Riding the subway back to Gangnam has become a daily ritual for me now at the end of my day of exploring/shopping/getting lost lol. I never get tired of looking out at the passing scenery since its still something new and different to me! Here's the Han River pictures I promised :) After I got off at the Yeoksam subway stop, I took a little walk around the neighborhood instead of heading straight back to my hotel. It's really nice out today, humid as ever but the temperatures nice. Sadly I went to COEX today to pick up a peacoat I had been wanting but they were all gone :'( There was only one left in the store window but it was pink and navy blue, and I hate pink :/ I did pick out some fun nerdy glasses to wear around though :) Back at the hotel I was officially tired out from my explorations today and I ordered delivery again. This time I got kimchi jigae, and asked the receptionist helping me order to have them lessen the spicy a little lol. I really shouldn't be surprised at this point, but I was still shocked when I opened the cooler and pulled an entire thing of practically still bubbling jigae, stone plate and stone bowl and all. For those of you who don't know, their "jigae"s or stews are usually cooked in these stone bowls, so when they are brought to the table they are still bubbling and piping hot! How these delivery men manage to travel & deliver these to our doors in such containers, the world may never know...
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Gooood morning :) Today as I was crossing a major street, the little green man was up but for some reason I saw people sprinting across the road, not walking. So I did what all people who have no idea what they are doing should have done- RUN FOR MY LIFE. Once I'd reached the other side almost immediately cars began flying past me. Turns out this little man didn't have numbers to count down on it and apparently all Koreans are born with a built-in counter and know when to saunter slowly and when to haul ass. So moral of the story- when in a foreign country, monkey see? MONKEY DO. And do fasssssst... @.@ On the sidewalks, there are deliverymen who regularly zoom around. They are fast and they are aggressive so you just have to learn to notice them and avoid them. I've also heard about how the Korean standard of personal space is different from the American one...this is very very true. They get riiiiiiiiight up in your business in shops and stuff, while I'm mentally squirming away in discomfort. It's not that they're being weird or anything, it's just different than what I'm accustomed to. For example, when I'm waiting in line the people behind me will be so close to me they are putting pressure against my backpack...and not moving. I keep turning around because I think they are tapping me to get my attention or something lol; in America you don't stand anywhere near close enough to be pushing against your back constantly. On the sidewalks too, people will pass you by brushing up against you even though there's plenty of room on the sidewalk. It's not that they are being rude, they just don't think a deviation in their path of walking is necessary. When I'm waiting at a crosswalk I've turned to my left or right and been startled to find a man or woman literally in my face (I'm talking like the kind of close to your face you reserve solely for your boyfriend/girlfriend/grandma here; I could count the nose hairs in this guys nose once he was so close -.-). They are usually just peering around me at something or gazing off at something, but I was disconcerted to find that even when I noticed they were there, started a little, and looked at them, THEY DIDN'T MOVE. They just chilled there, far too close to my face for comfort, apparently completely at ease. What. When I walk down the stairs of the subway I've often had to shoot quickly to the right or left to avoid incoming adjummas or adjusshis who are zooming haphazardly across the stairs like diagonally on a collision course for me. Instead of walking straight down to give others room (think of like a ski slope; you hate those slow people who zoom alllll the way horizontally across the slope, then allll the way back, effectively preventing anyone from passing them) they just walk down whichever way they want, even if they end up practically on top of someone's back or at their elbow. I've been startled a few times to notice someone was like on top of me and I've instinctively moved away so they had more room to go down. I don't know if this is making any sense, it's kind of hard to explain this concept without seeing it for yourself. It's just strange to me...keeps me on my toes haha. Also, they don't say sorry when they bump you or push against you by accident. I was expecting this since a lot of my Korean friends told me this. It's not that they are being rude or anything, it is just such a common and unavoidable thing in such a busy, crowded city that the people take it as normal to be jostled or run into. My friends told me I'd be looked at weird and thought of strangely if I said sorry when I ran into people, but I can't help it lol, even in American society I'm super polite by nature. I say "chue-song-hab-ni-da" before I even realize I've said it -.- Whatever. Better to be that weird overly polite foreigner than that super rude foreigner, right? Subway = chi-ha-chul 지하철
Store = soh-jahng 저장 I know I've been here for a week and all but I still have this stupid little smile on my face that I can't help when I go out on my morning explorations. Because everyone walks here, you see the most interesting mix of people from harried scruffy students with backpacks and sneakers, polished office workers in pencils skirts and tailored suits, giggly schoolgirls in knee high socks, fashionable schoolboys joking around, a few little kids followed by harassed looking mothers, loud food sellers on the sidewalk side, and grandpas/grandpas out running morning errands. I'm not quite sure how to explain it but just walking down the street surrounded by the Korean stores and Korean signs just feels so different! A major difference in their architecture is that I see a lot of shops that are located underground, like that Mad For Garlic restaurant I blogged about earlier. You see the storefront on the street, turn in and immediately go down a set of steep stairs. Way to be efficient when you have limited space lol, we could totally learn from this. Today's coffeehouse was a place called Java City Coffee. It was a lot pricier than I was expecting but the mocha was really good :) The Kimchi Museum is located on the 2nd Basement floor of the COEX mall. I couldn't find it the first time I went, so this was my second attempt lol. It was 3,000 won for admission (a little over $2). I had a lot of fun :) I was super fascinated by all the exhibits and displays considering I actually hate kimchi. I won't eat it, although I have tried. The only time I can handle it is in kimchi jigae. The museum was here to show the history of kimchi in Korea's past and present, and its evolution throughout the years. It was also meant to showcase the various types of kimchi, when they are made and eaten, and for what purpose. I also found an area at the end that had a kimchi tasting area (I passed over it lol) and a microscope focused on a drop of kimchi liquid. It has all sorts of good bacteria in it that keeps you healthy and is good for your body! So interesting...I loved all the different pickling pots and realistic displays of the various kimchis with certain meals. Kimchi is so engrained in Korea's culture...no wonder they dedicated a museum to it :) I learned a lot for something I don't even like to eat!
Itaewon in Korea is known as the foreigner area in Seoul. Think Koreatown or Little Toyko in LA! It's the longest subway trip I've taken this far; because I'm taking a route with less transfers its taking about 45 minutes. I'm sure if I was more confident in my subway navigating skills I could take a route that had more transfers and took less time. For now though, riding the subway here is a novelty and I don't mind :) I decided to check out the foreigners area in Seoul today to maybe find someone who can speak English well and where I won't get stared at for speaking English, like I was the entire time I was Facetiming Sonny in the coffee shop today lol.
I had the GREATEST DAY EVER in Itaewon, it was so much fun!!! There were barely any white people actually, and the ones that were there stood out a lot. I was tempted to try to help the lost looking ones but refrained since I don't know my way around any more than they do lol. Sorry unknown fellow travelers -.- It turns out that today happened to be the start of the Itaewon Global Village Festival!!! There were booths lining all the way up and down the street with food and drinks from different countries. Predictably, the American booth was selling hot dogs hahaha. Pride of our country, they are. It was amazing seeing and smelling all the different foods! There were arts and crafts for the kids and even drum workshops going on. There were so many different people wandering around of different nationalities; to be honest I put on my sunglasses so I could people-watch and not look like a weirdo. Shhhh :)
After wandering around enough, I started walking up and down the sides of the street where there were plenty of shops, places to eat, and street vendors lining the sidewalk. I got the cutest pair of ballet flats (for less than $9??), an FT Island CD and poster I've been wanting, 2 headbands, 2 scarves, and an awesome new backpack. I've been wanting a backpack like this since I came to Korea and saw everyone with them, they are cute, well-made, and huge with lots of zippers and pockets!
If you come to Itaewon, prepare to be complimented a lot. Just walking down the sidewalk, shop salespeople will look you up and down and say "beautiful" to you, or "neomu ipuda" which means very pretty or literally 'too pretty' in Korean. I'm sure they learned that English just for the sake of attracting customers attention lol. I actually got physically hauled into one shop when I glanced at a salesgirl standing outside with free samples; apparently if you show the slightest eye contact with them, they will take it as interest and shove a sample at you and bring you in. It turned out to be a music store though, so I was happy with that :)
There was a big stage with chairs set up where various live artists were playing; since it was in Itaewon it was hosted by an all-English radio station (although it was run by Koreans). I happened upon the stage just as a young rock group was setting up. If any of you know my musical tastes, rock (particularly alternative) is my FAVORITE genre, so I took a seat. The group was called AXIS and comprised of five 20-year olds, four boys and one girl. And let me tell you, that one girl was a BOSS with her guitarwork. I was impressed. The lead singer sounded like Adam Lambert. Rock isn't as prevalent in Korea as in the US or UK as the MC mentioned when questioning the members. They really only have FT Island and CNBLUE to look up to, but its got a growing following. It's how I first got into kpop, since I simply liked the rock music whatever language they were singing in. Talk about opening Pandora's box...@.@ Anyways, they played three songs and were really good! I was that annoying American waving my hands in the air when the lead singer asked everyone to put their hands up and bobbing my head. The Korean crowd was so conservative, I wanted everyone to lighten up. People did; by the end there were plenty of people with their hands in the air with me :) Mission accomplished.
There were parades and costumes and military men and comedy acts and so much going on!! It was so lively and bustling, it just made you smile walking around. I saw these AWESOME Joseon-era costumed guys and I wanted a picture with them, but I asked the only white people around (this suuuper old couple. Definitely a mistake) to take it for me and they couldn't figure out my iPhone -.- By the time I corrected them for the 5th time, my phone had died :'( I'll go by there tomorrow again on my way out to get a picture. This time I'll ask a younger person...or not be retarded and CHARGE MY PHONE before I leave @.@
On my way out I stopped by a stand and got myself some coconut milk/juice; I had seen people carrying them around. My first time tasting actual coconut juice/milk and its in...Korea?!?! I got some funny looks on the subway ride back too...it could have been because I was carrying a purse, a backpack, AND multiple bags, because I was carrying around a giant green balloon (I got passed one during a parade), or because I was carrying around a coconut in my hand that I was sipping from. I'm gonnnnnna say its all of the above :)
On the way home I was pretty tired and kind of feeling nauseous. I realized it was probably because all I'd had to eat that day was a coffee this morning, a boba tea this afternoon, and then coconut milk just now. NOT the best combination for a happy stomach lol. Combine that with the constant swaying and abrupt starts and stops of the subway I took all the way home and you get nauseous (I actually still feel subway-sick right now sitting in my room, the room literally feels like it's swaying back and forth with the movement of the subway...so weird. Like seasick or how you feel after you've just been on a treadmill for awhile; like the world is rushing past you on either side, back and forth, back and forth @.@). All in all though, such a wonderfully fun day :) I'm really happy even though I'm dead tired! Quick background on my destination: COEX Mall is an underground shopping mall located in Gangnam-gu Seoul, South Korea. It is Asia's largest underground shopping mall with an area of about 85,000 square metres. Along with hundreds of shops, the mall houses two food courts, a 16-screen multi-cinema complex, the COEX Aquarium, a large bookstore, and the Kimchi Field Museum. It also features a game area which is used to film computer game tournaments, which are broadcast on local television. There are also stages inside and outside the mall for seasonal events and public appearances by celebrities.
Needless to say...I got lost. The famous Kraze Burgers and a place called Jackie's Kitchen! It was a dimsum and noodle place that had entire walls dedicated to Jackie Chan!! Must go eat there one day...
Why do their shotglasses have holes in the bottom of them? Not gonna lie, my first thought was that it was so you couldn't sit and babysit your shot, you had to take it right away like a man :D
Also found the Korean equivalent of Urban Outfitters/Anthropologie. It had the same decor, store layout, and style of clothing...weird. Look at the cute bunny beanies though!! :) Lunchtime! I decided on Korean today since I've been having foreign food like Vietnamese and Japanese lately. I had mushroom bulgogi and it was yummy!
After lunch I had such an amazing time wandering around the gigantic shopping area and window-shopping. I stopped by a few stores (Innisfree and Nature Republic, which are EVERYWHERE seriously. It's like Bath & Body Works in America) to pick up some face scrubs and lotion, which I didn't pack any of because I assumed I'd buy it here.
Amusingly enough, I got asked no less than 5 times for directions or some kind of question by Korean passerby. It's simultaneously hilarious and embarrassing to have to say sorry and that I don't understand. They all smiled but looked confused, and sometimes looked back at me as they left. YES I KNOW I LOOK KOREAN but I am not a failed Korean for not speaking the language BECAUSE I'M NOT KOREAN. The older ones always seem more understanding and pat my arm or head when I say I don't understand. A couple times these pretty, power-suit wearing women in the shopping malls or subway station shopping areas would watch me and then accost me trying to propose something to me. I have no idea what they were saying but I always feel bad for having to say sorry. In Nature's Repulic I managed to get a salesgirl who spoke some English and she asked where I was from. I said America, but my dad is Japanese and my mom is Chinese. Predictably she looked shocked and goes "What? Oh I thought you were Korean!" T.T This is getting old. I did see more foreigners here at the mall than anywhere else I've been and at least I don't get stared at like they do. So maybe it's not all bad I fit in. Kind of. People still stare at my clothes. WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY CLOTHES HUH. Their mugs come with these fitted ceramic tops, to keep it warm I assume! So cool.
More of my bathroom obsession: these sinks were all cute, quaint, and homey with individual sinks and mirror decals :) In America, we have mall directories. In Korea, they have interactive mall maps that you can touch and move with your fingers to find places and information. I'm awed.
Also: Mom and Dad they have a Todai!!! :D Also found the Korean equivalent of H&M; same decor, store layout, and clothing styles. Weirdddd.
So it rained this morning but then stopped for hours, and the ground was completely dry. It was only a little cloudy. I was getting ready to go on a walk and out of NOWHERE it starts pouring! And I'm not talking gentle pitter-patter of lady-like droplets; I'm talking omg-its-the-freaking-apocalypse kind of deafening rain. You couldn't even see very far out because of how thick and fast the rain was falling- it was raising mist on the ground from hitting so hard! Within seconds (I kid you not) the entire rooftop next to mine was completely flooded and exactly 2 seconds after the rain had just started it was thundering and lightening-ing. Is this normal?! I happen to like the rain so I phoned the front desk and asked if they had umbrellas I could borrow. They did and I set off to get some coffee. I ended up at Holly's, this little coffee place I pass a lot tucked in with a bunch of giant office buildings. I got a sweet potato latte, which if you don't like sweet potatoes, will sound disgusting to you. I happen to love them so it was epically delicious; rich and creamy and sweet! I've never had anything like it. It even had little shaved flakes of sweet potato in it to give it a little nuttiness. While I was in the shop, it had stopped raining...and not just stopped, it was pretty much beaming sunshine and bright blue skies everywhere you looked! It was like the sky was sying what, who was hurricane-ing on you all less than 5 minutes ago? Not moi...pfft. Maybe weathers always this bipolar here. And I thought Santa Barbara had it bad- but Seoul, you are totally inland! SB was bipolar cuz it was by the ocean...what's your excuse?! On my way home I stopped by a street vendor I've been eyeing for a few days right near my hotel. She was selling what looked like tempura!! Huge stacks and the smell was incredible. Having no idea what they all were, I inspected the piles carefully and then ordered two of what looked like fried kimbap rolls (think delicious but commoner style sushi), two of what looked like giant elongated fried dumplings, and one big round thing that looked like potato. There was one that looked like sweet potato but I don't trust anything that is any shade of orange or red in this country. It is bound to be mind-blowingly spicy, whatever it is. Once home I tried them out and they were so yummy!! The lady thougtfully cut them all up into bite-size pieces for me with scissors after giving my chosen pieces a quick fry to crisp and warm them up. They do that at kbbq places too, and on Korean cooking shows. The kimbap rolls were amazing, with seasoned glass noodles inside them with vegetables. The dumplings were stuffed with yummy pork and various cabbage, carrots, etc. The potato was tasty as well, and nicely familiar to me. The batter she used was very good, not too heavy and with herbs in it so it looked appetizing. I couldn't even finish the whole bag, it was so much! And it only cost about $2! I can tell this is going to be a favorite of mine already...Dangerous. Verrrrry dangerous... Weather = nal-shi 날씨 Street vendors = po-jang-maht-cha 포장마차 Umbrella = oo-sahn 우산 Delicious (to be) = mah-sshi-da 맛있다 Good afternoon Seoul, it's lovely to see you too. I found some more fun things on my walk today, including a cool stair set and funny NO SMOKING PAST THIS LINE strips painted across various areas, usually in front of subway entrances. So cool. Seeing as I hate smoking I wish we had some of those around CA. I found a Papa John's, TGI Fridays, and California Pizza Kitchen today! I'm sorely tempted to go try the CPK to see if they make their pizzas the same. I've heard they do pizza up here; none of the sausage and pepperoni business, its like fancy, yummy stuff on there!
Today I wanted to both return the I AM documentary I mistakenly purchased and do a little shopping near Sinnonhyeon Station, along Gangnamdaelo (a big street). I wanted to go back to Artbox, which is essentially sugar, spice, and everything nice made tangible. It's the cutesy-est, girliest, most adorably awesome store ever. It even has its own little row of Jelly Belly bean dispensers so you can buy jelly beans if you want. I bought a mini humidifier I'd been eyeing since Dajeong took me here the other day. It's adorable and will be perfect since its so compact. Maybe it'll help with my allergies.
On the walk home I stopped by what was termed and labeled a Pharmacy on the sign outside. However, this was not a pharmacy as we know it (CVS, Walgreens, etc), but one that looked like it went to Sephora boot camp and came out all pretty, polished, and shiny. I also stopped by a SkinFood, which I've been dying to go to for years now. Their products are supposed to be very good, and very high quality. I've been needing a toner so I browsed around for awhile and landed on the Avocado Rich Toner. It smelled WONDERFUL and was reasonably priced at 11,000 won. All the prices I've found it for online have been around $20 or higher, while this was less than $10!
On the way home I stopped by another media pole and played around with it. I found a button that would change it to English so I could understand it. So much fun :) I felt like a little kid playing with it, although slightly self-concious because people are constantly walking behind me lol.
I've decided that every morning I will try a different cafe/coffee shop located around my hotel. There are so many to choose from! Today's is a cute little thing (let's face it, they're ALL cute little things T.T) called CafeBetweenUs. It's airy, spacious and clean inside, with a cozy, exposed red brick wall and pale wood kind of decor. It feels like walking into a favorite college hangout or a comfortable reading den; I automatically love it of course haha. Ordering food that I can't just point to and say 이거 주세요 (this please) always makes me nervous. Miraculously I managed to hold a mini conversation with her for about 30 seconds without her realizing I was American!!! My accent and pronunciation must be marginally improving. While my conscious was running around inside my head pumping her fists in victory, I finally slipped when she said something about "service". While bummed I couldn't keep up with her Korean anymore, I was however really pleased I was getting more free things haha. She was so nice about my not understanding her, so many people I confront with English words are grumpy to me. I think it's cuz they're scared and are hiding it by being gruff but its still nice to still be smiled at after speaking English. I've passed other foreigners in the streets and hear them trying to say thank you and such, and I always cringe thinking that that must be what I sound like when I attempt to speak Korean. Perhaps all my practicing in my head is paying off. The cashier lady finally got across that she was going to give me my latte for free and only charged me for my ham and cheese panini! Ballin. Speaking of grumpy people, that reminds me of this young shopgirl I bought a scarf off of yesterday at Gangnam Station. She was another of the few who still hung around me and tried to me help even after finding out I was American. I've noticed that the more of their Korean I can understand and reply to, the happier they are lol. Anyways, she said something about how I was always smiling and cheerful after she'd followed me around the shop and talked to me for awhile. I told her it was because I was happy! She said I was so lucky and smiled. So maybe the gruffness of the people I've been interacting with is just natural and the norm here? When I'm walking around the streets, my instinct is to smile at every person I pass and say hello if they smile back. But here they don't make eye contact or anything :( I know it must be the culture difference. Another thing I'm learning to do out of necessity is to drink my coffee black. Firstly, there is no such thing as a "coffee" in Korea. That is known as a "hot Americano". Secondly, they do have creamer or milk anywhere, unlike America where they have it on a bar of stuff for you to make your magic potion (Mom I'm looking at you). At Caffe Pascucci, the first cafe I went to, I was so confused I simply asked for a little milk from the barista. She cheerfully complied, even frothing the little tiny espresso cup of milk in the frothier for me so my milk was warm and bubbly. It made my coffee DELICIOUS. But otherwise, it's such a bother to ask every coffee place I go to for milk. I haven't sat down in many cafes like this yet, but I've been getting coffee from everywhere to help me manage my jet lag. Due to this excessive drinking, I therefore concluded that I just have to learn to drink it black. Coffee = kuh-pi 커피 Coffee shop = kuh-pi shyop 커피 숍 Breakfast = ah-cheem 아침 (A) smile = mee-so 미소 Milk = oo-you 우유 A little milk please = chou-keun oo-you ju-seh-yo 적은 우유 주세요 Had my first actual shopping adventure today in the underground Gangnam Station. I forget what they actually term it as, but it was WAY huger than I was expecting. I definitely got lost many times because it was like a giant underground swap meet (but cleaner and nicer of course) with clothing shops and phone counters and bag stores and shoe shops. It was so cool, like row after row and aisle after aisle, I just kept wandering around making random lefts and rights as I went. Eventually I hit a mini-food court and got a boba to sustain my tough shopping exertions :D Some things were expensive but prices were reasonable in most shops. I got a really nice knit white sweater, 2 woven long sleeves, a scarf, 3 headbands, a 2 korean metal spoon and 2 metal chopsticks set, and some pens all for under $50. Including my boba :)
Tomorrow I will head out towards Sinnonhyeon station so I can revisit Artbox, this cute store Dajeong took me to yesterday. It will be my first subway ride by myself! The thought is intimidating... Since it was nearing 5AM to my body, we stopped in a coffee shop (Tom Tom's Coffee, a chain in Korea. Think like Starbucks, which by the way is OBSCENELY expensive here). They had a long line so after we ordered iced coffees they gave us a buzzer! Like a restaurant haha. And to my surprise, it started played David Guetta and showing a movie clip!!! So high-tech. All we get are boring buzzers with shining red lights when it is ready lol.
Kyeong-bok Palace was just as beautiful as I imagined!! There were SWARMS of people there, Dajeong and I couldn't believe it. I'm assuming it was because it was the last night. We almost thought we wouldn't get in because they won't allow people in after 9 (it closes at 10), but we made it to the front of the line and sprinted (both in heels, nbd) across the courtyard to the entrance haha. It looked straight out of the movies or dramas, same architecture, colors, design, etc. Everything was so large and grand, it was awe-inspiring and beautiful. Dajeong says when she has serious talks with friends or wants an introspective moment she goes to the palaces just to walk and think and talk because it is so peaceful. It was dark when we went but I could see how all the water, green trees, wide open spaces, and tall colorful buildings could be nice to sit and think around :) I wish we had such things. Mostly if I need to think I plop down in my room, assume my yoga pose, and go at it :D
There was the main entrance and then a courtyard and another entrance (I kept thinking of the scene in the Curse of the Golden Flower where the girl panicks and is running away towards the end after (during?) the failed invasion of the Golden Flower warriors and gets speared with a thrown spear or something in the entryway of the palace. It looks identical to this one!! Sorry if that was gruesome lol. There was a big main pavilion with a throne room inside it. The stone steps going up it on all sides were HUGE; like seriously I could rock-climb up these damn things. I ended up kind of jumping and springing up each one, nearly falling on my face when I finally got to the top haha. Ever the graceful one, that's me.
There was a huuuuuuuge wide courtyard around this area, with gates spaced periodically. Just wandering around in the courtyards with the huge slabs of stone set in floor was inspiring- you feel so small. Dajeong told me that there was ten gates I think, and that they were always barred in times of war to protect the king. Heading out on one side through a walkway, we came out into an open area with trees and more buildings and a giant pavilion that looked like it was floating on the water! It was the King's pleasure pavilion, where he had his food, music, and women. The reflection on the water of the lit up pavilion and trees around it make it look like there were two :)
Finally when it was time to go we took pictures outside of the great walls that surround the palace. Apparently the area in which it is situated is very famous in dramas. She said particularly if you've seen IRIS (Mom & Dad!) the ending shooting scene is filmed here. I made a panorama so you can see! We walked down the large wide path in the middle of the freeway-like main street and went by statues of the King who created the Korean language and a samurai-like Korean general (? can't remember lol) who protected Korea against the Japanese invasion with his turtle ship. There was a replica of it in front of his statue; it was badass with a covered top to the ship and long, sharp spines coming out of it! We passed a plaque with old Korean on it (like old English! You know, with weird words and spellings and pronunciations. There is "old Korean" too, and it looks totally different, with some now-obsolete characters). There was this cool little wheat maze that ended with a black iron dome in the center too. As mentioned before we rode the subway all the way back to Yeoksam, where I am staying and I fell asleep several times lol. It was only around 11PM here so I tried to reason with myself, but my body was having none of that. All in all, such a fun day full of new experiences!
Whew. Well ladies and gentlemen, you'd better strap in & hold on tight cuz this is gonna be a long one. I'm splitting my last day into two to make it easier to read haha. After a most exhausting and awesomely fun day yesterday, I got back to my room at around midnight here meaning I effectively pulled an all-nighter because I slept at 7:30 AM US time @.@ I fell asleep on the subway back like 5 times, so embarrassing. Probably because of that I woke up at 5:30 AM this morning, much later than usual!! The jetlag is slowly getting better. I met 다정 (Dajeong) at 강남역 (Gangnam Station) at 4PM, and we set off from there to Kyobo Tower, where there's a big bookstore, music store, etc. I lost track of all the different areas we went through since I can't pronounce most of them properly (but I will!! Eventually...) and I bought some single-trip subway tickets since the shops in Gangnam Station were out of the sturdier T-cards, the reloadable charge cards used for subway rides. On my way to meet her I had stopped in Daiso and bought an energy drink, because I knew we would be out late and I'd have trouble staying up...I had been sleeping around 8-9PM here, which is 4-5AM back home. Surprisingly the nice adjumma (middle-aged woman) tried to indicate to me to go get another one saying "Servisu" and "1 plus 1". I've heard of the "service" thing, which was like a free promotion to the customer from the shopowner. So I essentially got a free energy drink in addition to my own! She was so sweet :) Maybe she recognized me from yesterday when I went shopping in there. I heard they love repeat customers. Since today is the last night Kyeong-bok Palace is open to the public at night, Dajeong kindly offered to take me, saying it was too beautiful to miss. We had such a fun day!!! I am so grateful to you 다정; if you are reading this, I had a great time :) She is seriously the sweetest, most patient, and easy to get along with girl ever. Also in case any of you were wondering, we are twins. QUITE LITERALLY. Case in point: 1) We have the same exact birthdays, September 1st except she was born one year earlier in 1989 and I'm in 1990. Weve both never met another person with the birthday of September 1st. 2) We both have little brothers (남동생) who were born in 1993 AND in January (her brother's birthday is January 20, while my brother's is January 17!) 3) We are both short and love to wear heels. All. The. Time. And we love Kimchi Jigae :D 4) We both have mothers who are elementary school teachers! 5) We are both going to be taking classes for our teacher's credentials & taking the teacher's exams. 6) She is so comfortable to be around! She is so easy to talk to and a wonderful host/knowledgable tour guide. Anyways, glossing over our eerie similarities in...well life in general, we stopped in various shops along the way from station to station as we traveled towards City Hall & where Kyeong-bok Palace is located. There were such cute things in the shops!! I wanted to buy everything haha but I restrained myself...kind of :) There are these things called "Media Poles" on this one main street, in which you can take pictures and email them to yourself, among other things! We had fun taking silly photos because we could never get the timing right on it. We settled on a funny one and we agreed to take a better, normal picture next time :D Inside Kyobo Tower it was like a giant Barnes & Nobles meets Blockbuster meets FYE meets Westfield Mall meets Costco. Except instead of food samples, there were people with little tables of electronics or cameras or hairdryers or something lol. The revolving entrance door was funny because apparently with all such doors in Korea, you cannot ever touch the door or it will stop. So when Dajeong went to Las Vegas, she tried to get into a casino through a revolving door and just stood there. However we have to push most of our revolving door haha so the security guard finally told her to push when she asked for help :D She is too funny!! Inside I finally bought a book I've been wanting for awhile "Children of the Sun". I also bought the I AM documentary in excitement before belatedly realizing its region code 3, so I can't even play it in America lol. We are region code 1 :'( Ah well, its released Nov 6 in American I think. As we walked further, we found people all walking in one of the huge streets and noticed it had been closed off. It was the Hi Seoul Festival! There were firecrackers and music and a procession down the street with performers with blue on their faces and even a rockband on a moving truck haha. Dajeong said it was so strange to be walking in the street of such a huge major street, but this was a special occasion. For dinner Dajeong took me to this awesome little KBBQ place. It looked nothing like the KBBQ places I'm used to going to in LA; there were lots of little coffee shop-sized tables with a deep pit in the middle and a hose-like retractable chimney above it. You could move it all the way down to almost touching the meat! So much more efficient in whisking away all the nasty smoke and KBBQ smell you usually get when eating there :) We had yummy pork, some kind of pickled, sweet seaweed salad, and the most amazing kimchi jigae I've ever had in my life. It was called 칠분 김치 찌개, or seven minute kimchi stew because it is cooked in seven minutes! It's spicy and savory and has such an awesome flavor. Dajeong said it was eaten in a different manner than usual in this restaurant; we mashed it in with our rice and put dry strips of seaweed over it and mixed it in. SO GOOD. Everything was, we left stuffed. She taught me how to say "I'm full" but I don't know how to spell it haha. I think it is something like 배 불러요, or pae-bu-reu-yo. In Japanese it is おなかがいっぱい, or onaka ga ippai. Julia taught me that one when she was visiting the US from Japan :) I will see you soon Julia if you are reading this!
On my morning walk today I chose a different street and direction from yesterday and set off. I figure this will be my routine everyday until I have a good idea of how this area lays out with all the locations of stores, eating places, and most dangerous crosswalks T.T Today I found a Korean KFC! All these fast food places here are so much nicer, cleaner, fancier, and of course, not drive-thru lol. It's weird seeing them sitting on a block in between a Samsung store and a bakery. The weather is again beautiful, a crisp 73 degrees and the sun is out with blue skies to accompany it. After wandering for awhile I stopped in one of the many convenience stores for something to drink and got myself some banana milk and mocha drinks. They're the real ones!! Not the Americanized versions I'm used to. Nobody will understand my excitement for this banana milk except maybe Waylie, Jessica, and a few others haha. Most unusually, the cashier here seemed to know intrinsically that I wasn't Korean and didn't speak it even though I hadn't spoken any English. Is it the way I dress?? Someone told me people would know I wasn't from here by the way I dressed...Hm. I'm going to be all self-conscious now. Anyway he held up his calculator with the amount due on it for me after rattling it off in Korean. To be fair, I DO know all my numbers (both sets, the native Korean and Chinese ones) but I can't keep up when they speak so faaaaaast. It's so frustrating. Usually anyone I interact with here assumes I am Korean because apparently I look extremely Korean and start lightspeed-talking to me (??? All the Asians I knew in SB along with most Asian people I've met for the first time thought I was full Korean. So did the adjusshis [middle aged men] I sat with on the plane. Is that what happens when you mix Japanese & Chinese?!). It's quite inconvenient. I listen politely, put a blank look on my face, and then have to say "Sorry, what?". They immediately either look fearful of me (scared I'll speak more English to them b/c they don't understand it haha) or they look apologetic and try to speak Korenglish to me. I actually had one woman legitamately RUN from me in a 7-eleven when I came in to ask for directions, it was pretty funny. I said "hello" instead of 안녕하세요 for some reason, and she immediately bolts and ducks behind her male coworker, who dutifully and bravely looked up directions for me on my phone. Thankfully Wona 선생님 and Diane 선생 taught me directions and how to ask for them so I understood when he told me to walk a block north than make a left and walk two blocks before making a right, cuz his Korenglish was more just straight Korean with a few "yes?"'s thrown in :D Otherwise, I might still be wandering around out there @.@ I decided I'm going to start including relevant Korean words at the end of my posts, so everyone can learn a little bit! It will help me learn more too, since my Korean is still shaky :)
-To drink = ma-shida 마시다 -Drink (beverage) = eum-ryo-su 음료수 -Convenience store = pyun-i-jum 편의점 -Korean (nationality) = han-guk-een 한국인 or han-guk sahram 한국 사람 -Korean (language) = han-guk-go 한국어 -American (nationality) = mi-guk-een 미국인 or mi-guk-sahram 미국 사람 -person = sahram 사람 Waking up at the lovely hour of 2AM having gotten about 4 hours of sleep. I tossed and turned for about an hour before giving it up as a lost cause and watching Korean tv on this remarkably large flat screen. It seriously tickles me how actors and idols we are used to seeing only on YouTube are like EVERYWHERE here. I turn on the tv and first thing I see is a coke ad with 2PM and another ad with Shinhwa. Then the drama comes on and it's Personal Preference with Lee Minho :) Not one of my all time favorites but it wasn't bad. Changed the channel and some random hospital drama came on with the hot gay doctor from To The Beautiful You and the annoying angry dad from Dream High!! We are so isolated in the US :/
Anyway now that I've gotten my super Asian moment out of the way, it is time to continue my aimless wanderings around Gangnam. I love being up so early, when the light is all clear and freshly minted. Everything around me is still so new, I feel so playful and excited just walking around! Even in my uber-jet lagged state @.@ Also as a side note, I just discovered my hotel room has a doorbell when the staff brought up more tissues for me. YES, A DOORBELL. It's a very pleasant, musical one too not like the DINGDONG ones back home; just loud enough to hear clearly if the tv is on or youre running water but not loud enough to startle. When I turn the tv off too it has this little charming musical riff as it turns off, like its saying byebye! :) Why does being in Korea make me think about how every single inanimate thing is being cute?!? Spent this afternoon soaking up some more Korean culture around the neighborhood. Also, all those things you heard about how dangerous the Korean streets are to pedestrians?...THEY ARE ALL TRUE. If you are ever crossing a street, path, alley, or crosswalk in Korea you must first look both ways before crossing...then, AS you are stepping off the curb LOOK BOTH WAYS AGAIN. Because chances are, a speeding car with a harassed angry old Asian man in it will come screeching around the corner just as you step off it- and you better haul ass and double-time it back up that curb or you will be a (insert name here) pancake in no time flat T.T I have never feared for my life so many times in 3 hours as I did today on my walk. How they don't all die daily is my question...they must be born with innate crazy driver senses we don't have. Although the drivers in Texas could give them a run for their money.
Needed some things to aid in my existence within my little Asian cave for the next month, so on my friend 다정's advice I set out for 다이소 (Daiso). Think the 99 cent store meets Ross. It was HEAVENLY. I had so much fun :))) Obviously, on my trek there I read my map wrong and took off in the OPPOSITE way where I wanted to go so I was going the wrong way for a good hour. No wonder all the Korean women are so skinny, the streets are all up and down and up and back down again. Its like straight hiking...with a 101's worth of whizzing cars flying by your side continuously. Bought some useful stuff like a washboard and a bar of legit detergent soap to wash my clothes (since there are no laundromats in Korea and there's no way I'm going to have my bras and undies dry-cleaned...). Also bought some less useful stuff, but still awesome! See: the heart stickers above. They're well, you know...I just REALLY LIKED THEM 0:)
I managed to spot a Korean Burger King and McDonalds as well on my hike/stroll/walk/evasion of speeding cars intent on flattening me. And this cool little place tucked in a little niche called Mad For Garlic! The entrance was this narrow walkway that sloped down so steeply that if you look in from the top, you can see the ceiling halfway down your field of vision. I didn't go in, but I WILL :) Another day. So many places, plenty of time ^^
After solving some hotel issues and playing linguistic twister with the helpful receptionist and very nice assistant, I've gone out to walk around my neighborhood and explore. Wona 선생님, if you are reading this thank you for all you taught me :) It's harder to use and remember when I'm speaking it here not with you, but I'm sure I'll get better. There are literally coffee shops every other store, it's unreal and awesome. I decided on a very chic and rather spacious one next to a market so I can go pick up some necessaries later that I didn't want to pack. I ordered a bulgogi panini (AWESOME. Only here. So. Awesome.) with a coffee and it was amazing. Also in case anyone was wondering, when I opened my windows this morning the air totally permanently smells deliciously like Korean BBQ. I might or might not be coming back to America.
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