Free Market Hongdae Seoul South Korea
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
ChaMike's watercolor artwork at Free Market Hongdae.
After our erotically fun(ny) experience at Love Museum we walked our way towards Hongdae's Free Market.
Hongdae is a region in Seoul near Hongik University (where it was named) known for its youthful ambiance, hip culture and artsy fartsy stores. The moment we got out of the subway we instantly felt the young & chill vibe- strolling couples with the same outfits, street performances, unique cafes and tons of cute and artsy stores. Too bad we only had very little time to explore this place.
Hongdae is a region in Seoul near Hongik University (where it was named) known for its youthful ambiance, hip culture and artsy fartsy stores. The moment we got out of the subway we instantly felt the young & chill vibe- strolling couples with the same outfits, street performances, unique cafes and tons of cute and artsy stores. Too bad we only had very little time to explore this place.
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| Cute Couple with their matchy matchy outfit |
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| Street Magician |
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| Cutesy stuff for sale |
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| Exploring Hongdae's fashion area |
Free Market
Every Saturday (the reason why we went here on our last day) young and artistic college students sell their goods and showcase their talents. You will find a collection of unique and creative stuff you won't see anywhere. Most of the items sold here are handcrafted making this market different from the others I've been to (though this kinda reminded me of Rio de Janeiro's Hippie Market- read Things to do in Rio de Janiero | Souvenir Shopping)
How to go to Free Market
Hongik University Station (Seoul Subway Line 2) Exit 9
Exit straight and walk until you see the big 4-way and take a left. Keep walking until you reach the entrance of Hongik University. Turn right at a 3-way and playground where the market operates on the right.
Opening Hours
Every Saturday from March to November
1:00 pm- 6:00 pm
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| Free Market |
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| Korean singer |
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| Nice slogan |
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| Handmade accessories |
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| Hand drawn shoes |
Mike and I didn't buy anything except for two- Calligraphy and Caricature. We found here a calligraphy artist that accepts calligraphy works for 3,000 won (P120). I asked for 'walk with cham' and 'chamike in seoul' calligraphy which were both cute. The Korean calligraphy style is just too adorable.
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| Calligraphy artist |
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| My orders :) |
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| ChaMike in Seoul <3 |
I read that the caricature artists here are really good- they offer watercolor illustrations. They have this certain Korean manner of drawing (soft strokes, pastel colors & cute illustrations) but with different styles. There were tons of Korean artists all over the market. If you want to have your own caricature illustration you have to fall in line at your preferred artist and wait for your turn. 1 person costs 10,000 won (P400) and drawing time is 10 minutes.
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| Caricature illustrator- couples |
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| Another illustrator- solo |
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| Notice the similarities of the styles |
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| Similar but different |
So after checking out all the Korean artists and their works, we settled for this young female artist. Even if this was the longest line from the rest we really waited for our turn (actually it was more of Mike waited while I wander around-hehehe)
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| Our preferred watercolor artist |
While waiting it then started raining (boo), Mike and I were already thinking of backing out but eventually decided to stay (we waited long enough so we'd rather wait a few more minutes) so it was such a relief to finally got our turn. After sitting/posing there for 17 minutes (which was supposedly 20 minutes) voila! The artist made an instant ChaMike masterpiece!
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| ChaMike with her masterpiece |
I couldn't help but gush over her work, it was utterly cute- a Korean caricature version of ChaMike. <3
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| Korean caricature version of ChaMike |
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4 comments
Stumbled upon your blog while googling for Seoul travel posts. They are super helpful! Thank you:)
ReplyDeleteThanks Frances! I love Seoul! hope you'll have an awesome time there too. I'll be coming back for winter :) for updates you can follow me
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Loved this post - going to Seoul in April / May and will most defiantly check this out!
ReplyDeleteThank you!!!
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