#wolmi

My friend had to work this morning so I got to sleep in a bit before her brother and mother picked me up for lunch. They decided to take me to a spot in Icheon called Sokcho Jjonggoomi where they specialize in a spicy sauteed baby squid dish that you eat in a bibimbap style. It’s served in a combination with deulggae kalgooksoo which is basically handcut noodles you boil in a soy sesame fish broth

One of the most delicious meals I’ve had on this trip. It’s quite spicy but so so worth the pain. The soup noodles were also really good for something that looked so plain.

We picked up my friend for the store, hung around for a bit, and headed toward her place so she could grab her stuff. Of course she knows I’ve been raving about her grandma’s kimchi so she let me get one more taste of it before I leave with a quick kimchi pancake.

This one was even better than the first one cause it was extra thin and crispy. Absolutely to die for.

We had a semi long drive toward Incheon so we stopped by the Deokpyeong huegaeso (korean rest stop) just to see how fancy they could be. This was essentially a small shopping mall versus a rest stop.

Seriously they sold suits, golf clothes, snacks, and more. This is a mall... I’m not much for clothes but obviously I’m on team food so I picked up even more snacks. Hodu gwajo (walnut red bean cakes from one stand and a inejolmi cream bread from a popular chain called Somimi)

We finally arrived at Incheon and I dropped off my stuff at our place at the Stellamaris Hotel. For just about $50 a night this place was huge and quite comfortable. Not too shabby for my last bit of shelter on this trip.

We headed toward the Wolmi Island shoreline area to grab dinner. Since it was a Monday, a lot of businesses were closed and very few people were out so we had the street almost completely to ourselves.

For dinner we went to one of the water side restaurants that served Jogae gooE (Korean style grilled shellfish). 2 people was about $60 and the portions were HUGE including an entire huge tray of shellfish, some appetizers, and a huge bowl of kalgaksoo.

Sooooo much food. I was clammed out by 1/3 of the way in. The cheese fondue goes on everything and makes everything magically more delicious too. The kalgooksu was just okay though. It had sort of a ramen packet seasoning flavor.

Grilling the meat was super fun but we needed the employees to come over to show us what to do at first.

After dinner we continued to walk outside and first things first: DESSERT. Actually we got distracted by someone firing off fireworks. The boardwalk has vendors selling small fireworks for just about $2 each so quick firework break.

After we got our pyromaniac on, we headed to a nearby convenience store where we picked up a huge haul of sweet treats.

We finished the night with some booth karaoke atone of the places on the waterfront. Just 50 cents per song!

More photos from our trip to Wolmido. 

C and I visited Wolmi Island 월미도 yesterday.  It was such a beautiful spring day, and we wanted to take a little day trip.  Did you know that Wolmido was the filming location for K.Will's "Love Blossom?"  I posted the music video a while ago.  

So, Wolmido. To be honest, it's a bit of a bizarre place.  It's got a horribly tacky amusement park and shops right by the water, and set back a bit is a quiet and beautiful garden.  In addition to the pretty ocean views, you're also guaranteed to see a bunch of smokestacks and industrial buildings.   When we arrived, part of me was crushed by the theme park, which was just gross, and the other part of me was so excited to walk through the pretty park.  We payed too much money to ride the Ferris Wheel, and the ride attendant took our tickets, which would have also given us access to other rides...so after getting a great aerial view of Wolmido, we headed towards the park to check out the natural landscape.  

The park is just huge!  We wanted to get to this observation deck thing, but realized we were on the wrong side of the garden, so we walked maybe a mile to the other side, where we bumped into a traditional style hanok 한옥 home and gardens.  That was just the best!  I love Korean architecture, so it was really nice to be able to wander around the huge courtyard of the home and play some of the traditional Korean games set up for people to enjoy.  When our tummies started to rumble, we walked to Incheon's Chinatown and ate a delicious dinner.  Headed home feeling exhausted and happy~ 

Directions: 

from 인천역 take bus 2, 15, 23, or 45.

               or walk (it's not super far, but it can get tiring if the weather is too hot)

               or take a taxi (probably under 5,000)

We actually took a taxi from our neighborhood, as the public transportation options to get us to Incheon Station would have taken about 2 hours max.   Cost was about 13,000 each way from 연수구, and the taxi drivers were so friendly ^^