Seoul-Full

When I was planning my trip, I had initially settled on three nights in a hostel and four nights in a hotel to accommodate my maarte self. I had booked the hotel nights right away, but kept putting off reserving the hostel nights. After all of that mental/monetary debate, I ended up booking all my rooms at hotels, three different hotels to be exact.

Today, I left my very lovely hotel in Insadong and moved to another hotel to a supposedly more central location in Myeongdong. Though, they're not very far from each other if you're a walker like me. After getting up in the morning, I walked around Insadong and the Gwanghamun area to finish off any tourist destinations that I've left off.

I dropped by Jogyesa Temple and saw the very many lanterns in preparation for Buddha's birthday. Right outside the temple is a smiling buddha which I just wanted to carry home with me. I also found the Hammering Man statue in Gwanghamun, which is similar to what we have outside the Seattle Art Museum. Walking around in the morning in any city is quite nice. No crowds, cool temperatures, just perfect for some peace and exercise.

After returning back to my homebase of Jonggak Station, I went inside Jongno Tower to find out if there was an observatory of some sort in the building. Being that it was Saturday, it was dead quiet in there and I spoke to the security guard. As always, I started with "Yongo haseyo?" and he said no, but I kept talking to him anyway. HaHa! For the first time I had to be a mime and act out what "observatory" meant. He eventually got what I meant and he said there's no observatory, but only a restaurant which didn't open until 11am. Darn, I'm way too early.

Disappointed, I took the train to Dongdaemun Market, or as I quickly found out, the Divisoria of Seoul. Seoul is really a shopper's paradise if you have the luggage space and body type that fits into these small-sized clothes. Unfortunately, I had neither so I ended up trying to find Dongdaemun Stadium. I kept walking around trying to find it, but duh, it was torn down. You know, it's really hard to find something that doesn't exist anymore. ;P

I took the train back to Jonggak, but still was too early to see the guard changing ceremony at Bosingak so I headed over to McDonalds. So, I decided to stay at this particular hotel because it was near food and there's a 24-hour McDonalds right at the street corner should I ever get hungry in the middle of the night (you know, you always gotta think like a Girl Scout!). However, I've never eaten there because I've opted for Korean food. Well, I decided that it was time to find out what a Mickey D's Bulgogi Burger tasted like. Surprisingly, it was actually edible. It was tasty, but weird that bulgogi came in a patty form...with mayo. The restaurant was full of teenagers dressed in their school uniforms and I kept thinking whether they'd grow up obese as I happily ate my french fries.

After checking out a couple minutes of the guard changing ceremony at Bosingak, which I already saw in 2007, I left my Insadong hotel and hauled my luggage all the way to Myeongdong. The problem? Those darn underpasses full of stairs. Dammit. It was also noontime so the sun didn't help with the situation. I only noticed that there were elevators in the subway stations after I exited Euljiro Il-ga. Ugh!

I managed to get to Ibis Myeongdong in one piece, but all sweaty and gross. I stayed in to cool down and analyzed my new hotel room. I liked my Insadong hotel better. There, I had a water cooler, computer with internet, plus 100 channels to choose from in my room, not to mention a very spacious bathroom. Here, think tiny. And this is more expensive. Tsk! Plus, unlike Insadong, there's not a bakery nearby where I can get my breakfast every morning. Bad move, girlfriend. I guess the only perks are being able to say that I got to stay in Myeongdong and the view from my window.

By 2pm, I met up with Cathy and Tess at Hongik University station. They wanted to shop at the flea market while I wanted to visit the 1st Coffee Prince shop. First stop: onomiyaki for lunch. Yum! Something to look forward to once I get to Japan. Second stop: flea market where I got pushed around by ajummas and every one else. I wouldn't mind it if people actually said "Excuse me" or "Sorry", but that's not done around here. Third stop: Coffee Prince shop. Yes, I made the pilgrimage. HaHa! Coffee is quite expensive over there, more expensive than at Starbucks! Cathy was all game for ordering and going all out with "experiencing" the place, but after being ignored by the waiters, I took the pictures that I went there for and told Cathy and Tess that I have no shame in leaving if they wanted to right now. Hey, no customer service for customers? And you want how much for the coffee?! No thanks.

Fourth stop: Ballerina Who Fell in Love with a BBoy show. This is actually the sequel to the popular original version. Unfortunately, the original version isn't playing right now because its new stage is still being constructed. Ugh. But since I can't wait for that, I decided to watch the sequel. Ehh, I shouldn't have; at least not for the W50,000 I paid. The plot dealt with death so it wasn't as fun as JUMP or NANTA which were more on the comedic side. Plus, the darn English explanations on the screen were all screwy so I couldn't really follow the story. People, please, contact me and I'd gladly clean up those English translations for free to avoid people experiencing the same frustration I had. Anyway, I came there to check out the bboys: they're actually good. Granted that I think there are way better bboys here in the States, but the poplockers of the Korea All-Stars were really good. I think the whole crew just lacked swag which is needed if you want people to think you're the shiznit (wow, I went hella old school on that word. HaHa!).

Fifth stop: noraebang. Okay, I may listen to music a lot from varying genres, but regardless of how many times I hear a song, I never ever remember the words and most often than not, I don't remember how songs start off. With those kind of problems and a horrible singing voice, I'm really the worst person to take to karaoke. I always need someone to back me up to keep me in line. HeHe. Regardless, it was a pleasure to say that I went to a noraebang while in Seoul. :)

Afterwards, I got to eat some more streetfood: those fish-shaped bread thingies stuffed with red beans/custard. I love these $1-$2 food options! They're so awesome!

Oh, another day down.