Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Namdaemun Market 남대문 시장

Quick post before I zonk out:
Went to Namdaemun (Hoehyeon Station exit 6 or 7) to check out their famous market - the largest and longest-running retail market in Seoul. I heard that this place had just about everything and it's where retailers buy their items at wholesale prices. You can't really bargain here -- everything is so inexpensive anyway.
It kind of reminded me of Hong Kong's Women's market with all the stands that sold fake brand name items. It's quite big. They sell quite a bit of stuff - tourist-y items, electronics, clothes (though not exactly trendy... mainly for ajummas), accessories, and food! Lots and lots of foooooood.
Want a belt? You might want to try your luck at the belt store...
The hat store has a variety of cheap hats.
Catering towards young girls... so pink
Older Koreans love their Ginseng!Kimchi Chocolate! I will try it!
Polyester at its worst...
Boxers with the 10,000 bill (man won) on it...
Would you be my friend if I had big lips like this?
The more to kiss you with hehe
MUUUAH
Next time, I think I'll just come to eat!
The cheapest food I have bought so far (for the quantity) - bao! 5 for 2,000won. There was a steady line-up of 5-6 customers so we decided to try it. Too bad it didn't taste anything like Chinese bao ='( The ones on the left had kimchi in them.Desserts made out of rice - very interesting tasting (I tried the powdered ones in the middle). There's red bean inside and it has a salty and sweet taste to it. 3 for 500won.
They have those tented outside booths where you sit on red plastic stools and eat street food and drink soju 'til you're drunk like in all the dramas!! We ate too many other street food to try this one... but next time for sure! It sure looked good.
Is this sanitary? Exposed chickens for sale... or you can use your money to buy a fake LV wallet.. it's right next door anyway and you probably won't get sick from it.
Vegetables you can kimchi!
What in the world is THIS?! Some sort of seafood?!
By the way, this is what is left of the significant historical symbol from the 14th century, the Great South Gate: Namdaemun. I'm sure you've heard that it was burned down just last year (an act of arson), but if you haven't, check out this site for a quick recap + some pictures of what it looked like before!
On the left side, there's a window and you can see that they're in the process of rebuilding it.

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