A frequent visitor to my Facebook page on Korean coins uploaded a video of him and his son attending, and bidding(!), on some coins at a Hwadong Auction. Hwadong is the largest numismatic-related auction house in South Korea. Nice items to see in this video, as well as the process of bidding...
Wow that one coin @ 3:41 went for over $26,000! I've never even heard of that one, the "5 Niang" coin - maybe that explains the high price tag - it's scarce! Maybe if there's an online auction I can take part in the next one and buy any turtle ship coins / banknotes I don't have yet.
Go to www.hwadong.com. They have an English page, too, I believe. And they do have online auctions...
They got TOO MUCH of EVERYTHING in South Korea nowadays. When I first visited Seoul in the early 90s, all there was was a Denny's and about five McDonalds and Burger Kings. The problem nowadays is finding traditional Korean food!
A bit of a tangent but in the US, as you probably already know, there are lots of Korean BBQ places - I'm not sure if that's more of a US-Korean fusion type thing since I read that Kalbi originated from Koreans living in LA. If any of you guys haven't tried Kalbi (or Galbi), you guys NEED to try it. It's Korean beef short ribs and it's one of the best foods I have ever had in my entire life.
Now it's time to try the REST of Korean cuisine. But keep it secret. Korean ingredients and food items in the States are cheap now, but it won't be for soon when it becomes the next freakin' "fad" here. Yeah, those LA people have kind of ruined Korea today: The big trend in restaurants now is "fusion" (a.k.a. a lazy, incongruous mishmash of Mexican ingredients with Korean food). I just hate it! You used to have to drive miles to find Western food in Seoul; now you have to drive miles to find traditional Korean food. Not a good change!
But what about Kalbi burrito?? That sounds amazing to try! But I'm sure that Korean-American food is not what native Koreans will think of as what authentic Korean food is, since apparently even authentic Mexican burritos aren't what I've been eating. Anyway, after trying to register to the site, I think that it's only available to residents of S. Korea. At the bottom of one of the auction item's pages, it says that the delivery area is to Korea only unfortunately. I'll have to find that item somewhere else, I think.
