Seomun Market/서문시장:
Seomun Market...where to I begin with this one? Getting there was quite the adventure. It was my first time taking a subway anywhere...and my mother's first time going to Seomun Market by herself via subway! We hopped on the train from Waegwan to Daegu and then from Daegu we jumped on the subway to Seomun...if only it was that easy, right? Well, we had a little trouble trying to figure out the whole "connecting lines" thing in Korean, but we got there eventually.
This market has everything you can possibly think of -- herbs, fish, clothes, purses, shoes, you name it, Seomun Market has it. There was no way we could have traversed the entire thing in an afternoon, especially with a baby in tow, but we had fun! I picked up a shirt for Mr. Loo that says, "Keep Calm and Gangnam Style", for those of you that are familiar with Psy's "Gangnam Style" song and dance that is sweeping the world at the moment. You can't walk down the street without hearing that song. :)
I really enjoyed this one particular drink that was handed to me while walking through the narrow streets of the market -- it was a ginseng/rice milk drink. It was hot...but it was so, so good. It kind of tasted like a mixture of cornflakes and butterfinger...but it's just ginseng!
Dear mother had me try this very...interesting food while we were in the market. It was congealed acorn on a stick dipped in hot sauce. And of course, determined to try anything (within the Law), I put the entire thing in my mouth.
Dear God...it was disgusting. And the vendor lady was staring at me trying to gauge my reaction on this food she made...and I just couldn't spit it out in front of her. So I swallowed it. And just about cried. It was oh so nasty. I shudder to think of it.
Kimbap & Dukbokki/ 김밥 & 떡볶이:
So, on the topic of food, this time good food, I would like to talk a little bit about my two favorite foods here: kimbap and dukbokki.
Let's start with kimbap. Kimbap is a combination of kim, being seaweed, and bap, being rice! Most Americans would look at this and think "sushi", but it something entirely different. It's usually filled with bulgogi (beef), picked radish, rice, carrots and brushed with sesame oil. It's so flipping delicious.
And this is dukbokki. Rice cakes and fish cakes with spicy gochujang, a fermented sauce made from red pepper, rice, soybeans and salt. It will make your eyes water and your lips burn...but it's oh so worth it.
Daegu Arboretum:
The visit to the Arboretum in Daegu was...interesting. Don't get me wrong, it was absolutely beautiful, especially because they were having a chrysanthemum festival there, but getting there was...taxing. When we got to Camp Walker in Daegu to get on a taxi there to go to this event, the taxi driver didn't know what we were talking about when we said "Arboretum" or "chrysanthemum festival"...so we had to pull the address up on Google so he could get us there. It ended up costing my sister $10 there and $10 back.
On the bright side, we did a photoshoot with my son and I (my sister is a photographer) and it turned out wonderful! But, on the other hand, we lost the strap to my baby carrier and we had to buy another one. :(
Getting back was hard...especially since the taxi guys on the phone couldn't understand "Arboretum" as well, so we had to walk all the way down to the main road in Daegu and hail a taxi there. Hoo boy. But all in all, it was a great experience, even down to the getting lost. :)
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