so today headed down to the national museum of korea. again this was free so worth checking out again when i'm not rushed. they had sections on other asian cultures, ceramics, pottery, bronzeware, bhuddist statues and paintings. the highlight for me was the section on the three korean kingdoms (silla, baekje, goryeo) and the unified silla kingdom. they had royal artefacts including what could be the crown jewels and gold crowns. and more stuff on hwaseoung fortress that i had seen yesterday in suwon as well as places in gyeongju another historical city just outside daegu i plan on visiting.

outside i was trying to cut thru the park to get back to itaewon and found more statues in the gardens . i wanted to get to itaewon for friday prayers at the mosque so ended up taking a cab. it was very crowded at the mosque, i didnt know there were this many muslims in korea. aside from pakistanis, malaysians, indonesians, africans, arabs, turkish, they also had some korean muslims and the azaan was even done by a korean wearing a kurta. this was almost like eid celebrations after, handing out food, maybe coz a lot of people still had the day off. i also didnt know turkey had the third highest number of casualties in the korean war after US and UK, higher than australia and canada which are 4 and 5 so many people have settled from then.












video : itaewon muslim area after friday prayer http://www .youtube.com/user/londone73#p/u/13/Y5rwJhJtFeU

after i wanted to try one of the local restaurants and ended up at the indian buffet i had shown people on youtube before i had left. i even told the guy he is on youtube and for him to check it out (type 'itaewon foreign restaurant'). this was my eid dinner since i didnt really get to celebrate. they had my favourite naan, tandoori chicken, halwa, shrimp curry, chicken curry, chana masala, plain rice and biriyani, spicy spagetti, spring rolls, and french fries all for $15!

after i wanted to go back to yonsan electronics market now that it was open. for the most part they sell cell phones, cameras, and laptops. there is a floor for each in the malls and the ground floor does other housewares such as washing machines and flat screen tvs. i wanted a dvd player but there were not that many around. i found my laptop for $1200 when i paid $800 back home. nothing really worth carrying all the way back to daegu and there is an electronics market there i havent been able to check out yet .

video : yongsan electronics mall http://www.youtube.com/user/londone73#p/u/12/9ufIo43tcbw

then i headed back to town to find namdaeman market. this was fun as it was a massive outdoor market stretching for blocks similar to the street markets i saw in hong kong and kuala lumpur. none of the cheap athletic gear i was buying last time for $10 but still fun to look around and see some of the food vendors. then i manged to make it to myeongdung which is their pedestrianized area with all the brand name stores. the daegu one is bigger and not as crowded so easier to shop














video : namdaemun market http://www .youtube.com/user/londone73#p/u/10/1zlUMTljflU
video : myeongdong shopping area http://www.youtube.com/user/londone73#p/u/9/bfpmp9Itmlk

finaly i found insadong which is their arts and craft street. this is where you go to buy presents or neat souvenirs. there was a lot of things you see in museums such as pottery, ceramics, copperware, as well as things like souvenir chopsticks and things like i had bought in beijing last time. tomorow is the full day dmz tour so excited and hope my cameras both decide to behave! hopefully i can get up early and be on time for the bus