Day 2 - Shopping

Ello!

Today, I woken up at around 5 am because of my jet lag, but after toying around with makeup (and me reading), me and Meghan got down for a traditional Korean breakfast by our lovely hosts. They're two mid-twenties sisters, who are the most loveliest and kindest people I've ever met. They made Kimchi Jigae and it was so delicious, that we were stuffed in minutes! They initially knew we were American and wanted to make us an American breakfast with toast and such but were insisted that since we're in Korea, Korean breakfast it is.

After having a great meal, we went outside to the buses (having gotten directions from our host). The temperature was 35 Celsius (come on people we're in Korea here)! It was so hot, Meghan was wearing sunglasses throughout our whole trip today except in the beginning.

Taking the bus to Latte World was definitely an experience, especially since I hardly take the bus and the passes here were kind of weird card readers, that you have to scan when you get on and off. After asking directions for about the second time, we got lost getting to Myeong-dong, the shopping district, Taking the subway and making a couple U turns, we finally made it! It reminded me a little bit of like the Time Square of New York but Meghan said differently. It had H&M, Forever 21 and Dunkin Donuts, stuff I thought I wouldn't even find over here. I bought a couple stuff here and there and was just amazed by how many Korean idol brands were everywhere:

Meghan insisted we eat some shaved ice thing, which I have no idea what the name was, but it was definitely delicious:

More walking in the heat before we gave up to take a taxi to the Namsan Cable Cart, it took us to the Namsan Mountain top, which held the Seoul tower.

Ugh. . don't mind my face in this picture :

It was blistering hot, so we hardly stayed an hour before taking the Cable Cart back, it was so bad, we were literally sweating like pigs. We had to rest for 20 minutes because the heat was killing us and Meghan didn't wear sunscreen, making her skin a bit red. We were debating if we should go back to the b and b to rest or to go Insa-dong, another shopping district that sold traditional Korean items and such. (Like some spoons and square metal chopsticks, hint. . hint).

We did end up going to Insa-dong and I bought so much stuff. It was amazing how cheap everything was. I just thought how ridiculous how people sold these stuff too:

We ate some linner (lunch and dinner?), at this really cheap Korean restaurant. I had no idea what I ate but it consisted of Kimchi Jigae with some seafood mixed in.

That was kind of the last thing we wanted to do before going back to the b and b and it wasn't even 6 o'clock yet. We packed up all my shopping stuff and headed back to the house. After getting another taxi to the house, Meghan went upstairs and took a deep sleep. I stayed up and talked a lot more with my hosts. They were really happy to talk to me and were fun to talk to. They even took me out to eat with them and ate this huge plate full of seafood called Algujjim.

It was really delicious and spicy and I was happy to talk to my hosts as they told me more about themselves. We even laughed about how American, or some people, like to assume Korean guys were all gay and such. They were so funny and generous, I couldn't believe I ended with such great hosts.

I'm writing this now, about to go to bed but still up talking with my host, they're so fun, its cool to talk about different cultures and how much they know.

Well until I write again!

Sid

- Repost for the morning since it didn't go through last night!