As everyone knows, I love to shop and shopping in Korea is quite fun. Vinny and I woke up this morning and wanted to go back to the same breakfast place as our first day. This time we wanted to be prepared for the language barrier so we described what we had yesterday and then had the front desk staff write down in Korean what we wanted to order. Armed with our small sheet of paper, we entered the cafe and were ready to hand our order over, when voila! An English menu appeared! Now where was this menu yesterday when we needed it?
After another delicious breakfast of Tteok-Guk (the soup with the rice cakes in it) and Tok-Mun-Du-Guk (the soup with the rice cakes in it and Korean dumplings called Mun-Du), Vinny and I decided we wanted to go shopping and explore the markets. On a sidenote, as we walked back to our hotel, we noticed that the nightclub/lounge across the street from the hotel had various people exiting into valet cars and taxis. Vinny looked at his watch (it was 10:00 am) and said to me, "I think those people are just leaving from their New Year's Eve partying" and indeed they were. Every time the door opened, we could hear loud techno music blasting. I mean I've done my fair share of late nights out and early morning returns home but never at 10 am. Wow, are the Koreans party troopers!
Vinny and I decided to navigate the Seoul subway system (it's great) to go shopping. The fare was very inexpensive 1200 Won (about $1 USD) for each of us and the stations/trains were so much cleaner than NYC (but I guess that's not saying very much). There were very modern with LCD screens, actual closing doors at the platform, and to our delight, heated metal seats that made you feel very toasty during the subway ride. We exited close to the Myedeoung Market area. It reminded me of Puerta de Sol and the shopping areas around where everything was tightly packed with wide walkways for pedestrians to shop and walk around. Every store was blasting some sort of pop music and Vinny and I had a good time wandering from shop to shop. We found a great store called Banc which is a Korean streetwear designer and I was able to buy some really cool gifts for my nephews. Vinny and I both wanted a sweatshirt but they didn't have his size so we were a little sad. Afterwards we went to an underground shopping area where we were amazed at how extensive it was, everywhere you looked there was another area to walk and browse various souvenirs, clothing, shoes, etc.
For lunch, we decided to eat Korean BBQ and walked into a very busy restaurant (that's my criteria when choosing a restaurant, pick the one that's filled with people, especially all Asian people while in Asia). The restaurant was called Yoogane (it's a chain of Korean BBQ restaurants in Seoul) and we ordered chicken galbi (marinated Korean BBQ chicken) which was cooked for us right at our table. Yummy!!! We also had Korean salad which is shredded napa cabbage with a salad dressing that reminded me of a cool cucumber + mayonaise + a very distinct Granny Smith apple flavor. The best part, it was so cheap! We paid 16,500 won ($15 USD) for the both of us. Considering that Korean BBQ is at least $18-$20 USD per person in the US, I was pretty happy :)
I wanted to go see what the Namdaemun Market was like so that was our last stop of the day. The Namdaemun Market is like a big permanent flea market where you can find everything. Vinny and I had been searching all day for a warm winter hat for him and after going through numerous stores, we ended up finding him a hat at the Namdaemun Market. The best part is was 5,000 won ($4 USD). Now he's happy and much warmer, it's amazing how a good hat is so essential in cold weather. I bought some sweet rice cakes with a red bean paste from a vendor who was selling them on the street. It was 8 cakes for 1,000 Won ($0.90 USD). They were delicious! We were so full after our lunch that we didn't have room to try the make-shift food stands set up throughout the market. I did catch a glimpse of other patrons eating various assortments of Korean BBQ, squid, mussels, etc. The make-shift food stands had portable heaters, plastic tents, and little tabes and stools for patrons to grab a quick bite. It looked really interesting but my stomach couldn't take another bite of food. Next time for sure...
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