Sunday might have been my favorite day yet. Our agenda consisted of a hike at Bukhansan National Park. Later that day around dinner time we had a cooking class. Sunday started by getting up around 7:30-8:00am. The drive was about 30 minutes. Once we got there it was go time, and we started hiking. Kay had estimated that each way up and down would take probably 1 hour and 15 minutes. The weather could not have been better for a hike. It was warm and slightly cool due to the morning temperature. There were many times where we had to walk over a creek/stream. We were cautious not to get wet and attempted to slyly cross using rocks that just barely poked through the surface to keep from getting our shoes wet. The hike led to the Seunggunsa Temple at the top, that was our final destination. When we got there it was beautiful and also very quiet. There were many steps to walk up to reach the temple. As you continued to get closer it seemed to only get quieter and more peaceful. There was a woman with a box of rice cakes who beckoned for us to come over to her. She handed us all one rice cake to eat. I have tried rice cakes since being in South Korea and they are delicious. However, this rice cake was plain. It had a gelatines texture and was chewy, though it did not taste like much. After exploring the temple for about 30 minutes we headed back down to have lunch. I was exuberant for lunch because I had only had an onigiri that morning from 7/11 for breakfast. Lunch was family style with various different Korean dishes.

After lunch, we went back to the hotel where we had about 2.5 hours of free time before our next activity which was… the cooking class!!!

We took the bus to our cooking class where a woman named Ellie would be our instructor/chef. She works on set of various k dramas, many of which, are on Netflix. She started by providing us with a demonstration of what and how we would be cutting, slicing, searing, and sautéing the vegetables that were in front of us. Our recipe was a traditional bibimbap bowl. The ingredients were carrot, onion, green onion, lettuce, mushroom, bulgogi, and an egg. Ellie told us that bibimbap is big on incorporating 5 different colors into the dish. These colors include red, green or blue, yellow, white, and black. The result was so tasty. It was even more delicious because I cooked it myself, it was very worthwhile.

After our cooking class we returned to our homebase, the Sejong Hotel, then had free time. I spent the night exploring the 12-story Daiso across from the hotel with my friends Meena, Annie, and Connor. That night getting for bed I could already feel the soreness from the hike festering in my legs. Oh, would I be in for a treat the next morning!