Korea Day 1

Namu guesthouse is tucked away among a small scatter of residential buildings. We took stairs to the second floor and punched in the key code to let ourselves in. There was a nice spacious living room with two computers and an open kitchen.

The three of us lived in Room C. It had a bunk bed and a single. The washroom was right next door. Like most Korean living areas, the floor was heated.

I unpacked and the three of us planned out what tourist attractions to visit for the next three days. So here’s a rough itinerary:

Tomorrow: Gyeongbok Palace, National Palace Museum, National Folk Museum, Hanock Village and Insadong

Saturday: Seoul Zoo, National Museum of Korea

Sunday: Seodaemon Prison, Flea market, Namdaemun Market

Monday: Incheon Chinatown, airport culture centre

As for tonight, we could hit it off with Korean Barbecue and then explore a market. When my dad had paid HJ (the afternoon/evening manager) for our stay, she had recommended the large Korean BBQ restaurant just down the street. We didn’t have to wait long to be seated. We sat in the outside patio with plastic walls. There were semi-circle openings left half unzipped. An electric heated on the wall and a large space heater on the floor kept it very cozy.

The menu was two pages, one Korean and one English. It was easy to understand with a picture beside each item. We ordered beef brisket and ribs, pork ribs, cold noodles and rice. We had a variety of salad side dishes, a little bowl of salt and plain lettuce for the pork. Our waitress helped us cook the meat and cut it up into smaller pieces with scissors when it was ready to eat. She changed the grill four times! (In between each different meat and then once more at the very end) I’d never seen a Korean Barbecue grill so clean! It’s usually black and crusty. Our meal cost 33000 won. (I look like a giant)

Outside the restaurant.

I wanted to pretend to do some laundry and beat my clothes, but alas, the stick was frozen to the board.

After dinner, we hopped onto the subway to go to Dongdaemun market. We took the green line and then transferred to the blue line and took it one stop. We took exit 9. It brought us right next to the gate. We posed next to the exit for a few roadside pictures.

Then we crossed the street to the gate. It’s named after my family! haha

We walked in the general direction of the market. I saw my first snow in two years! It was just dirty leftover snow but I still insisted on a photo.

We passed by a sign that said toy and stationary wholesale. The map indicated that we needed to turn north to get to the fashion district so we chose a road that was lit (although very dimly). Before we got to to Dongdaemun market, we crossed a bridge over the river. It was very beautiful, but too dark to take photos.

The markets consisted of mainly indoor market stalls.

Everything was sold in bulk, usually without a price tag. I think most of the sale prices are done by bartering or amount bought.

I bought three hats, four scarves, and a pair of boots.

I threw out my old pair of boots and wore my new ones right away.

We walked until past midnight. When I realized how late it was, I was a little worried that the subway would be closed, but there was still many people riding it. We didn’t get home until 1:15am. I took a quick shower and went to bed.