kimchi museum

this week, i had monday and tuesday off of work, due to buddha's birthday being on tuesday. even though korea is traditionally buddhist, it seems like a lot of people these days are either christian or not religiously affiliated. since i am not buddhist, and i don't know anyone who is [well, i don't know anyone who is a practicing buddhist], i'm not sure what people traditionally do on this holiday.

so, my friend and i decided to go to coex mall and check out the kimchi museum. coex is a ginormous mall, build underground, and it's quite famous in the seoul area. it has tons of stores, an aquarium, casino, kimchi museum, and a large food court with a variety of different restaurants [and a sbarros--heckyess]. the mall is also arranged like a giant maze, and i'm pretty sure that i've never walked around the entire thing before...

jen and i had never visited the kimchi museum before, although we had been curious about it for a while. we decided that it could be something interesting and cultural to do for buddha's birthday.

the museum itself was much smaller than i had anticipated. the displays detailed the history of kimchi, as well as how it is made [then and now]. it also explained the importance of kimchi to korean culture, and how the taste is different between the different regions.

all-in-all, it was an interesting experience. although, i wouldn't recommend travelling all the way to coex just to see the museum...but if you happen to be at the mall already, it's definitely worth checking out.

coex mall is located on seoul subway line 2 [the green line] at 삼성 [samsung] station, exit 6. the museum itself is a bit trickier to find. it's on level B2, but you should look for the signs inside the mall. the museum is closed on mondays, and the entrance fee is 3,000KRW.