What happens in my Korean town

Anyang, a satellite city of Seoul, is the 15th largest city in Korea with two major districts. Dongan district, where I live, has a major park (named Central Park), over a thousand after school academies, and two major strips filled with restaurants and bars. 

This past weekend was actually the 15th annual celebration of Pyeongchon "first" street. No matter what town you go to in Korea, you'll find a series of neon lights on a strip filled with restaurants and bars. They usually refer to these strips as "il-beon-ga" or first street. 

As you can see in the picture above, a stage was set up with thousands of chairs lined up for the audience. This two-day event featured a series of performances including, but not limited to singers, magicians, dancers, and comedians. 

Some performances were better than others, but it was a great way for those starting out to showcase themselves. I've never seen my town so packed before. Restaurants were even setting up their business in the middle of the strip for people to sit on the floor and enjoy food while watching the show.

I'm not too sure if every town celebrates their first streets like mine, but if they do, it's something worth checking out.

Farmer's market

Middle school exams are coming up, which means more time to explore my town.


I have been eying street signs to the Agro Fishery market in my town for a while, but never found the time for it. Well this past weekend, I decided to actually go see what it was all about.


This market consists of two huge warehouses that sell vegetables, fruits, and seafood (hence, Agro fishery). The vegetables and fruits are grown by farmers all over the country and the seafood is fresh from the waters of Korea. The cool thing about this market is that the produce is significantly cheaper than the ones found in E-mart or Homeplus (the Wal-Mart of Korea).

Here is the vegetable section:

There are rows and rows of vendors that sell the same vegetables. A bag of twenty onions is priced at 5000won and veggies such as mushrooms, bell peppers, and potatoes are sold for under 3000won for a whole mountain of them!

Although they all sell the same produce, some will give you a discount, while others will give you some extra on the side.

The fruit section:

The fruits were so fresh that I wanted to buy out the whole market!

Doesn't this make you drool?

Now onto the fish market. There are some weird sea creatures Koreans love to eat, but you know what they say, don't judge until you try it!

Crabs on crabs on crabs (and lobsters)

Almost all the vendors were selling stingray. There are rows and rows of stingray displayed throughout the fish section, which makes you only think of how Steve Irwin died. They even have raw stingray cut up for you to try!

Markets may seem like hidden gems, but they are actually very common and dispersed throughout Korea. Next time you decide to wander around your town, ask the locals where the nearest "Shi-Jang" is!

Birthday

Usually I am pretty excited when it comes to my birthday. I used to have a reputation of telling the whole neighborhood weeks before that I would become a year older and that everyone should get me a present. Now that I have turned 25, I feel like I have nothing to look forward to anymore. This is the year when the body officially begins to decay. No more developing, just decaying. :(

On a lighter note, I found out that Korea can make some legit Italian food. Korea is big on fusion when it comes to foreign dishes and usually always fails on my palate. For my birthday dinner, we booked a spot on the 42nd floor of our apartment building that we have been eyeing for a while. Santa Lucia overlooks the Pyeongchon/Beomgye area and its interior is very romantic. The price is very reasonable and the taste is absolutely delish!

Mussel salad

This appetizer dish tasted like it looked. The restaurant was very generous and the size of the plate was bigger than my place setting. Along with a tasty spring salad came these giant mussels topped with a savory spicy tomato sauce.

Seafood Pasta

As my main dish, I ordered the Seafood Pasta. I wish the quality of this photo was better. This dish came out with a huge crab claw sticking out of the pasta. This creamy dish was filled with tomatoes, broccoli, and little bits of crab and scallops.








I wish I took photos of what my friends ordered, but I know that they enjoyed it as much as I have.

After dinner, we decided to relocate to a bar called The Flair Bar. One disappointment of the night was that this bar adds tax to every drink. This super expensive bar also made the birthday girl go behind the bar with her boyfriend and made them do some weird stuff I will never understand.

Bryan at Flair Bar

Look at this crazy menu at this bar. It starts off looking like a regular liquor box and then fans out to that!
















The rest of the night ends with me acting old and sneaking out of the bar to go to bed. Thanks to my friends for coming out and celebrating this 'awful' day with me!!