Discovering Daejeon

I’ve never been to Korea and therefore the prospect of visiting with my second daughter and her family was more exciting than when simply traveling as a tourist. The flight from Manila to Seoul could be stressful for one who holds a 10 percent interline discounted ticket, a privilege granted to former airline staff like me. For KE (Korean Air) flight 624 set to depart at 12:30 a.m., I had to be at the airport three hours before and stand by until a seat was available. In other words, until all paying passengers are boarded. The usual anxiety I would normally feel did not occur, because the gentleman behind the check-in counter, Oliver Ortiz, was a perfectly customer-oriented man. He made me feel very optimistic and indeed, after giving me my boarding pass, I had enough time to get through Immigration without having to run breathlessly to the boarding area.

Travel time was long, because our final   destination was Daejeon, the Science and Technology Center of South Korea. After three and a half hours, we landed in Seoul and breezed through Immigration. It was cold as we waited for the bus. The ride to Daejeon took three hours with two stops, at each stop there was a row of snack shops to cater to hungry commuters.

Then our Korean Adventure began. Korea is a peninsula of 3,000 islands encircled by the Yellow Sea and China in the West and the East Sea and Japan to the East. It is a land of blue mountains whose peaks rise through the morning mist, earning for the country the label “Land of the Morning Calm.”

After the Korean War, the country underwent a massive reforestation program that now gives the county ample supply of food not only for local consumption, but for export. All one has to do is look at all the Korean items available in Manila to know how successful they are in selling their products.

The city’s slogan is “It’s Daejeon.” I guess it is meant to say, “You are in Daejeon, a city with its own identity, so enjoy it!” Initially, we felt so embarrassed that Manila has perhaps the most outdated airport. Incheon has been named the “Best Airport in the World” from 2005 through 2007. Then we enter Daejeon and could not fail to marvel at their 5-lane (on each side) major avenues, the disciplined drivers and the cleanliness of the city. High-rise buildings dot the metropolis. Schools (universities) are a prominent feature of the city, making it an Education Center.

For Koreans, food not only satiates hunger, but helps them stay healthy through their medicinal attributes, for example – garlic cleanses blood and aids circulation, potato juice is good for upset stomach, etc. Roots and grasses are normally seasoned with soy sauce, crushed garlic, sesame oil and seeds, and chilies. Those small appetizers served in Korean restaurants in Manila are collectively called Namul. Seafood abounds in the waters of the Yellow Sea and meat is of superior quality, the local costing more than the imported lot.

As far as shopping goes, it is better to go around with a resident or a local as hardly anybody speaks English. All street and store signs are in Korean. Alternatively, take a bi-lingual city map. Currency is pegged at 1000 Won to $1. The Pinoy shopper thus converts local prices to dollars and then to pesos, which we did.

Let me start my shopping report with the huge Noeun Agricultural and Fishery Products Market, located in Noeun-Dong (Dong means district), south of the city central, less than 20 minutes’ drive. The complex consists of three buildings, each with massive supplies of fruits and vegetables, seafood and meat. From the harvest area one gets strawberries as big as golf balls, P124 a box which would cost at least P600 in Manila; onions as big as a small cabbage, expensive at P420 a kilo; Del Monte bananas and pineapples from the Philippines, the latter tagged at P160 for the big one; and rare baby melons, the size of a football, either green or yellow. Moving on there are lots of mushrooms (which the Koreans use a lot of), weeds, and leeks a meter long. 

The meat section is very organized. Whole chicken costs about P168 per; kenchi is at P420 a kilo and ox tail at P368 per. Every outlet in Korea carries packs of seasoned bulgogi (P147 each). Note that Korean beef, which is of superior quality, costs much more that those imported from Australia and elsewhere.

The seafood section is comparatively neat. This was where we had our first encounter with monk fish, a major ingredient in Chinese cooking. It is black and appears to be all head and no body. It sells for P420 per. We got a pampano at P360 a piece! They’ve got lots of water tanks with live fish, a lot of them we don’t recognize.

Next week: The humongous supermarkets.