Quick picture update from day 1 of my trip to Seoul, kindly sponsored by Etude House!
If you aren't familiar with Etude House, they're a popular Korean beauty brand with super cute packaging ^_^ You can see one of the reviews I did for them HERE
(also click if you're one of those asking for makeup-less pictures)
They sent a few bloggers from the region to go for the Etude Pink Play concert!
It featured groups like SHINee & Dara & er... not sure what else :X :S
My K-Pop knowledge is minimal...
♥ ♥ ♥
So anyway I actually touched down in Singapore around 1pm from my trip to Bangkok.
And that night at 10pm I returned to the airport to fly off to Seoul :X
Happening or what hahaha.
(Actually cuz I missed my return flight from Bangkok wtf twice this year already omg)
I landed in Seoul at 7am, with hotel check-in only at 2pm T_T
So I Googled & booked a day hotel near the airport & slept for 6 hours hahahaha
Don't know why at that moment I hardcore refused to just wander around Seoul first *desperate times*
Dinner!
This is Ginseng chicken & apparently they only serve it at particular times in the year, so we had it because the hotel receptionist said it's a must-try rarity! And it was really good O.O
The chicken was sooooo soft :O
And this is the portion for one person, which is really huge so we shared it!
Etude House put us up at a hotel in Myeong-dong!
It's quite centrally located so you can consider it if you're looking at convenience.
Around our hotel are also A LOT OF SHOPS!
Myeong-dong has streets full & full of shopping & they all close quite late.
But personally I don't feel that Myeong-dong is worth a visit...
The shops are ALL THE SAME. You can literally find 3 Etude Houses along the same street.
And overall Korean fashion isn't really my thing. Prices are okay-ish though, maybe S$10-S$30?
Lots of shops open post-dinner!
Still crowded too!
And a lot of street snacks in Myeong-dong!
Saw a lot of potato snacks lol.
It's kind of like Japan's Jagabee I think? So who copied who? Hahaha.
Cute mascot! ^_^
This is Stella, a popular beauty & makeup blogger from Jakarta!
She contacted me prior to the trip & we decided to extend our stay together! :D
Turned out to be a great travel companion, can't imagine how boring it might have been to go to amusement parks & shopping & eating alone for a few days :O
I always imagine mascots to actually be scowling inside their outfits...
Like thinking "bitch hurry up lah" :/ LOL
Notsurewhat shop is selling haha. Skincare (cotton)? Sweets? Jewelry?
Korea has sooooo many skincare/beauty shops it's crazy!
One of the many Etude House shops!
And cute pink motorcycle.
Bought an ice-cream cone from a roadside vendor! Huge :O
More potato snacks &... lemon juice?
Omg the ice-cream cone was dripping & melting so quickly T_T
I think it's a special soft-serve kind, much softer & lighter than normal creamy ice-cream.
It just kept dripping & dripping (considering Seoul wasn't as hot as Singapore is) so I gave up & searched for a dustbin to dump the whole there!
BUT THERE WERE NONE
DEAR NEA THANK YOU FOR ALL THE DUSTBINS IN SINGAPORE
My Singaporean conditioning has made me accustomed to *ahem* NOT littering.
If there are no dustbins I actually keep my rubbish first (unless it's a dripping ice-cream cone duh)
Finally I gave up & chucked it into an empty cup/bowl someone else had littered :S
Well I still somewhat put it into something & didn't dump it on the floor!
Lots of shops selling K-POP paraphernalia too!
I think around 10pm the vendors starting packing up so I had to head back to the hotel :(
I'm quite ok going around alone, but I still feel shy making purchases cause need to communicate with a local hahaha. And Koreans aren't that friendly + majority (like 99%) don't speak English!
Like in Japan (where few people speak English too) they still try to communicate with you!
But in Korea, na-uh.
Anyway from Myeong-dong I think I still ended up buying 2 tops & 1 pair of shoes haha.
So ok if you have time to spare you can take a look!
If you don't have time, go to Ewha University & Dongdaemun instead!
Accept it at face value ok, no time to blog about that now haha.
HERE is also another old post on some of my preferred Etude House products!
Hey I've been to Seoul and have seen Cottiny before. It's a clothing and accessories store :)
ReplyDeleteHi soapz, which hotel did etude put you up? Is the hotel nice? And may i ask is korea safe for solo travelling? I'm the the girl who commented previously who request for ur seoul trip entry. Anw thanks! I'm waiting for the continuation! Your entry roughly make me have a rough idea what to expect there. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI was in Korea at the same time.. (I think at least) And I even ate at that restaurant on the right of the 2nd picture haha! One of my pictures in a post look curiously like one of yours too! And Cottiny sell overpriced "idols wear this" accessories.
ReplyDeleteI found the Koreans kinda on the ruder/impersonal side too.
Oooooooooh!! I always thought Koreans were as friendly as the Japanese when it comes to speaking to tourists
ReplyDeleteOh gosh... love korean food >.< so yumz!!!
ReplyDeleteLooks like u had lotsa fun in Korea~ but I agree... Korea's so hard to get around without a friend who can speak korean OTL...
If you need a tour guide in Japan... *raises hand* LOL!!!
Seol looks so fun to visit!
ReplyDeleteKorea is one of the countries I want to visit the most. Is it really nice in there? How does it fare compared to Japan?
ReplyDeleteO gosh. Pictures of food are really mouth watering. There are a lot of Koreans that are studying english in my country so I suppose the government is really doing something about that language barrier thing. Hopefully, Seoul will be more tourist-friendly someday. :)
ReplyDeletehttp://ahintofsunlight.blogspot.com/
Koreans are quite nice actually, you can communicate with them in basic Chinese too. Anyway, i think that there are people who are much more worse than Koreans, when you say they are rude.
ReplyDeleteYa, I would also like to know which hotel you stayed!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Anonymous: I did not say they were rude. I said they were "not that friendly". There's a difference. There are friendly people who are rude.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: Etude House put us up at Skypark 3 Myeong-Dong, I wouldn't recommend it. The hotel is very conveniently located but the hotel itself isn't nice. Don't know how much it costs though, so maybe it's worth the value? Not sure!
Anonymous: I did not say they were rude. I said they were "not that friendly". There's a difference. There are friendly people who are rude.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: Etude House put us up at Skypark 3 Myeong-Dong, I wouldn't recommend it. The hotel is very conveniently located but the hotel itself isn't nice. Don't know how much it costs though, so maybe it's worth the value? Not sure!
Anonymous: I did not say they were rude. I said they were "not that friendly". There's a difference. There are friendly people who are rude.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: Etude House put us up at Skypark 3 Myeong-Dong, I wouldn't recommend it. The hotel is very conveniently located but the hotel itself isn't nice. Don't know how much it costs though, so maybe it's worth the value? Not sure!
nice post
ReplyDelete