Hyundai Department Stores

Sorry it's taken soooo long for me to make another blog post about my trip in Korea! Getting back home to the States has proved very hectic compared to what I imagined having just graduated. :-/ I thought I'd get a break!... well... I guess I have been procrastinating quite a bit. Hehehe. ^^

Anyways! So this is about my day trip with my aunt, mom, and sis to the Hyundai Department Store. I was quite excited to go to this clothing department store, because I was told that actors, models, and rich people went to shop there. I was hoping that I might run into somebody that I was a fan of. Or if not, at least maybe they'd have some fashionable clothing that I could drool over. =P

To say the least, I was quite disappointed in both aspects. I didn't meet any model or actor, and as you will see per the photos, the clothing looked just like the stuff at home!! Oooh but that's not all of course. They had stores such as Guess, Levi's, Chanel, Lancome, Zenith, among others. In the USA on the West Coast, it's not too hard to find very nice clothing that would be at most $100, or makeup kits that would cost around that same price in brand name stores. As a matter of fact, we could get the same brand name items for cheaper at places like Ross or TJ Maxx. In Korea, the prices are astronomical! There was a pair of 501 pre-washed Levi's selling for 890,000 won... about $800. Besides this, I saw a gorgeous, simple, light, and elegant Ralph Lauren dress made of 100% cotton, having a flowery pattern and an off-white background, running for 1,600,000 won! That's almost $1600!! O_o YIPES! So, if anything, I was entertained at how expensive all of the name-brand products cost, things that could get at home for maybe $30-50 depending on where you shop. Basically, the Hyundai Department Stores consisted of Western brands that came from Europe and the USA. Personally, I was quite happy shopping at Myong Dong Department Stores. ^^

Of course, I didn't buy anything, I just snuck pictures, as I believe that the store employees didn't want anyone taking pictures of their products. After browsing around, we found a food department in the basement. It looked similar to that of Myong Dong, but it had macaroons, ice cream, fresh baked goods, and soo jeh bi!! =D ... did I spell that right? Anyways, su jae bi is a delicious soup made of some sort of broth and typically wheat/rice chunks (could never figure it out). You eat it with barley rice (yum!!) and kimchi!... speaking of which I want some right now. ^^

I won't hold back the pics any longer. Hehehe. ENJOY!! ^^

The clothing that greeted us upon entrance

New Balance shoes

Can you Guess? ;)

 Well hello there!

 This was one of the cheapest pairs of Guess jeans

More clothing

DKNY!

This is a shorter version of that $1600 Ralph Lauren dress

Purses... She stole on! Kidding.

Okay um.. so that guy is sitting on something that is supposed to help stabilize your spine or something... it just looks wrong the way he's rocking on that thing.

CAKE!! Oooh I wanted some so bad.

Say hello to a relative 

This is a blade-less fan. The guy couldn't figure out how it worked. =P

Sorry for the blur. :( I was kinda on the run. But I LOVE those dishes!

Fresh dried foods

Fresh bread!

I want some....

Macaroooooon!

Did you know they had rice ice cream?

Now THAT'S the stuff!

Makeup floor

Ooooh shiny!

This was the bathroom... I was kinda intrigued by the baby seat... 

In case you can't read, the bathrooms are blatantly color-coded. Can you guess?

Just the Average

This whole time I've been talking about all the fancy stores and the weird things in Korea that I've run across... well, mainly the brand names and the exotic attire. If I'm not running around shopping, stumbling upon something new and weird... or cool... then I am usually settled down in my aunt's 10th floor apartment home. ^^

Self side profile!

Can you guess??

Blub blub blub they're much cuter in big tanks

My aunt in front is AWESOME! She's using cardboard for shade!!! =D

I finally decided to settle down a little and just talk about the basics of at-home life. Lately I've found myself sitting at home a lot, just writing blogs, sleeping, chatting with friends in the US, and the like. Oh yes!! And eating ICE CREAM SANDWICHES!!!

 FISHYYYYY!

It's missing part of it's tail. Uh oh. =P

My fishy goooone. ='( =P

After a tasty snack of ice cream sandwich mid-afternoon, I sometimes go about getting the laundry done, whether it's hanging them to dry (I never really washed them) or folding them... or just looking at them for fun. =P

This is the way we dry our clothes!

 And get a view of the neighbors...

If was not doing any of the above, I may be found cleaning dishes from lunch or cleaning the ever dusty floors. I tell you, my laptop gets COVERED in dust by mid-afternoon... having JUST cleaned it this morning >.< By evening time however, at around 7:00pm or 8:00pm, it's time for munchies!! Either we go out to eat at a local restaurant, or we have get to cozy up around a shin-high wooden-fold-up table on nice fluffy cushions. In any case. I thought I was going to crave home food like there wasn't another life left!! Strangely enough... I only miss a few things... Pizza, pho, and Krispy Kreme! YUM!

~XOXO!!~

Crossing my fingers!

I promise promise promise that I'll post another blog here in a jiffy! Things have been so hectic as my closing weeks in Korea drew nearer, that the final shopping, visiting, sight-seeing, and traveling went into full throttle. And of course as many a traveler knows, packing and weighing and repacking and then reweighing according to policies had to be done about a week ahead of time. But by the time the day before the departure for home came, we had to repack and reweigh and rearrange. Hahaha! Oh dear me... Anyways! I will get another blog post up with the rest of the trip to Korea.

LOVE YOUUUU!!! XOXOXOXO <3 <3 <3

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

Getting warmer!

See what they think of blondies?

The spiral staircase

Louis Vuitton!!!!

If anybody can point out what this brand's significance is I'd be glad to be enlightened. :P

Grocery store

Fresh fooooood

Sorry this was a run-by

Bpeet-bahng-soo... I think?

More brands... this time of shoes

Jewelry! Sparkle sparkle. Me like

I was doing a sneaky pic cuz they said "no photos!"

Makeup! This whole floor was nothing but makeup

Showing off my lipstick!... from Clinique back in WA state hah!!

When foreigners shop they get tax refunds here... if you don't mind showing the customs EVERYTHING that you got a tax refund for in the airport.

Gucci Gucci Gooooo! No? Not really? Okay.

Nothing too exciting. Just clothes.

Headless manikins. 

Even kids get Gucci???

Just... stuff

This picture is 3D! Not kidding

No no no, not cheese. 

This is the Duty-Free zone... whatever that means. It was swarming with people though so it must be good!

Awww is this fishy tank for sale??

These are aaaaall the floors O_o

I WANT KRISPY KREME!!!!