As I sit here typing these posts out, remembering Golden Week, one thing strikes me above all else: time really does fly on by when you’re having the time of your life. The weeks and weeks to Golden Week felt like they were crawling by at a snail’s pace, yet once the trip finally arrived, a week and a half went by in the blink of an eye.
This is the first Golden Week I’ve spent traveling, but more importantly, this is the first time I’ve ever taken a trip with a friend. It might not seem like the most momentous thing for most folks, but for me, it was a truly memorable and special experience. Without further ado, here’s the first part of my Golden Week adventures!
I’ll be splitting my time in Seoul up into three parts, as I spent half of my trip here, and trying to cram it all into a single post would result in a mini-memoir.
On April 25th, I hightailed it to Seoul after begging forgiveness from my cats as I checked them into the pet hotel (Taiga is still mad, Byakko is sitting on my lap and refuses to get off). The flight was uneventful, but I did watch the Spy x Family Code: White movie at long last. One decently well-made anime movie later, I sped through immigrations and made my way back to the family home, where the first of many pleasant presents was awaiting me: the Wearingeul inks that my mother picked up for me at the Wearingeul pop-up event in early April, which I wasn’t able to get to myself.
The two limited edition inks from this event were Melancholy Fate (a chromashading blurple that can be a bit temperamental at times) and The Wind Rustled among Leaves (gorgeous sage green ink with tasty shading). Also included for anyone who bought a certain amount at the event was an April Fool’s themed ink, The Emperor’s New Clothes. A special ink which is apparently a different color to everyone who beholds it…
Clever products aside, the event also gave visitors the opportunity to buy 5ml sample sized bottles of most Wearingeul inks, which is a great move, and one I wish many brands would consider doing with their own lines. Granted, it’s not great considering the amount of extra packaging generated, but these bottles are easily reusable for future sample sharing. A collectible keychain was also included in the bundle, which are apparently different for each pop-up. Maybe I’ll have to ask someone to go check out the next Wearingeul pop-up in Busan for me?
After showering off the travel gunk and plopping in bed, I woke up to some freelance work, and joined my father for lunch afterwards at the family’s favorite Korean-Chinese restaurant in Seoul, Chai797.
It’s quite interesting to me how everyone seems to have their own distinct versions of Chinese food. I’m currently more in a Korean-Chinese food phase, since the concept of spicy food is sadly quite uncommon in Japan. I particularly went gaga over the cha sai, the Korean version of the venerable Chinese pickled veggies. The photo shown is my 5th refill of spicy mustard greens; the way Chai797 does it is immaculate. Everything was quite delectable, but the sad part of turning 31 is how my appetite continues to shrink, and how my bad continues to handle excess nutrients less and less well (aka, fat and weight gain).
Afterwards, it was time to sleep off the food coma in preparation for an early birthday dinner. Truth be told, I’ve never quite liked my birthday, since I’ve spent most of the birthdays in my life alone. April 29th meant exams, national holidays, or graduations, and as I continue to find my way in life, I admittedly still wish I had more of a traditional, stable position in my life like many of my peers. Solemn reminiscing aside, my birthday dinner was early this year, and I got to go to an iconic institution of American beef, now also in Seoul, South Korea: Smith & Wollensky.
For those not in the know, Smith & Wollensky is a steakhouse chain founded by Alan Stillman (the founder of TGI Fridays) and Ben Benson. A fun bit of trivia is that no true Mr. Smith or Mr. Wollensky were involved whatsoever with the founding of the brand; the names come from Stillman’s dogs as they were announced at the opening ceremony: Charlie Smith and Ralph Wollensky. As of last year, the chain opened their first restaurant in South Korea, located in one of the more trendy parts of Seoul.
My father and I arrived earlier than expected and before the rest of the family, so we enjoyed some drinks at the restaurant’s cocktail bar. I ordered a refreshing mocktail to start, their Side by Side, consisting of a berry blend, tropical syrup, sparkling water, and a dash of fresh lemon.
Once the rest of the family arrived, we were seated and the food began to flow. The appetizers were fantastic, starting with the fresh bread, another mocktail (the Tropical Sunset this time around), Caesar salad with house bacon, French onion soup, and a vivid steak tartar served with freshly fried beef crackling for that ultimate ASMR crunch.
Seriously, just listen to that crunch! Sent shivers down my spine just from how beautiful of a crunch it was.
The real treat was yet to come, however, and it was at this moment I began to regret both eating so much at lunch, and eating so much tasty bread. For behold, the Swinging Tomahawk Ribeye!
In hindsight, few things are more quintessentially steakhouse than seeing a dry-aged cut of beef wheeled in on a cart, coated with a freshly blowtorched beef tallow bath over potatoes, and then sliced before your eyes.
The ribeye was then sliced up into an absolutely superb spread, with some of the best creamed spinach I’ve ever tasted and a fantastic truffle mac and cheese accompanying the beef on its final march into my stomach. My greatest regret is that I no longer had the sheer appetite of my college self, but that’s probably for the best; all this red meat and beef tallow would wreck me otherwise.
I fought a valiant battle, but alas, even after being split between four people, there were still a few pieces of steak left unfinished at the end. Curse you, my shrinking stomach! I jest of course, but thanks to the crowding indoors, I didn’t have enough room for cake…which resulted in the scandalous scene below.
Yes, you are seeing that correctly. That is indeed a lit candle on three scoops of sorbet. Despite my father’s attempts to steer me towards cake, I knew deep within that even cheesecake would be overdoing it. The sorbets were absolutely delicious; the evening’s choices were strawberry, yuzu, and Jeju orange.
With that, the dinner wrapped up and we all headed home. I drifted off rapidly after a hot shower, with dry-aged dreams and visions of fanciful feasts lulling me off to my next day in Seoul. Thanks for reading thus far, and stay tuned for the next part of my Golden Week adventures!
