Korea-Day 12 Insadong shopping

We begin our day at the fabulous Recycle Shop, and have so much fun introducing Talking Carl to the young women there. Talking Carl has been a hit at every stop in Korea. He makes friends wherever he goes.

They ask us what do we want to recycle...

We stop into the Noam Gallery to see the work of Min Jaeyoung, which we all liked very much, especially the black and whites. They looked like ink paintings on paper. Very photographic.

Then amazing as it may seem, we find R and F Paints, with very old labels on them in an art supply store called Milim. Natch, we send photos to Richard, Darin, Laura and Cynthia at R and F!

We sprinkle clothing shopping along the way. We went back to our "hallway" store, and bought several items. The clothes are irresistable here.

We discovered a new alley. We thought we had combed every square inch of Insadong when we were here before, but we found a great antique shop selling old books, coins and just about everything!

 Near the end of this alley, an oasis-Beautiful Tea Museum. Ah, a place to refresh, relax and regroup. Wendy had a Frozen Bean Latte, Judy Iced Peppermint tea, and me iced Japanese apricot tea. On the menu the described all the healing properties of the available teas.

They had a bizarre bathroom. The commode had this metal trap in it, to make sure that no paper products were put in it. Also a sign on the door:

When somebody knocks, please use the stick! Huh? Even Jung Shin couldn't figure out what this all meant, when she read it in Korean.

 Some things must remain a mystery.

Wall in a pojagi store.

Wall in a tea store.

Judy brings the ginger tea. Another stop with tasting all kinds of bakery delights to refresh us before we continue shopping, and gallery visits, one large scale black and white photo show of Mt. Geumgangsan at the Insa Art Center. On our walk back to the hotel, we bump into IAPMA members from Canada and Switzerland! Something that regularly happens to us in Santa Cruz. We can't go anywhere without bumping into people we know, but in Seoul? Back at the hotel, I jump into the pool and have a terrific swim.

Jung Shin arrived at our apartment around 5, and we took off to gallery openings with her. Of course, she knows everybody. Here she is with an artist on the left and a gallery director (?) in the middle. This was a watercolor show. Huge paintings, beautifully done.

Then, yet another alley restaurant. A rustic place with diners and kitchen all in the same open space. Great friendly atmosphere, and wonderful wholesome, delicious food. Again, a terrific meal. We thought we might try for a day without Kimchi, but alas we failed.