Seoul was just a stopover from Mongolia on our way back to Manila. We came here to shop. And eat. Seriously.

Rice cakes dipped in that very red chili sauce. Pork barbecues. Onion pancakes. Rice crispies. Korean sausages.

Bibimbap. I had it in flight (KAL) but that doesn't count. We ordered it in a restaurant (that was good!). But after Sunday mass here in Myeongdong Cathedral, a food bazaar included a bibimbap stall.

I just love watching this lady prepare my bibimbap -- scooping rice into a bowl, garnished with all sorts of veggies and seaweeds, topped with an egg, and finally drizzled with sesame oil and chili sauce.

Then there was this man who invited us for a drink in one of those kiosks behind the cathedral. With hand gestures, we understood that this brown gelatinous food goes best with the drink.

I wished he got us some of those grilled octopus and sausages instead but no, this ex-Mayor Atienza lookalike insists we got a match!

But we're only too happy to have made friends with these Korean Catholics. One man looked at my bibimbap bowl and gestured it needed more ingredients, took my bowl back to the stall and returned with.... More!

Our last meal in Seoul. We've decided on this seafood resto just a couple of blocks from our Nine Tree Hotel. Instead we dined in this unnamed dining place with good looking meats ready to grill and those pancakes locals simply call Korean pizza.

Too good to resist. Grilled beef and pork belly matched with spring onion pancakes, bibimbap, japchae,and an assortment of Banchans.

Nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, it's a very typical Korean meal. But. Simply. Delish. To die for. How can you leave Seoul without savoring these Korean dishes?

It's a very unassuming place. And it's right down an alley with similar establishments. Too bad we can't read Korean characters. If there was an English translation, we failed to notice. Can you blame us?

Yoogane has been serving Korea's popular dish of marinated diced chicken since the 1980's. We ordered this Korean spiced chicken with an assortment of seafood -- prawns, octopus, mussels -- stir fried with rice and that very Korean chili pepper sauce.

We passed this restaurant near the Myeongdong Station on our way to the Cathedral the day before. By dinner time it was packed. From outside, the dish reminded me of paella but for the generous dose of chili pepper sauce. Just perfect on this rainy night!