If you buy something at the traditional market........then...

THEN...you do not only buy things but you also get 'love' 'affection'  or 정 (Jeong) like what Korean people address it.

I also bumped into another interesting public announcement. I love it.

The picture depicts an ajumma or a woman who sells (vegetables?) at the traditional market.

The ad says" 전통시장은 정을 팝니다" Traditional Market Sells 'Love+Affectin" *

* 정 is one of the difficult word to translate into other language. 

But...the point is that...more and more people in Korea tend to shop at hypermarket or any convenient stores or malls or department stores that penetrates almost every corner of Korea's public space. 

E-Mart, Lotte Mart, Shinsagae, Home Plus and many other medium-sized markets have  somewhat replaced the existence of traditional markets. 

And..that fact alone has triggered a massive concern as to whether traditional markets would be able to stand against the time and the pressure of something called 'modernity'

So, despite the fact that Korean Government has imposed the rule stating that major big  department stores to 'CLOSE' their stores twice a month on (for instance) the 2nd and 4th Sunday....

Still...a lot of people are flocking the modern market....instead of the traditional ones.

Well, preferences are hard to condone.

THAT is the reason why...This Kind OF Public advertisement is deemed necessary in subways and any other public venues.

The problem is:

DO PEOPLE really READ this?

I do hope they Do.

They read and then they think..and hopefully it will lead to action.

E-Mart Wangshimni

confused? perplexed? amazed? amused? excited? pondering over what to choose from the seemingly endless arrays of toys at E-Mart. 

The kids love going to the store simply to check out the toys available. Of course, I do not always let them buy or buy them thing they ask for granted. They got to save some of their pocket money first in order to buy toys. They learned their lessons.
Whenever they are in the toys kingdom, they never miss the chance of going to Tayo, Pororo, and Poli Robocar sectios. The three characters and their friends have found a warm place inside the kids' hearts. Or should I say..the kids have something to tell their parents of what to buy.
Up to now: Pororo, Tayo, and Poli Robocar have been the central theme of their lifestyle^^in Korea.

Enter 6 @ Wangshimni Enter 6

Still @ Wangshimni station where Enter 6 is located. We did not go for shopping, though. Well, since we thought that this place was cool, we might as well spend some time taking pictures right here. 

With my wife. Oh, Eyra, my daughter, took the picture. well, she should've lowered the camera a bit. No, I guess she should've been on a higher spot so that the lower part of the atrium was visible. Anyhow...she did a good job of taking picture of her parents.

 The green emerald water in the fountain was a dispersed reflection of the water enhanced by the green colored of its porcelain. *still it's my guess*. The cozy place to sip a coffee or so.

My wife did a pose for a moment. The contrast between the black coat she was wearing and the apparent background was strikingly imbued the nuance of Enter  6 blue sky rooftop.
Wanna go there?
Just take line 2 or line 5 or jungang line of Seoul subway and get off at Wangshimni station. 

Night Shopping

It was meant to be a usual night-out for dinner--nothing else.
What was supposed to be a dinner-then-go-straight-home occasion turned into a prolonged night of shopping. Not to our nearby E-Mart--where we mostly go.....BUT to a 20-minute-ride-by-metro shopping center called HOME PLUS at Yongdo station.

On the way back home...

It was supposed to be me and Wawan having dinner.
Then....Ilya, my friend from Kazakhstan, reminded me as to whether I wanted to go to E-mart for daily shopping.
As I had also a plan of going out for buying some stuffs, I asked him out to go to Homeplus, instead. Afterall, I've been meaning to ask Wawan to go there as I had promised him some weeks ago. ^^
So, here we were.
Three of us were walking down to the Metro station when someone we knew showed up walking towards us. It was Elmira.

Since she was actually not in the mood of going back to the dorm--well, she kinda like to stay out for some more shopping....as I learned, so...she decided to join us.
---off we went to Home Plus....thinking that it was like weekend. Well, in fact...we ARE in the midst of holiday.

After 20 minute ride from our campus, we got there at about 8 pm. Since the store opens 24 hours, it did not matter what time we got there as it'd be open as usual.
We started our shopping journey from the food and fresh market section where we encountered lots of discounted foodstuffs. We bought some potato crisps and other stuffs.
Then..we went to fashion and toys section where we spent most of our time. We were like zoomed into the labyrinth of endless temptations since Winter fashion was on sale. Wawan, Ilya, and Elmira were undoubtedly tempted to buy some for themselves. As for me, I bought some gloves for my daughters.
let's highlight what we bought: Emmi could not decide which one to choose to buy, as to whether the red sweater or the blue one. She ended up buying BOTH:) *chuckles*

on our way back home. hwajangsil? ^^ (it's a toilet)

Ilya bought this dog-shaped pencil-case where he put his three little mice that he bought into it. So, instead of mice eating cat, he made a funny rendition of mice eating dog:)
As for Wawan, he could not decide as to what kind of sweater to buy--just like what Emmi was experiencing. But, he bought one in the end-the better one.

Then....we went to the 2nd floor where electronic section was. We checked out the prices of rice cooker, camera, television set, toaster, mixer, and others that we might need to buy later on.
The time flew so fast that we had to rush home since it was already 11 pm.
As a token of our memories of doing some midnight shopping, we took some pictures as posted on this entry.

Kimbab & Rapukki (김밥 & 라볶이), plus Halal Pringles!

kimbab & rapukki

After three weeks of being in Korea,  I finally had my first kimbab & rapukki. 라볶이와 (야채)김밥을 먹고야말았어요!!! . It's just a matter of time. It was actually a coincidentally coined dinner since my friend was actually eager to eat fish. Since I do not (yet) know many places, we just ended up going to the place where kimbab being the main dish. Upon finding the menu, we were excited as I myself could find the rapukki that I had been wanting to eat since my arrival 3 weeks ago. Then, as for my friend, he got what he wanted in the first place, it was something like kongchikimchibab (꽁치김치밥??) I am not sure whether it is correctly spelled. :)
However, it was comparatively cheap. I got to pay 4,300 Won for both kimbab and rapukki that made my belly somewhat full...:)

Then, off we went to E-Mart (again and again) for another shopping of (nothing more than) rice and more snacks--only this time, I got a halal snack, since it is made in P&G Malaysia's Original Pringles that I love so much. I bought 4 cans of Pringles for only 6,500 Won. It means it only cost me a mere 1,600 for each can. A good bargain considering one single can cost 2,500!




See the small Halal sign there?
How come that this Halal-signed product could ever be here? Because it is marketed in Asean and Korea.
I think Korea should start considering having most of its products verified Halal since more and more foreigners (especially those coming from Muslim world) come to Korea. Just look at Australia and the UK or the States where more and more Halal products are increasingly marketed into the domestic market.
It is high time for Korea to do so.

A Blanket in Need

Autumn is setting in.
The temperature changes quite fast.
Though still a bit hot for a tropical man like me, for Koreans...it is relatively cooler than that of Summer.
So, the department stores are dressing up their mannequins with Autumn outfit:)
The facade of windows on every corner of the streets (at least where I live) are changing.
The smell and nuance of autumn indeed are coming.
As for me.....I do not need anything but a blanket:)
It is getting cooler for me.
My friend, Nassef from the Philippines, just bought a set of blanket for just 10,000 Won at E-Mart the other day. Upon hearing his story, I rushed myself to E-Mart today....only to find that the price had gone up into 19,900 Won. What?
I thought Nassef mispronounced the price in Korean, but he did not.
It was raised already.
Hmmm...lucky me. But, I got no other choices to buy it anyway...cos it is way more expensive in other stores. A set of blanket (not that thick one) may cost as much as 38,000 Won. Well.....I might as well buy the set at E-mart, then.
So.......I learned what Koreans usually say when it comes to E-Mart, "역시, 이마트가 1등이다"
hahahahaha....because it means literally, "Right, I should've learned that E-Mart is Number 1"

What's the point of going around to every corner of the street just to make sure that E-Mart's prices are inexpensive......???

BTW, this is the picture of my PINK blanket. Well, please do not laugh at it. It has no other color but PINK with flowers in it. Oh, swell. After all, I need it. Who cares:) 

Lunch & Shopping on Sunday

Lunch time
I was so hungry since I could not even heat the rice in the microwave. It was broken.
I went back to my dorm, called Wawan to ask him if he wanted to have some lunch also. He said why not.
Then, I was taking up a lift down to the 1st floor only to find Elmira--from Kazahtan--who was then asking me where I was going. Upon finding out that I was about to have lunch with Wawan, she said that she would love to join us along.
Then..off we went to the street.
First, we thought that the neighborhood at the right side of HUFs would have restaurants as the main road does. It doesn't have many. It turned out that they were quite more expensive. Then, we changed our idea to stick to the main road in front of the school. As we were walking down the alleys full of Korean restaurants, I was greeted by two students whom I met at UGM for student exchange programs. They were kind of surprised to see me here. But, I guessed that was alright since not many people know about it.
Then, they told me that if I wanted to take some rapukki (ramyeon and tteokpukki), I should go to the tteokpukki world (simply the name of the restaurant). It was an underground restaurant with nice couches and ambience. A nice service, too.
We had 즉석떡볶이 (jeukseok tteokpukki)...well..we never knew what it was until it came out as we ordered. Intentionally, we did order this one since it did not contain any pork or ham, but fish and tuna nugget and vegetables and of course noodles in it. Plus: the main ingredient of most Korean food: gojujang ( a chilly paste). the whole ingredients were mixed and boiled at a pan on the desk in front of us; so we could see the ajumma prepared the whole dish for us. Since we did not eat much, instead of ordering 3 meals, we just had 2 dishes to share--which was fine to ajumma.
It turned out that it was so delicious that we order one bowl of rice to be put and mixed into the remaining gojujang so as to make it into a bogeumbab (fried rice). We ate it all, especially the one with rice on it. It was the best part--I think I am the one who eats a lot..:)
Even, we got free soft drink--coca cola; simply because we are foreigners: that was what ajumma told us. What a treat!


Shopping
It was not a big shopping time. In fact, we were thinking of buying another pack of ottogi rice to cook/heat over the microwave.
However, aftur some time strolling inside the E-Mart, we ended up buying lots of food and stuffs. Here are the list of what I spent for 26,000 Won (US$ 27) only for one-stop-over shopping. I bought these:
1. LG detergent and softener. *(Won 7000). The big one that would be enough for six months:)
2. Lock and Lock plastic box (*2300 Won) to keep my kimchi fresh.
3. Buksunga (a fruit), (*2500 for 4 pieces)
4. Kimchi (pickled cabbage) (*1350 won, the smallest wrap)
5. Six packs of Ottogi cooked rice (*3,250 Won), an easy and convenient way to have a decent rice for meal:)
6. One can of sweet corn (* 1,300 Won) that I love so much. I used to eat it when I lived in Korea a few years ago.
7. 이마트우유 (E-Mart milk), 1 lt for 1,500 Won
8. One mug for coffee or tea (*4,000) at the dorm. I did not bring any mug from home so I got to buy one.
9. Vegetable rice seasoning (it is called like this in Korean 칼슘을 넣은 밥한그긋뚝딱 야채맛 which literally means 'seasoning made of vegetables that will instantly make one bowl of rice full of Calcium'). How interesting is that?
I bought a lot of stuffs that I got to bring two E-mart paper bag (each costs 100 Won). So, next time I go to E-Mart, I got to make sure that I bring along my paper bag so I do not need to purchase any more bags.
So, the pictures tell about the food that we ate and the shopping stuffs that we had.

It has been Sunday Afternoon in Seoul :) September 4, 2011.

E-Mart: Korea's answer to Carrefour :)

Yes, there are no Carrefours in Korea--not like in Indonesia where Matahari's Hypermarkets or Carrefours dot the skylines of wholesale markets. While in Korea, it is E-Mart or for some part, its rival, Lotte Market.
I also realized that Carrefours had been 'taken over' or 'purchased' by E-Mart and made them into their own brand. Way to Go.!
I found it quite a helpful place for it is located just 5-minute walk from the campus gate.
This time around, I went there to check the prices out. I had to learn and navigate my sense of using the currency here by directly go into the store and feel the sense of the prices here. Instead of rack (not window) shopping, we ended up buying some stuffs, too, here. :)
*chuckles*

I bought 이마트 들기름으로 구운 재래김 6봉 (6 packs of Perilla oil fried kim, produced by E Mart); then I also bought 우뚜기밥 (210g each): it is a cooked rice in a small plastic cup that I can just heat them inside the microwave for 2 minutes before consuming them. It is a convenient way to eat rice since we are not allowed to cook inside the dormitory :) hmmmm
Oh, I also bought two small boxes of milk (남양맛있는우유) 'Delicious milk of Namyang'. Well, it turned out that I prefer Seoul milk or 서울우유--the one that I used to drink back then.:)
Last but not least, I bought this mayonnaise from CheongJeongwon company that I love so much. Since this is 후레이쉬마요네즈 (fresh mayonnaise), I could store it in my fridge and use it whenever I feel like it with my bread or any other food I have.
One more thing to note is that....E Mart also gives a free-parking coupon for 2 hours if we shop there. Just like what Carrefour does--though this E Mart seems more interesting. 2 hours!!!
But, the funny thing was that...I got two free coupons....and what for? we do not drive here:)
..that is why I took the picture of it and made it into a souvenir.:)