“Bam” means night in Korean, and “Dokkaebi” refers to a Korean folklore character that appears only at night to trick human and disappears when the night turns to dusk. It is named after the characteristic of such night markets because they’re known to appear only at night and completely disappear by morning.

Bamdokkaebi Night Market first started in Yeouido in 2015 and expanding into 4 other venues in Seoul due to surging popularity — Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Cheonggye Plaza, Cheonggye-Cheon and Banpo. I have recently visited a Bamdokkaebi Night Market in Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP). Check out the video below:

These night markets are typically held every Fridays and Saturdays, with some Sunday markets happening at several locations mentioned above. Visitors can expect snack trucks, handmade goods stalls and cultural performances at these markets from 5pm- 11 pm.

The food trucks selections are wide. Expect international dishes like shrimp pad thai, Mexican tacos, English fish & chips, sandwiches, grilled lobsters, churros, hot dogs as well as Korean street food such as mandoo, ddeokbokki, and king sized bulgogi stick. The license to sell food here isn’t easy to obtain either. According to an egg benedict truck owner, all of these vendors went through several rounds of interviews before given a green light to do business there.

Different Bamdokkaebi Night Market has slightly different characteristics. For example, Yeouido focuses more on international fair, hence given the theme of “Yeouido World Night Market” whereas the one at DDP is themed as a “Youth Runway Market”, which functions as a platform for the youth to dream and shine. If you want to do some shopping to support local artists and designers, DDP night market is clearly the better option.

Yeouido Night Market is believed to be the biggest and oldest Bamdokkaebi Night Market in Seoul, which makes it the best night market you should check out if you’re in short of time. However, if you prefer something more stylish or quirky, board on subway line No.2 to Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station, where you’ll be greeted by the energetic crowd at the market.

For those who prefer a romantic night out with the loved ones, check out the Bamdokkaebi night market at Banpo. Themed as “Romantic Starlight Market”, the market focuses on food and various performances such as Jazz and Acapella. Remember to catch the Banpo Bridge Light Show when you’re there!

Information

Click onto the compiled Google map below to locate the nearest Bamdokkaebi Night Market.

Yeouido World Night Market 여의도 월드나이트마켓
Address: 330 Yeoeuido Hangang Park, Yeoeuidong-ro, Yondeungpo-gu, Seoul.
서울시 영등포구 여의동로 330 여의도한강공원 물빛광장
Every Friday & Saturday, March – October.
6pm-11pm

DDP Youth Runway Market 청춘 런웨이마켓
Address: 281 Euljiro, Jung-gu, Seoul.
서울시 중구 을지로 281
Every Friday & Saturday, March – October.
6pm-11pm

Banpo Romantic Starlight Market 반포 낭만달빛마켓
Address: Banpo Hangang Park, Banpo 2 dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul.
서울시 서초구 반포2동 반포한강공원 달빛광장
Every Friday & Saturday, March – October.
6pm-11pm

Cheonggye-Cheon Time Slip Market 청계천 타임슬립 마켓
Address: Cheonggye Cheon, Near Gwang Tong Bridge. Jungak Station Exit 5.
청계천 광통교 일대(을지로입구역 1∙2번 출구, 종각역 5번 출구)
Every Saturday 430pm-1130pm
Every Sunday 4pm – 9pm
March – October

Cheonggye Plaza 청계광장 시즌마켓
Address: 14 Seorin-dong, Jungno-gu, Seoul.
서울시 종로구 서린동 14
May 19th, 20th, 21st;  6pm-11pm.
August 18th, 19th, 20th; 6pm-11pm.
September 15th, 16th, 17th;  6pm-11pm.
October 13th, 14th, 15th;  6pm-11pm.
**Cheonggye Plaza’s night market has seasonal opening. Please check the official website for more information.

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So here are some of the photography works by the two talented photographers, Azri and Neoh. I love the harmonious clash of tradition and modernity in the pictures.

One candid photo showing what was behind the scene. On the left is Jamie the photogenic dongsaeng in a classic hanbok; in the middle is our lovely photographer Neoh, who totally nailed his modeling pose.

By the way, I am wearing a rental Hanbok sponsored by Oneday Hanbok, a friendly hanbok rental service provider based in Seoul. The simple, muted tones of my hanbok fit nicely with the background and created a sense of conformity. The sky blue upper-garment is called a Dang-ui 당의, a garment commonly wore over a short jacket (jeogori) by the queen consort, the king’s concubines, the sanggung (court matron), and the noblewoman. There are many different styles available at their new shop near the exit 8 of Chungmuro station 충무로역. Check my review on Oneday Hanbok here if you intend to rent a hanbok during your trip to Seoul!

**If you’re wearing a hanbok, you’re entitled a free admission to all the palace in Korea! (So far, I’ve entered palaces in Seoul and Jeonju for FREE for wearing a hanbok )

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Recently I wrote about the new design hub in South Korea, the DDP (click here to read)  and if you are interested to pay a visit to the peculiar but somewhat elegant building, please do not miss this beautiful LED flower garden at the rooftop of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP).

The rooftop of DDP is now filled up with a huge patch of flowers that shine beautifully in the dark. It has been the HOT place to check out in town for the past month. 25,550 stalks of flowers lighting up the rooftop are breathtaking. No kidding,  you’ll know the reason why this place has captured the city of Seoul if you come down here personally.

This romantic rooftop flower garden was build for an OMEGA event when they launch their De Ville Prestige Butterfly wristwatches earlier which Nichole Kidman made a personal appearance down here to the garden.

So here’s how it look like when you’re in the middle of the garden. I heard the garden looks equally beautiful in the day time as well. Anyone has been to the garden in the day yet? Do let me know how does it look like.

Met the Youtuber GoGarr as he was having fun in his Glowy Zoey LED stick figure costumes with a group of friends on the same day of my visit.

I am not too sure about the end date of the exhibition, my guess is they might hold it until the end of the year? So hurry up if you are visiting Seoul this year! Admission is free! Just come directly onto the rooftop of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza exhibition hall and you’ll be able to see the beautiful flowers. 

Update on 9th January 2015:

I am back to the DDP today. The 25,000 stalks of LED roses are still there on the rooftop, looking magnificent as it looked like at night. I am pretty amazed, as the day and night at this flower garden look so different yet equally bewildering. I heard they are now back on the rooftop of DDP. Please check below for exhibition information.

*2015* DDP Rooftop LED Flower Exhibition:

Exhibition Period: 18th April 2015- 29th Feb 2016
Visiting Time: Closed on Mondays.
Admission: Free
Location: 4th floor Rooftop.

How To Get to Dongdaemun Design Plaza: 

1. Get off at Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station (Seoul Subway Line 4 동대문 역사문화공원역 ), Exit 1 and you’ll reach DDP.

For many people alike, this neo-futuristic building resembles UFO and it is also called the “UFO” building among Seoulites. This quirky and modern building targeted to serve as exhibition halls, retail stores and leisure spot is a work by world-renowned architect Zaha Hadid. Ok, I am not sure why but this place somehow reminded me of the Esplanade in Singapore both did a fairly good job in merging arts/design with the retail/F&B industry. They provide a fairly good selection of restaurants here at the DDP, and I always find myself wanting to come back to try out the food here.

The DDP is compromised of 5 modern and minimalistic looking exhibition halls: Art Hall, Museum, Design Lab, Design Market and Dongdaemun History and Culture Park. One of the popular exhibitions, My Love From Another Star Drama Exhibition took place here at one of the exhibition halls this summer. If you haven’t read about it yet, you can click on the link given above. If not, I’ve put up a 2 minutes short video down here. Do take a look ^^

DDP is very accessible by bus or subway. Similar to Esplanade in Singapore and many other exhibition halls alike, admission to the building is free and they do hold free exhibitions occasionally. The greyish facade of the building makes a perfect background for fashion photography so be expected to see fashionista taking their street fashion photography here at DDP.

Did I mention it is a good place to chill in the evening? Do not forget to visit their rooftop flower garden filled with 20,000 stalks of flowers that glow in the dark! Check my blog post about the DDP rooftop flowers HERE!

If my words matter, do try to plan your trip down to DDP in the late afternoon, check out their cool UFO-like facade in the daytime, then cool off/ stay warm in their indoor exhibition theatre/ restaurant/ flea market and come out to witness the beauty of this UFO building when the night falls. The dim and blinking lights of the building somehow create a beautiful and romantic atmosphere, very, very suitable for couples to come out for a walk after dinner.

Psst. If I were you, I would opt for some pizza or chicken and beer take-out dinner and wind down here in their outdoor resting area!

Night view at the DDP. Please pardon my old comrade, the Olympus Pen EP3 for the grainy images as this fella just lacks some night-mode talent. lol

Directions: (click on the map to enlarge)

1. Get off at Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station (Seoul Subway Line 4 동대문 역사문화공원역 ), Exit 1 and you’ll reach DDP.

Dear readers, sorry for the lack of updates as I was busy for the whole month handling my finals and attending a K-Wave camp which ended just yesterday. It has been a really fruitful semester, I would say. Busy but very fulfilling. I had never felt like this for long, and I hope this positive energy will continue to keep my spirit high for some time. : )

For those who have been following me on my Instagram account, you may know that I have been to certain awesome places in Seoul recently. One of them that I am going to write about in this post is a special exhibition of the Daebak drama < My Love from the Star> or <My Love from Another Star> (별에서 온 그대) at the newly built Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP).

I was pretty excited when I first heard about the exhibition. Visiting Do Min-joon and Cheon Song-yi’s house? Are you kidding me? I am sure many of us here are still not over the Do-Manager and the rude Hallyu movie Star Cheon Song-yi yet. And now the drama set is rebuilt and open for public exhibition in Dongdaemun! How exciting is that? ^^

For those who don’t know about this drama yet, it is SBS’s hottest drama last winter and it quickly captured the heart of the Koreans and the rest of the world since it was aired. Not only did the OST receive the highest download rate, but the drama had also made an impact on the fashion industry, accessories and make-up products. It was rated the most favourite program locally and well-loved in China as well. The Washington Post reported in March 2014 that the Korean drama was brought up to discussion at China’s National People’s Congress, particularly in a committee of the political advisory body Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, where it reportedly topped the agenda among delegates from the culture and entertainment industry.

It was a weekday afternoon when I visited the exhibition. After purchasing the tickets and we were brought to the entrance. To my surprise, there wasn’t any crowd, which is good in a way, as no one would photo-bomb your precious pictures in the exhibition ^^

Tickets are going at KRW 15,000 per person. However, as I visited it this month, I get KRW 3,000 off the total bill!

The exhibition is divided into 2 Main Zones and 7 relatively smaller zones. Other than the 2 Main Zones, which is Do Min-Joon’s house and Cheon Song-yi’s house, a variety of exhibits and experience facilities are shown according to the concepts of “Chance”, “Meeting”, “Heartbeat”, “Yearnings”, “Destiny”, “Love” and “Memories”.

The Chance Meeting

For those who watched the drama, this corridor will be all too familiar to us. On the 23rd level, Cheon Song-yi’s corner unit 2301 and Do Min-joon’s 2302! The fight between Lawyer Jang and Song-yi’s mom, and the couple’s funny interactions, all happened here.

 Do Min-Joon’s House

The main highlight of the exhibition.  You get to see all the actual film set of Do Min-Joon’s house in the drama! Basically, this is my favourite zone as I get to see the magnificent library and Do Min-Joon’s university certificates all at once there.

I bet any viewer will remember the famous kiss scene that took place in Do Min-Joon’s living room. The “15 seconds fairy”, the silence, and then the smooch. To remind me of that captivating scene, I found a wonderful site that provides gif files which contain every bit and pieces about the drama: http://ywcfts.tumblr.com/page/58 so here you go! 

The Balcony

“You never had a guest at home, am I right? You don’t seem to have friends either. Do you have a family? You’re living in an island like this… Aren’t you lonely?  

 The library.

The secret library at Do Min-Joon’s house that cost a bomb in the drama. According to the crew, the filming was done on a real set, with all props carefully chosen and assembled by their art direction team. The whole drama set took up 1 billion KRW (940,000 USD) for their sets. The grandfather clock, however, was not in the exhibition. It was said to be one of 3 that exist in Korea, costing a whopping 30 mil KRW (28,000 USD).

 Cheon Song-yi’s House.

The other star zone from the exhibition. Less identical if compared to Do Min-Joon’s house. I guess it was because the space given was much smaller than the studio where the drama was filmed.

Other than these drama sets, props for example Cheon song-yi’s dress, Do Min-Joon Alien outfits, and rare meteorites that fell onto the earth were also among the many exhibits in the hall. Visitors can even take pictures at a certain photo booth and bring back home the fond memories together with Do Min-joon and Cheon Song-yi.

This DDP Art hall 1 is also a filming scene in the drama. Remember the scene where Cheon Song-yi took up a spy character in her “come back” movie in the drama? The place where she fall off was just located right beside the cafe. Remember to check it out!

My Love from the Star Exhibition Details: 

DDP Art Hall 1
2014 June 10th to August 15
Exhibition time: 10am-10pm
Ticketing:
Adult KRW 15,000 (July sale KRW 12,000 per pax)
Students: KRW 10,000
Online Information:  http://lovefromstar.sbs.co.kr/main_english.html#

How to Get There:

1. Get off at Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station (Seoul Subway Line 4), Exit 1.
2. Upon exiting, walk straight for about 5 mins.