The Road to 40 Day 168/365: Trid, Tried, Tired

It was date day today, and we got to spend a bit of time with Kathreen and JP in the afternoon.

The morning was slow once again, as Che and Vino wanted to hug the bed a bit longer. Che said her legs are sore, probably from all the walking and biking that happened the day before.

We let Vino sleep in, so that means we weren’t going to have breakfast in the hotel again. When he woke up, we gave him donuts from the night before so he wouldn’t be hungry while we were out and about.

Before we went out, we just had to take a photo of the day’s drip.

We had a reservation at Trid, whose head chef is Triple Star of Culinary Class Wars fame. Triple Star was one of our favorites from the first challenges.

Che and Kathreen queued up online for when reservations opened, but within seconds, the month was already full. Kathreen said she was on the wait list for any random day that a reservation was cancelled. They surprisingly called her last week to say that there was a 12:30pm slot on October 24th, and she just confirmed to get the slot.

It’s a rare chance that we took, so we agreed that Kathreen would make Vino her practice baby while we had a lunch date.

Che and I got married in Singapore back on October 26, 2015, a full month and change before we got married in the Philippines. We needed to process my visa, and we wouldn’t be able to do that if we waited for the paperwork from the Philippines.

It’s a couple of days before the tenth year anniversary of that day, so it was amazing that we were able to get a table at around this time.

The place only seated about 12 people, and one hidden private room. It felt cozy, with a bit of industrial flair and muted elegance with the choice of colors.

They had an open kitchen, which was I thought was a show in itself. Che pointed out later that the chefs are also watching from the kitchen, probably to see if we’re done with the dish so they can prepare the next one on the course.
The food mostly used Korean ingredients, with an interesting combination of flavors. We had three glasses each for wine pairing, and they capped it off with a simple dessert to congratulate us on our anniversary.

It was pricey, sure, but it was good value for money considering the experience. We spent more at Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant in Marina Bay, but this was more enjoyable than that.

We picked up Vino, who was spending time with Kathreen while waiting for us. They went to a museum featuring Marvel heroes, anime characters, cars and Gundams.

We planned on visiting a hanbok village, where we would meet JP and maybe have coffee or snacks somewhere there. It was quite a ride, but since it was a weekday afternoon, it wasn’t crowded in the train or the buses.

We reached the picturesque Eunpyeong Hanok Village with a view of the Bukhansan Mountain. It’s a hanok-style residential area, but with modern amenities insidde the houses. It’s an actual residential area, so visitors are asked not to be too loud.

There was a small cafe that offered traditional Korean teas and some local desserts that was managed by an old lady. It was not part of our itinerary, but it looked nice.

They had interesting flavors, most of them we haven’t tried before. For the desserts, we had rice cakes and honey cookies, which was fairly new to our taste as well.

After our meal, we went out to snap some photos of the place with the view. Wee don’t have a lot of photos together with Kathreen and JP, but they assisted in taking photos of the three of us while strolling around.

We reached a mask museum that Vino insisted for us to visit. The masks were too creepy for Che and Kathreen, so they decided to hang out around the area while Vino and I checked the masks.

Vino loves going to museums. Growing up, we’d take him to different museums, aquariums, and installations. He doesn’t necessarily read through things or appreciate the art behind it – he just wants to see something cool and fun that we can give life to.

In zoos or aquariums, I usually make sounds or scripts for the animals that we see. We do the same for inanimate objects. So he’d be the smiliest person in any museum when you see him.

While walking around, we were offered some tea and a great view to enjoy it with. I like that he talks a lot when he doesn’t have his tablet, and I can hear his thoughts on the most random things.

The others had chungha at a CU outlet across the street. It’s similar to soju, but it’s sweeter and smoother to drink.

It was a long ride back to the city, and Vino fell asleep on the way back. We planned on having dinner near our hotel so that Kathreen and JP could visit our hotel.

However, it was a long day of walking and taking photos, so we decided just to have some snacks at a restaurant around Seoul Station.

We found a Mexican restaurant that had a pretty cool theme, similar to Coco.

Kathreen and JP had a direct line to go home from Seoul Station, so we decided to part ways from there. We promised to hang out at the hotel when the sisters are here, because Vino really wanted them to come visit our room.

Our room was not going to be ideal for receiving guests, though, as we are set to check out the next day. We needed to pack our things, and by “we” I mean Che. There was washing, folding, and packing that happened, and a little midnight snack to reduce the things we are going to carry tomorrow.

We’ll begin the next leg of our trip tomorrow, with some of the guys and kids coming over for what would be our third international trip together.