Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Heart and Seoul Travel Log: Food for the Soul Series 1 Entry #2- Veggie Bibimbap, Doenjang-guk, Jeyuk Bokkeum and Ssam

Photo by Neil Johann Matias
Several years ago, I watched an interview on YouTube featuring Park Seojoon and Sam Oh at a fan meet in Manila. He was asked to guess which Korean food Filipinos liked most. Without hesitation, he answered, “Bibimbap.” As it turns out, that wasn’t the top choice but now, after a recent trip to Seoul during Festa Season, I understand why PSJ said it so confidently.

Bibimbap: A Bowl of Rainbow

Bibimbap is a humble dish, yet it’s packed with flavor and nutrition. A single bowl offers a balanced mix of carbohydrates, protein, fiber, and essential vitamins. It was served to us sizzling in a hot stone bowl, so pretty to look at, with the vibrant colors of assorted vegetables like a rainbow. On top sat one bright egg yolk, waiting to be stirred into its nourishing companions. That afternoon, it became our lunch on our first full day in Seoul: a glowing bowl of veggie bibimbap, hot and vibrant, just like the city itself.

What followed was a long walk through the Gangnam district—up a steep incline, then along a quiet slope that led to a narrow alley, where Hyuga Café, Bangtan’s old dorm, now stands. We sat there to rest our feet. Although fans and ARMYs arrived in small waves, there was a hush in the air—a quiet reverence for the place where the Tannies once lived during their salad days.

We were lucky: we met the popular ARMY vlogger Tom Koods, who graciously said yes to a photo. Then we continued our walk to the old Big Hit building. The energy there was just as still, just as electric. ARMYs really are something.

This lived experience is beyond fangirling. This is, truly, a pilgrimage.

In contrast to the gloss and shine of Hangang-daero, this street in Gangnam, where the old Big Hit building still stands, evokes a sacred nostalgia. Up on that rooftop is where the Tannies once poured out their heartaches, expectations met and unmet. The video is still on YouTube, and now, here I am, sharing this moment with my ARMY daughter.

The building may have a new owner now, but the writing on the walls—left by ARMYs—will never fade. Because, truly, it is written in the heart.

Hakdong Park and Yoojung Sikdang


We continued walking toward Hakdong Park, a quiet corner of the city where Bangtan used to hang out after training—or in between long practice sessions. The legendary swing, where RM and Jimin once sat, became a kind of station for us too—a place to pause, to recreate a moment of conversation, brotherhood, and rest.

While we were there, I took out my sketchbook and began to draw. I painted the flowers, hydrangeas, I think, that grow along the sidewalk in front of Hyuga Café. It was my way of marking the moment. Not just passing through, but remembering with my hands.

From Hakdong Park, we walked a few blocks more. My ARMY daughter and I marveled at the urban architecture—part brutalist, part unexpectedly traditional. We couldn’t help but wonder how, in the midst of such modernity, tiled-roof houses still stood with quiet dignity.


Then, as we turned the corner, we saw it: Yoojung Sikdang, the humble eatery where Bangtan once gathered for warm meals of doenjang-guk (soup), jeyuk bokkeum (spicy grilled pork), and ssam (vegetable wraps). In that small, cramped space, we dined without complaint about the closeness. When the food was served, it was the soup that drew me in right away: comforting, grounding, healing.

And the vegetable wraps! Juicy, sweet, and minty. I didn’t expect perilla leaves to taste like oregano, with a hint of bitterness—but it worked. Every bite was simple yet surprising, like a dish that knows its story and doesn’t need to impress, only to nourish.

Each dish was modest yet nourishing: doenjang-guk, rich in probiotics and protein; spicy jeyuk bokkeum, high in energy and flavor; and fresh leafy ssam, balancing it all with fiber and vitamins. It was easy to see how food like this could sustain not just bodies in training, but hearts with big dreams and endless hope.

I am truly grateful to have experienced this gastro-cultural immersion on Day 1 of the ARMY tour. We weren’t just paying homage to the path the Tannies walked, we were also finally putting names to the flavors we’ve long seen in the stories of our favorite K-dramas.

In Hospital Playlist, the Lacking Five would devour huge wraps of spicy grilled pork after long hours in the operating room or late-night rounds. Yoo Yeonsoek's character, Dr. Ahn, would come home to his mother’s place and eat bibimbap with gusto and joy.

The Tannies kept returning to Yoojung Sikdang because, like many of us, they were far from home. And there, the ahjumma’s cooking humble, warm, and made with care fed not just their bodies. These meals weren’t luxury they were survival, comfort, and love in a bowl or wrap. 

This is one face of Seoul we met on Day 1. And it will stay with us, long after the meals are over.


Meeting Art Exhibit: Cyanotype Prints on Paper | Digital Art January 2024

Cyanotype Prints on Paper | Digital Art January 2024

Artist: Zarah G and Sin So

This series of cyanotype postcards draws direct inspiration from Indigo, Kim Namjoon’s deeply personal solo album. Much like the album that is textured with reflection, memory, and quiet revelation, each print in this set explores shape, negative space, and the rhythm of natural forms.
Feathers, blooms, lace, and leaves appear and vanish in the play of sun and shadow. No two impressions are the same, but all are part of a single, unfolding narrative: one that values the imperfect, the processual, the raw.
These were created not to impress but to express. To hold a moment still. To echo Namjoon’s invitation to live sincerely, and to notice beauty not in permanence, but in passing.
The postcards were sold to raise funds for my Papa’s therapy and medical needs, as he bravely battles dementia and prostate disease. Every card carried with it not just light and shadow but love, memory, and the quiet hope of healing.

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

ARMY Glow Up 2025 Certificate of Commitment

Almost two years kong itinago at inalagaan ang Certificate of Commitment ng ARMY Glow Up Campaign na parang relic na huwag lang mawala, mapunit, o makalimutan.

Imposibleng mapirmahan ito ng kahit isa sa mga Tannies. Wala rin akong limpak-limpak na pera o koneksyon para makabili ng VIP exclusive ticket sa concert ni Hobi; yung may send-off at autograph session para sa ilang mapapalad. Ganun talaga sa isang consumer capitalist na ekonomiya.
Pero sa awa ng Diyos, natuloy ang ARMY Tour nitong Festa 2025. Naihatid at naialay ko rin ang certificate sa lumang Big Hit building kung saan nagsimula ang Bangtan.
Ang dami ko ding gustong pasalamatan. Alam n’yo na yun kung ano at kung sino-sino kayo! 💜
Sumakses tayo!
Apobangpo!
Purple and true!

Book Blog Tour: Grandma Yogini by Raven Howell


I signed up once again for a book blog tour with Women Writing (US) that will kickstart in August. Here is a preview of the featured book, Grandma Yogini by Raven Howell.

Henry and his sister, Meredith can hardly wait for Grandma to arrive for a visit. But what should they expect? Among the children's diverse friends and their grandmothers who bake, create art, and speak Spanish, will Grandma be able to share something unique and fun with the kids?

Henry's fears are alleviated when, not long after arrival, they flutter like butterflies, slither like snakes, and enjoy other challenges of stretching their muscles and calming their minds. This is no run-of-the-mill grandma, and when it’s time for goodbye, the kids know this was the BEST grandma visit ever.

Publisher: Nymeria Publishing
ISBN-10: 8991699372
ISBN-13: 979-8991699372
Print Length: 30 pages

Watch for my review! The book is a lot of fun! 


Monday, June 30, 2025

Travel Log Day 2: The Tale of the Joseon Vessel

One of the stops in Day 2 of our ARMY Tour was a department store in Euljiro6-ga. Our tour guide, Jenny, brought us to Seoul’s 168. And yes, it reminded us of Divisoria, alright!

With a limited budget, my purchases were small and few. This was the part of the tour when converting won to peso became a math quiz and I had to put off buying more than what we needed or remember why we came to Seoul in the first place. But stores and marketplaces have their own kind of stories to tell. They speak of the city too, to its tourists and travelers. And this particular story is one that connected us to BTS; to its leader, Kim Namjoon, most especially.
I was quietly marveling at tea cups and ceramic bowls, ARMY daughter was just a few steps away, when one of my Tita ARMY friends pulled me aside. There, tucked in a quiet corner of a display shelf, stood the porcelain bottle or vessel that Kim Namjoon once used as his profile photo on Instagram back in December 2024.
We were stunned.
ARMY chingu and I stared at it with wide eyes: half in awe, half in disbelief. Was it the original? A reproduction? It was certainly a moment of temptation. Do we buy it or not? And standing there, weighing my options, I thought about the coming days and weeks and months; the responsibilities I am to face back in Manila.
In the end, we didn’t.
Maybe the vessel was not meant to be taken home, but simply noticed. Though a reproduction, to behold something Namjoon once beheld and leave it be was enough.
More than this, it was a full-circle moment. One that transported me back to something I wrote in December 8, 2024:
“The Joseon vase, it’s a bottle actually, as curated by the National Museum of Korea, is simple, elegant and astute. It is the rope design that makes the art piece compelling. While the porcelain stands like a Joseon nobility, the golden brown rope tethers it to the ground. It conveys being tied to something or to someone. A connection to one’s roots or heritage. An expression of loyalty. A bond. A devotion.”
At the time I wrote it, I was grieving; mourning a mother recently lost; a father slowly fading into forgetfulness. And in the same breath, I was also letting go of a role in a fan community I had once poured my heart and commitment into. Yet, there I was in a tourist’s trap, standing in front of a reproduction of a porcelain vessel that my bias favored, with my ARMY daughter and ARMY friend on either side of me. I suddenly felt the swirl of grace and the swell of gratitude envelop me all at once.
Days later, I would sketch and paint that vessel from a photo I took. And now, here I am, sharing this log, recalling that moment of serendipity and surprise with a fellow Namjoon-biased ARMY and pottery enthusiast. It was bittersweet. To stand before a similar object Namjoon quietly adored. For why else would he choose it as his profile picture if not to say something he couldn’t with words?
Vessels are not just containers of food, water, oil, wine, perfume, medicines and tonics. They hold the essential things that sustain life, stories, memories and hope.
My friend and I looked at each other, wordless for a moment before I said, “We have reason to go back.”
She smiled. “And we know where to look.”
As for ARMY daughter, I know she is proud of me for making the better choice.
Apobangpo! Purple and true!

©️zarahgeeh 💜🙏💜
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