It was a bright and sunny day. I, Mackenzie Amyx, woke up and indulged on heavenly pastries for breakfast. Not the healthiest meal.

My dad, a sagacious sesquipedalian scholar 🙂 , went off to a cafe to work. We, my mom, my brother, and I, went to the grocery store to get ice cream. Yay!

We bought some milk and, you know, all the other stuff we needed; plus the things we didn’t really need – like ice cream.

There is this kind of Korean popsicle my brother and I really love: fruity and sweet, Jaws are positively refreshing. They are in a shark shape. The inside is strawberry-y and scrumptious.

We also bought Japaghetti. Japaghetti is ramen noodles in jajangmyeon sauce. Jajangmyeon is noodles in sweetish black bean sauce with tidbits of meat. It is one of my favourites.

We also got Korean highlighters. Korean highlighters are unique because instead of being like a markers, they are gel based. Inside there is a stick of non-toxic colored gel, which you draw with. Although it may look dark, the tint is translucent.

After eating lunch with my dad, we all took the metro to Myeongdong. Myeongdong isn’t an indoor market, but it isn’t an outdoor one. It’s both! Surprise!

Essentially, Myeongdong is a mix of high end retail stores (indoors), street food stands (outdoors), and Korean souvenir stands (outdoors). It’s a busy, bustling place full of fun!

At Myeongdong, we splurged splendidly. I bought cute Korean dolls for my two younger cousins first. Rosy and dainty, the dolls would make perfect gifts for my cousins.

Next, we snacked on some hotteok and tarae. Hotteok is a pancake filled with brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts. Also, there are savory fillings as well.

Tarae is spun honey with nuts and sugar inside. The process of making this treat is truly amazing and the treat itself is heavenly.

Then we bought some socks. You may think that socks aren’t very unique souvenirs, and that’s true… But not in Korea. Korean socks have faces, animals, characters, and cuteness!

We kept seeing stands selling strawberry mochi everywhere, so I wanted to try it. First, there was a fresh, juicy strawberry in the middle. It was surrounded by sweet red bean paste. Finally, there was a layer of white mochi with powder on it to keep it from being sticky.

My brother bought some toys for the boy cousins and my dad bought some suits.

Now, I have something really interesting to talk about. Drumroll please… Oh actually, never mind.

So… On the way back home we saw a sign to take pictures in a hanbok. So we went up. My mom and I chose our hanbok and put it on. Then the ladies did our hair in the tradition style.

They took us to a room with a nice background and took some pictures. The pictures turned out really nice. By the way, it took way longer than I described. It took an hour and a half in total and cost 128,ooo won. (128 dollars)

Here are our pictures:

Then we went home and slept, and slept, and slept.

 

Tune in for more adventures in Korea.

-Mackenzie

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