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Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Day 19: Seoul (Dongdaemun, Cheonggye Plaza, Gwancheoldong)

He had his off day again thanks to Children's Day, which is also a public holiday in Korea. And guess what, I went to Dongdaemun for the third time. Actually I didn't want to, but he said he had never been there and wanted to see himself how good the shopping is after listening to my shopping adventures everyday. :)

We went to Doota Tower and Migliore, I just realized that the guys clothing were not as varied as the ladies. I could easily spot the same t-shirt at five different kiosks! On the other hand, he said he was tired and confused after seeing so many clothes. Actually I think guys apparel only took up 25% of the whole shopping area. Good for me that he isn't into shopping hahaha...

So since he didn't want to shop anymore, we went for lunch and and then went back to the apartment.


This was quite nice, probably Seolleongtang (ox bone soup). I couldn't remember. :P


Tuna sushi was average.

Cheonggye Plaza
In the evening, we were out again to Cheonggye Plaza. This place was where the Cheonggyecheon stream starts to flow from the west to the east of downtown Seoul. I had seen the Cheonggyecheon stream on the east of Seoul near Dongdaemun market but had not seen it from the west. This stream was quite controversial because the government spent a lot of money in the restoration project to become what it is now.


"Spring", the name of the spiral snail sculpture at Cheonggye Plaza.

There was a World Vision donation drive going on in conjunction with Hi Seoul Festival last week. Their aim was to raise 1 billion won in coins.


Mountain of coins that reminds me of Uncle Scrooge!


Colorful paper cranes

Created this ecard from the photo booth. It is very easy to use, just choose a postcard, write a message on its touch screen, smile to the camera and type in the email address.


E-card from Cheonggye Plaza booth.


The fountain at Cheonggye Plaza


And the water flows through the heart of Seoul.

The best part is to sit by the stream and enjoying the city lights around you.


With a cool weather and the sounds of flowing water, it was a perfect night out. :)

Saw this crazy guy doing funny things. ;)





Gwancheoldong
There wasn't any eating place nearby Cheonggye Plaza except a burger joint, so we decided to walk back home instead of taking subway to see whether we could find something else to eat. Not very far from where we started, we saw this place with many flashy billboards. There were so many eating places, one after another along this narrow street. This is near Jonggak station.


Love the billboards!!

We had chicken and octopus galbi again, like the one in Myeongdong.


The restaurant


Our order


Side dishes


We asked for extra portion for the macaroni salad with raisins. Yummy!


The quantity before it's cooked.


After it was cooked, it shrank down a lot. :P

We enjoyed the galbi very much, it wasn't very spicy so we could really taste what we were eating. He ate mostly chicken and I had the octopus. Since I came to Korea, I was hooked on octopus!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Irene, i would like to check out the restaurant on my next trip to korea. Could you tell me the directions from the nearest train station there?

Irene said...

Hi Alyssa,
It's a bit difficult to explain but I'll try. The dakgalbi restaurant is near Jonggak station exit 4. After you come out you will see a stretch of shops. Walk straight about 2 blocks, and turn right. You will see a lot of restaurants in this area. This particular restaurant is located at the corner, where in front of the restaurant there are many cart vendors selling accessories. There is a steak house called Bennigan's on the opposite side. I know it's not the best explanation, but hopefully you could find it.

Unknown said...

You have given more than i have expected. Thanks dear :). Keep blogging on your trips, i enjoy reading them and viewing the pics.

Unknown said...

Need some advice from you again as I noticed that you were in Seoul until winter season. Would I be still be able to find summer apparels (spags n short sleeves) during October for our hot and humid S’pore?

Irene said...

Hi Alyssa,
Possible but not much. From what I remember, even for those sale ones, they took out their last year stock to display, so not from the previous season.

Unknown said...

I see. That will lower my expectations when i am there. Thanks again hee.