Tag Archives: South Korea

Namdaemun Market

2011_11_26 Namdaemun Market

Today was a bit overcast and gloomy, however that wasn’t going to stop me from getting out and about. It’s Saturday! Our weekends have been pretty jam-packed lately. I only have a few more days to get my act together before needing to ship out family and friends Christmas gifts.

I woke up, met my friend, and we headed to Namdaemun. This was the first time that either of us had the opportunity to check the place out, so we were both really excited for a new adventure!

For those of you who may not know what Namdaemun is, it’s Korea’s largest and oldest wholesale marketplace that spans over 10 acres. It’s located near downtown Seoul and is filled with over 1,000 vendors, stalls, and retailers. This place has everything! You can find adult/children clothing, shoes, material, cook-ware, fruits, vegetables, flowers, toys, jewelry, purses, cosmetic items, the list is just endless.

Namdaemun is a great place to work your bargaining techniques! After moving to Korean we learned very quickly that Koreans want and expect you to bargain for a good price. We scored some pretty awesomely priced items after working our skills. Word to the wise, don’t give up.. if you find something you like and the price just isn’t right after trying to bargain, walk away. We were really lucky in finding exactly what we were after at various places for better prices.

There are plenty of places to eat within the marketplace. We actually stumbled into an alley-way that had many options. We opted for soup to warm us up. Many of the restaurant owners would try to get us to come in and eat what they were serving by saying, “We have English and picture menu”. HA-HA! What a riot! We both settled on 육개장 yook-gae-jang, Korean spicy beef soup. Yum! Major emphasis on the spice part as well. Of course the meal was served with a few traditional sides and bop (rice).

We wondered our way around the marketplace for hours. It was starting to get dark so we both decided to call it a day and catch the train back home. We had a blast! I think you will too if you get a chance to check the marketplace out.

Happy shopping!

Directions to Namdaemun by Subway: We took line 1 to Chang-dong where we transfered to line 4 and got off at Hoehyeon Station. Follow the signs to exit 5 – Namdaemun Market it will bring you out right at an entrance into the market area. Simple!

So Thankful…

2011_11_24 Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving! It’s a beautiful holiday, filled with time to sit, relax, break bread and reflect on everything the last year has given us.

Of course I’m going to jump on the blogging bandwagon and list what I’m thankful for. My list is GIGANTIC! I don’t know that my blogsite would have enough page posts to complete it. However, I want to publicize the very important ones in this post.

First, words truly cannot express enough how thankful i am for my big wonderful family, this includes my amazing husband. Without them all I would not be where I am today. I’m going to miss them dearly during this holiday season.

I am also incredibly thankful for all of our friends. We Bees have been so blessed to make such amazing lifelong friendships all over the world. Thank you for your true friendships, you kindness and caring hearts!

This Thanksgiving has many firsts involved. It’s the first time in my entire life that I’ve been away from my family at the holidays. The first time I’ve never had to visit to this house, that house, and so on, eat multiple meals. What a weird feeling!

It’s the first time I will cook and host an entire friendsgiving meal alone. Oh yeah, don’t laugh…this includes pumpkin pie and apple pie by myself too! Look out! Yes, prior year I was super spoiled and got to chow down on my Dad’s apple pie, or Grandma’s pumpkin pie, or my in-law’s amazing stuffing! Not this year. This year to enjoy it, I have to recreate it….the pressure is on!

(Not too shabby looking,right?)

I love having the tradition of getting up and watching the Macy’s Day Parade Thanksgiving morning in my pjs and eating breakfast! This year will be a first that I don’t have that feeling… it will be so different because it will airing at night because of the time differences. Instead of enjoying my bowl of cereal it will be a bowl of pumpkin pie and ice-cream 😉 I suppose I can deal, ha-ha!

Last night, Thanksgiving Eve, I was baking and cooking up a storm! I had Christmas tunes playing on the Sirius radio (Mr.B made fun of me the entire time).The oven had some of the most amazing aromas venting from it. Mmm! Amazing how certain smells take you back to some great childhood memories.

Wherever you may be located, we want to wish you and your loved ones a blessed and safe Thanksgiving!

It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving if there wasn’t a little napping involved 🙂

What are some of your Thanksgiving traditions? Are you experiencing any new “firsts” this year? We would love to hear your thoughts!

At 9AM….

I woke up to housekeeping knocking on the door. Yes, we Bee’s spent the night in Songtan. Mr. B has a certification to work on for scuba and I decided to tag along too. Wow, I still cannot believe that I actually slept in until 9AM this morning! I can’t deny that it didn’t feel good, I think sometimes you just need to enjoy a nice sleep-in.

After finally waking up, I grabbed some cinnamon apple tea and a banana and was off for the day.

Sipping my hot tea looking at the overcast sky and wet ground I figured id need my umbrella to tackle a day like today head on. I was delightfully surprised, the rain held off and I didn’t need my umbrella one time throughout the day. YEY!

So, I was off with my hot tea in hand! I hoofed it up this hill and quite some ways beyond that until I came to the Songtan marketplace and local shops.

Mr. B thinks I am CRAZY because I enjoy walking over taking a cab or car everywhere. I have to say that the weather in Korea lately has been very unpredictable. One day its warm and the next it’s freezing and you can see your breath. Even with the overcast sky today it was perfect walking weather. Someone told me today that he heard they were calling for snow tomorrow? Really?! Guess we will just have to see what tomorrow morning brings.

First, I had to stop at Royal Bag for Mr. B. He ordered two bags for his scuba gear. I was really impressed with the final product. While waiting a few minutes for his order to be pulled from the back room I looked around the shop. This place was pretty neat! They could basically monogram anything and did just about anything that was related to a bag. Defiantly worth noting for the future.

After leaving Royal bag I was on my way to VIP’s. This is the suite shop that we rave about. I had an order from a few weeks back that I needed to pick up. Unfortunately, she wasn’t ready for me and asked if I could come back tomorrow. Luckily, Mr. B still has more to work on for his scuba certification tomorrow and I can swing back in to grab my order. We still highly recommend the quality of this shop!

Basically those were the only two things I had on my list to get done today. I found myself continuing to wonder through the various alley ways. I enjoy window shopping and just being curious about what the next twist in the alley would bring. Korea truly is the bargain shoppers dream!

It was after 1:00PM now, my hot tea and banana had completely burned off from the hike. Where to eat? Where to eat? I walked around looking at all the restaurant signs. There is definitely a plethora of places that one can pick from. I tend to be a creature of habit sometimes, not to mention anytime I can get my hands on some sushi or california rolls, you know I am in!

OH YES! I did…I went back to the Japanese place that I had the weekend prior. Once again it was outstanding! This time I had the spicy roll but had tuna instead of salmon. DELISH!

Oh look! I found our picture on the wall from last week too!

After eating my delicious lunch I decided to hoof it back to the hotel and relax a bit. I wasn’t totally sure what time Mr. B would be finished with his scuba adventures today. Back down the hill I went.

Half way back to the hotel look what decided to peak through the clouds! Hello Sun! What a beautiful Saturday afternoon it turned out to be.

How was your Saturday? Did you do anything fun or exciting where you are?

Kimchi Kickoff

November kicks off Korea’s kimchi making (kimjang) season. Families stock pile heaping amounts of cabbage to make a large supply of kimchi to get through the winter months.

These cabbage heads are HUGE! I’m not sure if Korean soil is pumped full of super-duper growing nutrients? They seriously could break some world records here!

Tonight I came home and the elevator doors opened on our floor to this…

🙂 Our Korean neighbors are certainly not wasting anytime getting their kimchi making on!

Luckily, we Bees are recipients of three different types of Kimchi today from some friends! Thank you, thank you! We are so spoiled with amazing friendships we have made along the way of our Korean adventures.

And yes, we triple ziplock bagged each…(if you have any familiarity with Kimchi there is no need for us to explain)

Have you ever tried kimchi? Do you prefer a “new” kimchi or a more fermented kimchi?

Finders Keepers

Sunday happenings.

Yes, I tend to take the steps occasionally even if our place has an elevator…Mr. B thinks I’m an oddball.

I got the chance to meet up with my dear friend Mary. I have to say thank you again to her husband for letting her get out while he stayed with their twins. 🙂 We decided to give a shabu shabu restaurant located in New City a try.

Wow! This place is totally a finders keepers! With the weather getting cooler and cooler this place will be souper!

The restaurant is called Farmrich, Located on the 8th floor, and just a few steps from the Jihang station.

This was my first experience with shabu shabu. Mr. B recommended it because he had ate here when he first arrived in South Korea. Thanks Mr. B!

The dish is a Japanese variant of hot pot. The word translates into “swish swish”. This is the sound of cooking the meat or seafood in the pot. At this restaurant we were provided the pot of broth and were able to pick anything we wanted to add in from an excellent spread of a buffet. There was thinly sliced meat, various seafoods, and tons of vegetables. Mmm!!! We opted for a veggie, seafood, noodle concoction.

Oh yes we did! Squid, clams, octopus, and shrimp!

Have you ever had Shabu shabu? If you haven’t do you think you would try it?

Fantastic Find, Fabulous Time!

Sitting here recapping my Saturday before going to bed.

Mr. B is scuba diving today, I woke up caught the 7AM bus with some friends and their baby G down to Songtan to do some shopping and eating. No real game plan, totally out of my norm, but it’s nice to have those days every once and awhile.

Fantastic find – Lunch! We ate at a quant little Japanese restaurant called
Izakaya.

Food was delish! (However, i may just be bias because i could eat sushi or rolls everyday of my life…Yes, I am indeed obsessed!)

Service was excellent and super friendly!

I was able to share with our friends From In, the coffee shop that Mr.B and I absolutely adore when we visit the area.

We all enjoyed my favorite vanilla chai. Mmmm! They loved it just as much too 🙂 Ah! I just love sharing good things and small finds with people!

Look! Now Mrs. P can cross eating bungeoppan off her list (Remember the little fish pastries).

Snapped some pictures of baby G. What a beautiful little guy! He’s such a well behaved and smart little guy. I loved that he was so trusting with me that on the way home he zonked out in my arms. Is there anything more peaceful looking?

What a fabulous time!

How was your Saturday?

Pepero Day

First, Happy Veterans Day to all of our heroes out there! In the US today, we celebrate you and the freedom that have given us each and every day. We cannot express our thanks enough to you.

On the other side of the world 11-11 is a South Korean holiday known as Pepero Day!

The company Lotte manufactures these sweet thin biscuit stick that are dipped in chocolate. As years continue on other game players tap into the consumer market with flavors such as, almond chocolate, strawberry, blueberry, nude, lemon, cheese, and then the ginormous Pepero that is the literally the length of one of our arms!!

What exactly does the Pepero stand for? Great question! After asking a few close Korean friends we are told that the Pepero symbolizes friendship. They said that children come home from school with 30 or more boxes sometimes on Pepero day. They give them to their friends and teachers too.

What’s the cost of these sweet treats? Well, this really depends on the type of Pepero that sparks your interest. The original Pepero runs about 800 to 1000 won that’s about 75 cents to 1 US Dollar.

Of course the one that really grabs our American attention is the gigantic Pepero! Sadly, based on feedback, we are told these LOOK very exciting but taste like a cardboard covered in chocolate… Hmmm… I guess we could always do some research. Of course research based purely for all of our followers

Final verdicts in…Mr. B loves the almond chocolate Pepero while Mrs. B is not a fan of chocolate…I know! WEIRD, right?!

Would you try Pepero sticks? If you have, what is your favorite?

Sacheon Beach, Gangneung Scuba Diving

Got to go diving again with the people from Aquatic Frontier. We went to the South Korean East Coast, Sacheon Beach in Gangneung to be exact. We got in beach, boat and wreck dives. Although the weather wasn’t the best visibility was good and everyone there had a blast! I am always looking forward to diving with everyone from here.

Over Our Heads

(Views from our home)

In the past few weeks here in Korea, you might have (like us) walked around in a blissful daze, with your eyes focused on the magnificent view just right above your head. The autumn foliage we have been experiencing sure makes you feel lucky to be alive, doesn’t it?

We will be sad to see the vibrant colors go, but on the other hand are just as excited to welcome another season with new experiences ahead of us!

Korean Fruit Trucks

Ah! What a gem the Korean fruit trucks are!! We Bees love finding various fruits and veggies from these local vendors. Watermelons, cabbage, apples, grapes, ~~permissions~~(inside joke) persimmons, you name it!

Tangerines have been our most recent purchase and they are oh so tasty!

Did you know you can find all sorts of sale items on these trucks around town? Yes, rugs, paintings, fish, chicken, computer parts, hardware, very random, huh?