Namdaemun Market and Itaewon (Translation: Shopping and more shopping!)

Thursday, August 2^nd

Seoul, South Korea

Today is our last day in Asia so we decided to just spend the day walking around Seoul checking out various markets and shopping areas.  Before heading out, we stopped at Crown Bakery at the end of our street to have some breakfast.  Their pastries are divine.  I couldn’t decide what to have so I ordered two pastries – a cream filled almond pastry and a pumpkin croissant.  Both were delicious!  I also had a green tea latte.  I am a huge fan of green tea now. I am bringing some home, but I hope I can get it as easily at home as I can here. 

After breakfast, we strolled down our street in Insadong and found some beautiful scarves from one of the street vendors.  Then we headed to Namdaemun Market, which is one of the oldest and most traditional markets in Seoul.  The place is a maze.  There are small entryways that look like a small shop but open up into a huge mall of vendors.  We walked into one that sold every kind of jewelry you could imagine. I actually went to the bathroom there and got lost in the store trying to find Valerie. A lot of the shops are wholesale, so you could by 25 of everything.  The market sold everything – jewelry, clothing, socks, shoes, fruits and vegetables, fish, cleaning supplies, purses and handbags, candy, paper goods, and sunglasses.  It was crazy!

Next we decided to do some shopping in Itaewon and I wanted to try the Bulgogi burger from McDonald’s that one of my students told me to try.  We figured that we would definitely be able to find a McDonald’s in Itaewon since it’s so close to the U.S. military base. 

We were right and found the McDonald’s quickly and I ordered the Bulgogi burger.  It was really good!  (Thanks for the suggestion, Gabrielle!)  Gabrielle, my student, also told me to find a Rotiboy dessert shop and bean-filled bread fish, so I was on the hunt for all three today. 

Itaewon has a lot of shops and underground malls in “the cut” as Andre (Claudia’s husband) calls them.  The “cuts” a little alleyways that look like there is nothing down them but then all of sudden there is an entryway to a huge underground mall!  Valerie and I both bought some clothes from one of the vendors in the underground mall.  We then hit up the main street in Itaewon for some more shopping. 

Lastly, we met up with Valerie’s friend again for dinner near where she teaches.  Valerie’s friend teaches conversational English to businessmen in Seoul.  She works for a private company that offers various English speaking and discussion classes to adults.  After dinner, we walked back to our neighborhood and I found a street vendor selling the bean-filled bread fish.  They were really good.  The bread tastes like a waffle and the red beans are sweet so it’s a delicious dessert.  Red beans are very popular in Asia.  There is even a red bean green tea frappuccino at the Starbucks in Taiwan and Seoul. I’m guessing they have them in China but I don’t recall seeing them there.   Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a Rotiboy shop, but I am glad I got to try at least 2 out of 3 of Gabrielle’s suggestions. 

It’s too early to go to bed, so Valerie and I are hanging out a restaurant near our hotel. I am blogging and she is reading.  I still have a little a packing to get done, but it looks like I’ll be leaving with four bags!  I arrived with two – my backpack and suitcase and am leaving with my backpack, suitcase, a carry-on suitcase and a duffle-bag.  Unfortunately, I can only have 20kg per checked bag, so I am distributing the weight from my suitcase into the duffle bag.  For the record, I really only need three bags but due to weight restrictions I have to have four bags.

Our flight leaves Seoul tomorrow morning at 10:20am (Friday 10:30pm EST) and I arrive at Dulles at 11:20am on Friday morning.  See everyone soon!  I will send another post once I arrive back.