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.