COEX & Dongdaemun–Seoul, South Korea

Remember how I love people that come to visit Korea?

Well My buddy Eugene facebooked me and told me he just got to Korea and will be here for a few days!

Awesome! That means I get to do some touristy stuff. So here’s a few things we did last weekend.

We met at the mall in COEX

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This was the weekend before the G20 Summit which was held in COEX. (It’s not just a mall) So trying to go into COEX and not the mall part, there was security and people checking inside your bags and stuff. So we just stayed in the mall part of COEX and wandered around.

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After COEX we hopped onto the Subway and went to Dongdaemun.

Here’s Eugene.

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We had to transfer Lines and this particular transfer looked like we were in a cave.

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It wasn’t even really late at night and we saw a “Subway Failure” aka a guy probably drunk and knocked out while waiting for the train.

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Korea’s subway has safety doors. So to the right, where the purple is there are glass doors that open when the subway doors open (so you don’t fall onto the tracks)

And we made it to Dongdaemun! (Dongdaemun means the East Gate, it was the major eastern gate in the wall that surrounded Seoul during the Joseun Dynasty.  This current building was rebuilt in 1869). (There is a east, west, south, and north gate. I learned from my uncle that in 2008 some guy lit fire to Namdaemun-the southern gate. So there is not Namdaemun right now as they are trying to rebuild it.)

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Dongdaemun is known for its shopping. 5-10 years ago, this was the palce to get really inexpensive stuff. Here you can try and get really good fake bags and haggle with the shop owners. Now, I learned since soo many tourists shop here, the prices are all foreigner prices. Meaning, it’s more expensive then it should be. And no more fakies.

Anyways, the stores are getting ready for Christmas!

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So I love getting taken around Korea by Koreans because I get a history lesson.  I should study Korean history in my free time.

So this river (I forget what the name is) stretches throughout different parts of Seoul. Right now it is a man made river. But a few hundred years ago, it used to be a real river, but then the emperor? decided to cover up the river. It wasnt until recently that (maybe a few decades ago) that the President of Korea unburied the river and wanted it become a river again. It’s something like that. I suck at history, and my memory sucks.

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There’s your somewhat legit history lesson for the day ;p

xoxo

Chrissy Kim