South Korea Vacation Part 29 - Namdaemun - Rocketman's Photos

      Ajumma heaven! Namdaemun is a great place to find all your ajumma needs including clothing.

It was unusually quiet the day we visited. We went on a weekday which helped a lot and also in the morning. Watch out on the weekends, it can be brutal.

                                                                           Moon guys!

I wanted to pick up a couple of metal lunch trays and this poor guy had to climb into the rafters to find them for me. So to say they pack in the goods is an understatement.

 Ajumma shoes! Alas, they never have my size which is a 9 1/2. I like that they were slip-ons because it makes eating out a whole lot easier when you it comes to removing your shoes.

                         Sometimes I get sensory overload with everything there is to look at.

                                                                     Love this picture!

I stopped by my favorite bead store. It's on the fifth floor of a building off the main street of Namdaemun. We would have never found it years ago if not for Hellena.

                           It's beads and beads. The entire floor has little shops like this one.

The hard part is that there are no prices so you have to ask. They also only take cash so I always take great care when I'm there. Rocketman always seems to find a lone chair close by which helps a lot. 

Here are the metal lunch trays! They are much fun for the grandboys. They love that I fill each section with something different. I need to pick up some more our next trip.

I'm getting near the end of blogging about our Korea 2015 trip. We did squeeze so much in those few weeks and I can really see it as this is my 29th post.

South Korea Vacation Part 28 - Namdaemun

Whenever we visit Korea, Namdaemun is one of our must stops. It's a huge tourist attraction and the main road is difficult to navigate at times due to the amount of people and scooters. Then throw in some vendors that just set up a table or a sheet on the floor in the middle of the street to display their wares and it can be a zoo. But that is also the charm of Namdaemun.

      I love to watch the food vendors working like crazy to feed the masses that pass by their stalls.

                                        There is so much to see, smell and hear in Namdaemun.

                                                        And then there are the socks!

                 Sized for small feet not my 9 1/2 size. In Korea, they call my feet "BIG SIZE."

                                                             But they still are fun to look at.

It seems that almost every time we are in Namdaemun we discover a new alley. This time it was a very narrow alley lined with food vendors.

They all knew a little bit of English, enough to try and get our attention as we walked by pointing to one of their empty stools. 

 We decided to eat lunch just across the street of Namdaemun at a little restaurant with a ton of food offerings.

                                                                This was the menu.

                                               They also had a picture menu on the wall.

                                         Rocketman decided on the mandu guk (dumpling soup).

                                                                           Side dishes.

                                                       I was hungry for kimchi jjigae.

                                  We also ordered some kimbap. The food was delicious!

         As we made our way back to Namdaemun, I saw a Buddha on the roof of a building.

Not sure what he was doing up there but it was cool to see. If you ever visit Namdaemun or anywhere in Korea, get lost. You won't believe the amazing things you will find when you go off the beaten path.

Happy Birthday, Ezra!

Our grandson, Ezra, turns five today. We were living in South Korea at the time and had bought plane tickets six months in advance hoping to arrive near his birthdate. We were flying over the Pacific ocean when our daughter went into labor. We arrived to messages on our phones that Ezra had arrived so we went straight to the hospital from the airport. 

Two weeks ago our niece married and we spent the weekend at my sister's house. She had lots of chickens and Ezra loved feeding them every day.

 

 

 

                      We did some exploring too while everyone was preparing for the wedding.

We spent time on a bench swing imagining it was a crab boat and Ezra was the captain. We ran into bad weather and all sorts of problems that we could imagine.

                                         We also went egg hunting and found eggs every day.

 

                                         But his favorite things to do was to feed the chickens.

 

His very favorite chicken was a small scrawny one that was terrified of everything. He did everything he could to feed it but it would take off every time he came near. 

                                                    He chased this poor chicken everywhere.

                                                                  But finally gave up.

                                                      There you are, I've got you cornered now.       

Sadly, last weekend a raccoon got into the coop and seven chickens were killed including Ezra's favorite.

Rocketman was the photographer for our niece's wedding so we also spent a lot of time in the church they were to be married in.  

Ezra with his big brother. The wedding was beautiful and the boys did great considering it was a long day for them.

Happy 5th birthday, Ezra! We love you so very much!!