01.27.2011 Shopping at Insa-dong and Myeong-dong in South Korea

---

Today was all about shopping and Both Kaori and I were able to shop around at both Insa-dong and Myeong-dong. After a few days of looking around and checking different activities it was time to get some souvenirs for our friends and family.

We started at Insa-dong because it was highly recommended by some online guides and by the books we looked at. The train ride was a synch and finding Insa-dong was simple and easy. First part I would like to mention is that Insa-dong is smaller than Myeong-dong, but, Insa-dong has a lot more traditional Korean souvenirs and locally made items for sale. The street stretched for about 1.5 miles and both sides are packed with vendors, stores, food, and people. Some of the local stores had reasonably priced foods and cloths for sale, it makes it easy to find and get what souvenirs you need for friends and family. I managed to grab a few items including jewelry, cups, t-shirts, and candy. One place I want to mention had four floors and was an outside mall like building. They sold perfumes, teas, jewelry, cloths and even had some restaurants inside. Of course there had to be Star Bucks at every corner but I was happy to see the name translated into Korean. I found the venders and overall atmosphere at Insa-dong much easier going, and very welcoming. Even food venders were willing to smile and wave. Also, there are some stainless steel chopsticks and rice bowls for sale on the street. We thought it would be cool to pick up two bowls and pairs of chopsticks and spoons for a reasonable $9. Even though we finished walking through Insa-dong we managed to find another street and walk through some local neighborhoods. The architecture is by far one of the best highlights around this area, and there is also a school that looks like it is fortified by a 10 foot wall. Walking around, it is easy to find stores, but if you get lost or want to find something specific you can ask “information people” who speak Japanese, Korean, English and Chinese. They were kind enough to point out a very good restaurant called “Arirang Garden”, tucked away in an ally off of Insa-dong Street.

Again it was very easy to find the restaurant, and it looked amazing! We managed to grab a local pork belly dish that is “grilled” on a stove top burner with lush amounts of kimchi, rice, pickles, tofu, noodles, and salad. What a marvelous meal. I am still not used to using a scissors and cooking your own meal at the table, but when in Rome do as the Romans do. Kaori enjoyed the tofu and I was a huge fan of the pork belly. You can wrap it up with lettuce, add some kimchi and veggies to it, dip into the hot sauce and take your taste buds for a ride. It almost seemed Japanese with all the separate rooms with sliding doors and sitting on the floor again. The bathroom was probably the only thing we didn’t like, since it was outside and of course it’s cold in winter. After we finished our shopping and had a bite to eat, it was now time to go shopping back at Myeong-dong.

When Kaori and I arrived at Myeong-dong but we didn’t want to carry our shopping bags around so we drop off our Insa-dong shopping bags at the hotel. We walked around a lot since it was the last day, so we visited some stores to see what the commotion was all about. I think the pictures give a better description that I can at how crazy and busy it is. But one thing is for sure; Korean stores will do and say just about anything to get your attention. At some stores, sellers are outside yelling to customers “come in, get discounts, good prices for you!” in three languages. Kaori was particularly a target for the sellers because people thought she was Korean. So, they would say something in Korean and if she didn’t respond they would move onto Chinese, then finally Japanese. She said to me “I guess I’m Korean or Chinese everywhere I go!” I had a few laughs but Kaori was happy to be “American” for the time being. If you managed to get pulled into any of the stores, the sales men and women would grab you and move and take you around the store like a personal guide. However, Even if we managed to get away from one seller, another would constantly follow you around the store till through the store till we were out. It was a bizarre selling style since it made Kaori and I want to leave more that go into the stores. On the plus side, I enjoyed all the selection of stores and the fact all were so close to one another; it makes shopping 100x easier to get through. I think Myeong-dong was probably one of the best shopping experiences I have been on. I also like seeing some of the goofy knock of brands that some of the local vendors had in the market. There must have been every brand imaginable from Ferrari, Abercrombie, Nike, Rolex and much more. Of course the “real” stores were available to shop at, but we had some fun finding the small differences between the real vs. fake brands. It is nice to see a culture able to adapt to language, customs, and people. Even though shopping maybe different, Korean’s are very kind and helpful people. If you every get the chance to visit Korea, make an effort to visit Myeong-dong; it’s the best of shopping, sightseeing, diversity, and people.

Our last stop of the night was at the underground shopping mall below the duty free store in Lotte Mart. The first floor was all about food and small packed items. Kaori explained that it is still “Christmas time” where people can buy a “package deal” at a store and send the package to friends, family, or loved ones. As for the rest of the floors, each was tailored to a certain type of item like Sports gear, women’s apparel, men’s clothing, Electronics, and high end brand labels were at the top. One specific part of the Duty Free shopping I can remember is a small coffee machine called “Nespresso”. I am what you call a coffeeholic so when I heard that the machine makes both espresso and coffee I jumped on the opportunity to try a free cup. The machine can make 20 or so different types of coffee or espresso that came in small cylindrical containers. Personally, I thought this coffee was superb and each type of canister had its own unique flavor of coffee from lemon to hints of spearmint or chocolate. However, when I took a look at the price and didn’t think coffee was important enough to take a chunk of tuition money away, about $500 or so. Kaori happened to come across the refrigerators and thought they were huge compared to Japanese. It seemed normal to me except that the outsides had light up buttons for temperature control, TV, or water filters. Our wondering took us to each floor and Kaori had a few bones to pick with the Coach Bag floor. She was interested so look at the real versions then prowl the streets for the fakes. With our arms heavy with souvenirs and our legs shaking from exhaustion it was time to head back once again to the Hotel. Kaori and I both agree that today was the perfect wrap up to a week in Korea.

---