Seoul, South Korea : The Shopping Heaven

I rarely shop when I travel unless I find the items to be very unique, or they are super cheap! So far, the place that I can call a shopping heaven is Bangkok! It used to be Bandung or Jakarta, but of late, I feel their prices have gone up. Or maybe it's just me being biased after I fell in love with Bangkok. haha...

Anyway, when I told my girlfriends I was going to Seoul, these were the replies I got; 

"Go to Myeongdong!!!"   

or 

  "Buy their cosmetics and skincare!"

In Seoul, these areas are among the said shopping heaven; Myeongdong, Dongdaemun Market, Namdaemun Market, Itaewon and Insadong. Ohh.. my hostel area, Hongdae is in the list too. I am so good at finding places to stay, no?

Among them all, Myeongdong is the most popular spot. All kinds of brands and department stores are clustered along the streets. From the towering super stores of Migliore, Lotte Department Store, Shinsegae Department Store and M Plaza to the little shops and street vendors lining the sidestreets and alleyways, this area has something for everyone. Totally rambang mata seeing all those pretty clothes and stuffs here.

over tau!

Direction: Stop at Myeongdong Station on Line 4, proceed to Exit 5, 6, 7 or 8
Alternatively, get off at Euljiro Il-ga Station on Line 2, proceed to Exit 5

What I love most about the shopping scene in Seoul is that they open till the wee hours of the morning! Woohoo! Sleep can wait ok. hahahaha... One of the nights, I went out with my hostel mates to check out Dongdaemun Night Market. I didn't shop anything but I still enjoyed the outing.

Had dinner at one of the BBQ restaurants. Then, we cleverly rode this!

Luckily none of us puked after that. hahaha...

Direction: Get off at Dongdaemun Station on Line 1 or 4, proceed to Exit 14

As I told you before, my hostel is in Hongdae, the area surrounding Hongik University. The school is best known for its art faculty, so I can say this area is very happening.

There's also a flea market held every Sunday in front of the university.

Direction: Stop at Hongik University Station on Line 2, proceed to Exit 5

I also came across another flea market in the city while walking from Cheonggyecheon Stream to one of the subway station.

But it felt more oldies.. like an old folks' flea market cos I saw mostly old people here.

My verdict on the shopping scenes: 

I love the styles but unfortunately they don't come cheap! When I complained to my friends about the high prices, they said maybe I went to the wrong place. T_T Oh well.. perhaps I didn't dig enough. I also didn't buy any cosmetics cos I didn't know what to buy.

The cosmetic stores are everywhere! And most of the stores have at least one salesperson standing at the entrance giving out samples. But I was lazy to go in cos I thought it would be such a hassle to buy the stuffs, asking the salesperson what is this what is that cos most of the packagings are in Korean. >_<