Seoul -- part 1

I went to Seoul a while back with some Singaporean exchange students. It was real fun! We spent a day shopping for winter clothes and a day touring the historical sites in the city.

There are two main shopping districts in Seoul (I think). One of them is located at DongDaeMun and the other is at MyeongDong. DongDaeMun is a more casual shopping district whereas MyeongDong is a more high-end (relatively) fashion district.

This is a view into MyeongDong. Pardon the bad quality of the picture, I am not exactly a photographer. The actual place looks a lot more grand than the photo. You can find almost every big brand name.

Myeong-Dong is typically Asian. By that I mean there is a specific style of district planning/construction that you can certainly only find in Asia (and maybe France? I hear? But I have never been there so I don't know!).
The entire district is a promenade, and the roads are old, really narrow and crowded. Usually one would expect such a district to be dirtier/messier, since it is harder for cleaners to get inside and do their work. But in reality, the place is surprisingly clean. More interestingly, some of the most expensive brands (I only recognize LV, but there are others) tend to congregate there. Their elitist interior strikes a sharp contrast the the unassuming external environment, very classy I think.

Seoul is a girl's shopping paradise. Clothes and cosmetics can get really cheap (while still maintaining quality). I had enough winter stuff already so I did not buy much, but most of my fellow Singaporeans went back with at least twice the weight they'd come with.


Trivia: the chips in Korea are REAL TASTY. We saw a lot of varieties of corn chips in the supermarket and tried a few of them. All turned out to be excellent.