Writing to you after a great Tuesday in the city of Seoul. Today was shopping day (well more browsing for me since I didn't get a chance to get anything today).
We first started out in one of the huge markets in Dongdaemun. We first went into a multiple floor shopping market. Unlike the familiar malls of the U.S., small stands (only deep enough to fit one person) are filled with clothing of all types and styles. Current style seems to dictate flowing clothing that hangs from the body, floral prints, belts at the true waits and large, long necklaces to accessorize. Women's clothing is incredibly feminine (I know that sounds silly but you would know what I meant if you saw it).
It was hard to get a good shot of the multi-leved market.
"Anime- eyed" manequin.
A more "formal" department store with more expensive clothing displayed that was next door to the other market.
Neat bench outside the market advertising it.
Adorable stone owls near the subway. I wish I could have taken one home with me. :P
Outdoor market. It was way too hot and humid to be outside here. :P
From there (the more specific clothing malls) we moved to Myeong-dong. A huge shopping center, the streets are brimming with outdoor shops that range from small stores to chains like Forever 21. Items ranged from clothing to gifts and stationary and all in between.
Bustling with people shopping, eating and having a good time in the stores that sometimes can only be found on the upper floors its hard to take everything in at once. There are even cutely dressed store employees on the streets peddling the store's wears through microphones.
There were street vendors all over selling all sorts of candy and food. Min really wanted this candy that was basically sugar and soda burned and hardened. It was a traditional treat and quite tasty, with cutout shapes inside it that you should break the treat to match. Pictured above is one of Korea's famous treat vendors. Kind of like a show, this lively street vendor showed us how he could take a small hardened ball of honey and cornstarch and once he made a hole in the center stretch it over and over again to make strands that were thinner than my own hair. He takes those strands and wraps them around nuts to make delicious treats.
For lunch we went to a 3rd floor "cutlet" restaurant and had meat cutlets with cutlet sauce. Not being a huge meat fan I was surprised how much I enjoyed my chicken. With a side of rice, seaweed and pickled kaddishes it was quite delicious. Pictured above is a street vendor selling waffles.
We stopped off at one of the first Roman Catholic Churches in Korea. It was made mostly of brick but the inside had gorgeous stained glass and high ceilings.
Church interior.
After walking so much we took a break in a cafe, Minto I think it was called. There supposedly were multiple locations. It is a great place to hang out. I wish they had some like this in the states. Every chair was a comfy couch and you had the option of ordering some thing specific off the menu or just paying to sit there for a few hours and have refills on a liquid. The interior was very cute, reminded me of a Victorian children's book.
I went with the red bean sherbet. Not as you would think it. Finely crushed ice is placed in a bowl with milk poured over it. Topped with sweet red beans, candied fruit and chunks of mochi, and a scoop of pistachio ice cream it was a little bit of sweet heaven.
Even the way to the bathroom was adorable. There were people's notes and drawings that they had written on the back of their checks pinned to a clothes line down the hallway. Some of them were really cute, some had wonderful drawings, one was really sad and some were really funny.To round off the day we went to a photobooth and took some cute pictures on silly backgrounds. Quintessential way to end a day (hopefully I will be able to post some of the scans when I'm back in the U.S.).
Till next time,
~Val
No comments:
Post a Comment