Early start for Weary today.. thought i might do a Pop and make an effort to go for a decent walk each morning to keep up some level of excersise. Found Myongdong shopping area (which i had briefly looked for but missed the previous evening) and found a cup of coffee and some pancakes for brekky.

There are few memories that came rushing back to me this morning.. interestingly the first one is the smell of Seoul.. when walking around it has a distinctive odour.. one i haven’t smelt again since leaving… a car emission, mixed with strange tobacco smell, mixed with dried fish…. Very hard to describe but definately unusual and as far as I know unique.

Second memory was of Marnie’s and my first few days in Korea when we were based in Myongdong.. I found some of our old haunts, Dunkin’s being the main one and reminisced. Probably not that surprising but some parts of Seoul have changed and some haven’t.. Myongdong more than most hasn’t!

Spent the majority of the day shopping at Tongdaemun and Nandaemun but started the day at Toksugung Palace. It was very serene walking around the palace and was a nice contrast to the controlled chaos that I found at the markets!

Tongdaemun has definately gone down hill since last time I was here (or maybe my tastes in shopping have changed…) For those reading who don’t know, Tongdaemun is a bunch of high rise buildings that house markets (ladies clothing mostly). I’ve been feeling pretty lousy all day to day (due to a head cold I contracted the day before I came to Korea) so shopping in a crowdy noisy shopping mall did not put me in the best of moods.

Came back to the bp for a rest for an hour or so before I took off for Nandaemun markets to continue the hunt for a small but decent handbag.. Note to all the females reading.. holy smokes handbags are cheap here!!!!!!! Picked up two today for less than 50 bucks… Found out later i could have got two for 20!!!!

Finished off the day back in Myongdong looking for some great Korean food. For 6 dollars I ended up with a great Chicken Kalbi (like a fried rice) and a coke.. Could have shared this meal if conductor was with me.. making this meal only 3 dollars!! Cheaper than Fri’s at Twin Towns