Asia

The Top Shopping Districts You Must Visit In Korea

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BARGAIN SHOPPING IN GANGBUK AREA
Namdaemun Market, which has been around for over 600 years, is a place for people to purchase various types of products at bargain prices. Within walking distance of the market is Myeong-dong, the busiest shopping district in Seoul. Because of its convenient location and popularity among international travelers, the Namdaemun Market and Myeongdong district have together become an international center for shopping. The Dongdaemun Market offers a totally different scene from Namdaemun: open from evening till dawn, the market offers a unique shopping experience unfound anywhere else. Here, visitors will find both local markets and large shopping malls where they can buy anything from fabric and lace to ready-made clothing and accessories.

Namdaemun Market
The largest market in Korea, with 600 years of history
Opened in 1964, the Namdaemun Market is the largest traditional market in Korea with various goods in store. All products are sold at affordable prices and the stores in this area also function as a wholesale market.

Most of the goods are made directly by the storeowners. Namdaemun Market opens from 11:00pm to 3:00am, and is crowded with retailers from all over the country. When day breaks, the site of busy Koreans bustling around th market, creates a unique scene that attracts tourists worldwide. The Namdaemun Market sells a variety of clothes, glasses, kitchenware, toys, mountain gear, fishing equipment, stationary, fine arts, accessories, hats, carpets, flowers, ginseng and imported goods.

Myeong-dong
Myeong-dong is a massive shopping district. Myeong-dong Street is around 1km long and extends from Myeong-dong Subway Station (Seoul Subway Line No. 4) to Lotte Department Store at Euljiro. All kinds of brand name shops and department stores are clustered along the streets and alleyways. You can purchase various products such as clothes, shoes, and accessories. Compared to Namdaemun or Dongdaemun, many good-quality brands are sold in Myeong-dong. Such stores include Lotte Department Store, Shinsegae Department Store, Myeong-dong Migliore, Noon Square and M Plaza. You can purchase good-quality products at the department stores or other fashionable products at reasonable prices at Migliore or Myeong-dong Clothes.. Moreover, all kinds of brand shops are densely located along the main street and lanes.

Myeong-dong also has family restaurants, fast food, and Korean, Western and Japanese food. Many restaurants in Myeong-dong specialize in pork cutlet and kalguksu (noodles). Other than restaurants, there are many convenient facilities such as hair salons, banks and theaters. Myeong-dong Catholic Church is also a famous tourist attraction. It is the first and main church ofCatholicism in Korea and was built in the Gothic style. Behind the church is a space where you can relax from long hours of touring.

Dongdaemun Market
The Dongdaemun Shopping Complex is one of Korea’s most representative markets and was founded on December 23, 1970 as the largest of its kind in Asia. In December in 1985, the Dongdaemun Shopping Town was established, and now the area encompasses five buildings in total (A, B, C, D and the Shopping Town). There are over 5,000 shops located in this district, selling various fabrics, materials, accessories, wedding products, and more. The fabric and clothing here are of the latest fashion trends in the world. Inventory is imported and exported in real time, making Dongdaemun a must-visit fashion market for everyone.

HIGH-END SHOPPING IN GANGNAM AREA
The Gangnam area is usually associated with high-end shopping. The districts of Sinsa-dong, Apgujeong-dong, and Cheongdam-dong are lined with designer brand fashion stores catering to the rich and famous. Garosugil in Sinsa-dong has a distinct, trendy ambience and is lined with charming cafs, restaurants, stores, and galleries. It is a great place to shop or just take a walk and look around. The fashion streets in Rodeo, Apgujeong-dong cater to those who are very serious about fashion and beauty. The area is lined with department stores featuring luxury designer brands and famous local and international designer shops. With luck, visitors can even spot Korean celebrities shopping in the area.

Sinsa-dong Garosugil Street
As the Korean name implies (Garosugil means “tree-lined street”), this street is famous for the trees, which line both sides of the 700m-long promenade. In summer, the trees’ luscious green leaves provide welcome shade for shoppers, and in autumn these ginkgo trees turn golden. This sophisticated, up-and-coming street is flanked with all sorts of trendy shops and European-style cafes. You can stroll along shopping at your own leisurely pace and then relax on caf terraces with coffee and a tasty desert.

Apgujeong Rodeo Street
The center for the latest fashion trends, luxury designer brands, and hair shops
Apgujeong Rodeo Street is the leading fashion mecca, formed as a cultural zone with a high propensity for consumption. It creates leading fashion trends, customer friendly shops, foreign brand name shops with high-quality goods, reasonably priced hip hop fashion shops, and accessory shops. There are many cafes with unique interior designs, as well as many Korean, Thai and Japanese restaurants. Beauty clinics are clustered on the streets and due to this atmosphere, Rodeo Street attracts many youngsters.
Recently, many theaters have moved from Chungmuro to the vicinity of “Rodeo Street,” which is emerging as a new theater space as well. Along with the opening of Multi-Plex Cine-City, more theaters such as Cinehouse, Cineplus, and Nanta Theater (non-speaking performances) have moved into the area, and it is now a full-blown cultural zone for youngsters. If you get lucky, you may meet famous Korean celebrities as they make frequent visits to the area.

COEX Mall
COEX Mall is the largest underground shopping center in Asia. It is located in the basement of the Korea World Trade Center, located in Samseong-dong in the Gangnam-gu area of Seoul. The colossal shopping center stretches from Samseong station (subway line 2) in the south all the way to Bongeunsa temple in the north, and is considered to be the best shopping and entertainment complex in the area.

The complex’s entertaining design takes the theme of Water Journey, and its main route is divided into the Summit Walk, Forest Walk, Lake Walk, Waterfall Walk, Canyon Walk, Riverside Walk, Tropic Walk and Ocean Walk. Despite the complex’s huge size, visitors need not worry about getting lost. By simply following the main route you will reach most parts of the complex, and there are also signs in English.

Along the main route, visitors will find the Lake food court with 16 restaurants (Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Western-style), the event court (where concerts and performances are staged), the Bandi & Luni’s bookstore (where you can find English books on Korean culture and history), and plenty of brand name stores. Visitors can find major international brands of leisure and sports clothing in a section of COEX mall that is operated by Hyundai Department Store.

There are also plenty of attractions for those visitors looking for a break from shopping. The Game Champ video arcade has 100 of the latest game devices, while the Megabox Cineplex has 16 theaters screening a wide selection of movies. Other popular attractions include the COEX Aquarium, with its water tunnel, and the Kimchi Museum, where visitors can learn everything they need to know about Korea’s favorite food, and even try some of it.

The Archerfish In A Specialized Aquarium, A Community Aquarium, And The Use Of Aquarium Plants

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Maintaining Archerfish in a Specialized Aquarium. Archerfish are fascinating to watch because they use jets of water to wash insects into their home. Some believe that they are difficult to maintain but this is not necessarily true. There are five or six species of archerfish growing in size to up to half a meter. They are usually vertically striped.

The most easily available of the archerfish are the Toxotes jaculator and the T. chatareus. Both come from Asia but do not live in the same waters. The T. jaculator is found only in the brackish regions of the river while the T. chatareus is found in fresh water. The chatareus is most suitable for aquariums and can be easily identified by the small spot between the two front body bars.

These fish DO NOT get along with each other, so you have to choose whether you want a large aquarium with roots that can be easily set up in several different territories or do you want one fish species in a specialized or community tank. If they are in a community tank, it is not wise to use smaller fish as companions. As they feed they grow quite large with huge mouths. While not normally fish eaters, they should not be combined with smaller fish.

Archerfish are constantly on the move and love to swim. So, their aquarium should have a large area that is plant-free near the top of the tank to allow for their need to swim. Archerfish are not very demanding where their food is concerned; but, it must be of adequate size to tempt them.

Once the fish has become established you can feed it many different things. Archerfish like to eat fish, shrimp, raw beef, grasshoppers, and even boiled ham. When their food is placed on the water, they shoot towards it and snap for it and it is fun to watch them feed. DO NOT overfeed, especially when feeding meat! Archerfish can live for several years and will eventually become tame enough to take and eat food straight from your hand.

A Community Aquarium

The most frequently seen tanks are community aquariums. They are beautifully planted and decorated with rocks, roots, plants, and a variety of fish. To maintain water stability, a community aquarium should contain at least 70 liters of water or more, if possible. Remember, a larger aquarium is actually easier to maintain than a smaller one since the water in a smaller aquarium become murky much faster.

When preparing a community aquarium, you must remember that plants and fish have certain needs. You must plan for and meet those needs. Make sure to use fish and plants that have the same light and temperature requirements. While it is much easier to combine plants by this method, it is a different story altogether with fish. Some fish species have different requirements and cannot be put together!

It is very difficult to put too many plants into an aquarium in the beginning; but, it is quite easy to put in too many fish. Water quality will deteriorate very quickly in you overwhelm the tanks biological and filtering capacity, so add one or two fish a month and let the tank bacteria adjust to handle this new load. You must always avoid the temptation to purchase more fish than your aquarium can sustain.

There are no hard and fast rules about combining fish in a tank; however, there are a few basics that need to be observed. Schooling fish should never be kept alone or with only a few others of their variety. They thrive best when tank conditions replicate their ocean environment.

There are some fish that fight viciously with others of the species, especially males when it is spawning time. These fish should be kept singly or in pairs. Since they are normally quite accepting of other breeds it is suitable to put these fish together.

When stocking your aquarium for the first time, it is advisable to obtain a book from your local pet store that has a section on stocking. These books will not only provide you with information on how many fish can be put into a specific-sized aquarium, they will also give you information on the types of fish that can be safely combined.

Use of Aquarium Plants

Ecosystems like lakes, rivers, and forests are naturally balanced due to self-regulation. Because of natural cycles, they are basically self-sufficient. A predominant position is held by the green plants which capture and store energy from the sun in the form of sugar, fats, and proteins that serve as food for the animal and vegetable life they support.

In your aquarium, plants hold the same valuable importance and should be treated with great care. Only plants can use lighting to transform inorganic elements into nutrients. Plants need small organisms like bacteria and fungi (which break down dead organic substances into their basic elements) in order to continue to produce these nutrients. Between these two there is a natural balance that allows the plants to do the job they were designed to perform.

Looking at our aquarium along these lines we see that without constant interference from us this balance would be in great danger. We must add food, fertilizer, remove dead plants and animals, remove waste products with protein skimmers and partial water changes, and siphon off excess debris from within the aquarium.

Because of the various appliances available to create oxygen and carbon dioxide gas exchanges in the tank, plants can be completely eliminated from an aquarium. However, if you wish to maintain a more natural and healthy system to provide fish with oxygen and hold down the nitrogen levels, plants are the simplest and most efficient means.

Plants also help maintain the level of algae growth. A healthy planting is a great preventative measure against algae that can overrun your tank. Planting an aquarium with a large variety of plants can be very expensive, so it is best to start with small bunches of the less expensive plants.

After the aquarium is established, you can replace these with the more decorative and attractive plants that you prefer.