Last Trip in Korea - part 1

Back to Seoul: Namdaemun Market

- this time for a real visit (though still short), with the intention of seeing one of the sights John has wanted to see since we arrived here in Korea--the Namdaemun Market. It is a huge traditional market taking up lots and lots of city blocks - a sub-division all of its own.

So, once again, we were up early to catch the 6:30am bus out of Wonju. It was a luxury-liner of a bus! Only 3 seats wide with extra plenty of space...very nice for relaxing or sleeping along the way. This time I got the pictures I forgot last time. And Joy brought along Phase 10 to play. She and I sat together and she won both full rounds, fair and square...

Here are the boys in their seat-suites!

It was a misty morning, promising to be hot and muggy. The weather here has been ideal all spring. This particular weekend, however was the most humid it's been here so far. We enjoyed it anyway, though we were pretty drenched with sweat at times and were glad we'd taken an extra change of clothes!

Here is golfing in Korea! I've wanted to get a picture of these ranges since we arrived. They are entirely enclosed and I suppose they just hit the balls in there or something? I don't quite know, but it would seem the strategy must be different than at a golf club in the States.....

This is a very good picture of the rice fields. They are all green-green, watery, and growing well. Isn't it neat to see the perfect rows of rice plants?

Here is the bakery I wrote about on our last trip to Seoul. Since it's right at the bus terminal, we planned our breakfast stop there this time.

Go in, grab a tongs & tray, and start deciding! These buns I chose are the ones I mentioned were so good. They don't look like anything special at first...it's the inside that's a tasty surprise. I have a picture of it down a few pictures.

Yum!

We kind of made this our brunch. On the right are those blueberry filled buns, then some fresh deli sandwiches. In the middle on the top is a raspberry-fresh cream strudel-like baked bread, and at the middle bottom is a veggie bread - loaded with fresh veggies. It was delicious! On the left are some fried dough-thingys. We hadn't tried them before but had watched several Koreans get them and thought we'd see what they were. I didn't like them, but the kids had no problem eating them.

Here is the famous Blueberry Yogurt-filled bun! John had it over half gone before I got the picture. Fresh blueberries, too -- they are in season right now.

This is a "before" picture: at 8am before the underground stores open and the real shopping begins. This is how things are boarded up at night.

And this is the "after" picture - same place -revealing what was hidden by the boards and tarp. This particular section was filled with endless rows of shoes.

Down, down underground in the subway. The stop for our exchange to a different subway line was neatly done like a mining cave or something. I counted the cars - there were only 10 cars....but each car was so long it had sets of 4 doors - making it a total of 40 entrances onto the train. That's why my last picture shows so long of a boarding way.

Jesse, Joy, & James in the "tunnel."

Here they are again...and showing more of the neat decor at this terminal stop.

And here we are - at one of the many entrances into the NamDaeMun Market! It is pronounced "Nom-day-moon." It consists of blocks-worth of buildings, as well as all the streets around and between those buildings. It is pedestrian traffic only on these streets for a reason! The streets more closely resemble isles, and the main isles in a Wal-Mart store are wider than many of these streets are.

Here we are! Store fronts on either side, booths down the middle. We arrived just as the first ones were opening, and it was nice and uncrowded. Very soon, however, there were plenty of people, though not the crowds yet that it is reputable for.

Here is a sample alley; this one must be "Women's Wear Lane!"

Yummy fruit-on-a-stick available, fresh melon and pineapple. Many other vendors were starting to open as well. We left by 1pm, though, to take the bus on down to SeoSan - our old stomping grounds.

Once at SeoSan, two of friends, SunHwa and Park Soon Cha (co-teachers from last year), met us and we went out to eat gal-bi: a meat dish which is cooked over grill, then eaten traditional style - wrapped w/veggies in lettuce like pictures we have posted before. SunHwa had her two nephews with her, and to my great disappointment, I completely forgot to get a picture of them! We were much too busy visiting instead. After saying goodbye to SunHwa (whom we've affectionately dubbed "Sunny"), we met with Karen, our Canadian friend we met who also works in the DaeSan area. We met at Baskin Robbins right by the bus terminal and were able to sit and chat for a couple hours in the comfort of air conditioning. The day had been very hot & humid and we enjoyed briefly complaining together about it.....although we both knew we didn't have much to complain about since the weather has truly been great up til now. Plus, from the sounds of it, Japan has been hotter already and in the rainy season, so I'd best get used to it!

After we finished up, Park Soon Cha came to pick us up and take us to her home where she'd very kindly offered to keep us overnight. To be continued............