Dongdaemun and Insadong

Saturday, my friend Kat and I went shopping with two friends who drove up from Camp Humphries (near Osan, south of Seoul). It turned into an 11 hour marathon, starting in Insadong, the antiques market, and ending in Dongdaemun, a huge outside market surrounding several department stores. Although there were some purchases (Merry Christmas!!), it turned out to be more of Korean cultural experience than anything else.

In Insadong, there were many beautiful Asian antiques, but the prices were not cheap, and I came home with only a scarf and a few gifts. The best part of the trip there was visiting a tea room that Kat had visited. We sat in sock-feet on the floor, and there were maybe a dozen tiny little birds flying around loose in the restaurant. Several people have wondered about the poop factor, but I didn't have any problems. Hey, when in Rome... There were only 6-7 items on the menu, all teas- although they did serve a few complimentary "cookies." I think one was made from rice or bean curd. The tea was very unusual, and had an orange's worth of peel on the bottom. Even at $6 a pop, it was worth it for the tea and the experience.

Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me, but one of the craziest things we saw were two HUGE stages set up outside the department stores, featuring dance-offs. One was had four girls individually dancing against each other, and the other stage had what looked to be professional groups- with matching gold lame bras in one instance- dancing to several songs before switching out. There were more spotlights and fog machines than at one of our Halloween parties (ha ha!).

We ate dinner at a Korean restaurant. We weren't sure at first if they had English menus, so we all just guessed Korean dishes, and fortunately, they had everything we asked for- mandu (wontons), udong (Japanese noodles), kimbap (similar to a California roll), and raman (spicier than in the U.S.). I felt like a real regular. The four of us ordered a total of seven dishes, and the total was 13,000 won, or $13.00. Unbelievable.

After dinner, we headed to the outside markets. They only begin to be set up at 9:00 pm, and many people shop well into the morning hours. I had been to Namdaemun, another open market, but this one was primarily clothes and accessories. Everything was "name brand" and cheap, cheap, cheap. I am not sure how "real" anything in Korea is, but if you're not concerned about it, there is a ton of shopping available.

Also out at the market were food vendors beyond anything you've seen before. One of my favorite things to see are the corndogs- one kind is a hotdog rolled in french fries rather than corn meal. For the seafood lover, there was squid, octopus, fish, and all manner of sea life that I didn't want to inspect very closely. Another specialty is some kind of fried bugs that I have heard are popular with kids. On a more positive note, we got some kind of ball-shaped pancakes with bean curd in the middle that were so delicious.

It was a lot of fun, but I was totally done by the time I rolled home at midnight. I think it will be a while before I have the energy to go back for round two.