Nalina's Diary: A Closer Look

Well here I am again with yet another story from the places around town, shopping nonetheless. And it is to return for a closer look at Myong Dong. I was told that this place is very expensive in terms of their goods and not-so-goods, but also in the price of their land. Apparently their land costs more than Jeju Island dirt! Hm... I suppose that makes sense...

After going around and around the town, passing sky-scrapers and asking passersby where the huge mall was located, we finally came upon the Lotte Shopping Center... or I think that's what it was called. Entering through the basement, we were greeted by a spiral staircase made of marble and walls of the same. A fountain babbled at the center of the coil while windows in the walls held flowers of brilliant shades. We were led up to the first floor where there were private spaces for different companies to advertise their wares. The first thing I saw were purses. Tons and tons of purses of different brands, most of which I had never heard of except for Louis Vouitton. It was my first time seeing a Louis Vouitton purse let alone a store all to itself! Truth be told... those purses didn't look much different than mine. Haha!! A depression in the hallway led to a grocery store filled with fresh fruits and vegetables as well as fresh cooked goodies. To give you scale of price, I saw a pint basket of blueberries running for 14,000 won. O_o Since it was past lunch time, I sat down to a meal of.... red bean ice cream?... I forgot the name of it... at a price of 7,000 won. Kind of spendy, but it tasted good. I sure wish they had given me more than just two cubes of sweet dduk (rice cake) though. >.<

Looking around for something cheap but long-lasting, we went through some handkerchiefs. The cheapest 'kerchief was 10,000 won, and it wasn't even that good in pattern or color or material. >.< Scratch that. We went further down into the basement area, and saw handkerchiefs for sale. The lady said "Three for 10,000 won!" What a bargain compared to just "up the road"! Scrambling, we grabbed probably 60,000 won worth. :$ We had to put about half of them back. Hehehe. ^^

From here we browsed all the floors, going from imported fashion goods to makeup (Clinique Lancome, etc), from brand name purses such as Coach, Louis Vouitton, and Gucci to all sorts of brand name shoes and clothes for women and men. At the top floors were restaurants, kids clothes, and nick-knacks.

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking. ENJOY!

Meandering around trying to find the monster store