Hi guys! I’m still in beautiful Seoul, Korea.
Chris is with me. Hi, guys.
Today we’re going to explore more of the amazing Gangnam district.
And this is the tribute to the famous Gangnam song, just like in the other episode.
Gangnam Style, yes. I’m just dancing. I’ve got to do this weird spaghetti leg thing.
Maria, this is a place that’s really representative of Seoul.
This is the Han River.
It’s a river that goes all the way through the centre of the city.
It divides it into the north of the city and the south of the city.
So, Gangnam literally means “south of the river” and it’s referring to Han River.
The view is so beautiful. It’s very different I have to say,
compared to the other part of the Gangnam district that’s just full of skyscrapers.
Here, it feels airy.
You know how New York City has Central Park? Yes.
Well, here in Seoul, we have these little parks next to the Han River.
It stretches all the way down there. Okay, so it’s a recreational, relax-area.
I remember you told me there are also some cultural parks, like with temples.
Yeah, exactly. In Seoul we have a few temples that are very old.
They’re very beautiful.
You can take cool pictures and it comes out really pretty.
I’d love to see one. Can we go? Yes, of course.
Maria, look where we are. We are at Bongeunsa.
It’s a Buddhist temple and we have just walked a few steps from a COEX shopping mall,
a big shopping mall here in Gangnam. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?
It’s gorgeous. Look at the colors of the ceiling.
I know, it’s gorgeous. I love the contrast. You have a skyscraper right here,
then all of a sudden there’s this little piece of heaven.
Exactly. It’s very spread out.
You have one main building and a lot of different small ones.
I think this one is where everyone goes and bows and does their religious practices.
Wow. Look at this beautiful painting. I know!
The colors, right?
The light decorations. Imagine how charming it is in the evening time.
I think the wood that was used here was old.
It must be hand-painted as well. It is. I’m pretty sure.
Can you imagine all the time it took to do every piece?
This is one of the bells I guess that they ring when it’s prayer time.
I just love the atmosphere here. It’s such a change. It’s so serene.
So these are ..What do you call these? The things you put on top of the roof?
Roof tiles.
You can pay for one of these and put whatever you want on it
and you’re basically donating to the temple so it can maintain itself.
I guess you can also put the names of your loved ones.
It’s in a temple, so it’s like they’re being cared for and prayed for.
That’s exactly right. I love the incense smell.
You can smell it, right? Yeah. It’s very nice.
Look at the lamps. The lamps are gorgeous … with the flowers.
Aren’t they? I know.
And the images. Every place is different. We have mountains, we have animals.
As if it’s like different seasons with images of wind, snow, and fire and all of nature.
Oh look, there’s a small family of monks sitting there.
Oh, wow.
This is insane. Look. Look how tall it is!
I know. Look. He’s tall and he has middle-sized guys around him
and then there are small rows of little ones.
Do you think they’re in the process of filling the spaces up?
Yes.
Chris, it was beautiful. Thank you for taking me here.
It’s my pleasure. It was a very relaxing day, I think.
Look where I’ve brought you, Maria. This is just five or six blocks of just restaurants.
I can see. This looks amazing! We’re right behind Gangnam station,
you know the place where we went shopping in the last episode?
I know. It’s right over there. Yeah.
I’m starving. I’m going to take you to a good place.
I think you’ll like it a lot. What is it?
It’s a secret. You’ll see. Ooooh. A secret!
So, this is the place.
Yes. It’s a very Korean place, I would say. Go ahead.
Thank you!
These look like metal mushrooms. They’re so cute.
Everything is wood. I know. It’s so charming.
In Korea, they bring out a lot of things before to go with the meal.
Okay. Perfect. Thank you. Scissors.
Oh my gosh, there are a lot of things. I have a lot of questions for you.
Chris, I see fire. What is this?
This is for us to cook our own meat. Raw meat is going to come out
and we’re going to cook it on top. It’s a whole experience.
Oh wow. That’s exciting. So, I’m like a chef. Exactly. We’re going to prepare our own food.
I see something coming. Yes.
Wow! This is beef.
Oh my gosh. That’s a big portion. Yeah, I’m very excited.
We can also put the mushrooms here so they can cook.
We have also ordered kimchi soup. Oh, okay, now I see what this is for.
They also bring you scissors because we have to cut it up.
We’re going to cut it? Okay. Yeah, to the size that we want.
Can I try cutting it? Yeah.
Guys, I’m really looking forward to trying this. It looks amazing and smells amazing.
It looks really good, doesn’t it?
I know - and Chris is doing a good job preparing the food and cutting it.
Yes. I should change jobs. I should just be a meat cooker.
Let me know when you open your own restaurant and I will come there for barbecue.
I will.
That’s boiling! Oh my gosh. That happened quickly.
We make little lettuce tacos, you could say. Would you like to grab one?
Of course.
So, we have to think like this is a tortilla - a green, healthy tortilla.
Do you know how to use chopsticks? Yes, that I know how to do.
I’m putting a piece of meat on top of it. Take whichever one you want.
You put it on top of the lettuce and you can put on a little bit of sauce.
This is soybean paste sauce. You can dip your meat in there
and put it on your lettuce.
This is a bit salty, so it gives you a bit of extra flavor.
I am going to put a little bit of this Korean spicy salad.
Then, I’m going to put a little piece of garlic. A little? That’s a whole garlic.
Yes. A lot of Koreans like to put it on. I usually don’t, but today I’m going to be brave.
You don’t cook it. You just put it on raw.
Yeah. I’m going to make a little taco, per se, or a little dumpling made of lettuce
and then eat everything at once because, if not, when you chew the lettuce, it’s going to
pull apart and it’s going to be a disaster. Exactly.
So, we just eat it like this. It’s called “ssam.” Ssam. I’m trying a ssam, guys.
Mmmm. Now I got the garlic. There it was.
So, Maria, this is called kimchi soup.
Kimchi is basically some vegetables in spicy sauce and it’s fermented.
Because it’s fermented, it’s actually very good for you.
It has good bacteria in it. They make a soup out of it.
In this case, they put some meat, some tofu and a little bit of water and they boil it.
Oh my gosh. That’s spicy! It is spicy, isn’t it?
That’s spicy spicy. It’s not that spicy.
For me, this is a very sweet kimchi soup. You think this is sweet?
Yeah, it is very sweet. I think this is spicy!
My stomach is very happy right now and so am I.
Guys, we had such an amazing day today in the Gangnam district.
I really enjoyed every part of it. My pleasure. I had a great time as well.
The strolling by the water …. The Buddhist temple.
Yes, dancing Gangnam style, and the amazing barbecue we had.
Wow. Thank you so much! It was a good day. You’re welcome. I loved it.
Guys, I have a question for you. What’s your favorite thing to grill?
Comment below and the winner is going to get this awesome guy.
Look what he can do!
Make sure to come back for the next episode and watch Angelina discover Toronto.
It’s going to be great. Bye guys!
Next episode: Angelina goes high and low in Toronto