After touring DMZ, we were dropped off at 5.30pm. Didn't have other plans for the day since I reckon we will be too tired as we woke up super early today for the tour and also had made a long distance train ride back to Seoul the day before.
Decided to go to Yongsan where there is a large electronics mall like our Sim Lim Square.
The mall was large alright but there was nothing for us to buy and we just walk around aimlessly and oh ya, witness a quarrel between customer and vendor. Damn fierce though I cannot understand their langauage.
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Mr Love's meal |
We then went in search for dinner at basement of the mall beside Yongsan station and found a food court there!
Surprise, surprise since the only food court I seen in my few days here is the one in Busan. But then the food court is pretty empty as compared to eateries we saw on street. We ordered our meal from a cashier at the entrance and show it to the stall owners to collect our meals.
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My meal |
The meal was so-so only and we realised why people choose to eat the various eateries we saw on streets. Cause they sell specific food that they specialised in and is more delicious. Due to language barrier, many a times we did not dare to venture into those eateries.
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Ice cream after dinner |
We headed back to the apartment after this since there is no where else on plan. Back at the apartment, it suddenly strikes me that there is a super market nearby as mentioned by the owner and we ventured out again for some shopping since we love checking out local supermarket.
It was quite a long walk in the cold winter. Took us 15min to find the supermart as it was tucked in 1 of the apartment buildings and we nearly missed the signage.
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Veggie selections |
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Sashimi that I'm tempted to buy |
We went past the veggies section to come face to face to seafood corner. So tempted to buy back sashimi and abalone since the apartment have stove. But then what can I cook here? Haha So lingered around here awhile before moving on.
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Abalones |
We came to the bakery section and I was impressed by the selection. They have very cute animals bread for kids making me want buy each of everything back.
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Turtle bread |
The tags were all written in Korean and we were unsure of the filling therefore were hesistating which one to get for breakfast.
End up, I took the easy way out. Got the bread which has chocolate on top of it. Cannot go wrong with it right? It tastes nice and was considered cheap as compare to bakeries we went to randomly.
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Crabs |
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Chocolate bread that we brought |
Then I decided I wanna eat yogurt/ drink yakult to clear my system as we had been feasting alot. Went to the section and realised they don't sell individually. All is in pack of 6. How to finish when I only have 3more days here? I wanna clear system only, not induce diarrhea.
Mr Love is not interested in it and therefore I cannot buy and share with him. So sad that I didn't get.
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Cheese / butter section |
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Cute character drinks |
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Sarang! |
Wanted to try soju but didn't dare too for fear of it being too strong since I am not a drinker. Settled for fruit wine instead. It was really cheap at 3bucks per bottle and I brought 2 flavours. The alcohol taste was quite strong and I didn't really like it. Drank 1 and brought the other bottle back here for Dad to finish. He loved it though. Then again, he loved alcohol.
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Alcohol section |
We did however grab some chips randomly based on the pictures since we did not understand the words. This is the main reason why we love supermart or conveience store. Would stock up on the snacks whenever we found 1. Did the same thing in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. It saves us from going hungry sometimes. Haha.
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Chips |
And oh, I found the fruit vinegar that I've been drinking too. Much cheaper than home and with more variety but it's too heavy to bring more home, in the end only brought 2 bottles back. It's like half priced as compare to SG prices.
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Fruit vinegar |
The next day, we went to check out Naedaemum market. Heard from my colleagues that they had a great time buying accessories here and was excited to go. I had difficulty buying clothes when in Asian countries due to my big size but accesorries is an other story all together.
Usually my biggest haul from Taiwan are their cheap earrings where it can last me a year till the next trip back.
Korean accessories are know to be trendier and prettier, so I am hoping to buy some for work.
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View from my Airbnb apartment |
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Busy weekday |
Took the subway to Naedaemum market and came face to face with a super long flight of stairs. Was grumbling on my way up when a limping granny overtook us or rather me.
Mr Love was laughing so hard at me that he nearly fell off the stairs back to the starting point. He said in Korea, even grannies walked faster than me. Aggrrr
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Naedaemum street |
And so we came to Naedaemum at dunno which entrance. Didn't bother to look for map since we are here to just walk around and try my luck with buying the accessories. Haha It was filled with middle age women doing their shopping and the clothes here are also suitable for middle age women.
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Brollies |
There were shops selling kiddos stuff too. Brollies, shoes, socks, little girls' dresses. The dressses were so pretty. Make me wished that I have a little girl to buy for. Haha.
Turns out its selling hair accessories. Not exactly what I am looking for but things were pretty so we took a walk round the entire level watching the vendors making the accessories.
I was very tempted to buy something here but then again usually don't wear hair accessories except to tie my hair up in a pony tail, so decided not to waste monies. Hehe. Good self control eh?
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So pretty |
Many vendors were sitting in front of their stores doing touches on their stuff and none of them gave us attention. Guess they knew we were not here to buy anything given our looks. Especially me, who is only interested to take photos. Muhaha.
We came across another building next door. This time selling earrings and necklaces. OMG. It was heaven! All things are so pretty that I don't know where to look.
Some are handmade too as the vendors are busy making their craft. No one will bother you though as you walk around the stalls. I was afraid of disturbing them but receive no attention as we made our rounds.
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Store owners doing their crafts |
Finally something caught my eye and I mustered the courage to ask the vendor for the price. Turns out that they only deal with wholesale and is not interested to let me buy pieces only.
I tried asking a few but keep getting rejected till I felt upset and gave up. My colleague later told me that it was by chance she came upon a vendor willing to sell to her in pieces but discreetly as it is a common rule there to do whoelsale only.
Oh well, guess I just don't have the luck to meet that vendor. Went out of the building empty handed. So much for the excitement of being able to buy cheap and pretty accessories here.
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I want a daughter!! |
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No luck in the wholesale market |
We did come across a shop along the main street selling accessories and I managed to snag 2 pairs of earrings for 5,000 KRW each. Not exactly cheap but its the best I could find and I didn't want go back empty handed. Hehe.
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Blankets |
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Cooking wares |
Besides clothes and accessories, you can also find household items sold here. Saw shops selling blankets, cooking wares and whats not. I was very tempted to buy 1 of those gold cooking pot where you see in Korean dramas that they used to cooking noodles and eat on the cover. But Mr Love shot the idea down.
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The pot that I'm tempted to buy |
And we came to what seems to be the an old gate right in the smack of a busy street. Not sure of the history behind this gate.
We also came across entrance 1 haha but were quite lost then. I don't even remember which entrance we came in from. This place is super huge.
Since I'm unable to get what I set out to buy initially, I decided we should at least do my 2nd favourite activity - Eat. There are tons of street food here but our stomachs got limited spaces.
Saw an uncle peddling this and the best part is, it's piping hot. Having walked in the cold for quite some time, I decided to buy 1. Mr Love is not a fan of sponge cake so I'm prepared to eat most of it alone.
It proved to be a great decision since it warms us up quite instantly after taking a bite. We stood by the roadside eating ans thinking whether we should buy a 2nd 1 but decided otherwise. Haha
Then we saw a store selling what look like a smaller version of the Korean pancake. Again, it's served hot and I couldn't resist to buy 1 to try.
Not sure of the ingredients but it sure tastes yummy. No wonder there's a queue while we were buying.
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Yummy pancake |
There's an underground shopping belt and we went check it out. The atmosphere is damn despressing here haha. Literally empty and the merchandise here seems to suit elderly more.
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Empty underground shopping |
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Impressed by this auntie's skill |
It had not been a fruitful shopping trip here but I quite enjoy the walk here. Should the vendors.1 day decided to change their policy to entertain non whole sale buyers for their accessories, I'll certainly come back and visit. Hehe.
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