Dongdaemun Market - Seoul

On Saturday, we went to check out Dongdaemun market. We had read that it is the largest market in Seoul, and that there were a variety of goods to be found. I have been on the hunt for some buttons, and heard that I might be able to find them here.

It was a beautiful sunny day, and by the afternoon we were able to walk around without our
jackets and scarves.

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Dongdaemun Market is located near its namesake of Dongdaemun (Great East Gate). Korea's largest wholesale and retail shopping district has 26 shopping malls, 30,000 specialty shops, and 50,000 manufacturers. The first "mall" we entered was the textile/craft mall. I had heard that I might be able to find wool and buttons here. Little did I know, that there would be an entire floor dedicated to both.

Level 1: knitting and wool

Level 2: bedding and textile

Level 3: Sewing supplies and buttons

Level 4: fabrics

Level 5: beads and supplies

We made a bee line for the basement, and were astonished at the plethora of stuff down there! There was wool everywhere, stacked in piles on the floor, that reached to the ceiling. Wherever there was space, there was wool. It was a bit of a challenge getting around, especially since we had our stroller. The aisles are VERY narrow, and there are products spilling out of the stores, and a lot of shoppers milling about. If I had to guess, there are probably close to 250 wool stores down there. Its a totally different shopping experience. There was so much to look at, that it was a bit overwhelming. Since the stores basically look the same, it was hard to remember if we had already been there.

This is the textile division, where they sell all products related to curtains, and bedding.



More wool......

We checked out the other floors, and burned ourselves out! Time for a break. We headed out and found some lunch, while Lexi had a nap in the stroller. When you order a dish in Korea, it comes with many side dishes.

Another thing we really like, is that the food courts don't use any disposable dishes. They have water dispensers that you fill your metal cup with, and your dishes are collected when you leave. Its a pretty Eco friendly country.

Seoul Tower

This weekend, Trevor's Uncle Marv and Aunt Lois were in Seoul for a conference, and had some spare time to do some sight-seeing with us. It was really great to have a visit with family, see familiar faces, and have a face to face chat in English! Lexi mistook Marv for Grandpa, so it was love at first sight.

We took a ride up the elevator to Seoul tower, and took in the view of the never ending sea of highrises. It was a relatively clear day out, thanks to a few days of rain and snow.











Its incredible how accurately they can measure the distance from this pain of glass to home. The question is ... where in Vancouver are they measuring to, withing 10 meters??

The funny thing is, its actually a TYPO! We put it into Google Earth to find out where that distance would get us, but found out its actually 8,174 km. OOPS!! I guess its too expensive to change one number.

Namdaemun Market

On Saturday we decided to attempt (for the second time), to explore Seoul. Our first attempt, the previous weekend, ended with us getting off the subway halfway there. Our normally happy and content daughter decided to express her displeasure with our plans and we caved under all the frowns and glares that we were getting. Public transit with a baby = no fun. This time, we took our car

The plan:
1. Check out the markets (with a buggy!
Yikes!!)
2. Stroll the streets (aka: human bumper karts
with frostbite)
3.Take in the culture (ignore # 4 - we
needed some of the comforts of home)
4. Find a Starbucks (feel a bit ashamed
about this one .... its only been a month)

Seoul is a bustling city, with over 11 million people! The drive into the city was a bit stressful, as its hard to navigate, when your map is written 100% in Korean. Thankfully, the destination we were heading for was not far off the beaten path. We snagged a FREE parking spot (albeit through sneaky means ... we "visited" one of Trevor's co-workers at the hotel he was staying.) We bundled up Lexi in the stroller, and started our trek to Namdaemun market. After a few wrong turns, new directions from a helpful English speaking Korean man, and 3km later: we arrived! We spotted a Starbucks, warmed our cold hands, and revelled in the taste of a good cup of coffee.

The population density in Seoul is 16,700 per sq km versus Vancouver at 1,650 per sq km. It explains why its nearly impossible to walk two steps without having someone bump into you, especially with a stroller. The market is very popular on weekends, and since its closed on Sundays, It was busy!

The market covers 10 acres, and there are about 10,000 stores. Its the largest market in Seoul, where you can buy things like: octopus, dried squid, ginseng, peanuts, dried beans and grains, vegetables, shoes, clothing, scarves, furs, fabrics etc. I happened to stumble upon a wool store, and picked up some supplies for a new project.

The streets are not accessible by car, (although the motorcycles sure zip through, at a rapid pace) and vendors set up shop in the alleys and walkways between buildings.

The market closes at 6:30 pm, and all the vendors wrap their goods, on their carts, and wheel them away. It was really nice to see the city lit up at night. There are many streets lined with trees, covered in white lights, and fountains are decorated, and buildings are lit with colorful lanterns which change color.

It was a fun day in Seoul! We now have a few more things on our list to explore, things we didn't have time to check out this time. I added more pics in the slideshow, if your interested.

We have been here 13 days so far, and I may have spent approximately 8 hours not confined to either our hotel, or our new apartment. So, I can honestly say that there isn't too much for me to share about Korea, other than that its COLD and DRY, and that they like Tai Chi more than yoga.

However, we have made a few grocery shopping trips, and that in itself is a fun experience. There are basically three options (that we have discovered) to buy food: a ) E-Mart (similar to Walmart) b)Costco c) small corner stores. When we moved into our apartment this past week, we stopped in at the E-mart just down our street, and it took a lot longer than normal to find what we needed. For instance eggs: There is a giant section reserved for eggs. Koreans seem to love eggs. If you don't pay attention you might end up with sulfur eggs, liquor eggs, fertilized eggs or ginseng eggs. If the product is made in Korea, it generally will not have an English description, but thankfully for us, there is usually an imported option as well, which has both languages. So most of the time it comes down to comparison. Some times it works, some times it doesn't. For instance: Flour. This picture represents three different types. The one on the far right was experiment number #1 - pizza dough which turned out....but strangely. Not surprising though, considering that we now have decided it must be noodle flour. The middle bag was experiment #2- oatmeal cookies- which were a bit tough. I still have no idea what type of flour it is. Lastly on the left, the newly acquired all purpose flour. Thankfully, we were able to find a bag that clearly indicated what it was for.

Its fun to check out the many unfamiliar foods available. There is an abundant variety of dried foods: dried fish, seaweed, roots, silk worms (yummm!) etc. The spices are limited, so I'm glad I brought a variety with me. I try to keep an open mind about trying new things, but there are some that just hold no appeal for me.

We took a trip to Costco, which is about 25 minutes from our place, and it was an experience that can only be described as a GONG SHOW. You know its busy when there are traffic control people physically pushing back the barging carts, so that people merge fairly while tying to get down the people mover between floors. We are walking up and down the aisles, and as we get to the main intersection I'm hearing Trevor saying to me" Keep moving Nic, don't stop now or you'll never make it, go, go, go!". It was like we were in the red sea, and if we stopped the wall of people might come crashing down. After 2.5 hours we did make it out of there, vowing not to return until desperate. The items were similar to Costco at home, but some of the prices varied drastically. Prime example: Kirkland maple syrup. Cost at home? maybe 18 bucks. Here? 42,000 WON!! (that's $42.00 CDN). So we will have to suck it up and use Aunt Jemima at a whopping 14,500 Won ($14.50 CDN) Ouch.

We moved into our apartment a week ago today. Everything is unpacked, and we are settling in. For the most part, we now know how to use our appliances. We are getting used to the periodic PA announcements, and since we have no idea what they are saying (is the building burning? is there a robber on the loose? Are they fumigating the underground?) we have decided that the only thing to do is ignore them. Our television has maybe 10 English channels, (though none are full-time English) which seem to play either movies or Will and Grace. Thankfully we have an abundant selection of DVDs, and we brought our Wii, so we should have that base covered. Of course, we also bought a Vonage box (ie. internet phone), so talking on the phone is free (aside from the monthly charge). Now that our stuff is unpacked and the apartment is setup, I intend to make full use of that.

Anyway, that's all for now and I want to go to bed. Before I do though, here's a video tour of our apartment for your enjoyment.

First Day in Korea

We had a great trip to Incheon, Korea! There are a number of reasons I am so impressed with how things turned out:

1) The check-in process went uber smoothly. We had two extra sets of hands to help with all the luggage (thanks Mike and Jordan!!). Also, we couldn't leave without one last dose of milestones hollandaise sauce....hmmn eggs benny!
2)Lexi was a model baby on the plane. Barely a peep out of her!! The flight attendants loved her, and kept bringing her little treats.
3)The food....that we got....was really tasty. However, for some reason the flight attendant would glance at us, quickly pass, and serve the people behind us. Weird...still haven`t figured that one out yet.
4)We had three seats to ourselves, and lots of leg room. We laid a blanket out on the floor in front of us, and Lexi had a 2.5x4ft section to crawl around. What a change from the last cramped flight I was on.
5)We arrived safely!
6)Customs, baggage, and a 60 minute drive later, and we were at the hotel. What a swanky place it is!

It was a pretty long day yesterday, so I`m really feeling for Trevor that he had to go to work already! We tried to get to bed as soon as possible last night, since we figured Lexi would be up quite early. She woke up four times in the night, and at 4:30 (Korea time) she was ready to greet the world, ready or not!

We went down to the restaurant for a buffet breakfast at 6:30, and when we looked outside, there was a blanket of fresh white snow. With the snow still falling, it is pretty likely that Trevor's first day might start a little later that usual. His shuttle was supposed to pick him up at 7:15, but since the weather was bad, the shuttle was down, and he had to take a taxi. Apparently he will be picked up this evening at 6pm, so lexi and I can look forward to seeing him at 6:30 ish.

After Trev left for work, Lexi and I took a tour of the hotel, and are now chilling out in our room. She just fell asleep, and judging by my drooping eyelids, I might quickly follow. Gotta catch up on some Z`s!! But first: BLOG. I told myself that the one thing on my `to do list`was to start a blog, so here goes!