Day 18- Sinsa-dong Garosugil and Rainbow fountain at Banpo Bridge (kind of)
My day started off very late at Apgujeong and my first stop- Garosugil in Sinsadong! And that's located in between the Apgujeong and Sinsa stations. I got off at Apgujeong to walk to the Garosugil (tree-lined street). Got out an exit, walked a few yards down the road, looked at the shops along the road and noticed a recurring theme. The shop windows were plastered with before and after pictures of women and men, pictures of very handsome men dressed in lab coats with arms crossed. And the whole stretch of 'shops' were all like this. And then I realised they were ALL plastic surgery clinics. And almost everyone around had bandaged up faces. It was the weirdest feeling, a lil' scary. And all the clinics look super welcoming please!! So I learnt, Apgujeong has a high density of plastic surgery clinics. But I don't understand why they all chose to open like right next to each other. Wouldn't it be insane competition?!
Anyway, I got severely lost amongst these super comfortable looking plastic surgeries, and got back on the train and got off at Sinsa instead. Ha. If you're planning to go to Garosugil, get off at Sinsa! Its much easier and has directions all the way to the street.
Garosugil in Sinsa-dong is a DEFINITE MUST, PLEASE GO, HAVE TO, NEED when you go to Seoul. By far the coolest, most trendy, fashionable place I've set foot in. Paris, London, Milan, move over. Seoul is definitely fashion capital. I was upset I only visited this place on my third-last day when I was alone. I really wanted to spend money and help Korea's economy, but the shop keepers are not, in any way, welcoming. I guess cos its in Gangnam, and their items are not particularly cheap and because their products are so amazeballs they'd attract customers no matter how snooty they are. (Just not customers like me..)
The shop was called 'around the corner'. So perfect!
Spot the lady photobombing my photo with aegyo.
They also had street vendors selling affordable stuff like mobile phone accessories, hair clips and such. Probably the best quality street vendors I've encountered in Seoul.
As it approached 8.30pm I left Sinsa-dong, empty-handed, sadly. I left to go watch the Rainbow Fountain on Banpo bridge at 9pm! Or so I thought. I was too late, I missed it and I was sad! I comforted myself by telling myself; well, I'll just have to come back here soon!
The view from the bridge definitely compensated though! And you know how I'm a total sucker for night light views.
I was walking along this deserted bridge. I was the only person in sight, and I started to freak cos I knew someone was looking at me. So I looked around and realised it was only Justin Timberlake.
Day 19- Farmers markets and Soyosan
Second-last day in Seoul, I ventured out of Seoul to Dongducheon, north of Seoul. I have friends staying there, so I paid them a visit and they took me around. I am so blessed!
Dongducheon the night I arrived.
I arrived on the 25th of March, and every 5, 15, 25th of each month there's a farmers market! And farmers markets are one of my favourite things to go to. Like ever. They sold everything from Oranges to fish, from brooms to buckets, from potted plants to trousers, from slippers to bags. EVERYTHING.
My sister saw this picture and said; imagine that, all of them had a personality....
Imagine being gutted, and spread open by chopsticks with strings coming out your mouth.
Knuckle sandwich.
Hugest, juiciest, fleshiest Korean pear EVER.
Emily, my friend, introduced me to the Korean pear. And oh, how blinded of this earth's beauty I've been! It was the best thing to happen to me that day and the next following days! We went hiking next, and this pear lasted both of us the whole way up. It was THAT huge. And the next day, back in Seoul, I bought two pears, ate one of lunch and dinner. And kept the other one for my breakfast the next day ( I was flying to Taiwan the next day). And I forgot to eat it! And got it confiscated at Shanghai where I was transitting. I was DEVASTATED, to say the least! It was an emotional goodbye, I asked the airport people to take good care of it, and eat it well. Fo' real.
Wait, just let me wipe away my tears.
At the foot of Soyosan!
So pumped up for my hike! I love hiking! My parents have brought us hiking since we were little. My grandpa actually climbed Mount Everest! So I try to make it a point to go hiking at every country I go. I was a little let down that I wasn't going to hike in Korea until Emily suggested we do, on my second last day! She's a Godsend.
Ahjummas and Ahjusshis everywhere!
I was probably the youngest person on Soyosan. Everyone I saw were old man and ladies decked out in their winter jackets and hiking sticks. It was such a lovely sight to see, so inspirational!
Sleeping ahjusshi.
Little shrine in a semi-cave
So rewarding
But definitely not rewarding for my self-esteem. While we were huffing and puffing and panting away, all these old folks were zooming past us, blasting music, joking, laughing, looking like they didn't need oxygen to live! It was an embarrassment. Heh.
I remember while walking up, we met these two ahjusshis (old men). And they said to me, 조심해, 호랑이가있다, meaning, be careful, there are tigers! And I was questioned, ho lang? (I didn't know what they meant.) And they said, Tiger, tiger! And I was like, TIGER?! JIN JJA?! (REALLY?!) And they roared with laughter. It was cute.
We reached our maximum ability, and ate pear.
So rewarding lah.
Back down to civilisation.
We headed back to Dongducheon and explored there. I introduced Emily to Ddukbokki and Hoddeok. And she treated me to this crazy awesome korean buffet! They had the widest spread of food I have EVER seen. Five different types of porridges, two different types of rice, hugest spread of banchan and hugest variety of meat. MY GAT! Noms.
And I saw a kid drinking a drink called 'Chilsung cider'. And I was speechless, WHY'S HE DRINKING CIDER?! HE'S A LIL KID. But it wasn't cider, it was called cider, but it was Seven-up... Well, I'm just glad I'm look out for the people around me. Bahahahahahahah.
Day 20- SPEND ALL MY MONEY
Last day in Seoul, and long story short, I went out, and spent, a lot. Pretty sure the korean economy is doing better because of me....
Bye bye, Korea! I definitely shed some tears.
That's it for my take on Korea. It has been so awesome blogging about it! I LOVE KOREA SO SO MUCH. And I hope I can help you fall in love with it like I did. Thanks you guise! And next up, Taiwan!
You're sexy, and you know it. xxx
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