Tony Moly Incident

After this semester, I concluded I just don't have the best of luck with Korean cosmetic stores. First one was in Etude House in Shanghai, read [here]. So I guess this would be the second one.

Btw, I do admit that it was probably my fault.

So I walked into the Myeongdong shop and started looking at their nail polish. I dunno about you, but sometimes I take out the brush to see the color, even if I don't actually brush it on to test out. So I did that. 

Then this saleslady comes over to me freaking out, telling me that I can't test it. I did get pretty defensive because she came out of nowhere yelling (not that angrily, but more in a scolding way) at me T__T So I was just like I'm not testing it!! Because I really didn't put any of the nail polish on myself and I only opened the bottle.

Then she kept repeating herself saying that I can't test it. And I started getting upset because I really wasn't but she kept accusing me of doing so. There was a language barrier fyi.

Eventually, I got so defensive that I started yelling back that I wasn't even testing it and that I was planning to buy it (truth) but now I don't want it anymore [because she ruined my mood] T___T

Dundundun...then the moment of truth. I noticed that there was a safety seal on it, wtf. Either I have godzilla hands and opened it without noticing or the seal was already broken in the first place. I'm not really sure which is the case though.

So I was like shit... The lady never actually forced me to pay for it but just scolded me, and at this point she was just staring at me in disbelief and upset. So in the end I just bought it because I was going to buy it anyways.. and I did  (possibly) "ruin" a sellable product, so I thought it was the right thing to do lol.

By the time I left the store, it was empty lol...I hope it's not because of my outburst. I'm so embarrassing ahhh :(

Sidestory//
Incident #3 was just buying this volcanic face mask from Innisfree. I asked the saleslady which one I should buy because there was two and she recommended one over another. But when I went into a different shop, I overhead the saleslady there telling another customer that the one I bought is for oily skin. So I was kinda upset over that because I told my saleslady that I didn't have oily skin... and at this point the other mask seemed more suitable.

Apparently the shop in Myeongdong is a franchise? Because I wasn't allowed to exchange the one I bought at the other shop... :(

Seoul: Insadong & Searching for Dongdaemun

December 29, 2014
I either slept in until very late or just lazed around in the guesthouse until quite late. When I was about to head out, the owner of the place offered to treat me for dinner (which was really breakfast to me) and I accepted. The first two days I did talk to him occasionally and also I read reviews that he did this to other guests before too, so it wasn't as sketch as it sounds.

We went to a local restaurant and I had sundubu. I think it was probably my only "Korean" meal here, aside from street food. We just chatted about various things like about life, why he started the guesthouse, and such. After dinner, we even got me coffee at a local cafe :X We chatted a bit more and a lot of it was just me giving him input on the guesthouse because it's actually pretty new, only three months old.

 Even though it was getting late and I had plans to go explore, I think traveling on your own makes you more inclined to accept offers of company. And really, those experiences are replaceable, whereas exploring can be done any time, even if it's in the future. As corny as it sounds I guess...

 So I tried to go to Insadong since my friend recommended it. She said that there was food and shopping there, but I didn't really like it. There were shops, but nothing interesting..

Lots of bars and stuff here it seems :O

 Next, I decided to go to Dongdaemun, but I'm not sure if I ever found it. I forgot which station I got off of, but it had many stalls that were being set up that sold merchandise like clothing and such. Then I walked for maybe 10-15 minutes (literally back and forth 4-5 times because I couldn't figure out the plaee) and finally found these two buildings, with lots of clothing shops set up, similar to Edae but indoors.

From what it seems.. it wasn't Dongdaemun at all, and I'm not really sure where I was tbh. It was also getting late already, around 11:30PM and my phone was dying so I didn't really feel like exploring too much, as places were starting to close and I had to wake up super early to head to the airport. Plus I had to pack...

But before heading back, I made sure to get more street food :)

Hotdog covered with fries! Tbh, they didn't heat it up enough because my fries were still cold :'(

Fishcake

I wish I had stocked up more on skincare stuff, but then again I only have one face lol. And it takes me forever to even use up one thing. I've been using the cleanser (below) since January and I'm not even halfway done, lol.

 Last minute shopping at Skinfood. Yayay samples.

So apparently the train ticket machines can't take 50,000 bills, so I was stuck because that was all I had fml. And everyone I asked didn't (or maybe weren't willing) to give me change. BUT THEN, this kind soul took money out of the ATM for me (and ate the ATM fee) T_T THANK YOUUU.

I dunno if I like Korea that much or not... like I'm not particularly in a hurry to go back, but I wouldn't mind going back either. I think it would probably be more fun with company :X

Next travel post on Singapore because I flew out the next day :)

Anyways, until next time!

Seoul: N Tower & Cheonggyecheon

December 28, 2014

So the plan for the day was to visit the N Tower and Cheonggyecheon Stream. I actually had trouble finding more things to do.. there didn't seem to be much in Seoul that I could do T_T;

The way I went:
Chungmuro Station Exit 2 (Line 3/4)
Turn left (I think) and soon you'll find a bus stop
Take bus #2 (550 won)
The bus basically takes you to the top (last stop), I was a little scared that I missed my stop and was actually supposed to walk part of the way.

From here, you can see a view of the city. I think even if you don't go to the N Tower, this alone is a pretty nice place to go to.

When I purchased the tickets, there was a bundle for the Observation Deck and Alive Museum for 15,000, so I was like okay sure since I wanted to do more activities.

But turns out that it's one of those 3D museums (I had no idea what the Alive Museum was, or at it was even there) so it's super awkward when you're alone because a lot of it has to do with.. taking pictures or even just seeing each other with the stuff. ;~;

The observation deck of the N Tower was basically like a higher view of the city. The elevator up was pretty cool and interactive (or am I thinking of Shanghai?). If you go down one level, there's this place with a lot of couple locks.

After the N tower, I took the bus (I think 4 or 5) to Myeongdong and walked to Cheonggyecheon. I think it was a really long walk because I remember walking quite a lot. Or maybe I took the subway because I vaguely remember getting out of a subway station as well. Maybe I did both.

Anyways, Cheonggyecheon is a super pretty long stream. Also another coupley place.. it's like so prominent in Korea. Couples are everywhere.

Wishing well. I actually forgot what my wish is, but I know I made it in. Hopefully it came true, whatever it was.

Shopping haul:

Next post on Seoul is the last one and then the next adventure is Singapore :D

Seoul: Shopping at Edae

December 27, 2014

My friend was still miserable from food poisoning, but we had brunch at a cafe called Buccella before sending her off to go home. I moved to a different guesthouse in a few minutes from Gangnam Station. It's really small, but clean

(Here onward was drafted on the day of)

So I didn't do much today. I stayed in until quite late actually because now that I'm actually in Korea, I have no idea what I wanna do. (See a pattern here..?) 

I asked my friend and she recommended Edae for affordable, pretty clothing. It is on line 2, Ehwa's Woman's University exit 2 or 3 (either works). It's about an hour away from Gangnam Station. 

It was a bit confusing at first because I wasn't sure how big this place should be, like is it one long street? A few streets? If so, which one is the "main" one? Etc etc.

Initially I didn't buy much.. Then I went back again and looked around more carefully and found quite a few things that I liked :X I spent like maybe 2-3 hours here somehow. Maybe less because it didn't feel like I went into a lot of shops. 

I ended up buying 4 dresses (10000/each), 1 jacket (10000), 1 cotton cape coat (65000 down to 47000), 1 pair of shorts (5000), 1 skirt (5000), and 1 bag (10000). So I spent a grand total of 117000 won for 9 items which averages out to $13 a piece.

I didn't actually try to bargain for any of it since it was already one of the cheapest items there. But the coat I did since the girl (UJ) was trying to convince me that it was a sale so she went from 65000 to 58000, then I told her I had to think about it because I really did. I already got two coats made in Shanghai and a coat is bulky for my already overflowing luggage. I wasn't looking to spending that much in Korea either because I already spent too freely in Japan, especially if you look at how much I blew on the UFO catchers ($50+). 

So then she dropped it down to 52000, saying how it's a secret secret and telling me how ippuda I look lul. Had to think about it still and she told me 48000. In the end I left because I really wasn't sure :( and wanted to look around to see if she was actually giving me a good deal. I found it I two other stores for 52000 (?) and 56000. So before I left, I came back to buy it. Final attempt and this time I tried to be the one to put down a price but she only budged to 47000. Bargaining skills getting rusty from being away from Shanghai for too long. 

Kinda got lost on my way back to the station because I forgot which direction I came from but that's okay. Stopped by Chicky x2 for their Chicky Red Rice before heading back home. I couldn't find my way to the station because I kept walking in circles, so I ended up losing my original direction. D:

I still don't have that much space in my luggage... And I'm sure I'm going to find stuff I like in Singapore and Malaysia too sigh. 

Seoul: First Stop, Myeongdong

December 26, 2014
(This was drafted on 12/27/2014)

Didn't get any sleep because my flight was at 9:00AM and I guess it never occurred to me when I booked all my flights that that meant I had to wake up hours beforehand because I have to check in even earlier for international flights. 9:00AM sounded so nice when I was booking it though :(

I used Google Maps for a way to get to Narita, and it told me that it would cost ¥1200 (200 for the train ride, meaning 1000 for the bus right, right?) but the thing is, it said "Airport Line" or something like that, so when I asked around trying to find it, everyone would ask me which bus company it was, and I had no idea >:( I'm not sure if it even had one because it sounded like that's actually what it was called, but I dunno. 

I ended up taking the Airport Limousine for ¥2000, but if I was going to take that, I might as well have taken that from Shinjuku instead of going all the way to Tokyo Station first! >:(

It was also a bit sketch cuz I was the only one on the bus but then I thought about it and I had this ratchet boarding certificate (and I paid at the next stop too)...

1) The price for the ride sounded about right (I paid more to get out of the airport...)

2) This isn't China with those sketchy fake buses (aka Beijing, will update this with post later)

The flight itself wasn't so bad but the takeoff was delayed by maybe 15 minutes? There were so many people O_O I was actually sitting near where they check your tickets to board but I had so much stuff to put on (luggage) that when I was done, I was like eh...line too long, I'll just wait a bit. But the more I waited, the longer the line got... even as time passed, there was just more and more people, eh.. 

I got on and started watching How to Train Your Dragon 2 (one of the movies I wanted to watch this summer, but didn't get to) but got tired a few minutes in and I passed out before taking off >< 

I woke up just in time for food though, heh. I continued to watch the movie as well, but after I finished eating, I passed out again ><;;

I exchanged money at the airport because I didn't want to get charged $12 for using the ATM again -.- I know it's not as good of a rate, but it's convenient and still a better deal than taking out from the ATM. I misread and thought my friend told me not that Korea isn't that credit card friendly, but it turns out to be (aside from street shopping or street food) so I exchange too much wah. My other friend got by 4 days without exchanging cash either, so clearly I did something wrong hmph. 

I took the train to Sinsa, where I was staying and it costs ₩4150 and took two transfers. Took me nearly 1.5-2 hours. My card was having issues too, so I had to ask someone to open up the gate for me when I had to transfer/get out. 

The subway has a system where you pay a ₩500 deposit for single-use tickets and get it back by inserting the card back into this machine once you tap out. I opted not to get a T-money card (₩3000), which isn't a lot but I figured that I would only be there for a few days and it wasn't enough to justify getting one. I bought one for Japan, and I don't think it was worth it (I didn't get a chance to get my deposit back). From what it seems, it's ₩100 more expensive per ride & the inconvenience of buying/returning the ticket without it. 

So anyways, I got to Sinsa Station later than I thought so my friend had to wait in the cold for me :( Sorry!! I stayed at 24 Guesthouse and it was $40 for a double room. The place was like a 10 or so minute walk from the station and it was at least four floors or something. Had a nice kitchen area, but the showers were a bit gross because it doesn't drain well at all...like there's a good inch or two of water in each stall ><

It's my first time staying in a guesthouse o_o since I guess they're not a thing in the States and I don't travel that often anyways... No pics cuz the room was already messy haha. After I got there, I helped another friend of ours pack and brought her to the bus station to the airport.

We had lunch at Little India and it was a bit pricey given the small portions. We went at 4:00PM for late lunch/early dinner so it was empty. The basmati rice made me think that that's how eating plastic would probably taste like. The food wasn't that bad otherwise though...

The dish on the left was something something with cottage cheese o_o Sounded and tasted interesting, but I didn't hate it...

Saw a pretty sunset on my way to the station.

After food, we went to Myeongdong (Line 4 off of Myeongdong)

Tteokgalbi Meatballs ¥3000

I didn't like it or hate it haha. I dunno how to describe it..but it's worth a try. 

It's a very popular and crowded place with lots of shops, street vendors, and food stands. 

Super cool cotton candy

We did purikura here and it was ₩9000!! Damn expensive compared to Japan but then compared to the ones in North America that are like $20, I guess it's still cheap. 

I actually didn't buy anything from Myeongdong aside from the meatballs lol. I wanted a scarf cuz it was the same as the one I saw in Japan (except the color) but it ended up being more expensive than Japan...even though it's made in Korea lol. So naw... (I found it cheaper in Edae the next day too). I figured anything I buy here would probs be more expensive anyways given the location.

It was still kinda early, so we wanted to go check out Gyeongbokgung, but got distracted on the way so we decided to go to err...this shopping mall (forgot the name) but got distracted again and ended up at Namdaemun Market. It's supposed to be a traditional market, but when we got there, they were already closing up. Just looked it up...apparently they open from 11:00PM-5:00PM O_O So we literally got there during their off hours. 

Most of the stalls that were still open sold hats, gloves, or socks. I think socks are a really big thing in Korea...

We went home after this because it was so cold!! Neither of us got sleep either, so we passed out by like 9:00PM even though we were planning on going out. I also learned what bulgeum is lolol. My friend ended up getting food poisoning or something and was throwing up all night =( Ahh I'm such a bad person, she was miserable all night and I just slept through all of it :( 

Hehe, I'm not sure why I already have this post up when I'm still missing tons of China trips and Japan posts. Merp...until next time!