Shopping, Shopping, and More Shopping

Our HUGE shopping day was today.  We had so much on our list that we wanted to buy and accomplished a great deal of it.  Success and tired feet!!!  Just a quick note:  some of our purchases we can not share with you as they are gifts for others back home. 

So back to our day...after breakfast we began with a stop at Namdaemun market.  Namdaemun market is a huge open-area street market where ladies' clothing, kitchen goods, artwork and raw fish mix.  It's quite the experience and sometimes quite the smell. (Mike says: "Think sushi in a blender with diesel exhaust.") Here we bought hair clips (Korean hair clips are so cute), a hanbok for Lauren when she is older, some korean hanboks for her dolls, charms, bookmarks, wedding ducks (for Lauren if she decides to marry one day), a jewelry box, and many more fun items.   We needed some refueling by now, and Mike (otherwise known as my "pack horse" today) needed to get off his feet for a few minutes so we grabbed some street vendor food to eat.  It looked like Korean hoddeok but had no filling.  It was ok but we really wanted hoddeok.  The hunt for that yummy goodness continues. 

Our plan following Namdaemum market was to head back to the hotel to drop off all our goodies, but we decided at the last minute to get off at Seoul Station to explore and maybe hit Lotte Mart.  Lotte Mart is like Target only way, way bigger and on two floors.  We loved Lotte Mart...not just because of the air conditioning (ok, well maybe that was a huge factor), but because there was just so much to see.  We ended up buying some Korean socks (yes, much better than American), some things for the boys, and a teething ring.  We didn't pack a teething ring, and Lauren's foster mom told us she likes to bite right now since she is getting more teeth.  Hopefully this will help her not to bite us! 

Outside of Seoul Station we made another great find...Pizza Hut!  Since it was time for lunch we headed over there for our Bulgogi pizza.  It was nice to rest and relax.  The pizza was very good and a great twist on combining American food with Korean food.  Since we couldn't finish our pizza, we asked for it to be boxed up.  Boy, there is so much style in Korea.  Our little box was complete with a beautiful red ribbon around the box.  It looked like a gift box!  We made the trek back to our hotel with one more side stop for dessert...Deli Manjoo (its like a corn flavored mini donut with cream filling).  So tasty!

After a bit of rest back at the hotel, we were off on another shopping adventure.  Our next stop was Insa-dong.  We were on a mission this time to find the location of the famous name chop place.  Use of a name chop is the tranditional method of signing one's name on important papers in Korea.  Basically your name is carved to a stone and then dipped into this special waxy ink which you stamp on paper.  It's beautiful!  We located the shop and placed our order.  They said it would be about 30 minutes but they were done much sooner and we got to see how it was made.  Their skill was amazing. (Mike says: "I loved the little rotating block the first guy used. He positioned the stone in it, then spun it whichever way he needed to make precisely the right cut. Cool.") We had her full Korean name placed on the name chop.  The owners of the store showed us how to use it and gave us free ink because we are adoptive parents.  It's their way of thanking us.  So sweet.  (The entrance to the name chop place is the first picture below - we hope it helps some future visitors find it!)

                                      

More shopping in the Insa-dong area was on the agenda next.  We picked up a small Korean purse, more charms, and a beautiful purple amethyst necklace.  By this time we were hungry and the hunt began for our dinner location.  We found a small little place along an alley where we enjoyed a yummy meal of dol sot bee bim bop and potato pancakes complete with all sorts of side dishes.  

                                      

We had thought Insa-dong would be our last stop on our big shopping day, but I convinced Mike we needed to go back to the Toy Market area in Dongdaemun to pick up just a couple more things for the kids.  Hope they like them!  Following this last stop we finally headed back to the hotel for good and to rest our feet.  What a productive day.