 3-colored jeon or something on that theme, you get a pork bossam of sorts, a piece of grilled cod or something, a shinsollo, then you choose between a ddukguk or a small bibimbap, etc, etc. Always, without fail.

They use different names for the dishes but the product they put on the table is about the same everywhere. Yongsusan is probably the biggest chain of hanjungshik restaurants in Seoul.

[ubersaladin]

can anyone recommend a good 한정식 / traditional korean restaurant in seoul?

한정식

try 수라온 for some 궁중요리 instead

http://www.suraon.co.kr/introduction/location.asp

[ruach]

can anyone recommend a good 한정식 / traditional korean restaurant in seoul?

한정식

방자네 산골물 near Anguk Station is my favorite. Comfy old atmosphere, super cheap, great dongdongju, and delicious.

Here's some random blog post with pictures: http://blog.naver.com/haniini/130108219487

edit: Also, although I have only been there once, I remember really enjoying 전주집 between Seodaemun and Chungjeongno stations.

[Ahlvahroe]

can anyone recommend a good 한정식 / traditional korean restaurant in seoul?

한정식

damn you dude!

couldnt you have posted like 2 days earlier.

i took my brother to one yesterday, and it was pretty disappointing for what i paid (it was only 40 each for the basics but i think it could have been better for that)

the other spots seem better then the random spot i found

[dismalfuture]

방자네 산골물 near Anguk Station is my favorite. Comfy old atmosphere, super cheap, great dongdongju, and delicious.

Here's some random blog post with pictures: http://blog.naver.com/haniini/130108219487

This is more technically a 'babsang' rather than a hanjeongshik place.

[ono]

This might be a dumb question-

Are phones over there using sim cards? (are sim cards a universal thing?)

I'll be there for five weeks. I think I should pick up a phone instead of draining my bill back home

[dismalfuture]

some do, but I don't know how you do that shit. They have cell phone rentals at the airport so that should be your first stop. I tried renting an iPhone SIM the other day in Japan and I couldn't do it because my iPhone 3GS is locked, I don't know about the 4. We have Blackberries here too, I have one actually, and it has a regular swappable SIM.

[mrchariybrown]

This might be a dumb question-

Are phones over there using sim cards? (are sim cards a universal thing?)

I'll be there for five weeks. I think I should pick up a phone instead of draining my bill back home

I'm not sure about the other phone companies, but I know olleh uses sim cards. as long as you don't have a locked phone like a iphone, you could just get a sim card over in korea and use your current phone on a korean plan (olleh).

if you have an iphone, I'm fairly certain those damn korean companies don't take jailbroken and unlocked phones for some reason.

if anything, do like I did.. if you don't plan on staying forever, get an iphone over in korea under your name, pay the monthly iphone fee, and bounce with the iphone. it's like pretty much free iphone and american cellphone companies gladly accept jailbroken/unlocked iphones.

EDIT: just saw you're from new zealand. not sure if cellphones and cellphones companies are similar to the states.

[ROYALEFATALE]

so if i have an unlocked iphone i can't just rent a sim card or what?

[mrchariybrown]

I think that's fine as long as it's a CDMA (not GSM) iphone. I don't see how they could block that if it's a rented sim card. not 100% about usage of 3g but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

[ono]

Bummer, mine would be a GSM phone. Assuming Olleh is the way to go, can I go prepay sim cards with them (will just use an old phone)?

Or alternatively, do you know how much iphone rentals will be?

[thomas_highstreet]

roaming really isnt that expensive these days.

i use my korean iphone4 on roaming service every time im in tokyo. cheaper than a rental.

EDIT: gsm iphone..... im not sure about iphone rental here, id just get a shit phone and use it for a bit and toss it, or keep it as your 'korean phone' to use each time you land.

[ono]

roaming really isnt that expensive these days.

the rates for New Zealand are ridiculously expensive.

I'll just take my shit phone and find a SIM card assuming that's doable. otherwise rent one worst case scenario

thanks for help

[dismalfuture]

I did some research and found out why I couldn't automatically roam with my KT 3GS in Tokyo last week - KT 3GS's are sold locked, and then you are allowed to unlock the SIM when the phone is paid off - but you have to call KT yourself and you get instructions in a text. If you are a foreigner you have to also fax/email them a copy of your plane ticket indicating your return to Korea (ie you aren't gonna ditch their contract and rack up a bill on roaming)

iPhone 4's are all unlocked.

[thomas_highstreet]

not sure about that, my bird has a 3gs, i have a 4g, both of us didnt have to do anything special for it to work, they just spammed us the details when we joined the japanese carrier and the worked automaticly...

both phones are in her name [she is korean]

[JDM]

aland opening a store in edae

[dismalfuture]

aland opening a store in edae

which building?

[JDM]

which building?

where the the giordano and BSX store were on the main road

[dismalfuture]

haha. I guess I don't get out much, didn't even notice that. Come to think of it, I haven't even walked around there in months now.

[dismalfuture]

A-land is kinda annoying, but it's definitely a bit nicer than Giordano. That Giordano has been there for years though, I remember it when I was a student here in 2002.

[altemp]

Is knowing no Korean whatsoever going to be too detrimental to getting around Seoul? I'm going to be on exchange at Yonsei in the winter but I'm going to have zero opportunity to learn any Korean.

[JDM]

Is knowing no Korean whatsoever going to be too detrimental to getting around Seoul? I'm going to be on exchange at Yonsei in the winter but I'm going to have zero opportunity to learn any Korean.

no getting around is easy. most people can speak english and signs are all in english for the most part

you should start learning now, the alphabet should only take a few hours

[sshum]

Going to be in Seoul for one week in July for work. I've read on here that you can find decent prices for the Ritz at $100 / night. Are there specific online sites that offer great rates for hotels in Seoul?

I've tried all the usual suspects like Hotwire, Hotels, Priceline etc.

Thx.

[xpaulinabearx]

yee, korea in less than a month!

[dismalfuture]

No good deals on those websites? I find good hotel deals on those all the time.

[kcsnacks]

yee, korea in less than a month!

yeee son!

where u going??

i'm going on july3rd for about 2 weks.

hittin up busan for a week then gyeonju for a day or two and then seoul!

[ono]

does anyone on here ride bikes in Seoul?

[Liam123]

Going to Seoul this fall to study a semester, so psyched

I'm training kinda hard here in Sweden, mostly running. Are they any good places to run in Seoul? Like a big park or something. Appreciate any tips!

How's the weather in fall/winter? Do I have to bring boots and winterjacket? Only staying to late december. Cheers

[dismalfuture]

there's a lot of places to run and your school will have a place decent for running. It gets busy in public places so sidewalks and stuff would be a hassle, not only contending with people, but with mopeds and cars on the sidewalks.

It gets cold as fuck here, starting around November 1st with temperature rapidly falling over the course of a couple weeks, and there could be a deep cold snap early. The first snow usually happens in December, and the -10/-15C with wind can be felt by late December sometimes.

[ubersaladin]

do you know where in seoul you'll be staying? the biggest park is the manmade 서울숲 (seoul forest) in 뚝섬 (ttukseom). KOREAN ROMANIZATION LOOKS SO TERRIBLE