Visiting Korea (2)

Visiting Korea (1)

After the conference, I went to Dongdemun Market, as I had heard that this area was very active and popular for tourists.

This is Dongdemun, also called Heuginjimun. It is one of national treasure specified by the Korean government. I even looked at this from a distance, it looked very solemn.

On the other hand, Dongdemun Market was inactive. Some stores, even if as famous as being introduced in a travelers’ guide, were closed.

There were some squalid marketplaces. The atmosphere there was not bad. I bought some good items.

I felt that commodity prices in Seoul were almost equal to them in Japan, except transportation cost. Costs for metro or taxi were far cheaper.
Korean is suffering from inflation and depression I heard. It may be one of the reasons of inactivity at streets. Moreover, travelers from Japan are decreasing recently, as the relationship between Korea and Japan got complicated. It is also bad for Korea as I wrote past.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed Korea with pleasure. Korean foods were quite delicious.

I ate Korean grilled meats repeatedly.
Korean beef was well seasoned before grilled. It tasted complex.
Korean grilled pork (Samgyeopsal) is one of my favorite gourmets.

I also went to Tteokbokki Town to eat very delicious one-pot dish including noodles and vegetables.

In a convenience store, I found a kind of ice-creams. This was similar to Yukimi-Daifuku (Vanilla ice-cream wrapped with rice cake, produced by Lotte) in Japan. But this one had vegetable like taste. So called iced　Kusa-Mochi! Very wonderful.

At last, I ate Sushi at Gimpo International Airport. As I predicted, it was no good. Sushi is an ultimate Japanese cuisine.

I am thankful to Korean people. Someday I am willing to visit Korea again.