Wanna hang out with the cool kids at The Hub Of Sparkle?
We had a Hub-Down in November that was a rousing success, and it’s time for another. If you like food, or if you just like getting together with some cool cats who live on the Korean peninsula, clear your schedule on the weekend of February 28th to March 1st (Saturday and Sunday).
I’ve had this one in the works for a while, and here’s your chance to join up.
See, there’s this dish called Jjimdalk (찜닭) (more about it from FatManSeoul here), which might be my favorite Korean food. It’s available all around Korea, and I initially discovered it in Seoul…but in Andong, the origin of the dish, it’s somehow…better. A lot better. So much better that I can’t eat it anywhere else anymore. I tried: I took a friend to a jjimdalk restaurant near my home, and at the same time he was going, “Mmf. Rob! Thanks for taking me here. This stuff is amazing!” in culinary bliss, I was thinking, “compared to Andong jjimdalk, this stuff tastes like the secret ingredient was ashtrays,” not because it was really that bad, but because in Andong, It’s. That. Much. Better.
Andong has some other treats, including Andong Soju, a nifty salted mackerel dish, and a special kind of bibibmbap that was originally made for ancestral rites. There’s also a folk village that’s pretty famous, and some other cool historical sites, and a really good bakery, plus, I’m going to be there!
So, if this sounds like fun to you, you’re welcome to join. Head on over to the Hub of Sparkle facebook page, where there will be updates. Send me an e-mail at roboseyo[at]gmail[dot]com and tell me your basic info, and I’ll put you on the list of people going, and make sure we hook up in Andong.
If you’re based in Seoul, and you can be in Chongnyangni on the morning of the 28th, and you say please, I’ll even reserve you a train ticket to come with my crew, but if you aren’t Seoul based, or can’t be in Chongnyangni early enough (it’s in the Northeast corner of Seoul, and we’ll be leaving in the morning), then make your own plans to get to Andong before dinnertime, and we’ll meet up in town.
Stay tuned for more information about lodging, here and/or at the Hub of Sparkle Facebook page, and email me if you’re interested, so I can make sure to keep you in the loop.
07/02/2009 at 1:45 pm Permalink
Y’all need to bring me some of that in the states! Or send it … I’m not picky
. Anyways, that sounds really good. Now I need to find someone who can make it …
07/02/2009 at 2:19 pm Permalink
This sounds all kinds of awesome _but_ (Debbie Downer voice) this is the weekend right before the beginning of the Korean school year. Folks like me starting at a new hagwon will be hard pressed to make the time for it. Not that I won’t try, but just a friendly heads-up.
08/02/2009 at 12:16 am Permalink
Thanks for the heads-up, Rob! I’m definitely considering the possibility of going. As a resident of Uijeongbu I have to say that Cheongnyangni Station is actually much closer to me than any other departure point in Seoul!
By the way, when is the deadline for us to contact you about going?
However, after this get-together and the last one, would it be possible to schedule the next one around a dish other than chicken, for those of us who don’t particularly care for that meat? (I realize that it takes some work to get these put together and it’s impossible to make everyone happy, but if I don’t say anything nobody’s going to know, right?)