The green chili chicken enchiladas are AWESOME!

No, it's not a Shopping Mall at all. It's a sleazy area full of bars (over 100 of them!) run by Human Traffickers. In amazing contrast, the ville outside of Camp Humphreys isn't as bad. I did take a Korean friend to the Osan area one time and he asked that I never take him there again.

Shingang is a nice place at the week ends. The neons, the hip-hop music clubs, the ajummas with phojang machas, the bars, the drinks. I met some fine soldiers in the clubs and also tasted the Hip-Hop culture there. I only regret that I could not enjoy more because I don't enjoy drinking very much but its surely a unique place in Korea.

My father had a small business in Shinjang mall, close to the base gate. If you live in Songthan look for the "Mr.Yu's Furniture" in Shinjang Mall, because that was my fathers place before we left Korea. Now it belongs to my cousin.

Your view of the Songtan Shinjang Mall may just be a snapshot perspective of someone just passing through.

DIRTY streets: The area has rigorous trash collection procedures. During the day and into the evening, you will see trash bags start to accumulate around collection points like the tree enclosures down the middle of the main strip. Of course, in a bustling business area, trash will pile up quickly. I would likely see the same thing and get the same impression if I happened to walk by your unit's outdoor Family Day festivities.

Walk through Shinjang Mall at 9 AM and its all gone. The trash collectors and street sweepers will have come through.

SLEAZY Koreans/Americans/Filipinas. Please add definition to your choice of that adjective. Is it dress and appearance? Guys lounging around in shorts and sandals? Girls walking by in shorts and tube tops? Would a Marines in Japan style dress code of dockers and polo shirts help?

Is it the activity? People lounging and drinking beer outside bars on Aragon Alley and the Blue Opera in the evening? Tell us about the bygone era when you came through Shinjang area and it was any different.

DECAY instead of improvements: From what I see, there is too much improvement. This place is under constant rennovation. A couple of year ago, for no particular reason I know of, they decided to replace and standardize the signs on almost all the businesses. Anyone who spends a lot of time here will tell you how often they dig up and replace streets and sidewalks here. It's even hard to keep up with the turnover of businesses opening, closing, and relocating.

So I guess it really is a difference of perspective of someone who decides to walk through here at a particlar time on a given date once very couple of years and someone who is here regularly.

I know, I know. Someone will pipe up and say they may make improvements in the future. They always say that and it will be years before anything happens.

It's a huge insult for the local and Korean Governments to allow such a seedy place to exist without doing something about it.

I agree with you about the Ville becoming a ghetto; it'll get worse when those smelly, fat, Air Force and Army wives arrive from the States with their snot-laden brats in tow.

Yes, you know what I mean because some of them are already here.

Still, considering I've eaten in Mexican restaurants in Seoul, Kunsan, Pusan, and Pohang, this one is in the top 3 of the 8 I've visited so far over the past 4 years. One thing is their salsa is rather tasty and is nicely spiced.

Give this place a try and remember: we're not in Mexico so the flavor won't be spot on but it is good for where we are at.