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| Seoul Racecourse |
Well I was planning on going to the science museum this morning. They were meeting at 9:30am. I got up at 7:30am and decided I needed more sleep so I logged into meetup and changed my RSVP to 'no' 2 hrs before the event.ha. I was still going to my 2nd meetup of the day.
**If you ever live in South Korea I recommend joining the Travel and Culture group on meetup.com. Here's the web address: http://travel.meetup.com/715/
Its free to join. The group just hit 1000 members this week. The organizer is a cool guy. He's a Korean who grew up in the USA so he's fluent in English. He plans a lot of meetups. I just started going to meetups after being here for 11 months. I wish I would have joined sooner!! Its a great way to see Korea and meet tons of cool new people.***
I woke up at 11am. I went to the meetup at the seoul racecourse at 1pm. There were 6 of us there at first. I met a guy from Jacksonville, Florida who had actually heard of Jefferson. haha. I know people in SC who have never heard of it!! I also met a girl from Asheville, NC. I got to meet new people since the organizer was the only person I knew. More people started showing up later. I think we had about 20-30 in the end. Mostly Americans. There were 3 Koreans who came-2 of them were Korean Americans. I'm not sure about the other one.
We got to sit in the foreigners lounge inside of "Luckyville".haha. Wow. I didn't know that horse racing was such a popular sport in South Korea. That place was packed! It was hard to get around because there were so many people. Its mostly middle aged Korean men. They really get into it. They are all standing around reading the stats and the odds and there are tons of betting machines where you can place your bet. Some of the people in our group said they saw Koreans betting 100,000 won (about $90) on one horse! wow. I wonder how many people there have serious gambling problems!
Our group was making small bets anywhere from 100 won to 10,000 won. They were reading the stats and the odds to see which one they should bet on. Most people were losing. One girl won 28,000 won (about $25).
We sat in the lounge for most of the races. We went down to the track to watch one race. We went down the paddock to see them show off the horses before the race. They just walk the horses around a circle to let everyone see them.
There are a lot of races during the day. I think we watched about 6 races. They only race once around the track anywhere from 1100 meters to 1900 meters. There is a 30-1hr break between the races. Thats when everyone is watching the stats and making their bets.
We ate in between races where there was a big gap before the next race. We went down to a Korean restaurant. I finally tried bimbimbap (비빔밥). I scooped out the gochujang(chili pepper paste). It was actually pretty good.
The word literally means "mixed rice." Bibimbap is served as a bowl of warm white rice topped with namul (sautéed and seasoned vegetables) and gochujang (chili pepper paste). A raw or fried egg and sliced meat (usually beef) are common additions. The ingredients are stirred together thoroughly just before eating.It can be served either cold or hot
Most of the group left around 5:30. I decided to stay to watch the last race at 5:55pm. I should have gotten out before the major rush!! I actually made a bet on the last race. I chose the horse with the best record to win and just a random horse to place. I only bet 2000 won (about $1.50). My horses lost! There were 8 horses and mine didn't even place in the top 5. oh well. I just didn't bet because I don't like throwing money away and I don't have any strategy to pick the best horse.
The races were over at 6pm. It was really crowded trying to get out. There were so many people. When we got down the subway station entrance it was chaos. Everyone was packed like sardines and we were being pushed along by the crowd. Then the subway was crowded too. Barely enough room to move!
I had a good time and it was an interesting thing to experience. Will I do it again? Probably not.
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How to get there: Line 4 Seoul Racecourse park Exit 2
Entrance Fee: 800 won (less than $1.00..very cheap!)
Notes: There is a “Foreigner’s Lounge” on the fourth floor of Luckyville which provides a great view over the entire course and has an information desk with English language race-cards and guides on how to bet as well as extremely friendly and helpful staff.
No alcohol or smoking allowed inside.
Entrance Fee: 800 won (less than $1.00..very cheap!)
Notes: There is a “Foreigner’s Lounge” on the fourth floor of Luckyville which provides a great view over the entire course and has an information desk with English language race-cards and guides on how to bet as well as extremely friendly and helpful staff.
No alcohol or smoking allowed inside.
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