Nanta

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we were trying to plan an outing. There was a trip available to go to Incheon, where General MacArthur landed and changed the face of the Korean War. But we decided it was getting to cold to take the kids out and do something like that, so we would save it for the spring. Instead we did something much less historical, and much less outside. Mike and I went on a date and saw Nanta! We asked Laurie and Ben to babysit and Mike and I went to see the show.

We started our journey via Taxi. The show was in an area called Myeongdong. I thought Itaewon was a crazy place, especially on a Saturday night, Myeongdong was almost ten fold!

When we first made the reservations earlier in the week, the guy said that we would be getting VIP seats since all the others were already sold out. I wasn't sure at the time what that would mean exactly but it turned out we were in the 3rd row! It was superb!!!!

The cab ride there was pretty interesting. The guy wasn't exactly sure how to get there even though I had directions and a map written for him from the travel desk. From what the travel guy told me we would be dropped off a few "blocks" (nothing is really a block since there really aren't any straight lines or planning in the format of Seoul, its more of a if it fits build it city) away from the actual theater and then walk a bit. My understanding was this was because the roads surrounding the theater were only for pedestrians. I don't think the cab guy knew that or cared! He started driving up this road, surrounded by pedestrians toward where his GPS said to go. Then he ended up on like a dead end, with no cars, just shop and people and food vendors everywhere. He just parked right there and went into the 7-11 and asked. Thats when we reached our stop! Right there in the middle of the sidewalk! I have no idea how the cab driver got himself out of there, but it was no longer my problem! From there we walked a bit, not far at all and saw the Nanta sign. It was right across from the Krispie Kreme Doughnuts!

Some pro-scenes from Nanta.

We went up a whole bunch of stairs and into the lobby of the theatre. It wasn't very big, and had just a small reception desk, coffee stand and a few little souveniers. I bought a program book for 10,000 won. This was a good buy because it not only had pictures, but it gave a synopsis of the show and some history. Turns out Nanta toured the world and even stopped at Shea's Performing Arts Center in Buffalo! I really have a hard time wrapping my head around that idea though considering how big Shea's is compared to the Nanta Theater. Shea's must hold at least 4 times more people if not more.

Mike in the Nanta Lobby before the show.

Me in the Lobby before the show.

The cast for our performance.

So the show is based on the story line that there are 3 chefs who must prepare a wedding feast before 6 o'clock. They are joined by the manager of the hotel and his nephew. They don't really cook anything, but there is lots of rhythmic chopping and slapstick humor. It literally had me laughing so hard I cried! It was a great show!

View of the inside of the theater from our 3rd row seats.

After the show we decided we would take the subway home, which allowed us some time to walk around Mejongdong. I love taking pictures of the city because there is always something new to see here. We discovered an underground shopping labyrinth. I can't call it a mall, it was truly its own subterranean world of shopping everywhere. After looking around a bit, we went up and into one of the Lotte department stores. We entered into the "food court". I put that in quotes because it was nothing like a food court in a mall in the states. It was high class, fresh food, liquor store, bakeries and made to order sit down food. No fast food chains in sight! I was hungry so I got an assortment of "crepes". Crepes is in quotes because they are not the thin breakfast pancake we are all used to, these are more like what we consider wraps in the states. And two of them were on little dinner roll type things. They were an assortment of tuna, veggies, ham and cheese and roast beef. We took the food and then continued through the store toward the exit. There we so many people everywhere, as is the norm here. You never see a mall that crowded in the states, the only thing it is similar too might be Black Friday, and even that is tame compared to Korea!

The hot light was on, but we didn't stop :(

A view of Myeongdong, with a street vendor in front. The crowd was unbelievable.

Street food of unidentified nature. Smelled good though!

Really cute hats for sale...

Lotte Department store from across the street. So pretty all decorated for Christmas!

Thought these bags were funny because we have friends here with the name Kitson.

Whats even funnier is her first name is Cathy and this brand is Cath Kitson! I will have to buy one and have her autograph it! 

Some lights in the area.

Decorated for the Holidays.

Under ground shopping euphoria!

Anyone want a purse made with purple balls of fur?

Another endless hallway of shopping land!

There was even an engraved floor piece showing what direction other major shopping areas were.

Anyone want a Steve Jobs jeweled IPad case?

How about this Hello Kitty IPod case? Its nice and chunky and would be kinda hard to loose!

Fresh food a'la carte. It went around the little belt and then you paid by the piece.

Very fancy edible rice cakes.

More rice cakes, just smaller and more assorted.

This is what I ate, the crepes.

Me and the giant bear, Mike said I couldn't have him because he wouldn't fit in our house!

 It was a very enjoyable evening, and nice to be kid free for a while! I definitely want to go back to Myeongdong and check it out some more. Maybe next time I can do some shopping, there is even an H&M there!