TL;DR – Who’s watching DOTS, let’s drink up!
Yes, I’m referring to the super-hot Korean drama, Descendants of the Sun (DOTS).
It seems that every other person I know is watching it. Not just the ladies, even my male friends are watching it. The drama is so hot that the Chinese government has resorted to issuing warnings to its people that watching it could potentially land the in legal troubles, although I have no idea what troubles there could be other than piracy. I am aware of the danger of how married women might start having unrealistic fantasies about the real men in their real lives though.
On the other hand, the Prime Minister of Thailand has encouraged the Thais to watch the drama, mentioning the show of patriotism and sacrifice for one’s country.
What about you? Do you watch DOTS? And why? I suppose some people watch DOTS for the male and female leads, Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Gyo. They are also known as the Song-Song couple (Song-Song couple used to refer to Song Joong Ki and Song Ji Hyo on Running Man, you know!)
But I also know of people who like the second couple in the drama, Yoon Myung Joo (played by Kim Ji Won) and Seo Dae Young (played by Jin Goo). By the way, did you recognise Kim Ji Won from the hit drama, The Heirs? She was sporting a very different look with long, straight hair and fringe then.
Anyway, I stumbled upon a blogpost over the weekend and thought I’d translate the key bits for those of you who are crazy about (1)DOTS, (2)visiting Korea, and (3)drinking, hehe!
So if you’ve watched DOTS, you might have noticed the charming lil’ drinking place when Myung Joo and Dae Young went in episode 4. That drinking place is called 산장 (San-Jang), it can be loosely translated into ‘hut’. The place looks like a makgeolli bar to me.
Apparently San-Jang is right along Hongdae near Sang-su subway station. It looks kindda run-down from the outside and it’s located up a flight of stairs. There’s a wall of graffiti on street level, so you might just miss it as you walk along.
Lots of vintage feel yo… I like!
Hardly surprising that the owner has hung up the stills from DOTS. It’s apparently a rather popular place for filming and celebrities come by too, it seems. There are stills from other dramas and also autographs from celebs on the walls of San-Jang.
San-Jang is famous for their Korean rice wine, dongdong-ju (동동주，東東酒), and you can read more about the difference between makgeolli and dongdong-ju here.
Makgeolli bars such as this are fantastic to sit and chill with friends or with your other half. The Koreans don’t usually have their dinner at makgeolli bars, these bars tend to be the second or even third stop after dinner. So the menu is mostly finger food to go with drinks, or what the Koreans call ‘anju‘. Many people like to order Korean pancake or pa-jeon to go with their rice wine, so you can try that if you’re there.
One more little tidbit for you. Koreans love having their makgeolli-pajeon (rice wine and pancake) combo when it rains.
San-Jang (산장)
Address：Seoul, Mapo-gu, Wa-u-san-ro 42 (Sangsu-dong 143-20)
서울시 마포구 와우산로 42 (상수동 143-30)
首尔市 麻浦区 臥牛山路42 (上水洞 143-30)
Tel：02-322-3637
Opening Hours:
(Lunch) 11:50am to 14:30pm
(Dinner) 17:00pm to 02:00am
Directions:
Subway Line #6, Sangsu-station (상수역, No.623)
Exit 1 or 2, turn left, go straight for 50 metres, San-Jang is on your right.
Meanwhile, I’ll leave with this trailer for the special episode of DOTS.