August 14, 2010
11:16 PM
Korea Day 5, Sat Aug 14 2010
Ah, the trip's coming to a close. Its been tiring but fulfilling.
Woke up at 10am+ today. Breakfast at the hotel ends at 10am. Oh well. Went right ahead, taking the train to Yongsan. I read from an online review that it was the place for electronics. Instead, the place was a huge megamall. Not that I'm complaining, of course.
Had breakfast+lunch there at a Japanese food restaurant. I'm practically in Japan, eating Japanese food most of the time. Can't be helped though, Korean food is equivalent to spicy hell.
I didn't buy any electronics from the mall, since you can get those back in Singapore. Got more clothes. Honestly, this was really the best time to come here. Summer's ending and fall is coming, so shops are having a seasonal clearence to quickly move their summer stocks. And Singapore is summer all year round, so... ???... profit!
They had an e-sports stadium on one of the higher levels. I did say e-sports was big in Korea, right? Much to my luck, they were having a playoff right at that time. With all the cameras around, I'm guessing its being broadcasted on TV as well. And the game of choice is............. dare you to guess it wrong. You could see from the matches that the players have trained really well. If there was a sport I'd follow, this would be it.
Back to Gangnam next. Though there were a few shopping districts around, I didn't see anything really of interest. Plus most of the buildings were business area.
Final stop was City Hall station. The starting point for Cheonggyecheon, a 6km stream flowing through downtown Seoul. The stream underwent a restoration somewhere in mid-2003. Now its a public recreation space with an eco-friendly urban design. From both times I went there (2nd day, as well as today), the stream attracted a heck lot of people, locals and tourists alike. All this in the middle of the city. How I wish Singapore was like that too. Some jungle in our urban jungle would be greatly appreciated.
Anyway, it was decided that I'd walk the whole 6km length of the stream. Not sure how or why, but it was just decided. Just like how the sky is blue. Starting from the beginning, I walked all the way to the half point. 3km isn't much per se, but if you think about how much I walked over the past few days, it was a hell of a distance to cover. I stopped around Dongdaemun to fully cover the area before heading back. I'll walk the remainder of the length tomorrow. :)
Dinner at a food court in Migliore. 6,000 won for a good serving of fried rice, japanese style, complete with tiny prawns and an egg. Comes with miso soup and various side dishes. Yes.. its japanese style again.
After dinner, went back to covering the remaining shops I missed. I discovered that all of the malls there use the same format. Large number of tenants covering various floors. The tenants just display their goods all around, without any shopfront or interior decorations to speak of. The walls and ceilings are all white. Prices aren't fixed either. That's why I didn't end up buying anything. Seeing as you're a tourist, they'll most likely jack up the price. The fact that they openly tout for your attention is evidence of that. Just like fishermen laying bait... once you're caught, gg!
And yes, the pricing is even higher than the ones in the malls. That's saying something. I wouldn't recommend going here to shop.
That's all for today. I'll be completing the rest of Cheonggyecheon tomorrow, and try to squeeze in a bit of look-see time before checking out of the hotel at 4pm. Not sure when the flight is, but I'll be reaching Singapore around 1am. Until then.. see ya!