[Winter Korea Trip 2010/2011] Day 10: Namdaemun

Looking back, we had been concentrating a lot on K-pop-related activities since the day we arrived and hadn't really been out and about exploring the city itself. Well, good news for those more interested in city exploration cause we are about to tone down on K-pop activities and really see what South Korea has to offer besides music entertainment.

While many out there were having the Monday blues getting to work and school, we were more than excited to begin the day!



Our main plan for the day was to explore the famous streets of Namdaemun, a popular shopping district in Seoul known for being the city's wholesale centre for all sorts of local merchandise you might be looking for. But before heading down, we had to look for a place to have our brunch. Spotting this signboard along the way to the subway station from "home", we decided to give it a try.

The signboard led us to a rather inviting looking restaurant tucked away in an alley. Both the exterior and interior outlook of the restaurant were designed to provide patronizers with a very warm cottage-like ambiance which was awesome for completing the whole cozy winter log-cabin feel.

We ordered the 낙지불고기 (barbecued octopus) because it looked really delicious in the picture on the signboard. The dish was a mixture of rice cakes, beansprouts and of course, octopus (no, its not the live one) and costs us only 7,000 won (~S$8.24) each! Cheap cheap cheap! Though I am not a fan of octopus meat, I did like the dish for its flavor and spiciness.

Barbecued Octopus

Having filled our tummies to the brim, it was time to head for Namdaemun. Stepping out of the restaurant, we found ourselves in the middle of a snow shower! Now that's the first time we saw snow falling from the sky since the day we arrived! You can imagine how excited we were!

White streets!

It was really amazing to see a vibrantly-colored town turn white in a blink of an eye (or rather within the duration of a mealtime). It really took us quite awhile to stop playing with the snow and proceed on as planned to Namdaemun.

Namdaemun Gate 6

Arriving at Hoehyeon station, we entered Namdaemun via gate 6 - the closest gate to the subway. Namdaemun market is a maze of streets and side alleys lined with rows and rows of shops and push cart stores. The market has several area zones specializing in a certain product or service. Just some of the areas we can remember - Gate 6 area was clustered with eyeglass stores while Gate 8 area was clustered with camera stores.

The market central sells a variety of products from bags to jerseys, ginseng to seaweed. It is also here were you can find many "Nike", "LV", "Chanel" and many other of these "branded" goods around if you know what I mean.

It's still snowing!

For the visiting K-pop fans, Namdaemun also boasts a large number of shops selling unofficial fan products of various groups and artistes. From calenders to cups, poker cards to pillows, you can be sure that there will definitely be something for you.

Yea! These are traditional Korean products!

Within Namdaemun itself, there is a wet market for those interested in buying some raw meat to whip a meal up yourself back "home". The wet market is not hyped up to target tourists for customers so you can actually experience marketing like a true-blue ahjumma.

Now comes my favorite part - food. You will never go hungry on the streets of Namdaemun unless you have already squandered off all your money! Namdaemun is a place where you can find lots and lots of street food stores!

One of the first food stores we made purchase from was this vegetable pancake stall. It was kinda oily but as all Singaporeans know, the oilier the food, the more heavenly it tastes! :x

Who needs refrigerators when you can just leave it to chill (or freeze) out in the open! Just be sure not to buy a bottle of completely frozen Coke.

These 2 guys from the bottom picture sell a common type of Korean snack made from something that looked like dough. Pulled like hand-made noodles till it became thinner than vermicelli, it is then used to wrap stuffing such as peanut and coconut. If you are lucky, you might get to see these guys put up a short but entertaining performance as they make more of these snacks from scratch.
 

Make-shift stores and pushcart stalls are also plentiful along the streets of Namdaemun and they do sell a huge variety of street snacks. If only we had a larger stomach, we would have ordered much more!

X simply couldn't resist the smell of Hotteok from this stall. The hot brown-sugar filling felt really great flowing down our throats and warming up our tummies in the cold weather! We even made an extra detour later on when it was time to head back, specially to buy another serving before leaving the place.

Well, there were many other makeshift stalls that open only in the evening which we would only get to see later on during our re-visit in a few days. For now, it was all covered in protector sheets.

With so many snow covered surfaces around that were untouched, our hands just itched to leave some print and marks along the way!

Spending the whole afternoon engrossed in exploring Namdaemun, we hadn't realise that the sun had already set! We chanced upon a small park just outside the boundary of Namdaemun market with a beautifully-decorated fountain as we were making our way out. A perfect photo-taking opportunity.

Having explored Namdaemun, we ventured into Hyohyeon Underground Shopping Center which entrance was just around the corner. Like a maze, the shopping center is an extensive network of underground tunnels that house many small shops selling all sorts of products ranging from shoes to clothes and luggage. Because of the vast area it covers underground, it can be accessed from various districts such as Myeongdong, Namdaemun and Chungmuro.

Entrance to Hyohyeon Underground Shopping center from Namdaemun

Hyohyeon Underground Shopping center

Although there were lots of things for sale, the merchandise didn't exactly appeal to us and we ended up exploring the place rather than shop around.

Feeling hungry and tired from all the walking, we decided to head back as soon as we exited from the Myeongdong exit. Even though we had yet to explore Myeongdong, the sneak peeks we took each time we passed-by the area suggested to us that it was going to be a great place to visit. The flamboyant lights and vibrant life on the streets there just filled us with so much anticipation, we just couldn't wait for our designated day to arrive!

Myeongdong

Arriving back at our neighborhood, we decided to have our dinner at a small corner restaurant just below our "home". X chose to have Kimchi Stew while I chose the Miso-soup Ramen. Though it didn't taste all that fantastic, for its price of 4,000won (S$4.70) and 2,500won (S$2.90) respectively, it was rather reasonably satisfactory. We also ordered a Potato Croquette as a side dish to go along our main course.

Kimchi Stew

 Miso-soup Ramen

Potato Croquette

We decided to call it a day and head "home" after our dinner as we had no other plans. Staying in a guesthouse is definitely an excellent way of making new friends from around the world! For the remainder of the night, we simply chilled with the rest of the travelers in the guesthouse and surfed the internet before turning in to bed. 

We would be expecting a new member joining us the next morning! Clara (C) was finally arriving to join us in our escapades. This also signifies the beginning of our shopping/buying frenzy! For now, it was once again time to rest well for the next day! Zzz...