Retro Update: Souel Airport & Hotdogs (S. Korea)

Part of the reason I was able to afford going to China on such short notice was the nice long stop over I experienced in Souel South Korea coming and going. The Souel airport is actually a very tidy, well designed area with a lot to see and do. This doesn't make up for the fact that when it comes down to it, it's still just an airport. I did get a couple of nice experiences out of my time there though.

I'll keep this short and sweet. Souel's airport has two primary draws. First, there's the slew of "duty free" shops littered about in no particular order. There are only four different types of duty free stores and they are spaced just out of sight of one another. Sure, there are several designer stores for women to go and buy expensive clothes, makeup, and purses, but all the Korean travels are too busy purchasing $300 sun glasses to notice. Seeing as I have desire to spend that sort of cash on things I'll most likely lose several weeks down the road, I grew board with this attraction fairly quickly. Fortunately, the airport's other primary attraction provided me with a great deal of enjoyment. Food.

This image is just one of the many food courts in the airport, and was taken during the least busy portion of the day. If you can't tell, it's packed.

The meals are all reasonably priced too. You can get a full course meal for roughly 6-9 bucks. I picked up a set of Octopus Seafood Ramen for lunch with side dishes and everything for $7.50. The selection is great too and they showcase most of their items via food models like those found in Japan. Obviously the food isn't a 1:1 match, but it's close enough to figure out what you want to eat.

Obviuously their food choices aren't for everyone (especially when your father constanly complains about how he really doesn't like rice or asian noodle based dishes). Thankfully they also have several "American" staples as well.

Seriously though, I don't know why you'd choose to eat something you have access to almost anytime you want. The authentic Korean, Japanese, and Chinese (they have Italian, but that doesn't count) food is something you really can't get over in the states. The one exception to this ideal came from an unexpected source: hotdogs. Korean hotdogs.

Awesome, simply awesome. I didn't find this place until after I had eaten some Bimbimbop for dinner, but decided that I needed to give this a try. The hotdogs themselves looked pretty good and were about $5.50.

I decided on the Reuben Dog and never looked back. The models are actually a pretty accurate in both size and appearance as shown below. The Rueben dog itself was great though. I have no desire to open my own business, but I think a specialty hotdogs place like this would probably do well in the states. It would make even more sense in a stadium setting as people are already in the mood to purchase hotdogs and the novalty of items like these seem like a no-brainer.

One last note, if anyone ever decides to follow through on that idea, all I ask is a small note of appreciation on the menu somewhere, and maybe a speciallty dog in my honor. Peace out.

- TiH