The Soul of Seoul Tours: The S(e)oul Derby Recap
On July 17th, fourteen teams came together to set the pace and win that race… if they could.
The weather wasn’t superb, but the drizzle gave everyone a little push to move and groove and get indoors that much sooner. The teams included expat teachers, Koreans, service people and families looking to do something a little different with their Saturday afternoon.
The premise of the event was that The Soul of Seoul Tours would give out a list of scavenger hunt clues which included things like finding someone walking around in a Hanbok, piling into a phone booth, making funny faces, hunting for kimbap and a host of other cultural, quirky and fun things. This event was a bit different from our previous scavenger hunt, Scavenging for S(e)oul, in that this hunt also included missions along the way.
At the start of the event, everyone received a free bottle of Snapple from our sponsor Snapple Korea and after getting a great group shot, we passed out the list of clues, our logo which had to show up in every photo to ensure that all photos were taken on this very day and they received their first mission clue.
AND THE TEAMS WERE OFF!
Missed the event? Don’t worry, you can buy The Seoul Derby – Personal Edition! Head out for fun with friends, family and set your own timeframe!
Teams had to do different cultural or educational missions like play yutnori, a traditional Korean game or race along Insadong Street with a memorized list of items to locate and shoot a picture of along the way. The missions were more a bit more points than the scavenger hunt clues which were 5-10 points each.
The missions however were 10-20 and also gave the teams a good idea of the route to take to get the maximum number of points. Some of the missions stopped by other sponsors of the event like Mix & Malt up in Hyewha and High Street Market in Itaewon. While they weren’t hunting for mission locations they were searching high and low for some of the other clues like a wall of ivy or the new I.Seoul.U logo to take a picture in front of.
Some of our other great sponsors included the TrickEye Museum in Hongdae where the winners can jump into some 3D photos and Create Wellness which gave the top winners a free hour-long massage which I’m sure they could all use after running around the city. For some our foodies that attended, prizes included gift certificates to the likes of OK Burger on the Cheonggyecheon where Joe McPherson of Zen Kimchi recently started management and L’Empreinte Bistro Seoul where diners can taste authentic French cuisine.
Some of our sponsors were so enthused by the event that they not only donated gift certificates or other prizes, but they also put a team together themselves. Cali Kitchen in Itaewon, which has some outstanding reviews on their site, and Vineworks Korea, a wine tasting and educational group, manned up literally and came for the race.
The top five teams were presented with gift certificates from our sponsors and while not everyone could be a winner, other teams were still able to win prizes from our raffle prizes provided by yet more sponsors. In the end, there were more winners than non-winners, which is exactly how we like to hold events. Some of our other great sponsors included Banh Mi, who is serving up delicious Vietnamese sandwiches as well as Sprout, who has been making her own vegan food and just opened up a location to work out of in HBC. Though not all of our restaurant sponsors deliver, that’s not a problem, since we also had gift certificates provided by Shuttle Delivery, a service that can deliver those foods that just need to be eaten now… while at home.
The teams gathered at 6:00pm at 3 Alley in Itaewon to eat some grub and await the winners announcements. The location of the establishment is perfect as it’s easy to find right on the Itaewon strip and Chef Wayne keeps the place in tip-top shape. They’ve got amazing food and drinks and the ability to showcase everything easily on their pull down screen behind the bar is perfect for events like this and others including those all important sporting games that other patrons head there for.
Veronica from Gastro Tour was on hand to give out a prize she offered from Gastro Tour and Ian from Vineworks handed out a bottle of wine. By the end, everyone seemed full and happy as they’d raced around the city, even though it was a bit rainy, with some friends, family or others. We hope that everyone had a great time and enjoyed their time with each other and perhaps saw some parts of the city they hadn’t yet seen that they want to head back to.
This is why we hold events like this because while the competition is fun and revs us up, it’s still an opportunity to enjoy the city of Seoul in a different manner, meet new people, learn a bit more about the culture and traditions and see some different locations too.
It’s also an opportunity for us to reach out to other small businesses like SF Bagels located in Yeonnam-dong who is whipping up some delicious sourdough goods and Route 66 in Itaewon which offers up their own slice of heaven to help promote each other and introduce each other to new audiences. We believe in community and helping each other and meeting each other and learning from each other.. and that’s just what happened this month!
We thank everyone for joining and coming out and supporting us in this endeavor and if you’d like to join us for a future event, check out The Soul of Seoul Facebook Page and like to learn about upcoming events.
