My shoes are killing me! I need a bigger pair. So off I go to my
favorite shoe store at Doota. Doota, or more specifically, Doosan Tower,
is a large shopping centre in the Dongdaemun Stadium vicinity. This area
is definitely a shopping hotspot. Speaking of shoes, is it just me or
are the design of Korean men's leather shoes (for office/formal wear)
rather peculiar. Have you noticed that these shoes get really flat
towards the front. I mean really flat. I won't say that I have large
feet. Just normal-sized feet. But I can never squeeze my toes into these
shoes. So I guess I can never buy leather shoes here. My feet are really
small, honest! I finally ended up getting my shoes at Migliore. I have,
for the fun of it, bought a pair of traditional Korean shoes. Not that I
have a han bok in that color, not that I have anything in that color.
Unification Shoes are shoes in which the soles are made in South Korea
Young Women Shoe Shopping, Myongdong Commercial Market, Seoul, South
Korea
Some people eat to live. Some live to eat. I belong to
the latter, and it shows ..... at all the anatomically wrong places!
I've slipped into a routine of late - every Friday for the last several
weeks, this ritual involves pigging out on pizza while laughing at the
starving contestants on Survivor All Star. Today is no different.
My neighborhood is swamped with pizza joints - they should just rename
this place Pizza-dong. We have the regular "branded" culprits - Pizza
Hut & Domino's - and also the home-grown pizza chains mushrooming around
Korea. While pizza lovers all over should be familiar with the usual
variety - super supreme, Hawaiian (pineapple), chicken, pepperoni,
mushroom, vegetarian etc., Korea has its localized variants e.g. bulgogi
pizza & potato pizza. Is there a kimchi pizza? I don't know.
20 meters from my office is a Pizza Etang outlet, one of the many Korean
pizza chains. While my usual choices are either Super Supreme or Cheese
Crust Pizzas, they've recently introduced 3 new varieties - Sweet
Potato, Mexican Taco & Garlic Pizzas - all of which I've never tried. So
I went for the Garlic Pizza and the Mexican Taco Pizza. It's usually
very crowded during lunch time. I had a late lunch today (2.45pm) and
found no problem getting a place.
As with most Korean food, it came piping hot. Notice the bubbling soup?
Hottttt!! You get rice in seafood-stock soup, large bean sprouts, topped
with kimchi, a sprinkle of sesame seed, chili powder, spring onion
leaves and an egg.
"special" set (KRW6,000). It had a diluted yuk gi jang(spicy beef soup),
fried fish, a bulgogi/spicy bulgogi (thinly sliced beef) combo +
assortment of side dishes. The interesting thing was the rice. It is not
your typical white rice variety, but purplish in color. This is quite
common in Korea, along with rice mixed with grains like oats, barley
etc. Thumbs up. Real nice.
You can eat it as it is. But the real kicker is when you mix the
condiments that comes with it. That's kimchi, sliced green chilies,
dried salted seaweed, heavily salted beef strips (in some brown sauce) &
salt-fermented shrimps. Where's the salt? Hehehe .....
Food courts are great if you're unfamiliar with Korean food, because the
stores have mock-up of the dishes displayed at the counters (as depicted
below). Tonight's dinner was doh si rak. Basically it is a bento-type
set meal comprising of soup, rice, main dish and a variety of side
dishes. There are many types of doh si rak to choose from, depending on
your appetite and budget
The salted shrimp thingy is similar to "cencaluk", a salted preserved
shrimp condiment found in Malaysia.
at the Carrefour hypermarket. It is typical of many such food courts
located within shopping malls and departmental stores in Korea. This
particular food court has approx. 30 stores serving all types of Korean
food.
So mix everything in and ta-da, it's ready to eat. Real yummy ..... more
so on a cold winery day.
I'm no expert on Korean food, having just moved here recently, and I'll
be the first to admit that I have a lot to learn. But I hope I won't
have to make this journey alone, and with your help, learn more about
Korean food.
Korean clothing sizes are a little
different to what you may be used to. They have a different system from
other places (from what I've seen). In Canada I'm a 16-16.5 neck (which
is a large) but in Korea I need to get XXL, which shows as a 17-17.5
inch neck sometimes and the locals call it 110 (which is 42.9
centimeters, likely the chest size, not neck!). I go to a guy at
Namdaemoon and clean out his 110/XXLs every once in a while. Pants are
also odd. I buy 38 inch waist ones in Seoul even though I fit a 35 here
(yes, even inches are different in Korea). Best bet, try things on (even
on the street!) and make sure it fits before you walk away (some
merchants may not be there the next day).
Glass Shoe Korean Series
Glass Shoes Music Video
Korean 13 years old kid playing guitar so well -canon rock-
Goodbye Korea
As most of you are aware, I am no longer in Korea. I have moved on and I
now live in China. However, the archives here are great way to learn
about living and teaching in Korea. Even if you already live or have
lived here, you might find some enjoyment. There are a lot of photos and
stories. I suggest starting from the first entry and working your way
forward.
