I’ve been in Korea for about six months spread out over the past year, but somehow I ended up never getting out to the countryside. I was living in Seoul and Busan during my experiences, so yeah, pretty urban. So, last weekend I signed up for a trip to one of the countryside somewhere 90 mins Northeast from Seoul – Soomy village it is located in Yangpyong, Gyeonggi Province (You may look out for the direction to the place at the end of this post!)
Soomy village (수미마을) is a great place for Korean countryside experience, different farm activities, ranged from 15,000 – 60,000 was provided varied from season to season. Upon arriving, took me about 2 hours, I was pretty starved, and the local knows best, hah! We started our day at Soomy village with Korean steamed bun making!
Upon arriving, we were led to this open air kitchen, feels like master chef – countryside edition, lol. And as long as we found our place, we were handed the ingredients, they are ready made! So not to worry of getting yourself dirty here, no apron needed also, hahah.. We were first shown how to get them done (it was a quick tutorial, less than 10 mins), then we graduated and are ready to make our first batch of steamed buns in life, haha
Just us trolling around… I always wondered how does it feel growing up in countryside, and making this, it kinda reminded me of the old days when my grandma would make me dough from flour to mimic the play-doh. Nostalgic…
Ajumma said, they make perfect snack on a cold day! And it’s sort of a comfort food for the farmers during the chilling fall!
It is not rocket science, as long as you have a pair of clean hand, you can start making them, lol. The ingredients are all provided, and your job here is only to put the bean paste on the dough (Flatten into a circle) and mould them to a ball shape! Of course, you are free to design your own bun, but I was too hungry to be creative, If the ingredient is cooked, I would have finished them all while making them, haha.
We made a lot, and the best part, we can bring them home!!!! But the tricky part here is, because there were no chemical added, we can only keep them for 3 days, and despite it’s really yummy, I couldn’t finish all of them. So I brought them to class the next day and shared it among my friends and professors, and of course they thought I made this from scratch, needless to say I got tons of compliments… hehehe…
Soomy village, literally (‘so'; water) and (‘mi’, beauty), in hanza, it is written as 水美. The name is inspired by the river surrounded, and in awe they call in Soomy. Well, the pictures tell in all above, the river, and the two beauties on top of the rock, lololol. During summer this place offers the catfish catching activity, and it’s one of their popular program among the family. For more information, you may look up at their website at www.soomyland.com/ but the website has no english at the moment, so google translate will come in handy, or alternatively, you could just look at the pictures to see what they’re offering, haha. XD
So, just let me prep you fashionistas! You heels and expensive ootd won’t work in the countryside, all you really need is this ajumma pants and a straw hat that will give you good coverage under the sun, and prevent you from getting bites in the farm. And thank god I wore long sleeve, though it’s fall, but the sun is still too hot to bare.
My weapon of choice, lol! Believe me, the first sight of being there and asked to pick up one of these up, I felt like i’m in the scene fresh out of hollywood movies for one of those Zombie Apocalypse stories, lol. Oh.. and the background is actually sesame leaf, a type of vege/leaf korean used as a wrap or made into banchan aka side dishes.
A quick lesson from the friendly ajooshi on sweet potato harvest 101, and we were free to dig, haha. It was a great activity for us to experience, the same time a chance for the local farmers here to showcase their fresh produce.
My first harvest of sweet potatoes! Haha, and we were given a bag each to fill them and we could bring them back home! One bag of potato in the market could cost anywhere from 6000 – 8000 won, but mine is priceless, consider the sweat and hard work put into find every one of these, lol.
Ajooshi made it looks so easy, but it took us some time to find them, the lucky ones got a whole big bag and the not so lucky one, may be got one-two or the tiny and small one. Literally, It was a sweet potato treasure hunt! LOL.
Aside from sweet potatoes, Soomy village have other farms and their potatoes are one of their larger exports, they were made into chips, and coincidentally the potato chip name is also Sumi, so it was a win-win for both companies on marketing, a great collab! You can look up for it on google!
And on my way to my next activity, I found this cutie! I instinctually call out in english, but he wouldn’t respond to me, but as along as I say “hand”, he lifted his heavy paw up… melted! It’s an Old English Sheepdog, it completes the farm.. so quaint.
Well, it is not countryside if you didn’t see one of these! I have seen them from different farms I have visited in the past, but being on one of them, it’s my first! Spot the friendly ajooshi in the tractor!
It was a bumpy and fun ride, but I couldn’t take any nice photograph because I could hardly balance myself on the seat, lol. I actually liked it a lot, because the tractor ride was a good medium to explore the farms and field without getting lost/walking under the sun. I’m a lazy ass, haha. And along the way, it travelled on the river also, kinda reminds me of the safari ride, but where’s the tiger, lol.
Well, and last but not least, the HIGHLIGHT my day, lol (Sorry I think we Malaysia is a natural born foodie lol). My lunch at Soomy village was divine! and I have now fell in love eating out in the countryside because, the meals are always more lavish than in Seoul. By lavish I don’t mean luxurious but just that you get more than you paid for. The portion sizes are more than generous and the food tastes better than in the bigger cities!
And here’s my final verdict, the trip was a wonderful experience for a city girl like me, Soomy village truly highlights the beautiful autumn colors and offers exciting activities and encounters – the consumer meets the producer, young meets the old, the town-dweller meets the farmer.
I would strongly recommend friends who love to experience the local culture, and k-pop fans (it reminds me of some scenes from running man and family outing.) If you have visited Korea several times or are getting tired of the concrete jungle in seoul, consider a day trip to experience Korea country side! Definitely a fun place to go with a bunch of friends
Posted by Mandy Chan http://www.mandylogy.com/my-day-at-soomy-village/
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