Seoul Trip 2015 Day 6

Today will be free and easy, staying put in the vicinity of Dongdaemun. :)
Started the day by taking a few more photos in my hanbok in the back alley of Insadong with its traditional hanoks before returning the hanboks to the shop at Euljiro 4(sa)-ga Station before 11am. :) Did pay for 24 hours rental and we only wore it for 4 hours yesterday haha. :P

Can you see the cat on the roof? :)

After returning the hanboks, we proceeded on foot to Gwangjang Market which is near Exit 4 of Euljiro 4(sa)-ga Station. On the way, we saw Sewing Machine Arcade and Cheonggyecheon. Gwangjang Market is the oldest market in Korea which is popular with tourists. It sells a wide variety of things here - from fresh produce e.g. seafood to pickled food, e.g. kimchi to dried goods, from silk, linen and textiles to hanboks, home appliances, traditional Korean food and snacks and many more.

Waiting for the train

One of the many sewing machine shops in Sewing Machine Arcade

Cheonggyecheon stream

One of the many entrances of Gwangjang Market

Fresh produce

Dried goods

Pickled food

Dried goods e.g. ginseng, beans, etc.

Traditional Korean rice cakes

Home appliances - my parents would love this shop

Snacks for nibbling

Cooked food - smell good and look good

There is a second level but we did not venture upstairs. We also didn't eat anything as Juliane was not game enough to try and it was no fun to eat alone. :(
After exiting from Gwangjang Market, we walked along Cheonggyecheon to the next popular market, Dongdaemun Shopping Complex. On the opposite side, we could see another popular mall, Pyoung Hwa Clothing Market. We didn't stop long at Dongdaemun Shopping Market as we realised the shops mainly sell fabric, clothing materials, fashion accessories, etc. We stopped long enough inside the complex to enjoy the air-conditioning and to get our bearing haha. :P

Before long, we saw Heunginjimun Gate (Dongdaemun Gate). It is the last main gate remaining in Seoul which dates back to 1398. We also saw a section of the Seoul City Wall.

Just a few more minutes, we were in the Dongdaemun Shopping area. We popped straight into Doota haha. We browsed around, had lunch (finally found something that Juliane enjoyed eating!), shopped a bit, had tea, and shopped a little more and all within Doota only! :)

Cheonggyecheon stream

Doota

Juliane and her Dwaeji Bulgogi Bokkeum W7500

View of Dongdaemun Design Plaza from where we were having lunch

We see someone familiar - brown and white :)

Having some afternoon tea - cookie and cream rice cake. Yum!

Line pop-up shop in Doota. Juliane was thrilled. :)

We walked across to Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), a blend of traditional buildings, relics and modern facilities. We walked around the grounds, saw the Yigansumun Flood Gates part of the original Seoul fortress walls as well as relics from a 16th century military camp which used to be on the same site. It is indeed wonderful that the archaeological remains have been incorporated into the Dongdaemun History and Culture Park at DDP. :) Wish Singapore could do similar things to preserve what little history we have left. 

Yigansumun Flood Gates

LED Rose Garden

Yigansumun Flood Gates in the background

Photos around Dongdaemun Design Plaza

Archaeological sites at DDP

We went to the Design Labs and Design Market. However we didn't go to the Museum and the Art Halls as there seemed to be some event going on and there were plenty of men and women in black blocking some areas off from the public. We loved the Design Labs as there were some really interesting design products. I thought Marieann would have enjoyed being there.

Socks with humour

Men and Women in Black lol

The LED rose garden lit up as it grew darker. Pretty. 

It was close to 8pm when we headed back to Doota for dinner. Juliane wanted what she had for lunch! Lol. 

The other shopping malls in Dongdaemun which we didn't visit lol

Back to Doota

Same dish as lunch but different side dishes :)

I tried Deulkkae Sundubu Jjigae (tofu with clams soup) which was healthy and delicious!

Night view of DDP (can see the LED rose garden)

After dinner, we headed back towards DDP to take the subway. On the way, we saw a riot/ strike of sorts. Some people were pulling a tent onto the road and there were plenty of policemen, police cars, and an ambulance. Not sure what was happening. I was taking photos when Juliane was trying to hurry me away from the "crime scene". After a while, she also took photos haha. 

A night photo of DDP 

The "riot/ strike"

It has been a rather relaxing day, just taking our own sweet time. :) Tomorrow will be another relaxing day as we will just visit Myeong-dong.

Our goodies for the day

Snacks and drinks for later :)

We really love the yoghurt drinks, a large variety as compared to Singapore