bonjour celine header

30.5.11

By The Sea

I want to be there

yumm

self serve

seafood stall by the sea

suctioned

Kom bei!

Jin's sister's family and his parents took us away to Jeju-do for a weekend, which is an island just south of Korea. It was nice to get out of the city and see another part of the country.

When we got to the island, Jin's brother-in-law took all of us to see a rock that looked like the head of a dragon, but Jin found something far more interesting down by the waters edge.

Ever since we watched this video from Bizarre Foods, we put eating San Nachi (live baby octopus) high on our priority of things to eat in Korea. Jin has had this before when he was growing up but this was a totally new experience for me!

I know the idea of eating something while it is still alive is unsettling to some people, but in a culture that is fresh obsessed about their produce, this is really as fresh as it gets (in a civilized way).

Eating seafood caught by these ajummas, sitting right beside the ocean on these pink and turquoise plastic stools, washing our snack down with Soju, was definitely a highlight for me on Jeju-do.

16 comments:

  1. This is so interesting..American beaches don't have this kind of thing!

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  2. I love your photos, especially the 1th.

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  3. Oh! How was the food???? :O
    Love how colourful the photos are!

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  4. Very interesting. These ladies will be there catching octopus etc everyday?

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  5. Celine, these are beautiful! Everything is so colourful and festive looking! That must have been an amazing day.

    By the way, what is it attached to Jin's finger? A rogue tentacle?

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  6. whoa! this looks amazing! that little tentacle gives me the willies.

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  7. AND HOW WAS IT?! Live. baby. octopus.

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  8. Wow, what an experience. These photos are great Celine!

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  9. haha! Thanks everybody! I guess I didn't mention how it tasted! We had 3 things on that shore, Sea Cucumber, Sea Squirt (the orange things) and the Live Baby Octopus.

    The Sea Cucumber was really tough to eat, and didn't taste much like anything!

    Sea Squirt tasted very oceany at first, and then it has a very sweet after taste.

    The Live Baby Octopus, how they prepare it is that they cut the tentacles in smaller pieces, but they are still moving on the plate. They cover it in sesame seed oil so that it doesn't get too suctioned inside your mouth (that would make it hard to swallow!). They are chewy, and they taste like whatever you dip them in (hot sauce!). The thing hanging off Jin's finger is part of a tentacle. crazy eh??

    And as for the ladies, I was told many times that on Jeju-do, it is the ladies who dive to bring food for the family. (not just octopus, any sort of seafood)

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  10. I heard about the live octopus thingy! I admire your courage to try, don't think I can do it. I heard they have the traditional free divers there as well, did you get to meet any? Find them super amazing! Enjoying your Korea trip through your pics!

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  11. WOW! What a beautiful picnic by the sea! You must have had an amazing view!

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  12. Wow, what an amazing experience! I've always wanted to go to Jeju-do. So lucky!

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  13. is this jeju island? i was there in december last yr! such a nice place it is

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  14. this is the salt of life. this is what living is about. embracing it fully. so amazing. i am in awe. i want to walk behind you, right into your footsteps, like some copy cat, and do these things you have done.

    your photos, as always: so so good!

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  15. wow, what an experience! i love all the tiny colored stools dotting the rocks :)

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