Korea Day 13: Myeongdong

Carol | August 1, 2019 | Featured, South Korea | No Comments

Another lovely day of learning and exploring in Seoul. After lunch a bunch of us took the a bus to Myeongdong, a popular shopping and tourism district where food vendors line the streets during the day. We wanted to try the street food that so many people rave about, and I was personally on a mission to buy an extra suitcase. It was a great day full of sight-seeing, tasty things, and laughter with friends.

Thursday, August 1st

Kookmin University
- Language Class
- Lunch in the Cafeteria
Myeongdong Shopping Street
- Four Seasons 100% Milk Snow Flake House
- Underground Mall – Luggage Shopping
- The Gundam Base + K-Pop Shop
- Exploring Downtown
Dinner at Korea Market
Met Mausam & Sushant at the Namsan Tower Cable Cars

Language Class

Lunch in the Cafeteria

Myeongdong

Traveling to Myeongdong

I love these people. By the end of the trip they were more like family than friends. I feel so blessed to of shared so many wonderful experiences with them.

Myeongdong Shopping Street

Myeongdong is a one of Seoul’s main shopping and tourism districts. I don’t recall what our original agenda here was but we enjoyed trying different street vendor food and window shopping.

We continued to window shop and explore.

The Fun & Crazy Store was packed full of fun and crazy snacks and toys.

Four Seasons Dessert Cafe

The shaved milk desserts here weren’t nearly as amazing as what we tried in Hongdae but it was still good and very refreshing. I wish these kind of desserts were a thing in the States.

Underground Shopping Mall

I brought one suitcase with me to South Korea with the intention of buying a second one while in Korea to fill with goodies and gifts to bring home. I found this pick pop-up luggage bag in the underground mall. Mission complete!

Young Plaza

This building had a ton of fun shops in it. And I’m pretty sure it’s basement level is where I found Palette and The Gundam Base (see further down).

Palette: K-pop Exhibit/Shop

K-pop is a big deal in South Korea, and the Koreans are super proud of it. It’s sort of a national treasure. I don’t know much about it but I’ve been enjoying learning about it. The music is usually super fun. Finding this exhibit/shop was a pleasant suprise.

The Gundam Base

I was so pumped to happen upon this Gundam Shop. My brother is a huge Gundam fan and I’ve gotten into the anime series in recent years. One day I’d like to put together some Gundam models because it looks super fun and is both techy and artsy. My brother is really great at it. I wish I could have teleported him here to check it out.

More Exploring

The Search for Dinner

After shopping we started looking for a place to eat, but it took us awhile since we had to just wander around till we found something affordable and with vegan options. I enjoyed seeing all the buildings. Admiring architecture and infastructure, especially in the city, is one of my favorite hobbies.

Another entrance to the underground mall

Dinner!

One day I will sit down and translate the names of all the places we went. We finally found a place all of us (vegans and meat eaters alike) could dine at an affordable price. This was another social dining experience with some of our dishes cooked on the table between us. Fun!

Underground Restaurant (entrance on right)

Namsan Tower Cable Cars

After dinner we walked toward the Namsan Tower Cable Car facility. We were originally going to try to visit Namsan Tower. Sushant and Mausam were already at it with a Korean friend, but we got there too late to go up. Instead we just hung out and took photos while waiting on Sushant and Mausam to catch a cable car down from the tower.