The Cool Snack of Summer: Patpingsu!

Patpingsu should be available all year-round, and not just only in summer. Last year, I went back to a cafe in Hannam-dong during autumn and asked for patpingsu, which I ordered just a couple of weeks before. The cafe staff told me that they stopped serving patpingsu because...it was already autumn. Waaaah!

                  (We ordered two bowls; one for me 
                      and one for them. Ha-ha-ha!)

But this summer, I don't need to go back to that cafe. I can almost go anywhere and enjoy the milky crushed iced topped with a mound of sweetened red bean paste. Patpingsu is the Korean version of the Philippine icy snack, halo-halo, some variations of which have about a dozen ingredients mostly consisting of sweetened tropical fruits, flan and ice cream. Maybe this is why I like drowning myself in patpingsu; I miss my halo-halo back home. :-(

And last week, I introduced my colleagues to one of the best patpingsu cafes in town, Dongbinggo!  Of course, they enjoyed it!  Although some coffee shops in the building's arcade serve patpingsu, they are all copycat patpingsu. Once you've tasted one, you've tasted all. They all look the same, and are priced the same.

Dongbinggo boasts that it only uses locally grown red beans and that they make their own paste. Although their main shop is in Ichon-dong in the Yongsan District here in Seoul, they have a stall at a food court in a Myeongdong department store.

It will be nasty hot in the coming weeks. So, I will have to go back to Dongbinggo for some patpingsu every now and then if I need to survive this summer. And by the way, sharing a bowl is a no-no for me; I want the whole bowl all to myself. Ha-ha-ha! You might want to do the same. :-)

T.G.I.P.! Thank God It's Patpingsu!

No, it's not 'Thank God, it's Pri-day'! (Although it's Friday today!).

It's....'Thank God it's patpingsu!

The summer is in full swing in Korea, and everyone melting in this heat just wanted something cold to cool things down.

I discovered Dongbinggo's famous patpingsu last summer. And this year, I rediscovered it again! Luckily, Ichon-dong is just a bus ride or in today's case, just a short drive away! My good friend Seung-ho, who happened to be in the neighborhood, was kind enough to drive me to Ichon-dong during a noon-time break and let me enjoy a bowl of Dongbinggo's patpingsu!

(They gave us 2 spoons, but I only needed one. 

It's all mine!)

(A couple of tteok squares, nut powder and a mound of red bean paste sitting on top of snowy, milky, crushed ice)

During weekend, I heard the lines are long outside this shop. People from the neighborhood, and many a lot more from outside the Yongsan District drive over to Ichon-dong to taste Dongbinggo's famous patpingsu. A few times, I noticed a few foreigners (and one even today!) getting a table and ordering from the variety of patpingsu menu.

Me? As long as it's sweetened red bean with milky ice shavings on a bowl, I'm a happy, thankful human being.

         (Yes, it's all for me! When it comes to my desserts, 
                              I'm selfish! Ha-ha-ha!)

Thankful for this patpingsu, and happy to enjoy it!  So, are you also getting your bowl of icy patpingsu today? And do you actually think of sharing it? Ha-ha-ha!

Here's my last year's blog on Dongbinggo for directions and more...icy pictures!

              (They use 100% locally grown adzuki beans.)

The National Museum Of Korea's Autumn Foliage

The National Museum of Korea is just in my neighborhood. And every morning, as I ride the Blue Bus 400, I pass by its monumental structure, where a few passengers get off. These passengers must be working in the Museum (which reminds me of a guy who rides the same bus and gets off at the stop near Asterium, an apartment building where my friend, Rio and her family live. I told Rio that one day I saw the same guy at Delhi, an Indian restaurant at Asterium; he works there.)

Anyway, Rio once told me she and her friend Joy would walk from Asterium and stroll around the National Museum of Korea on clear weather days. Asterium is actually just a few hundred meters from the Museum, and walking around the huge area is actually an exercise.

So, on lunch break, I decided to stroll around the Museum as well. It's just a subway ride from my workplace and spending less than an hour on a cool autumn day on the Museum grounds would be a relaxing time I realized only a few are lucky to enjoy.

So, on one lunch break, I hurried down to the subway station and rushed to the Museum with my cameras and with the purpose of taking photographs of the autumn foliage at the front area of the Museum, which I only see from the bus window every morning. I actually observed the changing of the colors of the foliage days before I decided to go to make sure that my visit would be perfect. 

And I wasn't alone. Around the area where women strolling, kids playing, tourists visiting and school kids having their educational tour. Even a baby on a stroller looked very happy as he was roaming around the grounds. I have been inside the Museum years ago with friends Lynette and Rene from Australia. That was the last time I set foot in the area.

And seeing the ducks on the pond in front of the Museum, I wonder if, during winter, do they also fly south to migrate? Perhaps, I should return to the pond to check whether they're still there.

And at the balcony towards the back of the Museum, I could see a part of the US Army Garrison in Yongsan and Nam-san (Mt.Nam) a few kilometers away. On a really clear day, the view of Nam-san with the NSeoul Tower is actually postcard-ish. I was also able to stroll Nam-san's main road full of Gingko trees this season.

I am not really a museum person; I don't exactly enjoy roaming those huge halls just to see those artifacts and sculptures made by dead people. So, to me, on a short lunch break, walking around the grounds of the National Museum of Korea and just trying to enjoy a cool autumn weather while taking photographs were enough. I didn't have to pay any entrance fee. Ha-ha-ha!

And if you also want to take a stroll around the National Museum of Korea, take the subway, Line 4, and get off at Ichon Station.  At this station's Exit 2, you will find a tunnel that leads to the museum grounds.

Enjoy!

Cooling Off With Dongbinggo's Patpingsu!

In the Philippines, to cool off, we have halo-halo (or mix-mix). Since I could only get halo-halo at the Pinoy market in Hyehwha-dong on Sundays, or at my friends' homes during summer, I resort to the Korean version of halo-halo, bingsu, a concoction of ice shavings, milk and a couple more ingredients, the most popular of which is sweetened red beans, or pat. And the most common bingsu is patbingsu.

(My friend Rio's halo-halo ingredients at her home in Seoul)

When my good friend Justin mentioned a patbingsu place as a comment to my Facebook post about my favorite patpingsu café in Hannam-dong, I thought he was talking about that area near Itaewon and Bogwang-dong.

Dongbinggo-dong  is a small neighborhood in Yongsan-gu, and Dongbinggo is the name of the most popular patpingsu  place in the whole of Yongsan-gu!  But this café is not in Dongbinggo-dong as I thought it was. It’s in Ichon-dong!

I only discovered the actual location of Dongbinggo when I was browsing the pages of http://english.visitkorea.or.kr  featuring the best patpingsu places in Seoul.  And when I learned that it’s just a quick bus ride away, I decided to visit the place!

                             (Ichon-dong's rubberized sidewalks! 
                           So comfortable to walk on!)

So, one very hot lunch time, I tried to venture out to Ichon-dong, which is just a quick bus ride from my office. Before having patpingsu as a dessert, I decided to grab a real meal before that. A couple of years ago, I discovered a good hamburger joint near the Ichon Station. This time, while I was walking towards that arcade, I stumbled upon another hamburger joint and decided to try it.

                                                                  (A good lunch)

                   (The view from the arcade's second floor)

Smokey Saloon is on the second floor of a low-rise arcade in front of residential apartment buildings. It’s actually just right on a bus stop and has a variety of hamburger choices, depending on the ingredients. I chose the easiest one, right on top of the menu. After all, they are all hamburgers to me. The only difference is the name the restaurants come up with. After munching down my Ambulance Burger (not sure if I remember it right), complete with a fried egg on top, I was now on my quest for the best patpingsu in the neighbourhood! It was a good lunch, by the way.

Since walking down from the Smokey Saloon arcade in this scorching summer day was out of the question, I took the bus again and got off in front of the Geumkang Hospital, and just across the street is my destination of the day.

                                 (My take-out number)

When I got there, the place was already full of patrons enjoying their shaved-ice delights and more were even waiting in line as Dongbinggo only had a few tables. So, when I got in, expecting to get a number, I settled for the other option: take-out!  I couldn’t afford to wait for a table and within three minutes, I got my take-out!  I ordered a patpingsu, although they have other bingsu varieties.  My take-out was put in a plastic bowl and sealed inside a pack with dry ice!  As they say, 'Have dry ice, will travel'!

                                                  (Dongbinggo menu and prices)

For only KRW6,500, my patpingsu from the famed Dongbinggo was now travelling with me back to the office ready to be enjoyed without having to wait for a table. But as I stood there at the bus stop waiting for the Blue Bus 100, I was surprised another patpingsu place was just across the street, Bukchon Patpingsu.  Hmm. Perhaps, another patpingsu place to try next time? 

                  (Bukchon Patpingsu across Dongbinggo)

And for the rest of Dongbinggo patbingsu story, I'd rather show you the pictures. Or what's left of my take-out. :-)

(Leaving Dongbinggo in a pack)

               (Take-out in a foil pack with plastic spoons)

(It was definitely worth the trip!)

                                (Going...going...gone...)