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(Digging out some old photos from my South Korea trip 2 years ago. )

The photos were taken when I was wandering around Dongdaemun Market.

“Dongdaemun Market is located near its namesake of Dongdaemun (Great East Gate). Korea’s largest wholesale and retail shopping district has 26 shopping malls, 30,000 specialty shops, and 50,000 manufacturers. Within the ten blocks of the market area, you can find silks, clothes, shoes, sporting goods, plumbing and electrical supplies, electronics, office supplies, toys and just about everything else imaginable.” — Life in Korea

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The Carbon Market is the oldest and biggest farmer’s market in Cebu City, located in the central Visayas region of the Philippines. Now over a hundred years old, the market was used to be the old Cebu Railway’s depot of coal. That is how the market got its name. The Carbon Market, known to be the mother of all produce markets on the island, offers a huge variety of fresh food, inexpensive clothing, souvenirs and artifacts.

All photos were taken during the photowalk with my officemates and fellow shooters on March 25, 2011 from 5:50am at Carbon Market in Cebu City, Philippines.

Awa Odori is a traditional dance festival originating in Tokushima City in 1586, when Lord Hachisuka Iemasa of Awa, the former name of Tokushima prefecture, hosted a celebration of the opening of Tokushima Castle.

“The locals, having consumed a great amount of sake, began to drunkenly weave and stumble back and forth. Others picked up commonly available musical instruments and began to play a simple, rhythmic song, to which the revellers invented lyrics.” (Wikipedia)

Awa Odori is believed to be the largest dance festival in Japan which attracts over a million tourists every year. Because of its popularity, other cities started to hold their own Awa Odori.

This year, I’d been to three Awa Odori festivals: (1) Kagurazaka in Tokyo, (2) Yamato City in Kanagawa, and (3) Koenji in Tokyo.

(1) Kagurazaka, Tokyo | 24th July2010

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(2) Yamato, Kanagawa | 25th July 2010

In Awa Odori, women wear a yukata, a summer kimono made of light cotton, and amigasa, a hat made of woven rush grass, and dance in a more stylish way. They turn the palms inward and upward, and gracefully move the wrists. (web-japan.org)

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(3) Koenji, Tokyo | 29th August 2010

The troupe sings “Ya-to-sa” as they dance through the city streets. The lyrics of the Awa Odori festival song include the phrase, “the dancing fool and the watching fool are both fools, so let’s dance!”

Odoru ahou ni, Miru ahou, Onaji ahou nara, Odorana son, son
(Crazy Dancers / with other crazies watching them / Since both alike are mad / You might as well dance.)

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I met up with my friend Esa (aka @esa_raditya) last Sunday for a short photo walk. We walked from Ginza then down to Shinbashi, and hopped onto the Yamanote Line to Akihabara, where I also met Fernando (aka @HelloNavi) for the first time.

Also on that day, I met my photo and geek friends Jose (aka @ungatonipon) and Kyle (aka @KyleHase).

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Hamaorisai is held annually during the Marine Day (Umi-no-hi) in Chigasaki City, Kanagawa. Hamaorisai, which literally means “descend to the beach festival”, is a summer festival in which people take the mikoshi, or the portable Shinto shrine, into the sea.

The photos were taken from 4:00 to 7:00 in the morning on the 19th of July, 2010.

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Tanabata is a popular celebration in Japan which is, in modern times, held on the the first weekend of July. Also known as wish festival, Tanabata is derived from the Chinese star festival, Qi Xi (七夕 “The Night of Sevens”)．

It celebrates the meeting of Orihime (Vega) and Hikoboshi (Altair). According to legend, the Milky Way, a river made from stars that crosses the sky, separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar. The celebration is held at night. — Wikipedia

Around the first week of July, festivals are held in many places in Japan. Streets are are decorated with colorful paper streamers and lanterns.

In Japan, people write their wishes on narrow strips of paper and hang them on trees or bamboo branches placed in the backyards or in the streets where the festival is on.

Below are some of the wishes people write on the colored paper strips.
“I want to be happy.”,
… “I want to be rich.”,
“I want to be good in tennis…”,
… “We wish to be forever in love with each other.”

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All the photos were taken at the Tanabata Festival in Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa.

Day 3.

Deoksugung, also known as Gyeongun-gung, Deoksugung Palace, or Deoksu Palace, is a walled compound of palaces that was inhabited by various Korean royalties until the Japanese occupation of Korea around the turn of the 20th century. — Wikipedia

The buildings are of varying construction, including some of natural cryptomeria wood, painted wood, and stucco.

Deoksugung was originally the residence of Prince Wolsan, the older brother of King Seongjong. This residence became a royal ‘palace’ during the Seven-Year War after all of the other palaces were burned in 1592 during the Japanese invasions of the Seven-Year War. King Seonjo was the first Joseon king to reside at the palace. King Gwanghaegun was crowned in this palace in 1608, and renamed it Gyeongun-gung (경운궁, 慶運宮) in 1611. After the official palace was moved to the rebuilt Changdeokgung in 1618, it was used as an auxiliary palace for 270 years and was renamed Seogung (West Palace).

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Namsangol Hanok Village, also known as “A Village of Traditional Houses in the Namsan Valley”, is a Korean village located in the area of Pil-dong neighborhood in Jung-gu, a central district of Seoul, South Korea where hanok (한옥) or Korean traditional houses have been restored to preserve the original atmosphere of the area. –Wikipedia

The Namsangol Hanok Village offers one the opportunity to experience a wide cross-section of Joseon-era citizenry and activities, from royalty to commoners. A great effort has been made to accurately furnish each dwelling with appropriate era and social status appointments.

Five traditional houses, including some of the residences of high government officials – some of the largest mansions in Seoul at the time, along with commoners houses were moved to the 7,934 sq Meters/9,489 sq Yards grounds containing the restored village.

The location of the village was originally the site of a well known Joseon-era summer resort called Jeonghakdong. Jeonghakdong means “The land of the fairies for the blue crane where the Jeonugak Pavillion stands along the stream in the valley”. The area boasted such superb scenery that it was called the land of the fairies and was considered one of the five most beautiful parts of Seoul.

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Note: All text content are taken from Wikipedia. (I know I’m lazy :-p)

This is the coolest station I’ve seen in Seoul Metro. It feels like you’re in a cave.

Chungmuro Station is a station on the Seoul Subway Line 3 and Line 4. Both the Line 3 and 4 platforms are located in Chungmuro-4-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul. This station is named after the road under which it passes, in honor of the Chosun general Yi Sunsin, who was also known by the title of Chungmugong. — Wikipedia

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N Seoul Tower is a communication and observation tower located in Namsan Mountain, central Seoul, South Korea. Built in 1969, and opened to the public in 1980, the tower has been a symbol of Seoul and measures 236.7 m (777 ft) in height (from the base) and tops out at 479.7 m (1,574 ft) above sea level. It has also been known as the Namsan Tower or Seoul Tower. — Wikipedia

Viewable from almost anywhere in Seoul, Seoul Tower serves as an excellent landmark. When the weather and pollution levels cooperate, visiting the observation tower (370 meters above sea level) allows you to view the entire city and surrounding areas. — lifeinkorea.com

Another point of interest is the display of world cities and street names on each window panel. Why not look for Buenos Aires on the window facing that city? Even though the city is not within view, many people can be seen trying to find it through the high-powered telescopes. — tour2korea.com

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2010 April 29th.

I was planning to go to Gwangjang Market just in downtown Seoul, but I got a tip from someone working in the guest house (where I am staying), that the biggest market in Korea is taking place on this day. The market, which has over 1200 merchants coming from all over Korea, only takes place on the 4th, 9th, 14th, 19th, 24th, 29th day of every month. I didn’t think twice and headed straight there after brunch.

The first thing I saw right after coming out of Exit 5 of Moran Station is this Buddhist monk seated in an elevated platform along the side walk towards the market.

After a few meters away, I saw a group of people with microphones, speakers and sign boards. Though I didn’t understand what they were saying, but it’s pretty obvious that they were trying to spread the word of God.

I walked through the market and saw the trades what were happening. The scene was most likely the same as the markets in the Philippines. The market is divided into sections. There are fruits section, vegetables, fish, local delicacies, and others. In this photo, the fishes are laying ready to be sold.

I have noticed that most of the traders were old people. In this photo is an old woman selling eggs.

These are dried fish hanging on the stall.

There’s a section in the market where you can see different kinds of live animals, either they sell them as pets or for food consumption. When I got to this part of the market, I saw chickens, ducks, and dogs inside the cages.

And then, I saw the dog meat right next to every cage. After seeing the meat, I looked at the live dogs again and felt very bad for them.

I spent two hours in the market, and witnessed some good and bad things, but mostly they were good. I was observing a group of people standing and eating in front of a stall. One man saw me taking pictures of them and the food they were eating, then he called me to join them. He handed me a pair of chop sticks, and a cup of soju.

I had a great time in the market. Great time.

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Next post will be Day 2 Part 2, the photos I took at Namsam Seoul Tower. Thanks for reading.