19 Million (+2) Kims in Korea: The Daiso Store

For the most part, the PX here in Korea is the same as the one in Virginia Beach and the one in San Diego and Huntsville. There's the main store, then the "concessions" area, where there's always a GNC, some kind of cell phone store, and Anthony's Pizza (ick) among others. Here in Korea though, most of the PXs also have a Daiso store--known in Japan I think as the 100 yen store.  Here, household goods-type items are sold in increments of 1000 won, or about a dollar, with the most expensive items being 5000 won.

The Daiso on the base in Dongducheon is right next to the PX and Commissary, so I'll usually walk through if I have time before a grocery shopping trip. It's a really small space--just three aisles--but that makes it more manageable; I can see everything in 15 minutes or so.  Some items are stocked all the time: air freshener, glass and plastic food containers, and fingernail polish. Other items are seasonal or just rotating, so it's always fun to pop in and see what's in the store.  I've found some really fun stuff at the Daiso--fleece gloves, an Easter basket and squiggly paper filler, mini spoons (probably designed for tea, but perfect for digging the seeds out of pomegranates), etc. I also enjoy discovering distinctly Asian items, such as an eyelid-tape applicator, cartoon pillows with   ^ ^ eyes, and scrubby shower towels.

Last week I headed to the Daiso to pick up one of these scrubby towels (my sweet husband wanted one for the sauna) and a few glass food containers so I could freeze some spaghetti and soup--my supply of plastic containers having experienced significant attrition due to microwave damage. I picked up a few clear glass containers with colorful plastic snap tops for 2000 won each, grabbed a suitably masculine scrubby towel, then poked around a bit to see what else I could find. I ended up with some fabric ribbon, some tape ribbon, some (I think) plant food, and some Korean alphabet stickers.  Which I discovered, when I got home and looked at them more closely, include such useful phrases as "Sale 20% off" and "How Much".