South Korea - Part 9 Nami Island - Part 1

Our last day in South Korea we visited the Naminara Republic also known as Nami Island. This is where much of the Korean drama "Winter Sonata" was filmed and you know how I love Korea dramas.

The island is about an hour east by train from Seoul. We left early in the morning to get there by 9 am. It was a good thing we did because it was very crowded even at that hour.

The island is in the shape of a half moon and is also known as the "love" island. You will see hearts everywhere.

Blogger isn't cooperating today so I'll only have video I shot. I shot a lot of video this trip:

Maedeup Monday!

I've been revisiting the dongsimgyeol (also known as the one mind knot) maedeup recently. I cut a bunch of maedeup cording into 12" or so lengths and put them in a Zip Lock bag. Then when I'm sitting on the deck or watching television, I pull out a cord and do some dongsimgyeol maedeup.


I took some of my Korean satin and cut pieces to fit these lockets I had bought. I added a dongsimgyeol maedeup and I have a beautiful pendant. I have a few of these available in my Etsy shop.


I also have some ready be made into a necklace. I'm have them available in a bunch of colors in my Etsy shop.

I finally started to do so chilbo (Korean enameling) and I'm still having trouble getting the copper ready. I had talked to someone at Thompson's Enamel and he recommended a product. It does work but I'm finding I have to scrub over and over and over. I've heard about pickling and using sulfuric acid but I'm not sure if I should try that. It's frustrating. I know Nan, my Korean chilbo teacher uses nitric acid. We'll see how long my arms last at this point.

Yesterday's maedeup class was canceled but the dorae maedeup class will take place. WooHoo!

South Korea - Part 8 Namdaemum Market

Namdaemum Market is a sight to behold. Not only are there a gazillion shops that sell everything from ginseng to Korean souvenirs, there are just as many people. If I needed to go to Namdaemum Market, I tried to schedule it during the week when it wasn't quite so crowded.


Even though I had been to this market many times, I was sure there were areas I had missed.

Especially when I am in areas like this in South Korea I think of the U2 song, "Where the Streets Have No Name."

I had a few things I really wanted to get and I knew because of Rocketman's eye situation that I didn't have long so we got to it right away.

Ajumma visors!!! I never bought one when I lived there but now I wanted one.

You just can't find stuff like this back in Minnesota. Which one would I choose?

You got to watch out for the scooter guys. They usually beep at you if you don't get out of their way.

It's really like this every day.

See the ajummas in the left hand side. They can spot a bargain a mile away. Just follow them.

I saw this tiny scarf shop and I thought it had the coolest scarves.

I want this one. The owner was inside talking to a ajumma and wasn't in any hurry to make a sale. I had to wait forever but it was worth it. I love my scarf. I paid 10,000 WON (9.00US).

Rocketman was getting tired and dizzy so it was time to say goodbye to Namdaemum Market. I knew I would be back again with another list.

This shop worker saw Rocketman taking pictures and said in English, "Hey, take my picture." He struck this pose and the rest is history. I never noticed until I looked at the picture now that he wasn't wearing any shoes. As you can see in the background, he was selling ginseng.

South Korea - Part 8 Ewha University

I wanted to visit the Ewha University area of Seoul because there were lots of handbag shops with trendy merchandise and great prices for the university student when we lived in Korea.


Of course, by the time we got there Rocketman was getting hungry so we decided to also look for a place to eat. This one caught my eye.

But it didn't seem to offer much if any fish and it was closed anyhow.

So off to find my purse shops. I knew exactly the street they were on. It had only been a year since I was there last. Things couldn't have changed that much but then I remembered that I was in South Korea. Low and behold, all those purse shops I loved had disappeared.

I found a lot of these. My girlfriend, Hellena, loved to wear this over sized sweatshirts with leggings.

We went down every street and then Rocketman's stomach couldn't be denied anymore. We had also spotted a School Food which has the most fantastic kimbap.

We were the only ones in the restaurant since it was before 12 noon when all of South Korea eats. When the wait person saw us enter, there was a panicked look on his face and he returned to the rear of the restaurant to talk to the ajumma cook. The conversation continued for about 5 minutes until he finally looked at me and I motioned him over Korean style.

He reluctantly came to our table and was pleased that we spoke Korean enough to order. Rocketman ordered me a regular Coke and himself a Diet which they use the phrase "Coke Zero" pronounced very slowly. Here's a hint, do you see any Diet Cokes anywhere in the cooler in the photo above?

He gave the order to the ajumma and then a heated conversation ensued. He then wente to the cooler giving it a thorough look and went back to the ajumma sheepishly. Ajumma got on the phone and another 5-10 minutes later this poor guy came up to us trying to explain that there wasn't any Diet Coke. We had already figured this out.

So Rocketman told him that mul (water) was fine. The relieved waiter went to the back again to get another verbal lashing from the ajumma.

We got out kimbap and Rocketman had ordered my favorite, Spam! It was delicious. The only problem was that I never got my regular Coke. We just let that pass because the poor waiter had been upset enough as it was.

As we passed a side street, we say this taco place. It seems more taco places had been turning up in Seoul. They are working on a Taco Bell in Itaewon that is suppose to open soon. It's probably the type of food I missed the most the two years we were in South Korea.

I'm not sure where this was on our way around Seoul but it was definitely the longest escalator I had ever been on. I had Rocketman take this picture when we had already been on it about a quarter of the way.

Ewha kinda turned out to be a bust for me but I knew we would be going to Namdaemum Market and they would be a ton of shopping to be had. Poor Rocketman!

Maedeup Monday!

I got a request a few months ago from a manufacturer looking to incorporate their thread into my maedeup designs. I used their thread for the flowers on the necklace. The pendant is a chilbo piece made by my Korean chilbo teacher. You can see how well you can incorporate other types of cording or thread into maedeup. You don't always have to use traditional Korean or Chinese cording.

Here is a photo of the completed necklace. I have been busy getting ready for my maedeup class this Sunday. Rocketman has another appointment with the retinologist (Dr. NBM-no bedside manner). His eyesight has gotten worse in the past few months. We know he has a cataract in his right eye and that is causing his vision to be poor but the left eye should be healing and getting better. He feels he is seeing worse out of that left eye. He is also experiencing flashes in the morning in his right eye and that is the retina being tugged. It's kinda scary around here right now.

South Korea - Part 7

Another first for us during our vacation in Seoul was to see a Korean musical. Hellena knew how much I loved Lee Ji Hoon and knew he was appearing in a musical in Seoul. That girl somehow got us 4th row seats to his musical. I couldn't believe how great the seats were. We were only a few feet from the stage.


Little did Hellena know was that they rotated the two main stars and we got this guy

instead of Lee Ji Hoon. Through most of the musical, Rocketman insisted that it was indeed Lee Ji Hoon but I knew his face and voice and although the other guy was very good, he was not my Lee Ji Hoon.

How can you forget this voice:

The musical was fantastic even though we knew little Korean. It was such an experience.

I was a little surprised to find that we were the only foreigners in the audience.

But if you are ever in Seoul and can take in a play or a musical, do it. It was magical.

I also took a video of the hotel we stayed in while in Seoul. It was for extended stays and it was huge and included a free breakfast.

South Korea - Part 6 More Busan!

The next morning the girls took us to Gyeongju which has A LOT of tombs.

This is a man made lake that was created by the Korean president at that time which was in the early 80's.

This is me and Hellena with her girlfriends. The cherry blossoms were gorgeous.

This is a tea house made from mud.

She didn't even know I was taking her picture.

I love how the Koreans show their affection for each other.

A tomb.

Kids getting ready for their photo op.

We saw lots of kids as we explored.

They were so well behaved.

I love the old roofs.

This is how they weed. Not a chemical spray in sight.

It was kind of chilly the day I took this picture but I have seen them dressed the same even when it is 100 degrees out.

This famous Korea drama was filmed here so it draws lots of people.

My favorite picture of myself and Hellena.

This was a photo op. Koreans LOVE to take pictures of themselves.

Hellena said that we had to put a pebble onto the top of this rock pile without it falling. You also had to make sure you didn't know any others off. You had to make a wish and it would come true if the pebble stayed in place.

Yep, this is how I saw a lot of the men's bathrooms. The girls didn't think anything of it. Rocketman always has a problem if he needs to go but he has gotten accustomed to seeing this.

Some tombs are very small and some are HUGE. It all depends on the person's rank and wealth.

Hellena had me put a flower behind my ear and then do this pose. She wanted a picture for Hannah. She said in Korea to put a flower behind your ear means you are crazy and then to do what I did means you have really lost your mind.

I never get tired of looking at this.

This was inside a Buddhist temple.

I love the paper lotus flowers. You find these a lot covering the ceiling in a Buddhist temple.

Outside of a Buddhist temple.

How they keep the temple clean.

Another temple.

Inside the temple.

It was fascinating for me coming from a Christian background and knowing very little about Buddhism to explore these temples.

This was an outdoor temple.

At one of the temples, we found glucose IV's being given to the trees. I had never seen anything like this in the U.S.

It got to be lunchtime so we found this restaurant.


This is a picture from the inside.


This was lunch!

Along with this. Can you believe it?


Afterwards we had a cup of coffee and then we caught the train back to Seoul. We had so much fun with Hellena and her girlfriends. They want us to come back and we certainly will.

One of the tombs we visited had a visitor's center where an old ajumma was drying dandelions all over the floor of the center. I told Hellena how I could send her a bunch from our yard and she told the lady what I had said. Dandelions are pretty rare and she said that she had to walk very far to find them. She said that they are good for stomach aches and can also cure cancer. I now look at my dandelions in a different way and wonder if she could be right.