Seoul Day 5: Namdaemun Market

Most of the group was still sleeping so Mummy and another cousin decided to make a quick tour of Seoul's largest open air traditional market - Namdaemun Market, in the morning before it gets too crowded to move around. There are actually two sessions to Namdaemum market. The wholesale stores opens at 10.30 pm all the way into the wee hours of the night. Store owners usually hit Namdaemun Market at this time to buy bulks in wholesale prices. The 'normal' stores open at 9am and usually by around 11am, the middle of the roads within the market would be filled with carts and that is when the crowd thickens. To avoid the crowd, we headed to the market at 10 am. Located at Hoehyeon Station (just two stops from our apartments at Chungmuro on Line 4), Namdaemun Market can be accessed by Exits 5 and 6. The market sells everything under the sun, from textile products to kitchen utensils and farm and fishery products. The market is divided into different sections. You can either get a map from the Information Centre near exit 5 (come out of exit 5, walk straight and take the first right turn. Walk straight for about 100-150 m and you would see the Information Centre) or you can be like us, just walk around and see what surprises you can find.

Map of Namdaemun Market

Clear streets in the early morning

Ladies bags and shoes

Jewellery and Accessories. A lot of them are handmade.

Army clothing and appliances

Tourist Souvenir

Children's Ballet and Dance Costumes

Streets filling up once the carts set up stores in the middle of the alleys

One of the three main children wholesalers

Second of the three

You can spend the whole day navigating through the three shops. Good that they are all side by side.

Alleys are narrow so go early to avoid the crowd. Bargaining works here especially if you are buying more than 1.

Multi-level shopping complex for the ladies. Our aunt would have enjoyed her time here.

We navigated into the small alleys to find more shopping!

The moneychanger grannies. They are known for their loud and foul temper but to give them credit,  I have met some who are very nice too. I heard they gave good exchange rate but I dare not ruffle their feathers.  

Honey Pancake using blueberry dough

Tried their dry spicy cold noodles and it was really good.

Walked down a flight of stairs and found the food alley.

Tell the lady your order and you can enjoy your meal in the sit-down restaurant just behind

More street food.

We satisfied our sights and taste buds and it was soon time to head back to meet the rest of the group. They should have woken up by now, all ready for another day of exploration.

Meal of the Week: Traditional Korean BBQ at Ssamsarang Restaurant

During our stay in Chungmuro, we chanced upon a very nice traditional Korean BBQ restaurant that was so good we had to visit it twice in a week! I still haven't found an address or reviews on the restaurant online, and thought I'd offer some directions here for anyone around the area.

External facade of the restaurant.

The restaurant is called Ssamsarang and is near Chungmuro Station exit 8. As you exit the station, make a u-turn and it is 2-3 stores after the 7-Eleven convenience store.

The restaurant has both tables that come with chairs and more traditional floor-sitting layouts. Private function rooms are available. 

The staff there appear to be closely knit, almost family-like, and very pleasant. The vegetables and banchan (side-dishes) are generous and varied. The restaurant also has a homemade peanut sauce and Gochujang (spicy chili dip) that were so unique that we asked them for their recipe. The most experienced cook in our group also requested to buy some of the sauces, but decided not to as we couldn't guarantee its freshness till we get home.

Home made bean paste porridge. In the smaller black bowl to the above right of the bean paste is the homemade peanut spicy sauce that quickly became one of our favourites.

Bamboo rice was popular there, served hot in bamboo...

A peek inside under the paper cover reveals a myriad of colours: peas, different kinds of beans, and an assortment of coloured grains; a perfect compliment to the fragrance!

Mummy tries a sip of Soju. It's a too strong for her liking.

The fresh greens are not your typical fare either. Many of the leaves we do not commonly find in other restaurants, and they even provide a large Fuji apple to wash the meal down with. Alternatively, some of the more adventurous members of our group ordered Soju (Korean Liquour) to go with the meal!

Generous servings of greens. The large apple was a favourite among the children.

The meats were well marinated too, but the cooking skills and service of the hosts made the biggest impact on our experience there. We ordered the sirloin steak, smoked-duck, boneless beef rib, sliced beef, and pork-belly, and the hosts cooked them on separate barbecue stations for us before distributing a little of each around the tables we were spread out into. The sliced beef was cooked in vegetables and onions and a gravy was added to it after cooking. Due to the gravy, a separate BBQ tray was required. The meat servings were not especially large, but the quality of the experience had us calling for top-ups.

Sliced beef cooked to perfection!

The staff were pleasant and proud of the cuisine they had to offer, taking it upon themselves to deliver a culinary experience worth remembering. After the cooking, they even conducted an impromptu lesson on how to wrap the ingredients into the fresh leaves for best results! After the wrapping, one should eat the onions followed by their spicy bean paste soup.

A top down view of the spread: sliced beef on the grill with onions and vegetables.

Another table with the smoked duck (top) and boneless beef ribs (bottom) on the grill. Lotus rice at the bottom of the picture. Another rice specialty of the restaurant. No white rice served in this restaurant.

Whipping  up the smoked-duck and sirloin steak... yum yum...

Despite the fact that they close at 10 pm, they allowed us to eat till past 10 pm as we had a late dinner on one of the days we were there.

Meat servings are priced between 9000 to 14000 won about SGD $10 to $15 . In Singapore, servings costs between $30 to $40 per serving. That is almost triple the price! Of course, it tastes a lot better in Korea itself.

Mission accomplished! A parting shot of a meal to remember, and we'll miss the experience till the next time we're in Chungmuro. Till then, the best we can do is hope someone else enjoys it as much as we did.

Seoul Day 2: Gyeongbokgong Palace, Tosokchon Samgaetang Lunch, Trick-Eye Museum‏

No early move outs today as we were still recovering from the flight yesterday. We left our apartments after sleeping in around 11 am and headed to the Grand Palace Gates for some sight seeing and catch the changing of the guards ceremonies which are held every hour. 

The entrance to the King's throne. The huge parade square is also the setting for many Korean dramas.

The majesty and grandeur of it all

Much effort has been put in to preserve the palace and the items inside.

Gyeongbokgung Palace is open from 9am to 6pm daily except Tuesday. It's a 5 minute walk from  Gyeongbokgung Station exit 5 or a 10 minute walk from Gwanghwamun Station exit 2. Tickets are priced at 3000 won for adults and 1500 won for children 7 to 18 years old. Children ages 6 and under go free. 

Tradition meets Modern (in the background).

Getting ready for the changing of guards ceremony.

Drumming signalling the start of the procession

There are free one and half hour long guided tours in English at 11.00 am, 1.30 pm, and 3.30 pm. It starts in front of information center at Heungnyemun gate. Groups with 10 or more people must make a reservation. 

Our group decided to go free and easy, and enjoyed the changing of the guard at 1 pm. It was indeed a grand ceremony, and seemed to take us back to the ancient days of kings and queens. It personally reminded me of Korean dramas set in those days. A good spot to catch all the action would be near the main gates, away from the palace. Even though you would not be in the 'center' of the action, you would be able to shutter back and forth the between the outside gates and inner court. Some parts of the procession take place outside the main Gwanghwamun gates before going back into the inner court for the walk off and ending.

After linking up with Daddy who participated in the Seoul Challenge 10k run earlier, a friendly local directed us to our lunch at Tosokchon (토속촌삼게탕) at Chebu-dong for one of the most well known Samgaetang in Seoul (Korean Ginseng Chicken Soup). Get out from exit 2 of Gyeongbokgong station. Walk straight all the way to the main intersection, just past the convenient store GS25. Make a right turn and you would see the huge restaurant sign just in front of you. The queue (filled with locals and foreigners) itself was an indication of its reputation, but we were thankful it moved quickly. They opened a function room to accommodate our group and we ordered their specialties, including the roast chicken, premium ginseng soup, and black chicken ginseng soup. Both the premium ginseng and black chicken ginseng soups came with special shots of ginseng to mix into the soups. Other than that, the premium chicken ginseng chicken soup is no different from the normal ginseng chicken soup.

We're here!

Time to join the queue! This is the crowd after 1 pm! Valet parking is available and it is free for the first hour.

Inside the restaurant. Tell the usher how big your crowd is and they would prepare the table for you.

Feeling healthy already.

Generous bowls of kimchi.

Roast chicken dish.

Black chicken ginseng soup.

Dissecting the dish! Generous Ginseng root and delicious glutinous rice!

What a large seafood pancake! It's rich with ingredients such as spring onions and squid.

Special ginseng concoctions to mix into your premium chicken and black chicken soup.

On a personal note, what the place lacked in variety they made up in their  chicken specialities. However, this meant the kids had less choices, and those who didn't like chicken basically had rice. The rice was also a bit too sticky for the children's liking so feeding became quite a challenge. The ginseng flavoured chicken also didn't go down very well with some of the children. Nonetheless, we all felt a little healthier after the ginseng meal.

After lunch, we chilled at a nearby Paris Baguette cafe while some of us explored a nearby alley to let the heavy meal settle.

Charcoals being heated up. Roasted sweet potatoes will be ready very soon...

They're well worth the wait!

A roadside seafood restaurant turns into an educational aquarium visit!

Sometimes a simple back-alley stroll takes you into another land! There's just so much to see and observe in a foreign land.

The locals enjoying the time with a board game

Pig's trotters

Lots of shops selling shells.

After some post lunch desserts, we left for Hongdae, alighting at Hongik University Station exit 9 and navigated our way to the Trick-Eye Museum. (Get off at exit 9, walk straight for about 150m before crossing the road. Turn left into Hongik-ro street and walk straight for another 150m, turn right down the second side street,  between Tony Moly and Holika Holika. Continue for another 100m and you would see Trick-Eye Museum on the right) It is opened from 10am with admissions till 9pm. Last admission is at 8pm. Adult  admission are priced at 15000 won and children (18 and under) 12000 won. Infants under 36 months go free.

By this time many of us were operating on low battery. However the novelty of being here kept us going and we were rewarded with the creativity and ingenuity of the place. The entry has a complementary visit to small ice sculpture area. Those of us who couldn't brave the cold didn't take long to exit the beautiful place. However, we were pleasantly surprised by the physical tolerance levels of some of the kids. Enjoy the photos (only a small selection of the art pieces are shown here to allow you to discover it for yourself when you do get a chance to visit)!

It's been a tiring day!

Erm... isn't Christmas long over?

It got too cold for everyone after a short while and we had to thaw at the café just outside.



There is a small cafe selling drinks and sweets at the entrance.



You can make some clay figurines for 8000 won. When we were there, there was a discount of 3000won.

Samples of work on display

Ample resting area. Might not be the case on a crowded weekend.

Past the ticketing corner and turn right to enter Trick Eye Museum



Eat your meat and you'll grow taller!

Our own little puss in boot

"Save me!"

Just call me the "Night Crawler"...

I feel like Jonah!

Thanks! I'll just have one piece for dinner.

There's a mini mirror maze at the exit that was quite fun! The kids went through it again and again...

Dinner was settled back in our rooms after the train ride back with take aways from the cafe nearby. It was a long day and we needed to crash... tomorrow is a kids' day out!