8-31-08 Eul chatgo isseoyo Seoul Food Festival and pyo paneun got (Ticket Office)

I'd like to go to the Seoul Food Festival and the Ticket Office!

Goal for the day 8-31-08: Take the Lonely Planet Old & New Downtown walk to explore some of the city's sites, find a Food Festival, tour the Namdeumun Market, attend an LG vs Bears Baseball Game, and wish Logan a Happy 27th birthday!

Bosingak
Brian walking on the piano keys in the arcade area of town!
Great view of the city and Cheonggye Stream--Seoul's $313 million beautification project.
A lot of people were here relaxing and playing in the stream!
And, leave it up to D & B to randomly stumble upon a Seoul Food Festival that was featuring all foods typical to the country. We had tempura battered fried ginseng root. Pretty tasty!

The making of KKUL TARAE --Amazing desserts. See the process in the video at the end of this post.
Mandu anyone? Wonderful delicious dumplings. These were pork and veggie. We also tried one stuffed with kimchi.

The Great South Gate that recently caught on fire. Now under restoration.
Bronze Statue Fountain

Ginseng Root
Namdeamun Market

LG Twins Mascot came up and nearly scared the beer out of Brian's hand! LG Twins vs. the Doosan Bears held 8-31-08 at the Jamsil Baseball Stadium. Baseball is supposedly Korea's number 1 sport but games are rarely ever sold out.

They do a 6th inning stretch and give away free stuff. The kid on the far right won a brand new Forte automobile. He was so excited...as we were too for him! He held the matching number on his ticket stub.
And...the fans go crazy!
This is genius. This guy has a pony keg in his backpack. Talk about service right at your seat!Baseball snacks: You can buy pajeon (dried squid) and fish along with beer outside the entrance. Dried fish anyone?

Check out the clapper blow up sticks. Red for LG Twins and White for the Bears!

LG Twins theme: Christmas in July. Take note of the Cheerleaders dressed in little Santa outfits. There was also a main stage with the crowd "arouser"--They threw water balloons into the stand...pretty neat to watch people get soaked! Glad I wasn't one of them:)

For some reason, I can't get this video to load at the top. These guys were great. They were making a traditional court cake called KKUL TARAE. They did a demonstration for us in English, but this one is filmed in Korean. We had to buy some...this is what is says after they put them in a little box: "KKUL TARAE (honey skein) is a court cake made of ripened honey and malt, which was once presented to the king and valuable guests. It is brewed with the artisan spirit to make 16,000 strands suggesting the prayer for longevity, health, good fortune, and wish-fulfillment. It is not much sweet, not sticky to teeth, but enjoyable with various tastes according to garnishing."

Basically they take a round piece of hard honey. They batter it in corn starch and start stretching and twisting it. They keep doing this until they make 16,000 strands (they are counting in the film). When the stretching is done, it looks like little white troll hair. They then add walnuts, cinnamon, and some other goods and roll them into a little square--DELISH!

THIS IS ANOTHER GOOD VIDEO OF THE MAKING PROCESS IN ENGLISH...WATCH IT IF YOU CAN!!!
http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=nZSkJMdzxfM

http://www.oneinchpunch.net/2008/08/27/kkultarae-korean-honey-and-malt-court-cake/