Nam Dae Mun Marketplace

I am about to overload you with pictures, but I want you to see what we see, so I hope you enjoy them.

Yesterday we decided to venture out to Seoul. We went to the city of Heuwon (I guess it would be considered a suburb) to the Nam Dae Mun marketplace...think NYC's Chinatown on steroids! It was A LOT of fun. We decided to be super adventurous and take the train...we only saw 2 other Americans on the train, everyone else was Korean, so were pretty proud of ourselves. The Korean people (especially the older ladies) love Aiden and Elaina because of there hair and they play with it every chance they get.

At the Songtan train station where our adventure began!

On the train...notice the lady playing with Elaina's hair!!!

Riding on the train with Elaina hanging from the rafters!

This is the Koreans version of an Exit sign!

When we came out of the train station we arrived at Nam Dae Mun. There was so much to look at and buy. I am sad to report that we didn't buy too much. You kind of feel like most of it is junk and that is something we really don't need right now!

Entrance to the marketplace

Checking out clams

Aiden and I at the entrance to the market...notice how close the cars get to you!

Lunch bowls to feed the masses!

Fur, anyone? There were probably 10 other stalls with furs just like this one!
If you would like some pickled octopus we are taking orders now!
We thought these were chocolate chip pancakes....boy were we wrong....dough with black bean paste...the kid's were not impressed and we only wanted 2, but got 10...must learn some Korean!
Have moped...will travel!
Trying to show you all of the people down the streets in the market
In front of a jewelry stall
Little girls stall
Wrapping paper stall
"Lingerie" stall...We will definitely be able to get Mel something good for her bachelorette party! You can thank us later Greer!
Who wants fish for dinner? Koreans don't really go to grocery stores like we do. They get there food for dinner that day at the market and go home and cook it.
Aiden and I enjoying some fresh fruit from a fruit stand...talk about good!

We found a great "high fashion" shopping mall (what they called it) with a nice food garden (what we would call a food court) and got some dinner there. They also had a beautiful rooftop garden that the kid's ran around in for a while!

I had a traditional Korean omelet stuffed with rice and veggies...really very good.

Patrick showing off his chopstick skills (we've been trying to use them when we go out) and tasting radish kimchi...he ended up only putting his tongue on it!

The fam on the rooftop garden...so pretty and peaceful!

We couldn't tell we were 11 stories up!
My little girl and me on the rooftop garden!
Ladies crowded around Elaina on an elevator...they were calling her Princess Pearl!
This was a restaurant we passed...think the name got lost in translation...if not I don't think we want what they're serving :)

Here are some pics from a few things we did during the week.

This is Mom trying to figure out the stove...it's in celsius and Korean! Not a whole lot of cooking going on here!
Patrick and I at a traditional Korean dinner. It was an outing offered through the base we signed up for. We sat on the floor, used chopsticks and everything. This was the 3rd course and they brought this much food out with each course. We did not try everything and Patrick was MUCH braver than me....there was squid, octopus, jellyfish, 10 different kinds of kimchi and a lot more ...we're glad we did it, but Korean food is not our favorite.
This is called Soju...it's like our moonshine. Patrick was quick to point it out to me because they sell it in a juice box for $1.50. He didn't want me to think I was buying apple juice for the kid's!
Snacks at the gas station...thank goodness for pictures or we would never know what we were buying!
Aiden at his new school the day we registered him. He starts tomorrow and that is also our baby girl's 3rd birthday...it's going to be a big and busy day for the Smiley family!
This is us just off the plane with all of our stuff...a little worse for the wear, but looking pretty good all things considered!