Every Sunday, Mr. Lee makes a special breakfast. Today, it was cream of mushroom soup. My mother made beef sandwiches from yesterday’s brisket while I had breakfast with two cups of coffee.
I finally convinced my mother to wear a hat because they’re so much warmer than hoods.
Doesn’t she look so cute? Both my parents are wearing my scarves too!
The first stop today was Seodaemon prison history hall. We had called Katie with Skype this morning. My parents talked to her first, then I got a chance to catch up with her. My father told her we were going to prison today and she was shocked and worried until I told her it was a historical site.
We are a family of happy clickers!
Next on the itinerary was Jungbu market. I thought the market was near Namdaemon Market. In the tour book I read, it said "Beside Namdaemon Market, Jungbu Market..”. My mother held the Chinese version of the tour book and thought it was strange we wanted to go to the subway station for Namdaemon Market. She asked my father to read the English version of the guide book again. “Beside Namdaemon Market, Jungbu Market is also regarded as the top traditional market among native Koreans.” Oh. My bad.
A friendly man on the subway helped us find Jungbu Market on the map. It was east of the subway line we were taking, so we decided to go to Itaewon market first instead. We changed lines at Yaksu station. “.薬水” means medicine water.
My father enjoyed a small coffee from a vending machine while we waited for the subway to Jungbu Market. It was nice after the cold prison walk.
We visited the tourist information office after exiting the subway. They gave us a map with directions to Itaewon market and a famous wall mural in the area. We walked through a small pub district with a few small fancy restaurants to see the mural.
In the guidebook, there were two paintings two side by side.
At the actual site, the painting on the left was painted over by the shop owner and now held the restaurant’s name, Season 2.
After taking a photo of the famed wall mural, we walked down a side street to get back onto the main street. We passed by a bakery filled with sweets I wish I knew how to bake. Especially after I played cake mania, I want to own a bakery like this!
Before we went to the market, I wanted to go to McDonald’s for an apple pie. They don’t have McDonald’s apple pie in Imabari.. but it turns out that they don’t have McDonald’s apple pie in Seoul either! (At least they didn’t have it in that store.)
Itaewon market was very small and mostly consisted of indoor vendors in a small two story building.
It didn’t take us very long to walk around the market. The street soon ended and it felt like we in the middle of nowhere China.
I was a little disappointed but I found a store that embroiders hats, bags, belts and whatever else you bring them. I laughed when I read “I’m a foreigner, you can stare at me”.
Before leaving the area, we went to Taco Bell (!!!) for lunch. I had soft tacos with fries supreme. I was so happy. I love Taco Bell. (This taco looks different, doesn’t it?.. I think the lettuce is finely shredded back home.)
My parents read travel guides and magazines while I ate.
While changing subway lines underground, we passed by a shop selling jackets for 10000 won. I picked out a long one and a pair of boots for the same price as well. I gave my old jacket to my mother to wear. It’s not as warm as the jacket she was wearing before (which she only brought because it folds up small and is something she’s willing to leave behind in Japan) but at least it didn’t make her look like a big pumpkin.
My father’s backpack was stuffed to the max with my mother’s old jacket.
Jungbu market
After Jungbu Market, my mother was up for the walk to Myeongdong, but my father and I voted to take the subway there. I noticed a fake stone crag by the subway entrance embellished with statues. I recognized two as the statue of liberty and Mannekin Pis, the peeing boy from Belgium.
Right before heading down the stairs to the subway, I looked up and discovered something else I didn’t notice on my way to Itaewon market. A gorilla holding a parachute and friends.
After two stops, we walked to Myeongdong Chinatown. It is labelled as a point of interest in the guidebook, but it was very disappointing. Though I did find the plastic model of a little Chinese boy featured in the guidebook, there were no other distinguishing features.There were no traditional Chinese gateways that often mark a “Chinatown” in the city.
Actually, I only saw one restaurant selling dumplings with red lanterns decorating the outside, that I would call a Chinese restaurant. A few doors down was Uniqlo, a Japanese clothing store.
We wandered past Myeongdong Market to Namdaemon Market.
I recognized the restaurant where we ate pig feet the other night.
We found a store selling fan merchandise and picked up a Big Bang keychain for Katie.
I bought a pair of boxers featuring the 10000 won bill and another gigantic red bean bun. My parents bought 5 persimmons for only 2500 won.
We took the subway back to Hongik University. A couple had brought their bikes onto the subway. I didn’t even notice them upside down and tucked in the corner until they got prepared for their stop.
My parents showed me the mini street market close to the hostel that they discovered to on their first night here. It felt like a smaller version of Myeongdong Market.
Every night, we walk by this restaurant and say we will eat there someday. It’s always crowded and looks like a good place to eat.
That day was today! I even held off on all the market food (except for the red bean bun) so I could save my tummy for this. We had pork bone soup and side dishes. It was so yummy. I took out the bones I wanted to eat early on so it didn’t soak in all the spice.
Seeing others put instant noodles in their soup, we followed suit and ordered a package. It was a much better idea than getting rice.
I was nicely full after the meal. However, my hand was so sore using the flat chopsticks to try to manipulate the itsy bitsy pieces of meat between the bones. Don’t Korean people have problems managing their chopsticks?
We got back to the hostel at 8:30pm. The floor was cold. My father called Mr. Lee. He said he would come back in 10-15 minutes. I was asleep before he came.
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