I keep forgetting when and where I bought my things from.
Looking back at our travel memories, these are the 3 leather handbags that I bought in Korea during our trip back in 2023. Along with them, I picked up an orange purse, a matching orange coin purse, and a black card holder. Every single one is made of genuine leather and are Korean-brand. Until today, they are still in great condition.
Moving forward, I’m going to share my other handbag purchases and their origins before they all slip my mind. I want to hold onto these beautiful memories for as long as I can.
Dongdaemun district is known as the largest shopping district
in Seoul with a total of 26 shopping malls holding over 80,000
stalls.
We visited the Dongdaemun area on two separate
occasions.
The first time we went was on Monday late afternoon. We
took the train from Myeongdong and reached there at around 7pm. Our main purpose
was to go for an evening stroll along the Cheonggyechoen River.
While walking to the Cheonggyechoen, we were amazed by the
beautiful architecture of Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), the well-organized row
of shopping malls along the main road, and even the 3D display screen looks for different here. We fell in
love with this area.
Back to our walk that evening, the weather was great, with a
beautiful orange sunset, we took plenty of photos at DDP, Cheonggyechoen, and
Heongginjimun gate.
We had our dinner at 9+pm at Dotta mall, and most of the
shops were ready for closing at that time, we knew that we had to come back here for more
shopping.
So the next day, we went there again at 3pm, this time mainly for shopping. Much of my Korean shopping was done here, and I
was overjoyed to have discovered a haven for exceptional, locally crafted
leather goods. I bought two handbags, a purse, a card holder, and a
pair of leather shoes, all were Korean Handmade. Besides leather goods, we also
bought some clothing items.
We're truly grateful we made our way to Dongdaemun-gu;
otherwise, our trip to Korea might have been a bit of a letdown with not much
shopping done.
Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP)
Cheonggyechoen
Heongginjimun gate
I wish it was autumn.
My new handmade leather shoes bought from Hyundai Department tore, Dongdaemun.
We visited Bukchon
Hanok Village on a Wednesday morning.
As we did not plan to explore any palaces or temples during our stay in Seoul; Bukchon Hanok Village seems to be the best alternative for us to leisurely experience the traditional Korean architectural style.
We took an
Uber from Myeongdong at 9:40am and reach the village at around 10:10am. Upon our arrival, the place was relatively quiet with not many people around. After look look, see see, and capturing photos, I went shopping at the souvenir shops nearby while hubby and kids had their cold drinks at a convenience shop nearby.
There are a few souvenir shops by the roadside, and there's also option to rent traditional Korean
attire available there. I bought several souvenirs here, earrings, fridge magnets, mail openers,
most of which have a 'Made in Korea' label.
After spending
about 2 hours enjoying the village's charm and the weather getting hotter, we took another Uber ride to
return to our hotel in Myeongdong.
From Noryangjin Fish Market, we took the train back to
Myeongdong.
The weather was exceptionally delightful, with bright
sunshine. We decided to take a leisurely walk to Myeongdong Cathedral. It was
quite a journey, going uphill most of the way from the train station.
Once we reached the top, the view was absolutely stunning.
We took a moment to appreciate the breathtaking sight before proceeding to the
cathedral. We spent some peaceful time for prayer in the cathedral.
After more photo-taking, we strolled back to our hotel, finding our way through the bustling street market. Along the way, we tried 3 types of ice creams, oreo churros, shaved ice, and a super-high ice cream cone.
After enduring two days of rain, seeing Myeongdong packed with people on a sunny day was a refreshing sight.
We paid 50,000 won for a king crab, 3 scallops, and a few sea shells for free. The cooking charges including plain water for drinking, few salad leaves and kimchi, cost us 45,000 won. The steep price for the cooking alone made us question the fairness of the pricing here.
We also purchased a big plate full of ready-fried tempura prawns + baby crabs + squids, at 20,000 won.
We arrived at the market early, a little past 10 am on a Monday morning. We had seafood for our brunch that day. Luckily the weather was fine. We took the train and we have to walk for about 500 meters to the market from the train station.
At the market, all the fresh seafood was sold on the ground level, while the second floor was meant for cooking and serving the seafood. We requested for steamed king crab and baked sea shells. The scallops and sea shells were delicious, so fresh with a hint of sea salt flavor. The king crab was impressive, but I think I prefer snow crab better. I miss the Sankaku fish market, Otaru, Hokkaido.
Despite these the high cooking price, it was a great place to experience the local lifestyle. Most of the staff here can speak Chinese, so not much of a language problem for me. This is where you can really see how the locals enjoy their meal. There's one table not far from us, 2 middle-aged men were drinking soju and eating fish sashimi, I think 1 of the man is drunk, his face was red and he talked and act like a Korean gangster in Kdrama. That is an experience worth paying for :)
After our visit to Starfield Library, we took the train back to our hotel in
Myeongdong to take a rest before exploring another district. Initially, we
considered taking an Uber back to Myeongdong, but we could not one, likely due to the rain and heavy traffic. After waiting for
nearly half an hour, we canceled our Uber and search for the nearest train station.
To our surprise, the train station was conveniently located
just a short distance away from the Uber stand. We only needed to turn to the
other side of the building, and there it was. That was our first experience
riding the train in Seoul, and it was so easy to navigate with seamless connections.
At 5 pm, we took on another train journey from
Myeongdong to Hongdae Street. The ride was quite long, and we had to make
a transfer at one of the stations.
Hongdae Street offered a fantastic outdoor shopping
experience. Unfortunately, the rain restrict our movement, we could only
browse the shops briefly. Nevertheless, I managed to purchase one top and 3 skirts in Hongdae district.
Waiting for train at Myeongdong station.
Walking in the rain at Hongdae Street while eating a hot baked potato.
Our vlog, walking in the rain at Hongdae Street, Seoul.
Next, we hailed an Uber from Gwangjang Market and headed to the Starfield Library, nestled within COEX Mall in Gangnam-gu. This impressive two-story library with 13-meter bookshelves and at least 3 cafes on the 2nd floor. is a sight to behold.
We reached there around 12:15pm, and we found the place bustling with
activity. Many visitors, like us, were eager to snap photos, but I was surprised to see numerous individuals engrossed in reading and
studying. I was so surprised, I thought this library is mainly for a photo op but the Korean ready did reads, studied and utilised this library to the max. It changes my perception of libraries as strictly
quiet places. At Starfield Library, people were free to indulge in their
preferences—whether taking photos, sipping coffee, having cakes,
or engaging in actual reading. I would have loved to study here with friends or partners if I were still a student.
I am fascinated by this library.
We ended up spending approximately three hours at the
library. Queuing up for the coffee takes time too. The cafes were
thriving, especially on rainy like that day. Who could resist a cup of coffee while reading or, in our case, people-watching? Emmett found 1 book that he is interested in - The Art of War - but it was in the Korean language. Most of the books are in Korean.
Starfield Library is a must when you visit Seoul, not when you have to rush thou.
Our snack, while people watching.
Our vlog journey to Starfield Library, our Uber ride from Gwangjang until our train rides back to Myeongdong.
So we visited the Netflix-famous Gwangjang Market in Seoul in May 2023.
Gwangjang Market also spelled as Kwangjang Market is one of the oldest and largest markets in Seoul selling mostly traditional Korean food.
Since it was raining that morning, we decided to Uber our way there. But we would have taken the train if we had known that the train station entrance is right in front of the market. It is so convenient.
We reach there at about 10am, and we have our brunch at one of the restaurants there. Not sure of the name of the restaurant, but there were photos of the Running Man team having their meal here, so it should be good.
Here’s what we had. The best one for me is the beef tartare bibimbap. It was surprisingly good. My 1st time eating raw beef.
We tried the potato pancake, but it was too oily, and taste something between hashbrowns and cucur sayur. I think our crispy cucur sayur taste better.
I also wanted to try this rice wine, and it was so good, sweet, and had no bitter taste. I prefer this to the Soju.. Makgeolli raw rice wine is a Korean alcoholic beverage. The milky, off-white, and lightly sparkling rice wine has a slight viscosity that tastes slightly sweet, tangy, bitter, and astringent.
I also tried the marinade raw crab, I had the spicy type. This is I don’t really like, I had a stomachache after eating this, not sure because of the raw meat or because of the spiciness.
We spent about 2 hours there. All in all, it was a great experience, thou there are few other foods we wish to try, we were just too full.
The crowd
The raw marinated seafood
We had our brunch here. See the photos of Running Man team hanging on their signage?
We have been to Japan 3x and Seoul x1, maybe if I have been to Korea 3x, my opinion would change.
1. The Bakery. The bakery in Japan smells heavenly. You can smell the fresh pastries from miles away, ok I was exaggerating. But seriously, I spent so much in Japan's bakeries because of their smell and tasted so goood. I didn’t even stop by any bakery in Korea cause I didn’t smell anything. Japan 1 - Korea 0
2. City Train. Seoul’s train is better. Lots of entrances, and easy connections. Clear signage and announcements. Japan 1 - Korea 1
3. Food. Generally, I prefer Japanese food. Korean food is more like an overpriced home-cooked meal. Japan 2 - Korea 1
4. Surprise elements. Japan offers more surprises for me. I really felt like an alien/culture shock when I first arrived in Japan. Which is a great experience for a tourist. So many wow elements. Japan 3 - Korea 1
5. English speaking. Generally most younger Korean can speak English, and some older ones can speak Mandarin. So not much language barrier for me. Japan 3 - Korea 2
6. Shopping. When I travel, I prefer to buy local, especially locally-made leather goods. It was so difficult to find in Korea, and not easy to search online. In Japan, they highlight more of their locally made product, in Korea, they highlight more LV, Channel, Prade, etc. Japan 4 - Korea 2
7. Pricing. In short, I trust Japanese prices more. I feel like somehow I got scammed in Korea, my bargaining skill is not good. Everything is just fixed price in Japan, easy. Japan 5 - Korea 2
8. Street food. This one Seoul wins big time. Myeongdong on a good day feels like a food festival street. We can hardly find street food in Sapporo. Japan 5 - Korea 3 (I totally forgot about Dotonbori, Osaka, when I wrote this. Gomenasai)
