Monday 27 August 2012

Korea II - Myeong-Dong

So I've been skype-calling mom and we've decided the best way to do Swiss is to get a 7Day package from an established tour agency. I doubt dad will really wanna do a Italy/France shopping trip. With my leave in October, I could do a lot with it - so it's either I go to the Swiss 7D with them (with lucerne and interlaken as our priority must-go in consideration) or I do a solo Europe/Asia. Well, we'll see where I end up in during my leave.

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I'm back for Korea Part II! I try to post timely updates as much as I can.
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Lotte - largest korean conglomerate which owns over 60 businesses, including food, hotels, retail, publishing, etc. One of my favorite of their products includes Lotte World in Seoul :)

Walking down the streets of Myeong-dong, the main shopping area in Seoul.
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one of the departmental stores, Moon Square.

The long-time-no-see Missha store which gradually 'disappeared' in Singapore is still quite the hot favorite in Korea.
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Certainly - the very much raved BB creams that skinfood makes, is commonly seen in Seoul.

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Jill by Jill Stuart apparels.

the lovely cosmetics lane include the very princess-y etude house, holika-holika which was once seen in Wisma Atria, and the ever popular faceshop.
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I've seen at least 3 tonymolys in Myeong-dong and there's another one coming up *stabs*

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Us soaking up in the atmosphere of shopping.
We came to town early so not much crowds were seen.

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Every korean cosmetic store there has really pretty furbishments - take holika holika as a good example. 

In need for a coffee and coffee houses are easily seen - we went into one which looks quiet from the outside so that we can fill it with our chats and laughters.
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Meet Terence (from China) and Charlotte (from HongKong)
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also seen with my buddy, Curry.

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Roaming the streets of MyeongDong with me buying random things like tons of handcreams (as usual), cosmetic items like eyeliners and stuff.

Brands to items I prefer, I have to say I'm attracted to their packaging too:
Faceshop - Facial Masks
Holika holika - Pencil eyeliner
Innisfree - Handcream (grapefruit scented)
Skinfood - Mushroom BB cream
Tony Moly - Lip items (lipstick, lipbalm), tomato mask
Not a big fan of etude house :p

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Cutest kitty hand moisturisers, aren't they cute!!!

and Innisfree Spiderman and Batman facial masks for men - how creative! Bought one for JS to try :)
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Yet to explore Nature Republic as a brand because there are just too many of them!
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Waiting for a friend of Terence's to bring us around for lunch.
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After meeting up, Yixin then brought us to have Seolleongtang, which is pretty well-known in Myeongdong.
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It's a broth made of ox bones. It may seem tasteless to some, because seasoning is added according to personal taste. So salt, garlic, and red pepper is on the side for customers to add accordingly.

While waiting for our soup, we had our free flow kimchi and radish. The kimchi is the best I've tasted- I had just forgotten to bring some back to DXB. Grrrr...
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I like how light it tasted (after adding half a tablespoon of salt) and the beef is tender - goes very well with rice and a bit of kimchi :) All of us ended drinking all the soup and after reading about it on wiki, it seemed that this soup had quite a bit of history >>> click here!

We went to do some street shopping along the roads of Gangnam and we took the metro as an experience. It seemed that Seoul's metro is pretty well-connected!
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Heading onto Sinsadong Garuso-gil (part Gangnam area) where lots of pretty concept stores/bars are.IMG_2848
The Mango Six coffee where "A gentleman's dignity" is filmed (my recent favorite korea drama up to date!)
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Heh, I'm pretty sure I'll go in for a coffee some time soon!

And we went into a really pretty hair accessories store. My goodness - these hair accessories ain't cheap but they're such gorgeous pieces XD
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and an underground handmade accessories store.

Can't wait to go to Korea again - and I'm hoping that I will get to go again in October.
*fingers crossed*
:)