Rice Cakes Between Wonju and Seoul

Last weekend we drove to Gyeongju, a beautiful tourist spot, for a triathlon. It rained...a lot. We decided to take a new route home and found ourselves in horrible traffic. Eric saved time by driving on the shoulder and flashing his emergency lights. (The Korean "I'm Sorry" signal.)
As usual, merchants emerged selling rice cakes:
These rice cakes resemble the Quaker plain rice cakes, only larger and more rice-like. We opted for food at the next rest area. We both ate Western fast food. I had the chicken sandwich:

Of course, it had a "food story."

It contained mustard, cabbage, and a relish-mayonnaise sauce. Normally I would have avoided the condiments. It's funny how I've become less picky now that I can't communicate special requests.
For dessert we shared our delimanjoos, the custard-filled corn cakes:

As we neared the Banpo bridge, we saw that the lower deck was COMPLETELY flooded:

Normally this bridge has an upper AND lower deck. Also, the bike path was completely submerged! Worst flood we've seen here in four years. I'm glad we were out of town for the weekend.

Hotteok Good-bye

With only an hour of free time, my friend and I decided to go to I-Park mall. She said good-bye to her favorite bun lady and DVD man. We bought one final hotteok. It was cold and dry, the worst we had ever eaten. Definitely a sign that now is the time for departure. Thirteen more days!

Sangria Good-bye

I had a good-bye potluck with a few nice ladies from my office. We ate a mix of Korean and Cuban foods. The Korean foods included gimbap and bulgogi. I made my "famous" berry crisp. The best part of the meal (other than juicy work gossip) was the homemade sangria! I'll miss nights like these. I'm sure I won't make as many friends in Kansas. Not to mention the dearth of Korean products!

Now I'm Thinking About It...

I had forgotten about the melamine scare until I purchased these crackers in Hong Kong. Great way to ruin my appetite!

Chinese Dinner - Hong Kong

Before the yoga conference started, we took the Star Ferry to Kowloon:We ate at a dim sum restaurant. We shared sweet-and-sour breaded fish: Vegetable and rice wraps:

Crispy fried dough:

Tangy cucumber skins:

Hot tea served in water glasses:

My friend's sister, a prominent yoga instructor in Korea, ordered seconds of everything! For petite Korean women, they ate a lot!

I was surprised by people's eating habits at the conference. Many people skipped breakfast, believing that the food would impair their yoga practices. (We practiced strenuous yoga four hours in the morning.) Others merely ate salads or nibbled on carrots for lunch.

I brought my own food and ate hearty oatmeal, protein powder, deli sandwiches, Chinese buns, and Odwalla bars. One day I followed my teacher's advice and skipped breakfast. What a mistake! I felt extremely hungry and ultimately ate more food than usual. I guess my friends ate such a huge Chinese dinner because of their daytime eating habits!

Update

I'm down to 6 weeks in Korea. My friend and I created a "Korean Bucket List" of everything we want to do before we leave. Once we start on that bucket list, I'll have more photos! Also, anticipate some posts related to my Hong Kong trip.
Here are a few random Korean food items:
-The PX was out of Centrum. Older Koreans love Centrum, especially bottles with American labels. My friend from the states sends them to his grandmother here.
-My SO competed in a long distance triathlon in Jeju over the weekend. The finish line lacked fresh, cold water! His only choices were hot soup, tea or coffee on a hot day! That's what he gets for finishing too fast!
-Yesterday I sampled Australian moscato and red sweet wine....at the grocery store! Heineken beer was also available to taste.

Good-bye at Berlin and B1

Saturday night was ladies' night dinner at Berlin in Itaewon. Sadly (or happily) everyone will be moving soon.

One person received her dish ten minutes before the other dishes. I've noticed that Korean restaurants often serve food with no regard to timing. I don't know how many times I've eaten my appetizer with my main course or while my husband watches me hungrily. The reason? Since Koreans normally share dishes (pancheon, grilling meats, etc.), timing is unimportant. We joked that our friend should not wait for our meals to eat. As the oldest person at the table, she was suppoed to eat first by Korean culture!

We shared two pitchers of sangria. In Korea, the younger person should pour drinks for the older person. You should never pour your own drink. Here is one of our designated drink pourers:
After dinner we strolled to B1 to meet the guys. (They were having their own dinner.) We drank Suburbans (my friend's signature drink from her bartender days) and snacked on a cookie gift box from Shinsegae Department Store:

A few minutes later the guys came downstairs. My husband was carrying his protein shaker bottle! In a bar!?!