We had Korean street food last night, it was been a long time since we had them, way back in downtown we have street food every week but since we moved here we always have BHC chicken.  Anyway I went to the nearby canteen where street foods are sold, there are already plenty of customers most of them are students buying their snacks before heading home.  I waited for my turn to give my order, with the help of a tong I am able to add the food I like when the owner can’t figure out how many I wanted.

Cheese sticks are my husband’s favorite, we usually buy bags of cheese sticks in supermarket and we cooked it ourselves but when I discover that cheese sticks were also sold in the street and they taste better than the cheese sticks in the supermarket we stopped buying bags of cheese sticks and if we are craving for it we just head to the nearby canteen. I also bought 2 sticks of fried tteokboki.

Aside from cheese sticks I also bought fried sweet potato, stuffed peppers and dumplings (mandu) as it was already getting late only few are left in the tray so I took them all, my husband told me not to get over board but dunno if I did.

It is holiday in Korea since yesterday because of the celebration of Seollal or Lunar New Year, my husband and I shopped for marinated pork meat to grill at Nonghyup supermarket like what expected the supermarket is giving food trays to every shoppers. We are asked to get one but we declined because we are moving soon and we can’t use it.

[Image from Google Search]

Korean New Year is the first day of the Korean lunar calendar. It is one of the most significant traditional Korean holidays. It consists of a period of celebrations, starting on New Year’s Day. The Lunar New Year celebration lasts three days.

The three day holiday is used by many to return to their hometowns to visit their parents and other relatives, where they perform an ancestral ritual called charye. It seems most of the occupants in our apartment building went home to their respective ancestral homes because it is quite empty unlike the normal days, most shopped are closed as well.

Last Sunday I went to downtown Icheon and after shopping at Daiso I walked through the shopping street and look around what’s on sale. When I reached Watsons I was tempted to go inside but thinking I just spend $30 in Daiso and shopping in Gmarket is cheaper it stops me and I continue walking until I reached Naughty Cat accessory store. I was also tempted to go inside but thinking I don’t need anything from the store I continue walking but seeing a newly opened shop beside Dickies stops me. The shoe store was gone already, the last time I passed it is under renovation and now a new shop is already opened. Within four years in Icheon I already see how shops closed and new shop open, business is not good all the time. I just took a picture of the newly open ARTBOX shop and go, but after a few steps I walked back and went inside the shop, the impulsive me can’t control myself again. I have thought from the shop name I can find Korean art inside like cards, stationaries or other items to display.

There’s  a lot of shoppers and curious shoppers inside, I took a small shopping basket thinking if the items are cheap, I can buy a few but I have already reached the end of the store I can’t find anything good it is basically like Daiso but the items in Artbox are more expensive and most of the items have no prices written on them which is quite a turn off,  I will not pick an item I like and be surprised of the cost when I have to pay, I should say Artbox is more about Olive Young, Naughty Cat, Daiso and Barunson combine, which are all few meters away from Artbox.

Artbox have beauty and makeup section, accessories, school supply items, bags and luggages, candies and even few house supplies like in Daiso.  I have to walked twice on the shelves to see what’s good, when I found scented candles I took two of lavender scented candle. My husband wishes the other night to have a lavender scent in our apartment so he can sleep, there are times he can’t sleep and it makes him grumpy in the morning.

I continue checking the aisles again I maybe missed something, I went to perfume section and try the tester. I tried four different perfumes and I am about to buy the scent I’d like when I found the cheaper perfume below the display cabinet, it has been just too bad there’s no tester for them. Oh well, I just follow my instinct and  pick the purple box and went to the counter, service is not that great, a little slow. I spent about $18 for my haul after paying I left, while walking I saw Missha on holiday sale and it didn’t stop me to check what’s for grab, I spent too much already for one day, it should be enough.

Looking at the photos I took, it seems I missed to visit the second floor section of Artbox, I’ll probably check it next time I went to downtown.