Shopping in Seoul is always an adventure. Today, one of the quad residents with a car offered to take us to a section of town where they have cheap furniture. Four of us piled into her car and off we went. It was a quick ride to the neighborhood and when it came time to look for parking, we just did what the Koreans do - pulled up onto the curb and turn on our flashers. Apparently no one bothers you as long as your flashers are on. If you forget and leave them off, you're guaranteed a parking ticket.

The street we were on had a series of shops that carried mostly dressers. I need a dresser for my bedroom, but I'm looking for a low double drawer style dresser as opposed to a high single stack dresser. This style of dresser is apparently not common in Korea homes. I found one that I liked and it was only about $180 dollars, but I had more pressing items to find, namely a coffee table and two end tables for the living room. I will probably come back and buy it at a later date.

As we walked down the street we came across a store that had really cool and modern looking chairs. As I may have noted, I'm going completely modern with my decor in the apartment. Unfortunately it was closed. As we were peering in, though, two Korean ladies walked by and started speaking to us. We figured out that they were telling us we should call the number on the shop. We passed the phone to one of the ladies and she started screaming at the owner on the phone. She hung up and said "two minutes." Two minutes later the owner comes running around the corner. He opened the store for us. I felt bad because we didn't buy anything. His stuff was rather expensive. I did like one chair which I may go back for if I don't find anything better.

After several stores that had pretty much the same thing, we entered one and I spotted a coffee table. It was the first one I had seen with clean, modern lines. I was very excited, but it was a bit small. The owner understood some English and directed us up a set of metal stairs to a huge showroom. There was the perfect coffee table and it was only 75 dollars. Fortunately the woman who drove spoke a little Korean. We found out they delivered free of charge. So a quick exchange of money and my coffee table should be delivered by the end of the day.

On the way back we spotted this small back alley. Someone said that it looked interesting, so down we went. It led to this open-air market where they sold fruits, vegetables, spices, meats, etc. The market was blocks long. It was amazing because unless you knew it was there, you'd never see it.

After our furniture adventure, we headed over to the E-Mart for groceries. As we entered we saw what looked to be lockers. As we got closer, it turned out to be a place where you can put your dog while you shopped. That's a real dog in the picture I included in this post. He was adorable.

I was determined to find martini glasses and this time I was successful. One of my friends spotted a box of six on a very bottom shelf. They were only $9 dollars. I then found some Absolut that was only $28 dollars. A little pricier than the States, but not by much. The challenge came in trying to find vermouth. The woman in the grocery store had no idea what I was talking about. It can be a bit frustrating when you can't communicate, but it's not their fault. Once my phone is working properly, I can use my translator app.

Yesterday the sofa bed I ordered online was supposed to be delivered. I discovered that they were not able to fit it up the stairwell, so my secretary spoke with them and they will return with a truck that lifts the sofa up and it can pass through a window. Who knows when it will show up, but Koreans are very honest and I'm sure it will come.

My next big adventure should come tonight - I'm going to the movies. Here in Seoul they have 4-D movie theaters. 4-D movies are a step above smell-o-rama! When the movie shows a car chase, the seats move. When the scene is cold, the temperature drops, when it rains, you're misted. When a bullet is shot, air whistles by you. If there is a scene with insects, the seat will tingle. I hear it's amazing.