Whirlwind pt.7

(or more shopping and eating)

we left gangnam around sunset. we were meeting dan at dongdaemun market at 8, so we had some time to shop in this incredible shopping area. i would recommend this place to anyone visiting seoul... the best shopping in the country can be found here.

dongdaemun is the big black spot!

i had been looking for a pair of jeans for two days, but never found anything that fit that wasn't covered in sparkles, glitter or other weird decorations... but i did at dongdaemun. i am now the proud owner of a pair of 100% korean jeans! and actually, after wearing them for a day, they're too big... i should've gone down a size... oh well, at least i know where to go in the future!

all malls... shopping, shopping, shopping...

we ended up in this mall called "doota!" i didn't take any photos... not sure why, maybe i was justso amazed by the floors and floors of clothes, purses, jewelry, shoes, and everything else under the sun... i was dazzled and too busy looking around to take photos... how odd... i'm usually more of a shutterbug... but i got this shot of the floor plan:

'dooche'??? you can see on the map this is just one small section of one floor (there are 8)

a canal just outside the mall... very pretty at night...

after shopping for a few hours, we met dan for dinner. we were looking for tak galbi, but ended up here:
we had bulgogi, which was tasty though there were tons of mushrooms mixed in...in case you don't know bulgogi is meat that is cooked on the table in front of you. you eat it wrapped up in leaves with all kinds of side dishes... sort of like bbq, but cooked in a different way.

after dinner we headed out to the sinchon area (not too far from where we were staying) to look around and have a drink.
this is part of the wall in the subway... there were a ton of these cats performing different sports...something to do with the olympics... this was the best one though... cats with guns!

we ended up walking around the area for a long time before settling on a little bar. i wish i had taken more photos... i just always think they'll never come out when i take them at night, especially with the little crappy camera i have (more on that next post)... as we were walking around we saw a photo store... this is something i have been wanting to do since i learned about them so i was really excited to do this.

basically there are stores that are like those little booths you see in the subway where you can take your picture with your friends, only these are way cooler. you pay about $5 and each person gets to choose a prop. kim wore a wig, dan had a hat, cyndi wore a viking hat, and i had a tiara. you get into the booth (which is much bigger than the ones in the metro):

behind the curtain please!

once you get in there is a little screen so you can see your pose. we needed help since everything was in korean... thank god there was a guy who spoke really good english. first you choose a background - eight of them actually - and then you pose. after the pictures are taken you go around to the side of the machine to 'finish' them.

this computer is used to choose borders and write messages on your photos.

when the process is complete you print them out. you can choose one big one, lots of small ones or a mix of them. we got eight miniature ones - 2 of each as we were only allowed to pick four of the eight shots. here are the two i got:
i finished the one on the right and cyndi did the one on the left... love the "girls night out '07" with dan in the pic!!! it was loads of fun. they're also stickers so you can put them anywhere... you can also buy keychains to put them in, or get a mobile phone dangly thing with your pic in it... i'm just keeping them in my wallet.

after pictures we walked around and saw about a million noraebangs and bars... a lot of the bars in this area look like they could be foreign bars since they're all named after foreign bands like the doors. we ended up at the 'S Bar' for a drink and then ran to get the subway home. but we missed the last one and had to take a taxi.

up next: seoul electronics market and the continuation of the eternal search for merrells.

Whirlwind pt.6

(or the beginning of the eternal search for merrell shoes, mexican food, and english books)

Since we were out so late on saturday we slept in on sunday until around noon. i was excited because we would be going to the gangnam area to look for my merrells (one of the only things i really wanted to do in seoul). let me give you a little background. i have a pair of merrell hiking shoes. i love them. i bought them for my trip to greece many moons ago, about three years. they still look great, but they're falling apart now and i desperately need some new ones. so, about a month ago i went searching online to see if i could get them here. their website listed only one store in korea, and it was in seoul. i knew that i'd be going up there, so i kept the address and phone number and waited. well, sunday was the day we were going to find them... i was so excited.

gangnam... on the other side of the river...

we had to go to the Gangnam area on the other side of the Hangan River. luckily it didn't take too long because our subway station was on the same line. we met kim there too as she was going to take us to a mexican restaurant and then an english book store.

this is from the subway window as were crossing the river.

Gangnam is the most affluent area on the south side of the river. since we were meeting kim, we went for coffee at starbucks to wait.

i took this shot of the street vendors on our way to lunch.
this was a huge intersection and i stopped in the middle to snap a few.
a couple of blocks down the street we came to 'Dos Tacos'.

it wasn't really what i was expecting when i think 'mexican' (i always think of three amigos in montreal) but it was mexican food! the walls were painted bright white and had posters from the US hanging on them. the tables were white plastic and the chairs were multicoloured - not really the kind of ambiance that screams mexican... maybe it was a fusion restaurant before... regardless, we sat down and ordered: two plates of nachos to share (one with meat, one without) kim and cyndi got a burrito to share, i got a chicken fajita, and the other kim got a taco. i was so excited that i forgot to take pictures... sorry!

one side of the menu

the fajita was tasty, but strange as it had mushrooms (which i hate) and it wasn't wrapped up like a fajita, but was in the shape of a waffle cone. i make awesome fajitas at home, and you know when you make something really well, i just never tastes as good in a restaurant... but it was still great.

kim eating the last nacho

after lunch it was on to the bookstore! i was so excited. we have a bookstore in gimhae called "english" but their selection is smaller than what i used to have in my bedroom at home... and they're mostly classics like war and peace... there is another one in busan, but the selection is also quite small and they don't really have any new releases... really what i wanted was a copy of vanity fair which i have been craving since i arrived in september but have been unable to find anywhere.

we got to the store and i have to admit i was a little disappointed since it was Kyobo... the same store we have in busan.

kyobo tower in seoul

but as soon as i walked in and saw the size i knew it would be different... this was, after all, seoul. we headed to the "foreign" section and they had about three or four times more english books than busan. i picked up a copy of "i know this much is true" by Wally Lamb, and "the curious incident of the dog in the night" by mark haddon. i was meant to read it last summer, but never got my hands on a copy, so i'm excited to finish what i'm reading now to get started on it.... anyway, the search for vanity fair was on!

the magazine section was on the other side of the store, so i found my way and started looking. it was amazing how many foreign magazines they had! but oh-so-expensive! Time was 6,000 W which is almost $8 cdn - a total rip off... i couldn't find the VF so i found a guy to help me, but it was kim who ended up seeing it on the rack... it came wrapped up with a copy of seventeen - which is totally weird, but i got them anyway, for 13,000W - around $15... twice the price of what it's supposed to be, but it's worth it!

next we were supposed to go looking for my shoes... and we did, but never found the place... i gave my paper with phone number and address to kim so she could call and figure it out - since she speaks korean - and there was no answer when we tried during the afternoon... she promised to go online to a korean site and figure it out for me and then email the results to cyndi before monday morning... the shoes would have to wait.

stay tuned for more! up next: dongdaemun market and sinchon for drinks

Whirlwind pt.5

(or a night out in seoul)

after a long day of walking in the cold shopping and shopping and shopping, we were going to meet up with a friend of kim's from the US - Dan lives and teaches in seoul. we were going to meet him in the Hongik University area, which is only one subway stop from our guest house, so we headed back to the guest house to drop off all our bags.

only one stop...so we walked it!

we stopped off for some bbq on the way and walked the one stop on the subway instead of taking it... gotta work off all that pork! so we were to meet dan at - get this! - the HO Bar! he thinks they screwed up the english translation of the chinese character for 'how' since it's posted outside... oh well, it was so funny.

so we walked up the street to look for the Ho Bar and found it:
unfortunately we didn't notice the III (three) on it... guess what!? there are five Ho Bars!!! so after exploring two of the three floors, we called dan to figure out what the deal was and were informed that we were at the wrong Ho Bar. he came to meet us down the street and kim was going to take us to a 'drum bar' but we couldn't find it either! turns out it closed a couple of weeks ago... so we ended up at:

Ho Bar 1.

from left to right: Cyndi, Scott, Dan, Kim, and Kim.

i got a little creative after a few gin and tonics...

me in the mirror at the entrance to Ho Bar... taken as we were leaving.

to go, of course, to noraebang!!! Dan and Scott wanted to take us to the "luxury" noraebang:
it was really fancy inside and reminded me of a wedding hall more than a karaoke bar... but it was so packed with people (including small children - and at 2am...) that we would have had to wait forever for a room so we moved on... we ended up at a regular noraebang where we promptly pulled out the beers we'd bought at the corner store... unfortunately the guy who ran place saw it and told us we had to leave... we got our money back and went in search of another... not a hard thing to find in korea. we ended up in a sort of dodgy one, not that most of them aren't dodgy... as long as there's an english section we're ok.

it was still nicer than a lot of the noraebangs i've been to... comfy couches.

i think this was bohemian rhapsody... a favourite at the noraebang!

there was a space heater in the room to keep us toasty and a bottle opener on the table which we assumed meant no problems with our pre-bought beer... well, at least we didn't get kicked out of this one... after an hour we weren't ready to leave, so we got a second hour. about five minutes later scott tried to unplug the space heater, but unplugged the karaoke machine instead! we lost our chosen songs and about ten minutes of our paid for time... since we had to get the guy to come and re-set it... oh well, it was great times anyway! noraebang always is a great time... i think it's way better than regular karaoke, it's like having your own room to have a party in... so much fun.

after two hours of singing we headed back to our lovely little guest house at around four am... stay tuned for more shopping and touring in the big city... up next: gangnam - the beginning of the eternal search for merrell hiking shoes, mexican food, and english books!

Whirlwind pt.4

(or OMG how many parts is this going to have?!?!? a: as many as it takes!)

Insadong

took the subway up there...

this area is north of the city center. it didn't take too long on the subway to get there, and was totally worth visiting. again, it's a market centered area with shops lining the streets, but it was WAY cooler than intaewon. it is the artist district and most of the shops were run by artisans and tons of little galleries. you could find many kinds of art here... i'll have to go back before i leave korea to spend lots of money on things like: paintings, ceramics, sculptures, and traditional art.
even the benches have sculptures on them! cute little froggies! the street was very busy with people, and the shops all have their wares outside on the street... just down the way we found the free hug girl:
i got one from her... it wasn't very good... she probably does it to meet cute boys or something... she didn't speak any english so when i asked her why she was giving away free hugs, she couldn't tell me. there was a guy further down the street - his hug was better, but i don't have a pictuure of it... when i asked him, he could only convey a sort of "just because" - his english wasn't very good either... oh well... hugs are nice no matter the reason why.

one of the nifty shops on the street... selling artsy stuff...

we didn't get very far down the street before finding this outdoor mall-type place called ssamzie market. it was kind of strange when we first found it. for example:

the giant green horse.

this was one of many sizable sculptures around the place which was like a giant art exhibit... it was having some kind of andy warhol inspired exhibit... not sure if it always looks like this or if it was temporary, but it was definitely cool. all the shops were little artsy places... i didn't buy anything, but cyndi and kim did.

one of the entrances... see all the art?

anothe sculpture. these giant flowers were growing up the stairwell... four stories of them...

this is from the second or third story - see all the andy warhol? on one of the other walls it actually says "from andy warhol" in glowing blue neon...
this is from the top floor - see the horse at the bottom. the coolest thing about the mall is that you never actually have to take the stairs after the first floor. the 'sidewalk' is on a slight incline the whole way up and when you walk around you are slowly walking up to the next level... totally wheelchair (or lazy) friendly! the top floor has restaurants and coffee places with outdoor tables to sit at - must be nice in summer!
we found this along the top walkway and hhad to take our pictures with it... we aren't sure what it's from, but the pixelation is hilarious!
this is the outside the car is actually on a little road... i got a shot of it from above, but i like this one better....

after wandering around in there for about an hour and a half, we met up with kim's friend kim who lives in seoul. we were pretty cold from having been outside all afternoon, and it got really cold after the sun went down... (it was probably around zero or lower in seoul - way colder than gimhae...) so we went for coffee...

the girls in front of the artsy (and expensive) coffee shop we went to... second floor.

i think it was called the book cafe... or something like that... they had a wall full of korean books...

the last thing we saw as we were leaving insadong... don't know how i didn't notice it in the daylight... the auto-toilet! no-one used it, but kim was considering it! i don't think we could figure out how to get in!

stay tuned for a night out on the town in the Hongik University area...

Whirlwind pt.3

Saturday

after a groggy late morning of free (what they call) coffee and toast we headed out of our little guest house into the big city of Seoul.

a little background -
- Seoul means "national capital" in korean, but the city was called Gyeongseong until 1945.
- seoul has a population of around 10.2 million (ten times montreal!).
- it has been the capital of korea for over 600 years.
- the logo to the right is the "city's brand" which was adopted in 2002. (i found this on the internet and find it odd that i didn't know this until after i came home... i didn't see this logo anywhere...) and from the website: "The name combines the greeting "Hi" with the name of the city "Seoul,” the new brand aims to convey a friendly image of Seoul to the global community, and to promote harmony and unity among Seoul citizens."
- "the cuddly mascot tiger "Wangbeomi" was born in Feb. 19, 1998. It represents the proud citizens of Seoul with a strong spirit, an open mind, and lofty ideals." (info & images courtesy of seoul metropolitan government.)

what else does one need to know about seoul? well, there are tons of historic sites and other cultural things to see, but girls will be girls, and all we really did was shop until we dropped. of course, we did this in many different areas of the city, so we got to see a lot of places, but i'll have to do the touristy thing another time... so, on to the good stuff.

the neighbourhood where we stayed was west of the city center in mapo-gu, the closest subway was hapjeong station and on our walk there in the early afternoon, we passed this restaurant that i couldn't resist taking a photo of:
it could almost be any place in north america with a sign like that! there was a bbq restaurant on the first floor where we actually ate dinner later on... but don't let me get ahead of myself here.

we decided that our first destination in the city would be Itaewon - so on to the subway we went.

Hapjeong station

the subway system in seoul is massive - on scale with london and maybe even bigger... but they make it really easy to use by a) having different colours for all 8 lines b) numbering each station c) marking transfers really well in every station.

map of the Seoul subway system... montreal is a joke in comparison!
the star is hapjeong, the circle is itaewon...
(click on it to make it bigger)

itaewon...

Itaewon is known for being an area mainly for foreigners, something i never have much luck with. it was probably my least favourite part of the city... though there was some good shopping - i got a coach purse and some new t-shirts... Kim cleaned up in itaewon and bought the whole place! (well, not really but she lucked out and found tons of great tops). we had lunch at Subway (!) - i haven't eaten a sub since montreal, so it was awesome... not quite the same as canada, but subway is subway no matter where you go!
the weirdest shop i saw - there were a couple of them actually... selling all this really old diving equipment...

how odd...

of course, this IS korea, so half the shops are named "kim's" this and that so i snapped this shot of kim with her very own shoe store!
that's itaewon... in a nutshell... it was nothing super crazy and awesome, but lots of street vendors selling socks and hats, tshirts and underwear, the usual crap you find on the street... we were only there long enough to walk up and down the street and then moved on to better things... up next: Insadong and the andy warhol-ification of korea! stay tuned!