Insadong and Downtown Seoul

A week or so ago I made my way out to Insadong which is near downtown Seoul. Insadong is an older outdoor shopping area that was packed with people. Wandering the streets, Insadong quickly become one of the top 5 places I've been to in Korea so far. There were tons of cool street vendors and lots of shops to venture into.



The city was an interesting mix of young and old. The young aspect that stood out was an interesting artsy vibe. The architecture some of the buildings was super cool. There was one shopping center that had a variety of boutique style stores that catered to a young crowd. This area was highly populated with university students, couples, and foreigners. The walls of the building were littered with graffiti that seemed to be encouraged and added an interesting touch to things.







Once we made our way back to the main street the vendors seemed to be in full effect. Now granted it was a Sunday afternoon, and prime shopping/selling time but it was a bit overwhelming to see all stuff for sale. There was everything from traditional Korean clothing to tea pots to hats to porcelain pigs. The hat guy reminded me of the book Caps for Sale. The only thing missing was the monkeys.





One of the things I really enjoyed about Insadong was that fact that you could wander down an alley and it seemed like a whole new world would appear. It was as if one had ventured down a rabbit hole and popped out somewhere else. The first place we popped out at; was in front of an awesome art gallery. The exhibit was a variety of 2D sculptures that appeared to be 3D. There were several sculptures of Korean pop stars and a variety of other worldwide figures.







As we left the exhibit we found another alleyway to explore and popped out in front of a tea house. The place was amazing. The tea and food were delish as well as the building was visually cool. They had a variety of teas, some hot and some cold. I had this super yummy citrus tea. My friends David and Melissa ordered a different kind of fruit tea that I was totally keen on. I don't know what the snack food we ordered was, but it was really good. It was rice based and very light.



After tea we made our way towards downtown Seoul. We walked about a block before running into some kind of dance festival. It was really entertaining and really packed. As we were watching an older Korean man pulled me aside and wanted to take a picture with me. It was pretty silly. The dance party went on for a bit and then people went their separate ways.





After the show we went a bit further down the street and wound up on Sejongno street. Sejongno is littered with different monuments and civic offices including the US embassy. Along Sejongno is a huge fountain area that surrounds a statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin who is a naval hero in Korea. The statue and fountains we pretty elaborate.





Other than that things have been pretty quiet. I finally got a cell phone and found a gym down the street that I signed up for. We got a new teacher at work and have a staff BBQ on Friday. Hope the food isn't like the last meal I had that was sponsored by the school.

Saturday and Sunday a group of us are heading to Golgulsa Temple which should be interesting.

Things are swell in Wonderland.

Listening to Little Joy How To Hang A Warhol.

Insadong and Downtown Seoul