Person of the Week: Sinchon's Piano Man

Seoul's Sinchon Rotary is always crowded. During the week, it's full of university students as this spot is close to four universities: Sogang (where I used to play tennis!), Yonsei, Ewha Woman's, and Hong-ik. The main artery of Sinchon, Yonsei-ro, is full of cafes, shops, private institutes and restaurants.

Last July, Yonsei-ro, the artery connecting Sinchon Rotary to the entrance of Yonsei University, hosted a huge water slide where those who wanted to cool off during the summer stripped down to their swim wear and slid down the slipper slide.

But tonight, as I walked along Yonsei-ro from my quick visit to service center to have my defective USB checked, I spotted this guy playing on a piano on the sidewalk. He was oblivious to the noises of people passing by and buses driving past him. 

The melodies he was playing attracted some passers-by, including myself. I stood for a few minutes to listen to his virtuoso performance, and for a moment, if only the acoustics were good, and if the piano's strings were of better quality, his mini-concierto could have been worthy of standing ovation from everyone. Well, actually, since everyone was standing to listen, it was indeed a standing ovation. 

Like most of Korean kids, I also studied piano when I was in grade school. But this talented piano man performing along Yonsei-ro is probably a music major, who was just polishing his Rachmaninoff on this rusty upright piano and playing for anyone who just wanted to listen to some music amidst the noise of the city.

This musician is our person of the week.

Tennis, Tofu and Soju....In That Order!

And while the tennis matches at the London Olympics were being played, I suddenly had the urge to also play some matches, not just to win a gold, silver or bronze medal, but also to re-visit Sogang University and Sinchon!

A couple of weekends back, I paid a visit to Sogang University with my friend, Andrew, who graduated from Sogang-dae. And I thought, since it's the Olympics, I'd better not just visit the tennis courts, I should play in them!

Well, winning the gold medal wasn't really my priority. It was the tofu dinner after!  From Sogang-dae, we drove to the Sinchon area and looked for my favorite 'soon-dupu' restaurant! It's my favorite because the 'eggs-all-you-can' at the table!  Yes, you can put as many eggs as you wish into your tofu dish!

I was told eating too much eggs will cause your cholesterol to rise, but....who cares?? Ha-ha-ha!

I had to crack three eggs and let them all join the boiling hot pot of tofu! I stirred and stirred...and stirred some more!

My soon-dupu finally turned orange-y!  And with the eggs cooked, my bowl got texture!

Oh my! I couldn't wait to taste it, but I just had to be careful. It was boiling hot!

And spoonful by spoonful, I enjoyed my favorite Korean dish (one of the many favorites, actually!) which I haven't had in a  long time! I definitely would want to come back here again soon! The spiciness of the broth, which now became thicker with the cooked eggs, and the bland tofu curds mixing on my palate alongside some seafood, veggies and other ingredients were like a festival of tastes in my mouth! Ha-ha-ha!

And after we were done with dinner, we walked around and decided to get some soju . 

And an idea for a place came from a guy who was on the sidewalk giving away business cards for a bar. He was like a walking marketer, aggressively advertising his bar to passers-by.

And since the bar was just nearby the restaurant, we just walked up the stairs and found a comfortable seating amidst groups of friends who were partying (and drinking!) the Saturday night away!

I told Seung-ho and Lowell, my tennis friends, that it's difficult for me to get drunk. I don't know why. Maybe it's all the drinking around me that got my tolerance to alcohol that high.

Although we ordered soju, until now, I am not sure why they serve fruit cocktails to go with alcoholic drinks here in Korea. These fruit cocktails always end up as dessert in the Philippines if you mix it with Nestle cream and Alaska condensed milk. Ha-ha-ha!

After hours on the tennis court and even longer hours chatting (and sometimes not understanding what the other was saying), we decided to call it a night. A Saturday night, to be exact. But Seung-ho still wanted to eat! So, he ordered what to me is the most boring Korean food, tteok-bokki.

Oh well, we let him. Ha-ha-ha!

Of all the three, tennis, tofu and soju, it's the tofu dinner that was sooo enjoyable for me. I still could not believe in their idea of letting the customer crack as many eggs as he can and put them into his tofu dish! 

In other restaurants, I only I get one fresh egg in my tofu dish, but this Dolkemaeul Tofu House in Sinchon is definitely my favorite. They don't care about their customer's cholesterol. But what they care about is customer satisfaction. And that's what good business should always be about!

Definitely going back there again. After my annual medical check-up. Ha-ha-ha!

PS.
Dolkemaeul Tofu House is behind the Hyundai Department store (Sinchon Station, Line 2, Exit 1). If you're standing at the back area of the department store, look to your left and you will see the restaurant. It has two storeys. You can forget your cholesterol count, but not its name. Enjoy!

Revisiting Sogang University And Sinchon!

The Sogang University campus in Seoul is one of my favorites: it's a convenient one-bus ride from Hannam-dong, it has great tennis courts (both hard and clay!) and most of my best friends in Seoul came from this catholic university! 

It is also a sister university of several Philippine universities like Ateneo de Manila, University of Santo Tomas and Saint Paul University (how come they call it 'sister' university, and not 'brother'? Ha-ha-ha!).

And one summer weekend, since I haven't been to Sogang-dae for more than a year, I asked my friend Andrew, a Sogang alumnus, to join me in revisiting our alma mater. Yes, our alma mater. Ha-ha-ha!  He finished his studies inside the Sogang classrooms, while I finished my matches on the Sogang tennis courts!

I decided to take the subway and not the bus (to avoid the traffic along Itaewon), and got off at the Daeheung Station of Line 6. This station is also known as the Sogang University Station as it's just a few meters from Exit 1.

A quick stroll along the main road (which actually leads to the Sinchon rotary - another interesting fun place!), and I was at the main entrance of Sogang!

This is the obelisk at the main entrance of the campus, which is called the Albatross. It welcomes everyone entering the campus.

While Andrew and I were standing around the Albatross and taking photographs, a Korean woman engaged us in a conversation. She said her son graduated from Sogang-dae, and he is now gainfully employed and successful in his own way. As she was talking to us (and although I could not understand most of what she said), I could sense pride in her voice in the way she was talking about her son.

We weren't able to ask why she was in the vicinity, but I guess she not only wanted to revisit Sogang University, but perhaps also to stand on the place where her son, years before, have been passing through every day in order to learn and arm himself with knowledge for the life ahead. She must have been celebrating his memories as well as his sacrifices.

And before Andrew started to tell his own stories and get misty eyed with his memories, I told him it was time to leave and get something to eat. 

I earlier suggested we look for that Takoya chicken restaurant.  A couple of years ago, my Tita Cecile told me about Takoya as this was where she and Tito Efren would go after they attended the Sunday mass said in English at Sogang's chapel.

I didn't know Takoya was that close. We only needed to cross the street. I should tell Tita Cecile I was able to find her favorite chicken restaurant in the area. They served several chicken menus which all looked yummy. So we just settled for the one that looked, well, the yummiest! Ha-ha-ha!

The place wasn't that spacious, although I think they have a few more tables at the basement level. 

And after filling ourselves with chicken wings and some other recognizable chicken anatomy, we decided to walk down to Sinchon rotary and hang out on a cafe where we can people-watch!

The Sinchon area is always full every night. Since it's close to two more universities, Yonsei University and Ewha Women's University, the crowd is usually young. Groups of friends and couples were all around the place drinking, having dinner and having a good time.

An iced cafe mocha, accompanied by Andrew's interesting stories (some of which I could not describe on this blog, lest I want a PG rating! Ha-ha-ha!), capped my visit to Sogang University today, which gave me an idea. 

Next time, it should be tennis at Sogang, a dinner in Sinchon, and perhaps, a beer after.