happy thanksgiving - kvacanada · it has everything: leather goods, silk goods, watches, jewelry of...

HooJung Jones

From: <[email protected]>Date: October-08-12 9:21 AMSubject: SHOPPING PRIMER FOR VISITORS TO KOREA

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The Korean War VeteranInternet Journal October 8, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving

Shopping primer for visitors to KoreaThis report was originally prepared for Veterans participating in the November Turn Toward Busan program in Korea. However, the information is applicable for anyone who visits Korea. There is a short news photo/item at the end of the article- Vince Courtenay

In November, alas, veterans participating in the Turn Toward Busan program in Koreamay not have much opportunity for shopping.

Of course, the occasion is not about shopping and the veterans have a solemn interest in visiting the graves of their fallen comrades at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan, and also in seeing the new and amazing Korea.

But few people travel 6,000 or 7,000 miles on a once in a lifetime visit to a nation that has figured so deeply in their lives and return home empty handed of gifts for loved ones and friends or mementoes for their dens or home offices.

Believe me, when other aspects of the program have been achieved, when the veterans are beginning to feel their way, they invariably turn to experienced associates who live or have lived in Korea, and to their group’s official tour guide and ask where to buy things.

Your hotel, the super deluxe rated Grand Ambassador Hotel, is in a Korean Korean area. The small enclave does not cater to foreign tourists; it provides for Korean people and in that you are quite fortunate. You can go for a stroll and take in a Korea that is not trying to get into your pocket and in fact, where the people will only look curiously at you. You won’t find things to take home in the immediate area, unless you want to stroll a couple of blocks and buy yourself a motorcycle! The dealerships are numerous, not far away.

Dongdaemun

Yet on the other hand, if you want to walk a little less than a mile, or take a two-minute taxi ride, you will be in the Dongdaemun (Dong = East, Daemun = gate, Eastgate) shopping area. This also is a place for the Korean people and not designed to serve

foreign tourists. But it is mecca to Koreans and they delight in the area.

Part of the Dongdaemun fashion and shopping district. You can see the Migliori store sign (right) from the upper front room windows of the Grand Ambassador Hotel.

Few stores there are open before 10 a.m. and some do not open during the day at all. That is because the towering department stores stay open throughout the night, with 4 a.m. being the average closing time.

Yes, at 2 a.m. if you are on the Dongdaemun streets you will see thousands of young Koreans out shopping and enjoying each other’s company and the ambience of the area as though it was midafternoon.

But nobody will have time enough to shop there. An hour or two provides just a taste. Each of the high rise stores is filled with independent vendors. There is tremendous variety.

The stores are oriented to clothing and accessories of all kinds, to shoes, and designer jewelry and sun glasses and such. Still, it is a worthwhile experience and the goods are first rate. And there are indeed bargains - special sales.

But the stuff you probably are interested in are the goods that say “I come from Korea”: Statuary, dolls, china, jewelry.

Namdaemun

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So the better place to go is Namdaemun (Southgate) market, which is a little further away, but only five minutes by taxi. It has been operating for centuries and if you are lucky you will find goods that do not disappoint you.

In Namdaemun, you will never lack for company – day or night.

It is not the proper place to look for jewelry, but cups and saucers, watches, belts, gloves, socks, shoes that sort of thing are there in terrific abundance.

The only matter is that of time. Namdaemun covers many square blocks and while most goods are sold in stalls, there are department stores, too, all with their independent vendors inside.

Time is precious to you and you will have to give up two or three hours of it to do justice to Namdaemun.

Dongdaemun and Namdaemun are named for the East Gate and South Gate that stood around the walled city of Seoul hundreds of years ago. They are still there. In fact South Gate is listed as National Treasure Number One. A whacko with a gripe about his property assessment set it on fire a few years ago and completely destroyed the wooden superstructure of the 500-year old treasure. The masonry remained intact and the top part has been rebuilt (below).

The arsonist, a senior citizen, was given a prison sentence of 75 years.

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Insadong

For a serious look at some affordable art treasures to take home, you should head to the Insadong area, only about seven minutes from the hotel, located just off of busy Jongno Boulevard.

Here you can find various qualities of celadon china, paintings, bronze statuary, other items that will look quite smart in your home, and are affordable.

There is a shop that sells pens, paint brushes and such that is a purveyor to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen visited Korea on her birthday some years back and stopped in the shop for a demonstration of Korean calligraphy. The Royal Charter is hanging on the wall.

The shops are mixed. There are those that cater primarily to collectors and prices will stagger you. Then again, even in those shops, there are often affordable items of high quality.

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Insadong porcelain shop sells daily use sets as well as high priced period pieces.

I am listing Itaewon last, which is where most visitors wind up sooner or later because it is the “foreigners’ district” and the shops are jammed with touristy things.

Sogong arcade

I would prefer to direct you to the Sogong underground shopping arcade that runs from beneath the Seoul Plaza Hotel in the heart of Seoul – across from Seoul City Hall – all the way up to the Myeongdong district.

It It is underground, protected from weather, uncrowded, and it is ideal for tourist shopping. The shops are well maintained and they are side by side for hundreds of metres.

The grand arcade will pass the Lotte Shopping Centre, which is a magnificent high rise, upper scale store with the world’s finest fashion clothing, jewelery, cosmetics,

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appliances, but you need not go up there unless you want the experience of visiting a marvellous high rise department store.

Instead you should keep following the shopping arcade, all the way through to the Myeongdong district.

It has everything: leather goods, silk goods, watches, jewelry of all kinds, eyeglasses –optometrists will examine your eyes and make your glasses while you wait – camera stores…

There are two staple items in Korea that likely will interest you.

One is amethyst jewelry, as amethysts are abundantl and native to Korea.

The other is celadon china – the pale green china that Korea is renowned for.

Here are a few words of advice. You can go into the Lotte stores and buy yourself a nice amethyst broach for about $2,000.

Or you can buy one in the underground shopping gallery for about $100, or less.

You can look at the amethysts all day with the naked eye, but you will not discern a difference. They are well buffed, shiny purple stones and those available in the small shops are adequate and a good purchase.

The celadon china is in the same situation. There are some shops in Insadong that offer excellent period celadon for $10,000 or $50,000.

But you can get something that looks similar, or is the same colour, for $50 or so in the stalls. And even for less than $20, depending on the item.

No matter where you shop, always barter for a discount. If you don’t get 10%, consider walking away, unless you are really hooked on the item and in that case you may

not have a chance for the vendor will recognize it.

Myeongdong

If you should go into the Myeongdong district, be aware that this is central Seoul’s high fashion district that has a blend of both Korean and foreign high fashion labels. It is a wonderful district with many coffee houses, taverns, restaurants and a very energetic area that will not disappoint.

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Myeongdong is for the young… and will delight the young at heart as well.

You may not find the kind of touristy items there if that is what you are looking for, but whatever you find, buy it for less than the asking price!

Prices in the Myeongdong are set to zing the abundant Japanese tourists, and so are inflated and can come down.

The merchandise, of course, is first rate. That is why so many fashion conscious young Koreans go there.

Itaewon

Now, most visitors get to Itaewon, a mecca of not very expensive take home stuff – dolls, jewelry, china, wallets, purses… the list is long.

A lot of the stuff is cut rate, not up to the quality of the places listed above, but often it is what the veterans seek.

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Hamilton Hotel and Shopping Center is hub for Itaewon shoppers. Itaewanno is a straight street, lined with many stalls and permanent shops.

Some veterans find an evening sojourn there to their liking, as well. It is an exhilarating experience and there are abundant coffee places and taverns and such.

The vendors all speak some English and they are quick and in fact will reach out for you in some places. The stalls and shops stay open until 9 or 10 p.m., depending on demand. The clubs stay open most of the night.

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It's a five minute cab ride from the hotel when traffic is light.

There are more than one hundred custom tailors there and some custom shoemakers. A suit can be rushed in two or three days. If that's your interest, count on spending $200-$300 for sure. But the suit would cost you $600-$800 or so in Canada or the United States.

Many veterans ask where to buy “fake Rolex watches.” This is the place. There are many outlets, although there is a crackdown on fake fashion goods.

Young men in the street on the side of Ittaewanno opposite the Hamilton Shopping Centre likely will offer you a knock off Rolex watch before you get a hundred yards.

Actually, most of them are pretty good watches, with Japanese movements from Seiko and such. The craftsmanship of the case and band is good and for $30 to $50, what do you expect to get?

The hawkers may say “Rolex” but there are knock off watches posing as other luxury brands of high priced, well known time pieces.

Name brand handbag producers like Louis Vitton are vexed with craftsmen who copy their goods. It is said that one of their representatives went to Itaewon some years ago and examined one of the knock offs and could not tell the difference from a handbag produced by a licensed shop.

I don't advocate buying knockoffs, but if you do, they will likely be good ones.

Several years ago I bought two excellent Rolex copies for my sons. They were very high end and I paid about $50 for each of them.

They were of such quality that I think both of my sons were quite proud to wear them.

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I don’t believe I explained they were not real Rolex watches and didn’t think that I would have to. The real Rolex models closest to them sell for about $15,000.

But about two years later I got a frantic call from my youngest son. He had made a discovery that I needed to know about right away.

The watch had stopped and the jeweller explained it was not a Rolex inside but a Seiko.

My son wondered if perhaps I could locate the crook who sold it to me and get my money back.

As a note to placate the Rolex people, and others, there are several fine jewellers in the downtown Seoul vicinity who sell genuine Rolex watches and there are also Cartier outlets.

The fake watches never cut into the market for the real thing. Folks who can afford the real item usually wouldn't wear a fake. The difference is immediately discernible to aficionados.

Likewise, shoppers who go for cheap fake watches are not potential customers for Rolex and the others.

Gangnam

Should you have a yen to look at the real thing there are also many fine jewellers in the Gangnam area of Seoul, south of the Han River. There you will find the highest quality jewellery and fashion items and the highest prices in the country.

It is the most expensive area of Seoul, populated by upscale young professional people with high incomes. BMW's and Mercedes abound.

And yes, it is where the quirky rapper named Psy, who invented the horse plodding, prancing Gangnam Style dance, and has now cut the record for his hit song Gangnam Style hails from, or says he does.

One of the staid Korea dailies decried what he is doing and ridiculed the Korean people who took to him and his new trends, but his peculiar dance and rapper lyrics have taken on all over the world.

A couple of nights ago in downtown Seoul, Psy (Park Jae-song) threw a free outdoors performance at Seoul Plaza and 80,000 highly excited enthusiasts showed up! Actually, from the aerial view below, it looks like many more than that!

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Veterans may recognize old Seoul City Hall in centre of photo. The 80,000 fans are cheering for rapper “Psy.” The lights are flares, part of Psy’s routine. The broad thoroughfare at left is Sejongno Boulevard, home to the Seoul National Performing Arts Centre, the Korean Government Centre, the British Embassy, the Anglican Cathedral, the United States Embassy, and the KT Building where the Republic of Korea’s 60th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration Committee offices are located. The incumbents in the Commemoration Committee offices routinely work 14 to 18 hour days and some have cots in their offices! They are working on plans for 2013, for activities both in Korea and in the 21 UN allied nations that came to Korea's aid during the Korean War.

We have several pieces of celadon throughout our home. Everyone is priceless to us, even a piece that was given as a business gift. What they might sell for in Korea is immaterial. The places they were acquired and the memories that dwell with them are stirred when we look at them are priceless!

Don’t go home with empty suitcases.

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happy thanksgiving - kvacanada · it has everything: leather goods, silk goods, watches, jewelry of...

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