Dongdaemun Design Plaza | Seoul, South Korea

A unique perspective in architecture unlike any I've ever seen. The Dongdaemun Design Plaza, or DDP, was designed by architect Zaha Hadid. It's been described as futuristic in nature and features five separate halls: the Art Hall, Museum, Design Lab, Design Market, and Dongdaemun History and Culture Park. Attached is the Dongdaemun History and Culture Park subway station, so there is easy access to the subway. Getting here should not be a problem.

We visited DDP in the late afternoon and walked around inside the Design Lab and Design Market. Inside you'll find many different creations to look at and have the opportunity to purchase. If you're looking for a unique one-of-a-kind gift, this is the place to come. 

There are also exhibitions to see. Visit their website listed in The Details below for more info! English is available on the site. Click on the top right drop down menu to select your language.

The sculptures around the park are very neat to look at. This would be a great place to wander around with several cool photo opportunities. This sculpture was the most intriguing to me. Hanging on the "trees" are used makeup and body product containers. I thought it was pretty interesting and it certainly makes you stop to think about where all of your used bottles and containers go.

DDP neighbors several huge shopping centers. There certainly isn't a lack of things to do in this area. And if you get bored, simply hop on the subway.

On the left you'll see the Museum entrance, on the right is the Design Lab.

On our second visit here, we explored the back side of the park. I didn't bring my camera, but there are other things to see besides sculptures of the human form. I promise! Haha!

As a photographer, of course I had to stop for a shot with the camera snapped trailer! I wonder what it's used for?

Just in case you'd like to check it out, here are...

The Details

• What: Dongdaemun Design Plaza

• When: Daily 9AM-7PM

• Where: 04566  281 Euljiro, Jung-gu, Seoul (Euljiro 7-ga)
• Contact: +82-2-2153-0000

• Website: http://www.ddp.or.kr/main

• Cost: varies according to exhibition

Korea Camera Museum | Seoul, South Korea

I'm back! We had an awesome trip to Thailand and I'm so excited to share it with you! We arrived home on Friday, which meant that we have an entire weekend to recoup before the work week. That means I have plenty of time to organize and sort photos, as well as blog!

So, while you anxiously wait for Thailand photos (I just know you're on the edge of your seat...), I wanted to share with you our trip to the camera museum in Seoul, South Korea. Check it out!

At first glance, you might find Seoul's camera museum a little out of date (I didn't see any Canon 5D Mark IVs, sorry...), however this camera shaped building located just outside Seoul Grand Park Station holds a great deal of photographic history and is certainly worth the trip for the photography enthusiast! It's especially great for the film photography lover, as most of the cameras are film cameras.

Once inside and having paid the 4,000W admission, you'll find yourself surrounding by many camera models (around 3,000!) from all parts of history dating as far back as the pinhole camera and daguerreotype.

A daguerreotype replica, can you imagine lugging around that thing on vacation? Ha! Just kidding. That would never happen.

Spend up to an hour or more browsing the collection upstairs, then head downstairs to check out the lighting, film, and printing equipment. They also have a classroom-type set up in the basement, so I'm thinking they might hold classes here? Much of the information is in Korean, so you'll have to do a lot of looking but not a lot of reading! Ha! (Unless you can read Korean...)

The camera museum is not the most popular spot in Seoul, so you're likely to have the entire building to yourself like we did (aside from the employees, of course). Honestly, that's a good thing in a city of approximately 10 million people. For once, you won't be in a crowd of people. You'll find not many in Korea are interested in dusty old cameras. However, I found the camera museum to be a nice place to spend some time. With all of those cameras, all of those lenses, think of how many photos have been taken in whole, what those cameras have seen. I think that's pretty cool!

Left: It was so cool seeing old photographs. I could look at them for hours. Right: Holographic images that change as you look at them from different directions.

This one is my favorite, afternoon tea.

A machine gun... camera? 

Ahead of its time, the camera watch 

If you enjoy learning about the history and evolution of cameras, lenses, and other photographic equipment, you'll definitely want to add this place to your list. As a photographer, the museum was on my must see list in Seoul and I'm really glad we went. I found it very interesting and was reminded of my history of photography class in college. Florescent lights, PowerPoint slides... Ah, those were good days.

If you have a photography-loving friend in Seoul, feel free to share this post with them! I'm sure they'll want to check it out as well. The Korea Camera Museum is a great way to spend an afternoon.

 The Details

• What: Camera Museum

• When: Winter season: (Nov. - Jan.) 10:00-17:00 Summer season: (Feb. - Oct.) 10:00-18:00

• Where: 8, Daegongwongwangjang-ro, Gwacheon-si, just outside Seoul Grand Park Station, exit 4

• Contact: +82-31-502-4123

• Website: www.kcpm.or.kr

• Cost: KRW 4,000 for Adults, KRW 3,000 for Youth, KRW 2,000 for Children

My Favorite Indian Restaurants in South Korea!

Ah, Indian food. Would you believe me if I told you I'd never had it until I came to South Korea? True story.

The textures, the spices, the atmosphere, the Bollywood music videos.

And now I'm in love.

(Doesn't everyone fall in love after watching Bollywood music videos? Just me? Ok then.)

This post is for a collection of Indian restaurants in South Korea that we've found and loved!

I've always considered myself a pretty harsh food critic. The meal. The ambiance. The service. I'm certainly not a pro, but it takes a precise balance of these to impress me. Check out the ones on this list and you won't be disappointed!

Let's get started.

Seoul

Jyoti Indian Restaurant - Chungmuro Myeongdong

Address: 12-4 Seoae-ro, Gwanghui-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul

Price Range: $$

A great place for Indian food! The service is satisfactory and the ambience is nice. Food was delicious and came out quickly. There are also spices and trinkets for sale near the register. When we first walked up to the building, we didn't see the Indian restaurant so we walked into a Korean BBQ restaurant and asked the waitstaff. Turns out the Indian restaurant was just upstairs (hello, feeling oblivious?!), so look for the large signage – it's honestly hard to miss... We went on a Saturday evening and there were only a total of two other parties there during our visit. Don't be swayed by the lack of a crowd! I promise, the food is great. You won't regret it. We ordered a samosa appetizer, dal tadka, saag paneer, basmati rice, garlic naan, plain naan and a mango lassi. Everything tasted amazing and we were stuffed by the time we left! Yum!

Jyoti Indian Restaurant - Jonggak

Address: Jyoti Restaurant Jonggak Seoul, 6, Jong-ro 12-gil,, Jongno-gu, Seoul (Near the south end of the "Avenue of Youth")

Price Range: $$

We went to this restaurant the day after we visited the Jyoti restaurant in Myeongdong. It was my birthday weekend and gosh darnit, I wanted Indian food! So we ate Indian food twice. And it was delicious. Jyoti in Jonggak is much more of a challenge to find. The address on Google gets you in the right vicinity, but not directly to the exact location. We actually had to stop and ask for directions to find this one too, and even then, we almost gave up. After finally locating the big black sign with yellow letters "Jyoti"(see photos below, Google maps street view is outdated), we headed down into the restaurant to eat. Aside from the waiter, there were two other patrons in the restaurant around 3pm on a Sunday. During this time, the restaurant was understaffed and our order did take a bit longer to come out. Aside from that, the food was delicious and we left satisfied. We also received a mango lassi on the house, which was nice. Plus, they play Bollywood music videos!

(approximate location)

Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do

Taj Palace

Address:17-1 Shopping-ro, Bijeon 2(i)-dong, Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do

Price Range: $$

We are regulars here. I'm not ashamed to say it! Taj Palace was recently renamed from Spice Village. The food hasn't changed – it's still delicious! We love the chicken chili (ask for less spicy!), lemon rice (my FAVORITE!), basmati rice, aloo gobi, garlic and plain naan. So many wonderful flavors and textures! The service is satisfactory, however you won't receive pleasantries here like you may be used to. Not that I'm complaining. The waitstaff does a good job. Plus, Bollywood music videos play nonstop and can be fun to watch! 

Know of another Indian restaurant in South Korea that we should check out?! Don't leave a fellow foodie hangin'! Comment below and we'll add it to our list!