동호 at 남대문시장.

I met 동호 after rock climbing at 서울역 and we visited the 남대문. 

The gate had been burned down by an individual a number of years ago and 서울 officials decided to rebuild it. The choice to rebuild, preserve, and renovate particular corners of the metropolitan areas continues to interest me. My Topography of Rome class at FSU introduced the questions of how a city navigates how we should reserve space for history vs space for future. Does looking at the reconstruction of the 남대문 make it any less special? Should we regard the structure as a feat of the original constructor or does any responsibility lie with the remodelor? Should the gate in its present form always be seen as one of its reiteration?

We ventured through 남대문시장. It's geared towards tourist but majority of visitors were Koreans. The alleys were packed in the underground section with 할머니s pushing and shoving through the currents of bargain hungry customers. 

남대문시장 Vendor

Tired?

We ate at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant.

Smallest portion size is for two.

Walked to a cafe and had kaya toast, a pacific islands snack. International tastes are available in Korea, but of course not as abundant nor as authentic as the States. The Kaya toast(coconut jam and toast) as simple as is it was, should be the nearly the same.

We ended our day with some 쌈.

동호 and I having hours of conversation today covered a lot of topics. Notable were politics difference between US and Korea, high school fights and lackthereof in the States, what gold diggers and cougars are, how coconut milk might not be sold in Korea, haircare, 동호's obligation at his job to go overseas to Saudi Arabia, Philippines, or elsewhere.