Day as a Tourist – Gwangjang Market and Jongmyo Shrine

Since I’m relocating back to the states in a few months, I have decided to explore Seoul every weekend.

Ever since I moved here six years ago, all I’ve done is study, work, study, and work. I said no to a lot of things. I turned down weekend trips to surrounding cities, hangouts at popular hipster bars and restaurants, and events. I have neglected to immerse myself in the local area. Yes, I understand the culture and language, but I didn’t get the chance to see all of Korea. My primary focus was my education and career. I did, however, had my fair share of traveling the world in the last few years. I’ve visited Japan (4 times), Turkey, France, Indonesia, and the Philippines (3 times).

I now have only two and a half months to traverse the Korean landscape before moving to Florida. I won’t have the chance to visit faraway places since I’ll be slaving away and preoccupied with work. Therefore, I’ll be exploring Seoul and the surrounding areas.

If you ever visit Gwangjang Market, you’ll see free-standing stalls along stretches of the corridors with hungry tourists and locals gawking at the mounds of Korean delicacies. Most of the dishes ranged from $3-$8.

Some of the local delicacies you can find in the market include soondae, spicy rice cakes, kimbap, pig trotters, fish cake soup, etc.

My first stop was spicy rice cake ($2.75), odeng ($2), and mayak kimbap (2.75). I split these with my friend. The total was $7.50 (my share was $3.75).

This market is recognized for its popular bindaeteok. Usually, people eat this with makgeolli (Korean rice wine). We ordered two bindaeteok (mung bean cake): one seafood and one regular. If you ever visit this market, I highly recommend savoring this oil fried delicacy. Here we spent $16 ($8 for my share).

After hitting the market, I headed to Dongmyo. I decided to visit and take a tour of Dongmyo as it was my first time visiting this shrine. According to the Seoul Guide, “Dongmyo is a shrine where ancestral sacrifices to the Chinese military commander Guan Yu were performed.” Although it was informative and enlightening, the tour was a bit dull and dry. Good thing it was only $1.