There is an old nursery rhyme from England that goes “This little piggy went to the market. This little piggy stayed home. This little piggy had roast beef. This little piggy had none. And this little piggy cried ‘wee, wee, wee’ all the way home.”
I do not know the actual derivation of the rhyme but it is reminiscent of many that were created for the sole purpose of making some person appear to be a fool. If so, that information may be lost to history as Wikipedia notes that the first line was quoted in a medley in “The Nurse’s Song” which was written around 1728 and makes no mention of any earlier appearances.
The reason for my mention here is due to a trip I took on Saturday with Han, Wan-hui and his family to Itcheon to attend the grand opening of a ‘theme mart’, the Dodram Theme Park. This is a grocery store, restaurant, and children’s play park all rolled into one. The theme throughout is pigs and pork.
I had never seen the likes of this before – outside on a large rock you have a couple of figures representing what I thought to be a wild boar and his hunter. Mr. Han explained to me though, the actual meaning behind the statues. The man represents a loyal son who is climbing the rock to gather a special flower needed to cure his badly ailing mother. The wild boar stands atop the rocky outcropping to warn the son of a great danger that awaits him at the top. This warning allows him to successfully avoid the danger and return to his mother with the flowers.
Inside, on the main floor, you have the grocery store and the restaurant. Throughout this area there are located a large number of video machines from which emanate videos that advertise things to be found throughout the building.
One of the next three floors is used to teach children in a ‘hands on’ approach how to actually make sausage. The other two floors are basically dedicated children’s play areas though the pig theme is still to be found throughout. It was different!
Arrival at the parking lot - the tents provide weather cover for other venders
Street sign intersection (note the pig drawing on the middle one and the fork and knife on the bottom one)
A closer view
The rock and its statues
Me looking at the food assortment with Han, Hye-rhim looking on.
Every major grocery store provides sampling stations
A grocery meat display
Me strolling through the aisles
Aisle and floor layouts really not any different than the US
Even the food packaging and presentation is recognizable
An announcement works to attract the targeted audience
The combination restaurant and coffee stop
Advertising the children's sausage making floor
Just as the sign says, the above is the floor directory
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| Mona Pig? |
Marilyn Pig and the children's playground
Entrance at the children's playground floor
The childrens playground floor
Children's bathrooms
One of the two children's floors had snack and video game areas
There was even a children's reading room
A trampoline room
Massage chairs for adults
The Scream or would it be The Oink?
King Pig, The Feral
The sausage floor
The sausage floor continues
Back to the play areas
The play area in the restaurant
Another view of the restaurant
A meal of grilled shrimp
The eating tables outside
The wine selection
Dinner entrees on display
Grilled pork for the meal
Below - side dishes which can be added to the pork and lettuce leaf arrangement to enhance the flavor. Some of the dishes can also be eaten as a stand alone.
The lettuce is used as a wrap for the meat pieces plus any and all condiments
The restaurant menu (one US dollar is worth approximately 1,000 won)
Below - how to prepare grilled pork
Above - pork done, Korean style
For me, a vegetarian fare
Dodram Theme Park spelled out both in Korean and in English
