Namdaemun Market, Seoul

Namdaemun Market, the largest traditional market in Korea, is a well-known and popular tourist spot. Namdaemun is the nation's wholesale centre and one can practically find anything here. However for clothes, I still think that for clothes, Dongdaemun is a better bet. 

I've always thought that Dongdaemun is a night market, and Namdaemun is a day market. True in it's Facts, but not exactly accurate, depending how you define day and night. Dongdaemun wholesalers start business at night, from 8pm and ends the day at 5am. Some wholesalers double up as retailers would stretch their business up to 5pm. 

Namdaemun, on the contrary, starts business as early as 5am in the morning. According to some websites, business starts as early as 11pm the night and last through the day. Well, for a typical tourist that is not into wholesaling, we'll look at the retailers business hours. 

For most tourists like myself. Namdaemun would be a more interesting place in the day. Namdaemun, would be a place to go for foodstuff, and Dongdaemun, at night, or even past midnight, to shop for clothes. 

Namdaemun is filled with busy street stalls. You find street stalls lined in alleys. A place I recommend for getting local foodstuff, kitchenware and household items. 

Look at how many different kinds of seaweed you can choose from. Definitely spoilt for choice. Some shops have samples though but you'll be obligated to buy if you do try the samples.

My most memorable part of Namdaemun is the food alleys or the food streets.

Some of the "cooked" food stalls, similar to our Singapore "Economical Mixed Vegetables Rice". The stalls have makeshift tables and chairs. It's amazing to find it in a developed country like Korea, but such street-food stalls are becoming an extinct species in Singapore.

You can find a number of stalls that sell this fried fish-cake stuff with sausage. They make the batter there and fry it on the spot. Looks really yummy, but truly unhealthy. 

We choose a stall that is pretty popular. Well, Papa Snew is a bit concern of the re-used oil, so we do try to find one which the oil that doesn't look too over-used, judging by the colour of the oil. 

Another popular stall that has long queue is this Hotteok (or Hoddeok). This comes in a variety of filled Korean pancake and is a popular street food in Korea.

There's a variety of sweet or savoury filling to choose from. I tried the one with vegetables, which is stuff with veggies such as chives, carrots and Korean vermicelli (our chinese "Tang Hoon"). It was so interesting that I have to try one of it despite the long queue.

Papa Snew is not into Chives, so he choose the sweet one with red-bean filling. It was yummy as well.

There's much more of stalls than this. However, this being towards the last day of my trip, my human battery is running low and my legs are beyond me.

Walking is a lot in Korea. Do be prepare to do tons of walking if you are exploring these places on your own.

Look at the makeshift money changer in the top right hand picture below. I heard that the rates here is not bad, though I didn't ask.

Namdaemun Market
Hoehyeon Station (Subway Line 4), Exit 5

Close on Sunday

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Dongdaemun & Cheongyecheon Stream, Seoul

For most of the tourists, Dongdaemun is probably the most well-known place in Seoul. You probably may not have gone to Seoul if you haven't visited Dongdaemun. No surprise. This place is known for it's shopping mall that opens practically 24 hours. Even if shops do close, it would probably be wee hours in the morning. 

For most ladies, it's a shopping paradise. For me, it was a disappointment. I have been to Dongdaemun a few times (sometimes sneaking out at night during my previous work trips to kill my shopping itch). Most times, I return empty handed, or with just an item or so. Why? Read on. 

There are two sections of Dongdaemun. The ones that most tourists visit located on the side of Doosan Tower housed small individual retailers are Yes APm, Doota, Migliore. Doota is more high-end, with local branded stuff.  This is the section that I always visit. 

 

The other side, nearer to the Dongdaemun Stadium, meant for wholesalers. This means they usually sell in bulk, are Designer's Club, Gwanghee Fashion Mall, Migliore Valley, Jeil Pyeonghwa. According to KNTO, the first three cater more to the teens and youth in the twenties while the later caters more to the 30s and 40s. 

No wonder I didn't find anything suitable as I was in the wrong building all these while! My girlfriend who travelled there one week before I do, also complained the same thing! That tells very much about our age. She was tremendously disappointed as she was expecting to bring home loads of good stuff. 

Other than the shopping malls, Dongdaemun is also famous for it's outdoor night market where street vendors lined their stalls in yellow tents. It's a bit like pasar malam. The usual things that they sell are belts, socks, T-shirts and accessories.

Look at the crowd after a rain.

Did I mention that you need to try bargaining while shopping at Dongdaemun? Stuff here are cheaper than Myeongdong. However, don't expect to bargain down too much especially when they know that you are a tourist. You just need to search for sincere and nice sellers. Papa Snew bought some shirts from this funny Ajumma (aka "Aunty" in Korean) in Migliore and in her hardly understood English, tried hard to give him tips on how to dress up and style like Korean fashion. He ended up buying few shirts from him.

My deduction is, you really need to go to the right place (since the entire Dongdaemun is huge). Probably the touristy part was really not the right place to shop afterall. Searching for the right stuff at a good price in Dongdaemun is like searching for gem. You need real patience and good stamina. Now that you know my age bracket, do share your experience and drop me a comment if you know where I can find good stuff in Dongdaemun.

Dongdaemun
Dongdaemun Stadium Station (Subway Line 2)
or Dongdaemun Station (Subway Line 1 or 4)

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Since the rain has stopped, we decide to walk up and explore on the Cheongyecheon Stream. This is probably one of the longest stream, stretching 5.84KM and passing Deoksugung Palace to Changgyeonggung Palace. Not just any restored stream, the Cheongyecheon Stream is full of life and activities.

The Cheongyecheon Stream is a common place where young couples date. As it was just after a rain, we explored only on a  short section of the stream. If we do have the time and the weather was right, we could have taken a leisure stroll down a longer section of the stream.

There are many entry points to Cheongyecheon Stream. My suggestion is if you are going to Dongdaemun, just walk towards the stream if you just want to have a peep. However, if you do intend to take a leisure stroll, you can start from City Hall Station (Subway Line 1, 2), Exit 4. Walk 250 m north to Cheonggye Plaza. The Cheongye Square would be the start of the stream and the venue where events and activities are held.


Cheongyecheon Stream
Opens 24hours

Subway:
Line 1: City Hall Station, Jonggak Station, Jongno 3-ga Station, Jongno 5-ga Station, Dongdaemun Station, Sinseoldong Station
Line 2: Euljiro 1-ga Station, Euljiro 3-ga Station, Euljiro 4-ga Station, Sindang Station, Sangwangsibni Station
Line 3: Jongno 3-ga Station
Line 4: Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station
Line 5: Gwanghwamun Station


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