Jeonju Bibimbap Festival...

 ... really an excuse to see two of my favorite people...

They really aren't creepy, I promise!

This weekend I went to Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, South Korea, ostensibly to eat bibimbap. It was after all the annual festival celebrating this awesome food... and it really is an awesome food - I've yet to have an iteration that I haven't liked, though some do shine brighter than others. And I did eat bibimbap. And it was tasty (the best I've had so far, in fact).

Festival bibimbap

However, I also got a tour of some of L. and B.'s favorite places in their current hometown. First we hit the Hanok village, where the bibimbap festival was being held, and the displays of historical iterations of bibimbap were impressive...

But we were all pretty hungry, so we moved on to the real thing - and as stated above, it was super tasty. After we were all fully satiated, we browsed around the Hanok village a bit more. There were lovely booths with crafts and food. But there was more to be crammed into the 27 1/2 hours I was in Jeonju, so we wandered over to the Gaeksa - a shopping district a short walk away from the Hanok village.

B. perusing the offerings in the Gaeksa

The Gaeksa is a wonderland of retail delight, but I managed to resist temptation until we got to Hot Tracks, a stationary store, where I succumbed to the lure of office supplies and scrapbooking necessities. What can I say, they had my favorite pens in colors I didn't, and a box in a box (which has become my desk organizer), and cool fabric tape that I needed to add to my scrapbook of Korea. The little journal was probably unnecessary, but I have a hard time resisting quad-ruled notebooks.

The night was still young and we were getting hungry again, so after a quick break to let the puppy out at home, we moved on to Chonbuk, which is the district next to Chonbuk National University, where I was introduced B.'s favorite Korean food (maybe favorite food ever?), dak galbi. I took pics of the whole process, but that seems a bit excessive here, so perhaps I'll save that treat for some future post. For now, here is the final product...

Dak galbi, which actually means "chicken ribs".

It is a mixture of marinated chicken, vegetables, noodles, rice cakes, and sweet potatoes. They cook it at the table in front of you, periodically stirring and adding more chili sauce. The white-ish river in the middle of the pan is melty cheese. It's served with  lettuce in which you wrap the yummy goodness. Which we all clearly enjoyed...

Yummy!

The dak galbi break revived us, so we moved on to a tour of the neighborhood. There was a bit of shopping to be done here, as well. In fact, we found a purchase my scarf daemon would not let me pass up. The lovely carriages are now mine!

Carriage scarf!

At this point we were starting to wind down, so we moved on to a lovely little spot called Art & Travel... they have it all...

Art & Travel

They only do tarot in Korean, though. Sad face. So we restrained ourselves to nightcaps and "Words With Friends" on L.'s iPhone. 

The was night finished off sleeping at the jjimjilbang (Korean bathhouse) - it's cheap and not overly uncomfortable, despite the fact that your sleep on the floor in a room full of strangers. That makes it sound much more uncomfortable and awkward than it actually is, but it is also an accurate description of the experience, so I guess this really is a case of 'you had to be there'.

Upon waking... ok, really upon finally getting up and ready... we went off to eat. Again. This time we satisfied my craving for American breakfast... kinda. In Korea, breakfast, even the American one, comes with salad. But hey, hash browns make it all good. Then we walked some more. This time back in the Gaeksa for the things that L. forgot to buy in the excitement of facilitating my Gaeksa initiation the night before. We took a little break at Ann House Cafe Self Bar (or Ann's Self House, according to B.). It's like having tea (and cake!) in a doll house.

Adorable tea!

Revived, we resumed the pursuit of purchasable items, Halloween and pet paraphernalia for B. and L. and irresistible office supplies for me. (No, I don't have a problem. Why do you ask?) 

Shopping made us all hungry again, so they fed me once more before I had to head back to the bus station. My camera was already packed, so I will have to post pictures of shabu shabu next time, because, oh, yes, there will be a next time! Yummy!

So that was my weekend of eating and walking, and eating and walking, and eating and walking.