Thursday, July 5, 2012

Nanta Show and Cherry Blossoms in Hongdae

After having so much fun catching Key's "Catch Me If You Can" musical, I decided to see another show while I was in Seoul. This time I made my way to to the Hongdae Nanta Theater. Nanta is a very popular South Korean musical that has a simple plot and is basically an entertaining performance using cooking instruments like cutting boards and knives to create the rhythms and music. It's mostly non-verbal and is supposedly comparable to Blue Man Group.


There was an anniversary special so the Hongdae Theater was selling tickets at 30% off discount. Score! I didn't hesitate to buy a good seat and as such, I was seated in the second row. To my surprise, they actually don't seat anyone in the first row so basically I had a front row seat. Double score!


VIP, baby! ;)


Luckily I was not seated at the aisle or else I would have been called up to participate on stage, haha. (The guy two seats next to me was!) I am way too nervous of a creature for impromptu audience fun like that. I don't like to be embarrassed for others' amusement! (I just like to laugh comfortably in the audience at those poor but good-natured suckers, keke.)

Here's a sculpture made of cooking pans and utensils inside the theater (but outside of the auditorium).



You are not allowed to take pictures or videos during the show, but of course, naughty people do and I've seen a few online. I actually don't recommend watching those because it does take away from the experience of enjoying the show live.

However, here's a clip from a K-pop variety show, "Pit A Pat Shake (두근두근)", where Sunhwa from Secret does a short Nanta performance. (Her partner is a comedian, Park Hwi-soon.) Just think of it as the best of Nanta compacted into 3 minutes.





I walked around Hongdae briefly before the show and ate (what else?) some street food. After the show, I decided I was too tired to explore and would come back another day.





Hongdae 홍대 actually stands for Hongik University (홍익대학교) and is the region around the University. It's a really popular area known for its nightlife and cool and hip urban arts and indie music culture. I visited again the day before I left Korea and I really like the area!

I was so happy to see lots of big, beautiful cherry blossoms on the streets. I'm sorry but I got a bit click happy with my camera.




Hongdae is similar to Sinchon and Edae since they're all university areas, but Hongdae seems a bit bigger and yet is wide and spaced out, like how I imagine a small university town would be. So even though it may seem similar, with tons of shops and restaurants on back streets and alleys, it has its own individual vibe.









I really wanted to eat at this Korean bbq place that reminded me of my favorite place back home (that people say reminded them of Korea, hehe). It also had cute boys working inside, ahahaha, but I decided I didn't have to heart to have awkward conversations or appetite to eat a big meal. Next time! There will definitely be a next time. *fingers crossed*


So instead, I popped into a smaller restaurant with really cheap and affordable food.


I got the boodae jiggae 부대 찌께, or army jiggae (stew), which is basically ramyun with hot dog slices etc. It looks much nicer in the banner picture above, hehe.


It was only 5,000 won though and a nice, hot meal for a somewhat chilly evening.


Good bye for now, Hongdae. Sorry I didn't get to know you better but I promise you that one day I will!


P.S. Yes, Hongdae has cute guys, both young college students and older, young men in their stylish business suits, keke.

18 comments:

  1. the stew look yummY and hot! even though I don't eat hot food but since most korean dishes consist of chili I still indulge and find them really delish!
    PS: how come I didn't run into any cute guys during my visit there..hmmm..I must be too busy shopping..lolz..~

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  2. WOW your post makes me miss Korea =( I wanna go back to visit soon too. I didn't get to visit Hongdae last time. I wanna see some cute guys too! LOL & love the spicy korean dishes. Yummy! =D

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  3. Which do you prefer:
    Hongdae, Sinchon or Edae? Btw is Hongdae the area that you told me with lots of cute stylish man purse totting guys? LOL

    Shall watch Sunhwa after 12am when my internet connection gets faster =.= Ooooh and can you link me up with some good quality Catch Me If You Can videos? Wanna watch Key in action!

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  4. I love your pictures. Makes me always wish I was there....hee hee. XD Yay to that virtually front row seat and good grub!

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  5. Hehe it's so true! Even if it does make my nose sniffle a bit. Aww I think it just depends where you go and when, hehe. Gotta love eye candy, both cute guys and shopping!

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  6. Aww really? I really liked Hongdae! I'd definitely go there again. I hope you can visit again soon too! =)

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  7. I like shopping in Edae but would hang out in Hongdae! =) LOL um, all of Seoul has man-purse totting guys! But the cutest I saw was prob actually in Myeongdong, surprisingly (seeing as it's such a tourist area).

    I'll check for some Key videos and will send you links!

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  8. Aww thank you! I think that's why I take so many (that and trying to get the perfect picture), because I want to be able to look back and remember as vividly as I can what it was like to be there! I think I will be a little sad once I'm done posting all of my pictures because then I'm going to wish I was still there, hehe.

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  9. lolz honghae and cute guys, huh? why didn't i know before? lolz
    the jjigae looks soooo so good. i haven't had good 부대찌게 in ages!

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  10. ahahah, perv :D I love reading your posts about your trip to south korea, it always makes me feel so jealous

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  11. The boodae jiggae looks so flavoursome and tasty, seems like it'd warm you right up on a cold night :)

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  12. I also read a comment once that Hongdae is known to be a gay area? lol Not sure how true that is so I didn't want to say it. With my luck, the cute guys I saw were gay, ahahaha. XP Aww 부대찌게 is so simple but good! I think I would get fat if I eat it too much though but it's perfect for those cold days/nights, hehe.

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  13. Lol I'm not a perv...just appreciate good looking men, keke. Aww it's funny it's taking me so long to post about everything, even though I was just there for two weeks. I hope you can visit South Korea someday soon too!

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  14. Oh yes! So simple but so good. It's like Korean comfort food on cold days and nights, hehe. I wonder how Koreans can eat so much good food and ramyun and yet stay so skinny?! I'd be a fatty if I eat this all the time, keke.

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  15. I'll be flying there on the 18th, I'm really excited about it :D :D oh when you're abroad you always try to make the most out of two weeks and everything seems so exciting so it's natural that it will take you longer to blog about it. ahah me too, I was actually afraid good looking men could only be found on dramas and k-pop groups, so glad that's not the case ^^

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  16. Oh wow, that's really soon! I hope you have a great time and see lots of good looking men everywhere you go! keke

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  17. I've only been here a day and I already saw so many! it's heaven :D

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  18. Is it worth it to see Nanta? I only have 3 days in Seoul. Should i go there?

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