Dongdaemun

Just returned from Dongdaemun market. In the 20 minute drive from Kangnam, I was struck by how eerily quite the surrounding areas were - especially given that it's a Saturday. The market itself was heaving though, and I got hold of some clothes and jewellery and tried what passes for snack food here. The 'market' is an area the size of Reading town centre, except it has approximately six shopping malls - so you see quite a lot of duplication in terms of clothing articles. A new mall had just opened, but approximately 25-30% of the floor space was unused.

D would have loved it (better arrange that APAC press tour that got signed off).

There were also an awful lot of sports shops (the market is next to a sports stadium), so the Cistern Kid would have felt at home too.

Tomorrow i'll try Itaewon and probably Yongsan. I may go to Insadong on May Day to check out the festive events.