Ewha shopping and Cheonggyecheon stream - Seoul Trip Day 9
29/5 20:30
So, yesterday was a bit of a bust. I just didn't feel great so I stayed in bed all day (minus a quick nip to the shops for a snack at 9pm). I just felt like all my anxieties got the best of me and the thought of being seen by other people was just too much. I talked to some friends and family online which helped a lot, so thank you. All in all it made me motivated to do something more today.
I decided I wanted to do some cheaper and semi-ethical shopping, but Korea doesn't have a huge thrift shopping culture so I researched a bit online. There's a lot of vintage but that's often overpriced, and I don't care that much about what brand my shirts are so paying for a logo doesn't make sense to me. Turns out a lot of the charity shops here are Salvation Army shops, which is a no-go because they're the worst aaaand I'm not supporting them with my money here or anywhere else just so they can go and mistreat people in their shelters. Finally, I did find an option! It's a chain of thrift shops called Beautiful Store and they have shops all around Seoul. Armed with this information I set out this morning (*cough* 1pm *cough*) to have a look.
Since I needed to get to Anguk it was easier for me to first take the subway to Ewha. Ewha is the location of a women's university, and so there's a few shopping streets there that are very cheap. I did however have an ulterior motive in going to Ewha. There's a toast restaurant called Isaac Toast that I saw in a Youtube video and have been wanting to try in Korea, and they had a shop right in the middle of the shopping district. I popped in to test it out, besides, I hadn't had any warm food in almost two days so I figured I needed to feed myself. I got the double cheese potato-toast, which is two slices of white bread with two types of cheese and a hash-brown inside. It was yummy but also really sweet which confuses me a little bit. I guess adding ham or bacon would've added some saltiness but we ain't about that life. I felt almost sickly full with this sandwich which just goes to show how little I've been eating. I'm determined to eat more from now on, I still have a week!
After eating and to distract myself from feeling a bit ill I started my search for shorts, but soon realised everything was one-size once again. I did manage to find a cute shirt, and I bought a one-piece romper in blind faith and eyeing it in the mirror because I wasn't allowed to try it on.
After this I went over to Anguk which was fairly rural and found the shop! It was exclusively people over 50 inside which was surprising because this shop had a lot of really cool stuff! I bought a see-through flower-embroidered dress that makes me look like I need to be married in a Shakespeare play in a summery forest, and finally found one of those skirts that makes it look like I have a shirt tied around my waist but in reality it's just two pieces of fabric attached to the sides of the skirt that tie in the front. I saw a bunch on the streets in the shops in Ewha but I'm usually too bottom heavy for the one-size clothes. This one I got to try on since it was second-hand and it fit so well! I'm so happy with my purchases and they came to only 11,000 won.
Next, I wanted to go to another Beautiful Store location which was near the station in Gwanghwamun. This one was quite a trip, because despite only being 2 stops on the metro with a change in-between, it took me forever to find the shop. There was a nice old lady on the subway that basically started talking to me as soon as she sat next to me. She complimented my tattoos, mentioned my fashion and asked about my travels. I had heard about tourist-robbing cults in Korea so I was careful and even lied about having someone I was traveling with who just happened to be ill back at the hotel (this is a tip I picked up on the solo female traveler's Facebook page, to be careful about who you trust and lie if you need to). Anyway, she was nice enough but I knew she had an ulterior motive to talk to me, a foreigner. She handed me a Jehova's witness leaflet before I got off the subway which was the answer to the question in my head. Oh well, at least she was nice.
Now, I got off the subway to find this second shop, but it was nowhere to be seen! I kept going around and around in this little park area but to no avail. This is because it was in an underground mall next to a car-park and there were very few signs up even indicating that there was one of the stores down in the mall. A few scary staircases and opening doors with random Korean on them later I found the shop. Sadly, it was just full of books. I guess there was something in Korean in the name that indicated this one was only for books but I had been a fool and didn't think to double check, assuming it was just another branch. Oh well. I had ended up in a cool area anyway and found a coffee shop to sit down in for a while. It wasn't super hot today but it was enough to make me sweaty walking around.
I sat down in Holly's Coffee with my book and spent about an hour just chilling. I'm reading "The Idiot" by Elif Batuman, it's about a Turkish-American girl in her first year at Harvard in the 90's, and so far it's extremely relatable. The way it's written makes me inspired to write a book too. I mean, writing a book has been one of my goals for a long long time but I never really have enough faith in making something original. Maybe I can one day make something semi-autobiographical or at least use some of my experiences in a fictional setting.
After my reading break I decided it was time for food so I put in Dos Tacos into the search bar on my map. I had heard a lot of good about Dos Tacos especially from vegetarian circles, and it was in the area so instead of taking the subway I decided to walk. I was in luck, because in order to get to the restaurant I had the option of walking by Cheonggyecheon stream! It's a 10.9km long man-made stream in the middle of Seoul and it was absolutely gorgeous. The way it works is that it's on a lower level than the streets so it can go under some streets and bridges. There's trees and fountains and even a small photo-gallery area. I only walked along a tiny strip of it before I got back up to street level to go eat but it was amazing! I might go back to just sit and read at some point. The stream had been on my list of places to go anyway so this day definitely feels like a two birds one stone kind of situation.
I arrived at Dos Tacos relatively easily and the restaurant was completely empty! I guess I hit right before the masses. I ordered avocado chimichangas and they were absolutely delicious. The servers spoke enough English for us to understand each other which was a relief too. Completely full of food I head back home in the rain. It had started to rain while I was eating and by the time I got about three meters outside of the building it started really pouring. I lifted my jacket above my head to protect me as I tried to find my way back to a subway station, and I only got a little bit soaked. My hair went super frizzy and I could feel the drops of rain on my palms through the jean jacket. Luckily I didn't have a long commute back to Hongdae.
I felt so confident that before walking to my airbnb I even dropped by a bakery to get a strawberry tart as dessert for later. I guess yesterday really charged my batteries for trying to socially interact a bit more. Now I'm ready to sit in bed and eat my dessert and watch some Scrubs. I tried on the romper and it fits, if a bit snugly around the bottom-area.
I finally sorted everything with my bank, which felt like such a weight off my chest I couldn't stop smiling. Now that that's dealt with I only have one thing that keeps stressing me out at night when my thoughts are free to roam and bother me. My flight leaves at 8.50 from Incheon Airport, and the first possible airport subway from where I am arrives at Incheon at 6.20, from which there's a ten minute walk to the airport building. I've never flown out of an Asian country before, and I was surprised by the amount of processes in Shanghai, so I'm not sure if that's enough time between my flight and my arrival to do everything. I need to check in a bag and get a boarding pass, but I know I have to pass customs as well and Incheon airport is huge. Assuming they start boarding about an hour before take-off I'd have an hour and a half to do everything and I'm not sure if it's just my anxious traveler brain that's telling me that's not enough. My other option is to go to the airport on the last possible airport subway which takes me there for quarter to 1am in the morning, which means waiting at the airport. I don't mind waiting at the airport but I'm just wondering if it would make sense, just so that I don't miss the flight in case I get somehow delayed during the check-in process.
Yes, I know, I'm stressing out about something that's only happening in a weeks time, but I'd quite like to get home from here when the time comes. Knowing me I'm going to go to the airport late at night and just wait, if for nothing else then peace of mind.
I've noticed I'm super jumpy in this room when I hear any loud noises or talking. There's a lot of people coming back home between 1am and 3am, and then random shouting and stuff in the mornings and I feel a little threatened, even though I know there's no way they can get in through two locked doors, nor would they even be trying to get in. The AC in this room makes a start-up noise every half hour or so that sounds a bit like a door opening and it's woken me up so many times with my heart in my throat. I guess being abroad alone has made me antsy in this way, even though logically I understand that there's no reason for anyone to try and break into my room.
Anyhow, today was better than I could have hoped for, and I'm happy! Thank you for reading once again and I hope you have a great day/night wherever you are.
Cheers,
Becks
So, yesterday was a bit of a bust. I just didn't feel great so I stayed in bed all day (minus a quick nip to the shops for a snack at 9pm). I just felt like all my anxieties got the best of me and the thought of being seen by other people was just too much. I talked to some friends and family online which helped a lot, so thank you. All in all it made me motivated to do something more today.
I decided I wanted to do some cheaper and semi-ethical shopping, but Korea doesn't have a huge thrift shopping culture so I researched a bit online. There's a lot of vintage but that's often overpriced, and I don't care that much about what brand my shirts are so paying for a logo doesn't make sense to me. Turns out a lot of the charity shops here are Salvation Army shops, which is a no-go because they're the worst aaaand I'm not supporting them with my money here or anywhere else just so they can go and mistreat people in their shelters. Finally, I did find an option! It's a chain of thrift shops called Beautiful Store and they have shops all around Seoul. Armed with this information I set out this morning (*cough* 1pm *cough*) to have a look.
Since I needed to get to Anguk it was easier for me to first take the subway to Ewha. Ewha is the location of a women's university, and so there's a few shopping streets there that are very cheap. I did however have an ulterior motive in going to Ewha. There's a toast restaurant called Isaac Toast that I saw in a Youtube video and have been wanting to try in Korea, and they had a shop right in the middle of the shopping district. I popped in to test it out, besides, I hadn't had any warm food in almost two days so I figured I needed to feed myself. I got the double cheese potato-toast, which is two slices of white bread with two types of cheese and a hash-brown inside. It was yummy but also really sweet which confuses me a little bit. I guess adding ham or bacon would've added some saltiness but we ain't about that life. I felt almost sickly full with this sandwich which just goes to show how little I've been eating. I'm determined to eat more from now on, I still have a week!
After eating and to distract myself from feeling a bit ill I started my search for shorts, but soon realised everything was one-size once again. I did manage to find a cute shirt, and I bought a one-piece romper in blind faith and eyeing it in the mirror because I wasn't allowed to try it on.
After this I went over to Anguk which was fairly rural and found the shop! It was exclusively people over 50 inside which was surprising because this shop had a lot of really cool stuff! I bought a see-through flower-embroidered dress that makes me look like I need to be married in a Shakespeare play in a summery forest, and finally found one of those skirts that makes it look like I have a shirt tied around my waist but in reality it's just two pieces of fabric attached to the sides of the skirt that tie in the front. I saw a bunch on the streets in the shops in Ewha but I'm usually too bottom heavy for the one-size clothes. This one I got to try on since it was second-hand and it fit so well! I'm so happy with my purchases and they came to only 11,000 won.
Next, I wanted to go to another Beautiful Store location which was near the station in Gwanghwamun. This one was quite a trip, because despite only being 2 stops on the metro with a change in-between, it took me forever to find the shop. There was a nice old lady on the subway that basically started talking to me as soon as she sat next to me. She complimented my tattoos, mentioned my fashion and asked about my travels. I had heard about tourist-robbing cults in Korea so I was careful and even lied about having someone I was traveling with who just happened to be ill back at the hotel (this is a tip I picked up on the solo female traveler's Facebook page, to be careful about who you trust and lie if you need to). Anyway, she was nice enough but I knew she had an ulterior motive to talk to me, a foreigner. She handed me a Jehova's witness leaflet before I got off the subway which was the answer to the question in my head. Oh well, at least she was nice.
Now, I got off the subway to find this second shop, but it was nowhere to be seen! I kept going around and around in this little park area but to no avail. This is because it was in an underground mall next to a car-park and there were very few signs up even indicating that there was one of the stores down in the mall. A few scary staircases and opening doors with random Korean on them later I found the shop. Sadly, it was just full of books. I guess there was something in Korean in the name that indicated this one was only for books but I had been a fool and didn't think to double check, assuming it was just another branch. Oh well. I had ended up in a cool area anyway and found a coffee shop to sit down in for a while. It wasn't super hot today but it was enough to make me sweaty walking around.
I sat down in Holly's Coffee with my book and spent about an hour just chilling. I'm reading "The Idiot" by Elif Batuman, it's about a Turkish-American girl in her first year at Harvard in the 90's, and so far it's extremely relatable. The way it's written makes me inspired to write a book too. I mean, writing a book has been one of my goals for a long long time but I never really have enough faith in making something original. Maybe I can one day make something semi-autobiographical or at least use some of my experiences in a fictional setting.
After my reading break I decided it was time for food so I put in Dos Tacos into the search bar on my map. I had heard a lot of good about Dos Tacos especially from vegetarian circles, and it was in the area so instead of taking the subway I decided to walk. I was in luck, because in order to get to the restaurant I had the option of walking by Cheonggyecheon stream! It's a 10.9km long man-made stream in the middle of Seoul and it was absolutely gorgeous. The way it works is that it's on a lower level than the streets so it can go under some streets and bridges. There's trees and fountains and even a small photo-gallery area. I only walked along a tiny strip of it before I got back up to street level to go eat but it was amazing! I might go back to just sit and read at some point. The stream had been on my list of places to go anyway so this day definitely feels like a two birds one stone kind of situation.
I arrived at Dos Tacos relatively easily and the restaurant was completely empty! I guess I hit right before the masses. I ordered avocado chimichangas and they were absolutely delicious. The servers spoke enough English for us to understand each other which was a relief too. Completely full of food I head back home in the rain. It had started to rain while I was eating and by the time I got about three meters outside of the building it started really pouring. I lifted my jacket above my head to protect me as I tried to find my way back to a subway station, and I only got a little bit soaked. My hair went super frizzy and I could feel the drops of rain on my palms through the jean jacket. Luckily I didn't have a long commute back to Hongdae.
I felt so confident that before walking to my airbnb I even dropped by a bakery to get a strawberry tart as dessert for later. I guess yesterday really charged my batteries for trying to socially interact a bit more. Now I'm ready to sit in bed and eat my dessert and watch some Scrubs. I tried on the romper and it fits, if a bit snugly around the bottom-area.
I finally sorted everything with my bank, which felt like such a weight off my chest I couldn't stop smiling. Now that that's dealt with I only have one thing that keeps stressing me out at night when my thoughts are free to roam and bother me. My flight leaves at 8.50 from Incheon Airport, and the first possible airport subway from where I am arrives at Incheon at 6.20, from which there's a ten minute walk to the airport building. I've never flown out of an Asian country before, and I was surprised by the amount of processes in Shanghai, so I'm not sure if that's enough time between my flight and my arrival to do everything. I need to check in a bag and get a boarding pass, but I know I have to pass customs as well and Incheon airport is huge. Assuming they start boarding about an hour before take-off I'd have an hour and a half to do everything and I'm not sure if it's just my anxious traveler brain that's telling me that's not enough. My other option is to go to the airport on the last possible airport subway which takes me there for quarter to 1am in the morning, which means waiting at the airport. I don't mind waiting at the airport but I'm just wondering if it would make sense, just so that I don't miss the flight in case I get somehow delayed during the check-in process.
Yes, I know, I'm stressing out about something that's only happening in a weeks time, but I'd quite like to get home from here when the time comes. Knowing me I'm going to go to the airport late at night and just wait, if for nothing else then peace of mind.
I've noticed I'm super jumpy in this room when I hear any loud noises or talking. There's a lot of people coming back home between 1am and 3am, and then random shouting and stuff in the mornings and I feel a little threatened, even though I know there's no way they can get in through two locked doors, nor would they even be trying to get in. The AC in this room makes a start-up noise every half hour or so that sounds a bit like a door opening and it's woken me up so many times with my heart in my throat. I guess being abroad alone has made me antsy in this way, even though logically I understand that there's no reason for anyone to try and break into my room.
Anyhow, today was better than I could have hoped for, and I'm happy! Thank you for reading once again and I hope you have a great day/night wherever you are.
Cheers,
Becks
Comments
Post a Comment