pandapursuits: Kimchi-land Adventures, Day 1

Boarding... I thought the Korean Air plane looked quite pretty.

My first time having Bibimbap. I thought the plane version was quite nice, and it was a good introduction to Korean food, until I realised that plane food < warm hot food, and true enough, this was the worst bibimbap I had on my entire trip. But it was a novel experience for me, and I finally got to eat the instant rice I see so often in dramas, haha.

We arrived in Seoul Incheon International Airport pretty late in the night, so our original plans of taking the subway to our hotel were ruined ): Instead we took a taxi (the larger kind) that was able to accomodate 4 people and 4 luggage bags. Even though it was so late I was so excited.

Look what we got upon our arrival! Metro Hotel is in the heart of Myeongdong, so it's really convenient. In this welcome set, we received Etude House products! 4 "Moistfull" face masks and a set of BB cream, shower gels and a moistu

This is the breakfast setting, Western food (your typical cereal, fresh milk, yoghurt etc is on the right) and Korean food (breakfast setting which differs daily; but basically something nice and warm to start your day if you prefer! it's straight ahead, perpendicular to the western food table.)

This is just outside our hotel, in the morning when the air is "fresh" and myeongdong is the quietest. Myeongdong is a place in Seoul that caters to tourists, there's all sorts of food you can find here, and the shops are open till real late. It's a lovely place to shop in, not to mention the scary number of cosmetic shops and unhealthy-but-yummy street snacks in the nights! It's also a popular place for couples, so you'll see many couples in couple outfits :3 so cute! My friend commented that it's almost like a crime to be walking around in myeongdong without a partner, but as long as you're in company, you won't feel THAT lonely, I suppose!(:

The picture above shows this yummy porridge place, that we patronised twice for the 5 days we were there. It serves great food, because it's healthy! (My younger sister is allergic to MonoSodium Glutamate-MSG- so eating there was a safe option.) It's just right outside Metro Hotel, so it's convenient too! Ok above that (second level), you can see this balcony. It's this cafe that the Yonghwa-Seohyun couple filmed in during their stint on "We Got Married", Season 2 I think! We didn't visit the cafe, but if you're a big fan of the couple, I guess you would want to visit it!!

I spy... Lotte departmental store! It's duty-free apparently, but we didn't shop there.

One of the pushcarts by the entrance of the subway station selling fangoods!

Hello, Nichkhun! (Advertisement for glasses, evidently.)

Lotte again, a better view this time.

Now this is Holika Holika in Myeongdong, one of the many outlets they have there. (Note: In Myeongdong, you will find many outlets of the same shop there, so along one street you may be able to find one store and when you turn around the corner, you might just find yourself in front of another shop of the same brand. Maps are helpful, in this case. Where we got our maps, was just outside Ibis Hotel, which is another hotel just a few streets away from Metro Hotel.)

Cheena food-Din Tai Fung, that I particularly like for their Zha-Jiang-Mian. The Shanghainese version. There's actually a Chinese-Korean version callled Jajangmyeon ("black noodles").

Fan goods! This is was a small corner shop in Myeongdong. My first music shop that we encountered!

Walking along!

AHA THE FAMOUS SPAO SHOP ALL YOU SMTOWN FANS WILL LOVE. If my memory doesn't fail me, it's opposite/somewhere near the Forever21 flagship.

It's on Level 1 of this building, which also houses the SM shop on the 4th floor. It has lots of SM fan goods, displayed signatures and all, as well as the latest SM albums. But the prices tend to be a bit high here, so I prefer buying from another place in Myeongdong, in this building called Migliore. (more later)

Rainbow coloured winter jackets!

HAHA the SPAO here is tailored for fangirls, definitely.

You will never get tired waiting to pay for your items here.

I think this is the really large 'The Face Shop' that we got loads of things from. Haul introduction later!

Because we 1.woke up late

2. had such a full breakfast, we only had lunch/tea really late, at about 3pm.

We had lunch at the famous Myeongdong Gyoja! Which, by the way, is really popular with locals and tourists. There are 2 outlets (walking distance in Myeongdong) A friend had recommended eating here, and I was skeptical because it's a really simple setup, with a really small menu (total of like 5+ dishes?) and wasn't really crowded when we went there. I forgot we were eating past lunchtime. Smart move, actually. Because when we passed by in the evening again, it was crowded! There was a horrendously long queue which I suspect would require one to queue for at least 1.5 hours before eating.

The menu! I guess they have such a small menu because they're actually good at what they do. That, and the fact that they have really quick service! A no-frills place, but the food's quite good!