Markets, markets and more markets in Seoul

I have really been looking forward to shopping in Seoul's markets. I got quite intrigued by the fact that the Dongdaemun Market opens at around 10:30am and they stay open until 4:00am the following day. I've been wanting to go there since we arrived last Sunday but hotel concierge discouraged us because it seems like some of the stores are closed on Sundays.

The market we did end up going to was Insadong Market, the traditional market with souvenirs, art and antique stores that is around 10 minutes away on foot from the Changdeokgung Palace which I wrote about here.

My favorite part of the market was this cozy Korean restaurant we found in one of the side streets.

The lower floor was quite full of locals.

Every meal in Korea comes with a lot of side dishes.
I loved the green veggies and the bean sprouts so I even asked for a refill.

I ordered Bulgogi and it's served in this heated stone pot.

It was the best Bulgogi I've ever had. It was served a bit soupy, and that was good too.

My friend Husainee ordered fish (in Korea they call it fishy) that came with some soup with tofu.

We were so hungry we were only able to take a picture after we finished all our food.
In the second floor, you sit on the heated floor, which was so comfortable compared to the cold outside.

We attempted to do some shopping after lunch but I wasn't really into the stores in Insadong.

It's quite busy on a weekend.

My friend (the one who dragged us to all the palaces) went into every antique and art store in that stretch.

Antique kids shoes. May be purely decorative.

Cats fishing in a side street shop.

Embroidered thimbles from a souvenir shop.

This is NOT a Chanel knock-off! Hahaha.

This guys ask people to pose with them because the pictures are used as tickets for their theater group.

They give you candy for posing, then they ask you to spin the roulette on the iPad for your prize.

It was only when we got to the hotel that I saw I got a frou frou pencil.
I would have posed for more pictures with them for more prizes. Hahaha.

I didn't really buy anything, but we really enjoyed looking at and most of the time tasting too the Korean street food.

My friends tried the sugar filled Nan from the van right outside the Palace.
KRW 1,000 (just a little over SG$1 or Php40)

These really looked good, and people were really lining up for them.

I asked my friends to keep my space in the line so I could take pics.

It looks like Ice Cream when they scoop it into the hot oil.

Touristy shot with food in front of food stand.

It was yum... it had a cinnamon sugar syrup inside with some corn bits.
Korean Pancake KRW1,000 (Just a little over SG$1 or Php40)

Sharing pancake is a serious business.
Since it didn't seem like the healthiest of food, I told my friends we should just share one.

Red bean filled things.
Just looking.

Some rolls and some soupy things that look spicy.
Just looking too.

Then we saw the this BBQ stand. This we wanted!!!

My friend and I got 1 sausage and 1 chicken so we can try both.

The chicken with BBQ sauce (choice of sauce) was better.
KRW 2,000 (SG$2.15 or around Php80)

The sausage and tofu with spicy sauce was Ok too.
KRW 2,500 (SG$2.80 or around Php100)

This looked like waffles with egg.

The pans it's prepared in.
I was tempted but my stomach just had no more space.

We decided to try our luck at Namdaemun Market, it's refered to as the day counterpart of the Dongdaemun Market. We knew that some stores may be closed, but we decided to go anyway.

We saw so many police men running towards the market we thought there was some kind of Security Issue.

Did they really need that many policemen to raid the fakes?

Turns out the US President was giving a presentation in one of the nearby buildings and the police were there to ensure everything was in order. Of course it took quite some time for me to register the that there's an on-going 2012 Nuclear Security Summit with the G50 countries in Seoul.

Needless to say, this market was not my type of thing. I wouldn't come back even if the other stores were open. Just Saying. 

We were so tired that we had to call it a day. So after we got back from work the next day, I immediately dragged my friends to Dongdaemun Market. It seems that there are four big shopping buildings in the area, and the two larger ones are NOT open on Mondays. Sadness!!! The biggest one, Doota actually opened aroound 8pm so we were able to get a quick look. 

Doota! the posh mall in the wholesale market.
They had REAL marc jacobs, gucci and burberry for kids. 

We ended up shopping in helloapm. It reminded me of Platinum Mall in Bangkok but with more Korean styles. I also could not figure out how to do the wholesale bargaining since I did not really see anything I wanted to bargain for. 

I decided I wanted to buy unbranded but stylish Korean made shoes, sandals or bags as long as they were CHEAP. Hahaha... I only want to spend good money on my Gucci 1970 bag... so nothing in between cheap and that interests me.

I was not able to buy anything at all from helloapm. I got so bored waiting around for my friends to finish that I decided to step out and see if I could buy something from the street vendors or stores outside.

Good thing I did that because I found a big shoe store just outside the mall, in what seemed to be the same building where I was able to buy 3 pairs of shoes! Yay... that store saved the day. Hahaha.

shoe shopping = happiness

I've been looking for a pair of nude peeptoe pumps.
In most of the stores they would quote me KRW60,000 (which I clearly did not want to pay!)
This store started with KRW38,000, best price KRW35,000 for cash 

I saw this from a KRW10,000 pile.
I got it so I could bargain down the price to KRW40,000 for both pairs.

I also saw this in a smaller size in the KRW10,000 pile but they guy told me no size.
When I found this in my size, I convinced him to sell it to me for KRW10,000 too.

Three pairs of peep-toe heels for KRW50,000 (SG$55 or Php2,080). Save for my nude peep toe pumps the designs are quite unique too. It was enough to sustain me for today. Tomorrow, back to shopping it is!!! I want to check out the Migliore (the second largest store in Dongdaemun that was closed) branch in Myeongdong, another shopping mecca, recommended by my friend JJEB from my Aussie tales.