Yesterday was our very 1st free and easy session in this trip and our study group was split into several smaller groups. Some went to the DMZ whilst the majority of us decided to sleep in a little and go to Myeongdong for a little shopping spree.
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| Streets of Myeongdong on a Saturday (Photo by: Ryan Lok) |
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| The 2,000 won, 30cm tall ice-cream. (Photo by Charlyn Chua) |
After a short period of walking around, and trying out a tall ice-cream (of about 30cm from top to bottom), the Chingus headed back to Hongik University Street – another part of Seoul’s many shopping districts – to continue our penchant for shopping. The most significant difference: We had to travel there on our own, via the subway!
It was really tough finding our way around because the subway has a total of 17 lines, and many of these stations have transfer lines, which makes things even more complicated! After purchasing our own train passes, and 2 line changes, and nearly getting out of the wrong exit, we reached the Hongik University shopping street with the help of an interactive directory at the train platform.
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| Subway line map (Photo by: Charlyn Chua) |
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Interior of the subway train
(Photo by: Ryan Lok) |
Here's a short clip of the whole experience.
Meal-time was spent at a corner restaurant known as Letia Spaghetti, where we finally ate some comfort food (i.e. without cabbage). The restaurant had a very cosy environment, and the service was good (the waitress could understand our English).
A huge crowd of people greeted us – today happened to be the Korea Arts & Cultural Festivals; and on a bustling Saturday, it was really tough finding our way around.
We walked past a group of dancers, moving their bodies to an invisible tune. Curious, we headed closer: all the people were wearing headphones with green and orange balloons attached to the top. On it stated the words ‘Silent Disco’, and its purpose was to create an open-air environment of love with headphones on. This outdoor dance festival managed to attract even foreigners to join in the dancing! There was even a DJ mixing his discs to an invisible tune!
Clowns were seen walking around on stilts, as part of the arts festival. This act clearly appealed to the children seen shopping with their families around the area, especially with the promise of balloon sculptures given out.
After walking in further, we found an unfamiliar sight of a long set of white tents, in the centre of the street. Upon further inspection, we found that it was part of a special event – the 8th Seoul WoW Book Festival! A wide range of books, like fantasy genres and self-help books was being sold at low prices, as low as ₩3000! Sadly, we couldn’t grab any of these cheap deals because all the books were in Korean.
We were definitely very fortunate to have come across these festivals despite not knowing about it. The festive atmosphere really made it a memorable shopping experience for us.
- Chingus and Chingus' chingus
Article by: Rachel Leong and Fatin Sufiah
Video by: Angelyn Leow and Shah Ezuan
Pictures by: Ryan Lok and Charlyn Chua
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