COEX Mall - Kimchi MuseumSeoul, South Korea

So. If the topic of the one-and-only Kimchi Museum ever comes up around your vicinity, you should ask the culprit specifically where it is located and do your best to make it a priority to go. (COEX Mall, by the wall).


The awesomely cool and totally unique Kimchi Field Museum is stuck on the second basement floor of the mall? That's sub-sub-floor level; seems a tad insulting. It deserves better.
Upon entering (and after paying the 5,000 won fee per person), we saw this...

...the monstrous board of commemoration stickies - an international ode to kimchi. Two of my favorites:


The first hint we had of what was to come presented itself in the shape of pots. Lots. These life-size replicas are what cabbage is/was traditionally stored in over time, so as to best ferment and acquire that oh-so-unique taste. There's also a straw-tower-penis.

Then came a small written piece of "Relation between Hot Pepper and Koreans" as follows.


After this came a smorsgabord of kimchi variations, the most appetizing of which I've condensed down into two compilation pictures.



These are the kinds of dishes that Koreans are presented with constantly as either appetizers or side dishes to accompany the main meal - and depending on the season, different ingredients are used. Apparently.



We also got treated to this wonderful chunk of life:


I mean, really.

After this, we wandered throughout the small yet compact area searching for new discoveries.

And then came the superheroes.
Jessie nicely summarizes our respective reactions here.
It was definitely a great place to visit and I'm glad we did. It deserves a better write-up than the one I've given here, but it's been a long week, and dang it I'm tired.

We hope everyone is doing well - remember to breathe!
Machs gut!
-Jay