1n2d: Korean Tour Roadtrip (Part I)

Here’s the world premiere of Doo-san!! (ㅋㅋ Just kidding…)

Even though this little boy looks like a clone of Ho Dong, he’s only a kid that the members meet on their Korea Coastal Roadtrip. The 3n4d trip have the men driving around the whole coast of Korea to introduce towns that are a little off the beaten path. Watching the first two episodes of the trip, they seem to be traveling from one place to another, just to try out the local cuisine. These two episodes have totally been keeping me hungry.

The men start getting ready for their trip and we get a peek into their homes and their psyche as they pack their bags. The happiest seems to be Su Geun, who smiles like a happy toddler and can’t seem to contain his joy to take a 4 day road trip away from his house with (probably) 2 crying kids.

Meanwhile, playing each other’s antithesis are Seung Gi and Jong Min as their closets and packing habits are shown to all of Korea. Seung Gi is one amazingly neat man as he folds his clothes using a folding gadget – a homemade version of the ones you find at a retail store. It’s kinda excessive, isn’t it?

On the other side of the coin is Jong Min, who has his clothing all over the floor and throws his underwear into his closet after he picks out the ones he wants to take to the trip. They both have some issues to deal with.

As Kim C packs his MC Mong-worthy puffy vest, Mong teaches his lesson on how to look fashionable. He puts on his green sweater and lets the viewers know that one can’t match the pants or even hat with the green sweater. (Because that turns you into a pool table.) The best thing to do is pick a hat that has a hint of green but is of a different, complementary color. It’s quite cute.

The team come together first thing in the morning and watch the sunrise before their opening. The sunrise is quite stunning but the beach looks really cold (as the trip was filmed back in March.) The staff reveals the map of South Korea to show their crazy route around the coast of the country. Everyone has their concerns but Su Geun’s is the most legitimate as he wonders who’s going to be driving the extraordinary distance.

Before heading off to destination #1, the members get a chance to win some spending money for their breakfast. They just need to name the province when PD Na calls out a name of a city. Sounds simple enough? Au contraire! They start testing each other and realize that even in their own country, geography is not their strong suit.

Success on round 1 would have earned them 100,000 won but that really is too much of wishful thinking. They end up not winning any money but do earn a bowl of sundae (blood sausage) soup for each member – the notable dish of the region: Ahbahyi soondae.

As they get ready to leave, the 7 men find the world’s smallest minivan parked in the lot. It looks like a car made for middle schoolers but all 7 figure out a way to “fit” inside. When they enter the town, Seung Gi becomes a tour guide as they have entered his mother’s hometown. He tells about about the land mass that was once an ocean and the members get into a deep conversation about the advances of man.

KHD: Jong Min. If people had our brains, this area would still be ocean. Right?
KJM: Haha. You’re probably right.
KHD: If the whole world had my brain, we would have been discovering the telephone just around now.
MCM: Hyung. What are you talking about?
KJM: We wouldn’t be making calls right now.
MCM: We wouldn’t even be in the Jeulmun pottery period (8000-1500 BC) right now.
KimC: No. We just figured out how to wear clothes right now.
MCM: The only where there would have been progress is hunting.
KHD: There wouldn’t be any animals left in the country about now. Because I would have eaten them all.

Puhahaha! Totally hilarious to think where humanity would stand if the earth had Ho Dong’s brains.

Once they arrive at the first stop, Sokcho Ahbahyi, they visit the famous wooden rope boat. It’s basically a wooden boat that moves between the banks by pulling a steel rope, which is the job of the people riding the boat. (It was used for a scene in Autumn in My Heart which is the reason for the gigantor picture of the 2 leads.)

However, the member’s minds are mostly on food as they quickly decide whether they want to eat the region’s famous sundae soup or have grilled fish. Following Seung Gi’s lead, Kim C and Jong Min join the the local boy to cross the bank for some fish. As they leave, Ho Dong yells at them, “Save me some fish! Don’t forget! Save me to some! Grilled fish!”

I must have been hungry when I watched this episode because these two tables looked so freakin delicious. (And I don’t even like sundae that much!) The first group go to a sundae restaurant for their soup, but they are given the opportunity to look at some squid sundae (using squid as the casing). They start drooling on the table, trying to get a taste of the sundae, but the food is taken away. The members use the viewers as an excuse to have 1 member have a taste. They play the game 3-6-9 and the crowned champion Su Geun gets to have a taste. Eventually, PD Na has pity on them and allow them to each have 1 piece for tasting purposes.

The second team sits at their restaurant where a huge tray of seafood comes out for their meal. There’s squid and about a thousand varieties of fish and it takes them about 3-4 grill changes to finish the seafood bbq. There’s so much food that they have no problems fulfilling Ho Dong’s wish of trying some grilled fish.

ME HUNGRY!!

After their breakfast (I know! That was just breakfast!), they get back on the road – this time to Jungsun. Along the way, the 7 guys get a little closer, especially after Ho Dong decides to join them in the back. It’s a really tight squeeze and Ho Dong’s presence makes Mongyi into a baby sardine. The funniest thing about this is that the 2 smallest guys, Su Geun and Kim C, are enjoying the good life up front.

At Jungsun, they take a tour of the area on fancy rail bikes. Along the way, they need to complete a simple math equation to earn their lunch. The bike tour turns out to be loads of fun as the men enjoy being outdoors (instead of the stuffy van) and get some light exercise (instead of the crazy stuff they usually have to do).

And on top of all that, everyone gets the math equation correct and enjoy a delectable feast at the nearby rail restaurant. It’s quite the spread, otherwise known as a 진수성찬 (jin-soo-sung-chan) in Korean, which may be a familiar term to those who watched the kdrama, Gourmet with Kim Rae Won (Sorry for the tangent but *swoon*).

The final location of the evening is the beach of Youngdeok. The members start putting together their tent when PD Na throws them a challenge. If they complete the tent in 10 minutes, the member will be able to board a plane in the morning and go home (!!), to which the members reply “Bah! Humbug!”, knowing that it’s an impossibility. With that out the door, PD Na gives them another set of challenges.
10 minutes – sashimi dinner
20 minutes – BBQ on the beach
30 minutes – no dinner bokbulbok, dinner ingredients given freely to members

The members realize a good deal when they see one and all Speedy Gonzales their way to the tent. Of course, PD Na is no dummy since the staff took a good hour to put together the tent and has no faith that the men would be able to complete it within 30 minutes.

BUT the 1n2d fairy godmother must have waved her wand because the men actually seem to know what they’re doing. With the boy scout MC Mong leading the pack, the members complete the tent within 30 minutes.

The most surprised out of everyone is PD Na, who had no clue that the men were even close to finishing, as he was busy preparing for the dinner bokbulbok. (O ye of little faith!) He tries to slyly get them to play the game anyway but the men will hear nothing of it. Even Kim C comments, “Just play the game amongst the staff”, which has me giggling on the floor.

As promised, the bokbulbok is canceled for the evening and Mong Jang Geum takes his protege Seung Gi to pick out the necessary dinner ingredients from the staff’s food boxes.

As Mong and LSGi start cooking the food, Jong Min decides to make a sandwich. A very special sandwich made of white bread, cold sausage and cold tuna (right out of a can). It sounds pretty disgusting and it must taste quite disgusting as the people around him start to gag. Meanwhile, Seung Gi’s pan friend sausage looks mighty delicious and he goes around feeding the slices to the staff member nearby. And I yell… Jong Min! Give the staff some cooked food so you can have more camera time!

With no bokbulbok for the evening, the men enjoy their meal and even sing a song together: Kim C’s Confession from his awesome new album. It’s truly a happy little moment.

I may have mentioned this in the past but I really love Kim C’s music and his album has been playing repeat in my ipod for the past few days now. Here’s the really sweet MV with Bae Doo Na and Kim Tae Woo. I especially love the words to the song. My translation doesn’t really do it justice but here it is!

The moon is full and my heart is full
It’s too heartbreaking to keep it inside
so I’m moving towards you.
The moon keeps telling me to go to you
and keeps whispering in my ears,
That right now is the right moment.

I’m wearing my favorite clothes
and holding a yellow flower in my hands.
As I look at you, I start smiling without even knowing why.

This isn’t it. This isn’t what’s in my heart.
I still have 500 more charming things I’m prepared to tell you.
I didn’t mean to just say the common I love you.
I have a lot more romantic and sweet things ready to say to you.

I’m breathless and the evening is cold.
I need to close my eyes to see your face
so that I can keep walking.
I’ve learned that the term walking on cloud nine isn’t an exaggeration.
After I met you, everything about me changed.

This isn’t it. This isn’t what’s in my heart.
I still have 500 more charming things I’m prepared to tell you.
I didn’t mean to just say the common I love you.
I have a lot more romantic and sweet things ready to say to you.

Look at me. Listen to me.
No matter how much I think about it,
I love you more than I can even imagine.

Isn’t that sweet? And it’s a well deserved moment because the staff share some bad news before they go off to bed. The morning mission is quite an important one as it will decide the fate of one member. As discussed in jest at the opening, the loser of the morning mission will become a straggler of the group – being left alone and needing to take public transportation to the day’s final location.

PD Na must have felt a little guilty about the no dinner bokbulbok, because he challenges Ho Dong to load a picture up on the 1n2d website in 10 minutes for a chance to see him (PD Na) sleeping outdoors by himself. Ho Dong gets a nice short lesson on SD card slots, USB ports, and the site but is unable to complete the mission within the given time allotment.

In the morning, the morning song gets the usual crowd up first – which means Su Geun and Ji Won are last of the bunch. The mission is to move the sand away from the flag without making the flag fall down. With Ji Won last in line, everyone in front of him does a good job of moving as much sand as possible. When Ji Won crouches down and touches the sand, the pole falls over and he’s chosen as the one who will make the day’s journey by his lonesome self.

The other members try to console Ji Won by reminding him that this could be his last solo trip before he gets married. (Tee hee.) But by the looks of things, it looks like the trip will be filled with a lot of bus rides, as there is no train station in the area. Ji Won’s still in good spirits and even gets the chance to meet up with one of his friends along the way for a taste of water sashimi (cold noodle dish).

The rest of the team enjoy a “spacious” ride towards their next destination: Cheongdo. The members look forward to visiting a minari or water dropwort (an herb) field where people can grill some meat on the spot to eat it with the freshly cut minari. (OMG – my mouth is watering.)

In order to earn the cash needed for the meat, the men are given a polaroid camera (with 10 pieces of film) and one hour to take pictures of the spring. The “photo” menu includes such items as $2 for spring flowers, $10 for grandma working in the field, $100 for a 4-leaf clover, etc.. But the grand prize is a photo of an UFO for 1 million won. Everyone and their mother know that the item is just there for fun but they can still dream…

KHD: Would be nice if we can get a UFO.
LSGi: That would be awesome. But unless it’s a stupid UFO, it’s highly unlikely to be captured by a polaroid… Maybe if it was a digital camera…
KHD: What do you think our rating would be if we had a UFO on the show?
LSGi: It would be off the charts.
KHD: It would be nice if they said “il-bak” before they left.

(BTW – how funny is it that the picture taking cartoon is of Ji Won!!)

The men try hard to get some good pictures but only end up with $25 worth of photos as they close in on the 1 hour mark. They decide that a scheme is needed to buy enough meat for all 6 men. It’s time to put the UFO in play.

Each person takes a role in the heist – distracting the staff, throwing the bottle cap into the air, hiding that action from the camer, etc. and ultimately they take a picture with “four” UFOs. Kim C and Seung Gi try to act as surprised as possible when the photo is taken, but the staff will have no part of their ridiculousness. But it’s not for a lack of trying.

Ho Dong: We have 4 UFOs. That’s 4 million won. Since it’s hard to prove or disprove the picture and it gives us a headache as well, let’s just call it even. Just give a delicious meal.

Seeing that it doesn’t look like a good situation, Kim C even tries to get Ji Won involved – as the resident expert on alien life form amongst the 1n2d members.

Ji Won: You have to burn that picture. They’ll do whatever they can to find the people who took the photo and erase their memory. They don’t want people to find out about them.
KimC: When you’re standing still, they come and suction you right up to it.

It’s all-in-all a pretty funny scene and makes me look forward to watching whatever else they’re going to be eating for the next 2 days. Now, I’m off to get me a snack!