A blend of old and new: Gangnam and Mangwon

Gangnam is well known among foreigners for its association with Psy's popular track of the same title and the accompanying dance. In modern Korea, it is often associated with plastic surgery and a certain, perhaps idealized, form of beauty that is "obviously" faked. But these are not the only sides to Gangnam. In Korean Gangnam (강남) means south of the river, which details exactly where Gangnam is located in Seoul, south of Hangang (한강 or the Han River). It is an area of the city that is often associated with modernity and is known as a center for entertainment companies like YG and SM. The tall, glass buildings that make up a decent portion of Gangnam are reminiscent of other "modern" cities. This modernity is not unlike the rest of Seoul, but has a very different feeling from the areas I often frequent. I decided to go with a couple friends to experience the new millennium vibes that Gangnam exudes in order to experience something a bit different from what I've become accustomed to.

Gangnam is on almost the opposite end of Seoul from Sinchon, which means commuting there isn't something I am likely to do again. Due to the fact that one of my friends needed to get a haircut in Itaewon, my friends and I took a bit of a detour to get to Gangnam. We arrived in Gangnam around 2pm or so, with the intention of checking out a couple of restaurants that are well known for their aesthetic. If you have not previously been hunting for restaurants or cafes on instagram, you may have yet to stumble upon the fact that Seoul is teeming with stylized places. In one particular building in Gangnam you can find two of these stylized restaurants located above and below one another. If you step down some stairs outside to the basement level of the building, you can find Laundry Pizza which is perhaps more famous as a filming location than for its food. Laundry Pizza has been featured in numerous music videos such as EXID's L.I.E Dance version. We ordered a few different slices of pizza which are displayed in a way similar to your local New York City pizza place. Pies are set in a display case and slices are reheated through the oven for customers. We ordered a slice each of the Laundry, spinach and bacon, and pepperoni pizzas. Having had your average NYC pizza place's pizza, this didn't exactly compare. The aesthetic of the restaurant is fantastic, with the laundry machine doors adorning one wall, but the food was hardly on par. 

We followed this with a trip to the upstairs restaurant, Double Trouble. While the basement specializes in pizza (and laundry), Double Trouble prides itself on grilled cheese and the aesthetic of Uma Thurman in Kill Bill crossed with a diner. If you're interested in good or interesting food, Uma Thurman is the way to go. We ordered a Double Trouble sandwich because I quite frankly chickened out of getting the Blueberry Cheese, I haven't grown accustomed to all Korean tastes. The Double Trouble was the perfect mix between a grilled cheese and a hamburger, maybe one of the best grilled cheeses I have eaten (besides those of my own creation). The only thing it needed, as Angie put it, was a little more seasoning. It would have been nice for there to be a bit more of a seasoned flavor, but all in all it was good coupled with the aesthetic. 

After a late lunch, we headed out to COEX, a mall located in another part of Gangnam. Make no mistake, these two locations are by no means close, and walking between the two of them in Timberlands is one hundred percent the reason I came home with bruises on my heels. However, we wanted to see Gangnam and public transportation doesn't always allow for the best view. We walked through a few side streets at first which allowed us a larger glimpse into the neighborhood life of Gangnam. It was refreshing to see familiar housing styles to the rest of Seoul because the cool facade of the glass buildings can seem somewhat intimidating. Then after about a block of taking side streets, which were majority hills, we trekked back to the main street to absorb more of the modern vibe. As we were walking, we realized we would be passing one of the entertainment agencies old buildings so we decided to stop by and see it, as fans of one of the groups (Seventeen). It was a nice experience because due to it now being their currently frequented building, and them being on tour, we had the whole exterior to ourselves. After a few photos, we left and headed to COEX to do some more sightseeing. 

COEX's location is perhaps the best example of what Seoul is, a city which attempts to blend tradition with modernity. Across from COEX is Bongeunsa Temple, which is known for its large Buddha statue behind some of the other temple structures. Bongeunsa with its statue and traditional Korean style buildings stands across the street from a gleaming modern mall that hosts an interesting take on a library, an aquarium, and SM Town, a place geared towards fans of SM's artists. While these two things seem to contradict each other, Korea brings them together in a way that makes them seem as if they have their own space, but are not jarring when put together. We primarily came to see the Starfield Library at COEX, so that became the object of our search. COEX is rather large, but signs near the ceiling at junctions help figure out where to go. To be honest, I have already been to Starfield, I went over a year ago the last time I was in Korea. That isn't to say it is something that can be summed up in one visit of a few minutes. It is such an interesting layout for a library, that it hardly seems like library is the right word for it. 

After spending some time wandering amongst the upper floor of the library, we headed out to make a quick stop at the wall of handprints for SM artists that is situated next to SM Town. On the day that we went, there were a number of fans camped out next to the wall where it looked as if they were setting up for a show. We decided that we would stick around to see who the artist was since it wasn't immediately obvious who the fans were waiting for. It took a bit of sleuthing, but we discovered that the artist was BTOB's Hyunsik who would be busking later in the evening at 9pm. Unfortunately, we didn't want to hang around for 4 more hours to hold our good standing view, so we departed to grab dinner. We ended up taking line 2 (the green subway line) from Samseong station, which is the closest station to COEX. 

It was our intention to head back to the Hongdae area, but while on the train I discovered that there were some restaurants and cafes that looked interesting in the neighborhood that is in the opposite direction from Hongdae. This led us to get off at Hapjeong station so that we could head towards the neighborhood of Mangwon, a more residential neighborhood in comparison to Hongdae. Initially we were hoping to sit down at one of the restaurants off of Mangnidan Gil, but it turned out that these restaurants are mostly small, seating about twelve patrons, and a bit on the pricier side for college students. We ended up stumbling upon Mangwon market which is one street over when my friend Kanea suggested that we head towards the livelier street over. Mangwon market looks like the majority of open air markets in Korea, filled with produce, butcher, and seafood stands. It also contains a number of vendors who are preparing food on the spot, such as fish cake, tteokbokki, and twigim (maybe best known to foreigners by the Japanese name: tempura). This impromptu market dinner, followed by green tea hotteok was the perfect conclusion to our day. For anyone that has not tried hotteok, a warm pancake like dessert filled with a mix of brown sugar, spices, and nuts, it is the perfect food for winter. Just be wary of how hot the molten filling is, the cup holding the hotteok is keeping your hands warm for a reason.