Dongdaemun Fabric Market

Last week while in Seoul, my friend and I went to the amazing shopping district called Dongdaemun.  According to my Lonely Planet Seoul guidebook, Dongdaemun has "over 30,000 stores and stalls that are supplied by 50,000 local manufacturing companies."  Can you even try to picture that in your mind? This place is completely overwhelming!  You could spend days here and still only scratch the surface.  One of the best things about it is that you can bargain the prices!

I have never experienced shopping like this before and I can't wait to return!  I must mention, however, that the average Korean women is a petite 5'3" and I measure in at a whopping 5'1" so shopping here for clothes and shoes is a dream for me - everything fits and doesn't need hemmed!  Unfortunately for the average taller Americans, shopping here can be very difficult as larger sizes simply aren't available.

On this trip, we spent most of our time in the Dongdaemun fabric market.  Words cannot even begin to describe the enormous amount and variety of fabric and sewing notions available here.  There was floor upon floor and row upon row of vendor stalls taking up every available inch of space from floor to ceiling selling every color of every item.  This is literally the only store you would ever need for any sewing project you would have in your entire life!  If you don't sew, you can still pick out what you like and have things custom made.

There were many suit fabric stores - choose your fabric and have it made into a custom tailored suit!

The traditional Korean dress is called a hanbok.  There was an entire floor of the building devoted to hanboks. You can have them specially designed and made just for you in the fabrics of your choosing.

A variety of children's hanboks.

The outside of the fabric market building

******

"Whoever said money can't buy happiness

simply didn't know where to go shopping."

~Bo Derek 

Buraksan Park

Johnnie is home!! He's been TDY for the past almost 6 weeks and finally returned on Friday evening. If you've been following our blog, you can see that I've kept busy while he was gone but I was still missing him every minute of every day :)

We took advantage of the beautiful weather on Saturday and headed out (with Dulce) to a nearby park that we've heard about to do some hiking, talking, and to simply enjoy each other's company. Buraksan Park is only 1 mile from our apartment and it's a hidden gem that I'm sure we'll return to many times. We climbed a small, unassuming trail to the ridge only to find a wide, well-worn path along the ridge top that was lined with a lot of random exercise equipment, benches, lookout towers, flowering trees, and tons of other people who came to enjoy the day there as well.

Pictures of various wildlife we're likely to see - it all looks harmless.

Working the legs...

Korean people love using the random exercise equipment!

I think the machine Johnnie is for working your abs

but I'm not sure about the table the red-hat-guy is on.

Ramps for doing sit-ups

Elliptical machines

This swinging leg machine may be more fun than an actual workout.

Pumping some iron :)

After hiking a distance, the trail came to an intersection with a bike path. There were some tent booths set up selling drinks and hiking poles, a bathroom building, and benches for resting. We drank some iced green tea while deciding on which path to take. The hiking trail continued along the ridge for another 2+ miles to an overlook, at which point we would have to return on the same path back to this intersection. The bike path went winding through the hills, ending close to where we started.

Some day we will hike to the overlook but today we decided to check out the bike path. The path is amazing and I am so excited to have something like this so close to home! The paved path undulates through the woods, twisting and turning past houses and farms. It's only a couple miles long but the hills will make it a great workout for biking or running.

This is going to be gorgeous when the vines covering it turn green!

We strolled back to our apartment down the sidewalk under the blooming cherry blossom trees that line the city streets. The beauty of spring is slowly pushing away signs of the harsh winter.

*******

"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm,

and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can

have if only we seek them with our eyes open."

~Jawaharial Nehru

Festival Eats and Treats

There were a lot of interesting things to see at the Hangang Yeouido Spring Flower Festival in Seoul!  There were food vendors set up selling some unique food that I've heard about but haven't seen until now.  There were also a lot of booths set up providing personal health and wellness information and demonstrations.

Some kind of normal-looking, fried, sugary goodness :)

Ddeokbokki (or Tteokbokki) is little rice cakes in spicy sauce.

I've seen these little shells on beaches in the States.  I have NO idea how they're eaten and I don't know enough Korean to be able to ask!

This is Beondegi - boiled silkworm pupas (silkworms at the stage between larvae and adult).  It smells disgusting but my Korean students swear that it's delicious.

Yeah, thought you might want to see a close-up of these guys :)

Being the adventurous crazy person I am, I had to try one!  When else will I ever get the chance to do this stuff in my life?  Honestly, it tasted pretty bad - soft, juicy, and fishy/shrimpy-tasting.  I'm glad that I tried it but I will never eat it again!

This booth was all about healthy eating.  The big yellow blob on the left side of the picture is representative of 5 kilograms of body fat - yuck!

A demonstration on proper brushing technique at the dental health booth.

The breast health booth.  I love how these women aren't shy about participating in the how-to demonstration!

Hey, that looks like...

Why yes, it's Condom Man!  Sexual health is an important part of life.

There was also a free face painting booth!  This little guy is getting a crab painted on his hand.

The friend I was with got a bracelet of cherry blossoms painted on her wrist.

*******

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart."

-Confucius

Signs of Spring

Spring is in the air!  The weather is finally starting to warm up and things are starting to bloom.  The first two photos, taken in the city we live in, are of a variety of Magnolia tree that is blooming everywhere right now.  The rest of the photos were taken yesterday at the Annual Hangang Yeouido Spring Flower Festival in Seoul.  Most of the Cherry Blossom trees were not in full bloom yet but were still a beautiful sight to see.

*******

"No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow."

~Proverb

Convenience Stores

There seems to be a convenience store on almost every corner here and most of them have English names.  These stores are packed full of sodas, juices, candy, cookies, chips, and instant noodles - all of the delicious bad-for-you things that are surely contributing to the increasing waist size of Korea.  These stores also sell milk, beer, cigarettes, dried squid and fish, and questionable looking vacuum packed meat products.  The larger stores also sell bread, eggs, fruits, vegetables, toiletries, and various household items.

Family Mart is one of the most common.

The all too familiar 7-Eleven.

You can buy a cold drink and enjoy it outside under the umbrella :)

GS25 is one of the largest chains and used to be owned by LG.

The car on the sidewalk?  Not exactly a parking space :)

And the award for the most clever name goes to... Buy The Way!

*******

"The odds of going to the store for a loaf of bread and 

coming home with only a loaf of bread are a billion to one."

~Erma Bombeck