Trip to South Korea - Day 7 & 8

Previous Posts: Day 1&2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6

I'm finally at my last post on my travel to South Korea which happened earlier this year. How fast time flies by. The next days were spent around Seoul checking out places to shop and the historic sites around town. Check my full post after the break.

Spring rolls for breakfast? Meh..

The host at the Amethyst shop explains what Amethyst is all about

Day 7 started with the usual breakfast at Evergreen. This time we had pasta and spring rolls for breakfast. The restaurant had a huge white screen at the front that projects TV shows and we got engrossed in the K-Pop entertainment news playing every morning. We tried to guess what the news were about. Haha. The day was to be spent around town to all the specialty outlets like Amethyst, Cosmetics and Brooches. The first stop was the Ginseng outlet. We were greeted by a Malaysian employee which made the explanations very easy for those who speak Malay. He explained to us about the history of Ginseng, the different types of them and the benefits it has for our health. There were many varieties of packages of these Ginseng and each of them addresses different benefit. Next up was the Amethyst outlet. Nothing much. After the lady explain what Amethyst is all about, we were brought into the sales gallery to try and purchase the many jewelleries made out of Amethyst. I ended up buying some for my sisters and mum.

Squid for lunch

The area around Shinsegae store

We had lunch at the same place we had our first Korean meal. This time it's squid. Another outlet trip ensues, this time for Cosmetics. The promoters there held some demonstration of the products sold there to some of us. Taking skin samples and showing us of skin bacterias that are alive on our skin. The last stop was to buy Brooches in Myeong-Dong. Me and my cousins end up not following the tour guide to the Brooch shop as we didn't need to get any. So we ended up going to Myeong-Dong for some last minute shopping. I bought some clothes at SPAO which is a Korean casual clothing store. I later found out that it was actually owned by SM Entertainment, which explains why Girls' Generation and Super Junior were the models for the brand. Along the way I could see N Seoul Tower from afar. We got caught shopping at the market near Shinsegae that we forgot the time. We were late heading towards the bus. Luckily we weren't really rushing for any activities after that.

N Seoul Tower from afar

Bulgogi for dinner. Yum!!

We were originally suppose to walk again to the Central Mosque for prayers, but due to the weather, it would've been too cold to walk that far. So the owners of Evergreen, where we were suppose to have dinner, kindly made some open space for us. After that, me and my cousins decide to look for some Kebab for snacks. Dinner was this time, Bulgogi! I absolutely loved it. Since we hadn't had a chance to try out the meat Korean cuisines. it was a welcoming meal. We even had seconds. I even crave for it nowadays. Then we head off to the Nanta show at a theatre in Seoul. The show is sort of like 'STOMP' but with kitchen utensils. The actors play around with knives a lot. I'd hate to think what would happen if they made a mistake. My cousin was one of the audience member they pulled into the show and in one of the scene, they threw a garbage bag and it landed on my grandma. Haha. Luckily it wasn't real garbage. The show was entertaining. We initially thought of going to the Dongdaemun market again after the show but cancelled as we got tired.

The Nanta show stage

The Throne Hall at Gyeongbukgong Palace

And just like that, the last day came. We woke up to breakfast at Evergreen again. I can't remember what we had actually, could be more naan. Then we headed to Gyeongbukgung Palace. We first went to the museum within the vicinity. It was a huge museum displaying the history of the Korean dynasty, culture and more. It was well decorated, interesting but museums are not really my cup of tea unless it's really interesting history or interactive. Then we headed to the some of the main buildings around the palace, the King's quarters, Queen's quarters, Banquet Hall and the Throne Hall. During that time, snow covered all visible ground spaces so you can imagine how white it was. We also manage to make some funny dance videos around the vicinity of the throne hall.

The gate to the Throne Hall.

Our last stop before the airport was a Souvenir shop along the way to Incheon. Nothing much except to get the last minute gifts and souvenirs you still haven't got. We arrived at the airport I think around 1pm to catch our 4.30pm flight. Bye bye Korea! ...back to reality :( I definitely want to come back at least to Seoul someday. From watching all the Korean shows, there's definitely more that I didn't get to see. Like the places in the videos below.

buzz KOREA