South Korea’s fashion malls
While flying into Chicago few weeks ago, I did a stopover for six days in Seoul, South Korea. This is my first trip to Seoul and South Korea though it’s part of Asia, where I have lived for many many years. Seoul is a vibrant and populated city, you see a lot of young people come here with dreams to make it.
The young people in Seoul dressed well and are very much into fashions. But, speaking as a non fashionista, my general observation is that the young people are led by the fashion instead of creating their own styles. I think it’s quite funny that many people on the streets seem to all dressed in similar outfits because the fashion malls are selling the same!
They are also many outlets for imported brand name clothing at the fashion malls. These clothing and accessories are definitely not cheap. Would you pay for an outfit or a pair of shoes that cost $1,000? I won’t. But the price tags do not seem to deter the fashion enthusiasts in Seoul . Obviously the branding managers of this high end products have done a good job in Seoul. :-)
A middle aged Korean man that I talked shared about the worrying trend of young people who carry credit card debts even before they started working. To me, it’s a different kind of colonization when young people abandoned their own culture to adopt the materialistic lifestyle blindly.
Filed under travel | Comment (0)Stopover at Seoul for six days
Arrived at Incheon Airport in Seoul after 6.5 hours of flight from Kuala Lumpur, felt a bit tired as I did not really sleep much during the flight. Claimed the baggage and went through custom smoothly. I do not want to lug the two big baggage around, so found a baggage storage to keep the bags until I come back here to take the next flight to Chicago. It cost 13,000 wons (about$13) per day to store this two bags !
The transport system in Seoul is very efficient and convenient. Bought the bus ticket at the arrival hall, it cost 9,000 wons (about $9) for the 1 hour journey to the city center, where I will be staying. The airport bus (what they called “airport limousine”) came within 5 minutes and left according to schedule, though they are only about 8-10 passengers.
The bus driver announced before every stop and came down to help unload the baggage! I got down at the second stop and found the guest house with the direction given. It was not too difficult to find.
Washed up and decided to go out for lunch. Found a small restaurant on my way out, saw a lot of office workers had lunch there, so I went in and had my first Bibimbap in Seoul.
Loom around the area around Hongik University, it’s a hip place with a lot of university students. Full of activities and small shops selling clothes, cosmetics and all sort of things that the young people in Seoul are into. Also found a tourist information booth and got me a bunch of brochures and maps.
After walking arond this area for 2-3 hours, decided to go back to the guest house and took a nap. The host of the apartment came home and was cooking dinner when I woke up from nap. The place is comfortable and the girls are friendly. The host Sherri speaks good English, she works at the city hall as town planner.
Filed under travel | Comment (0)Prepare to leave for IL
The packing is half way done, the shopping is almost done, the date to fly is less than a week away! Have been driving around a lot last two weeks, to buy luggage, food stuffs, gifts and to meet up with friends for farewell. It has been quite hectic!
Bought a lot of pre-mixed food stuffs in packets, herbs and spices, they weigh close to 7 kgs (15 lbs)! Gotta stop buying more. :-)
Filed under travel | Comment (0)Taking time off work for vacation
If the visa gets approved next week, I should be leaving for IL right after that and we will be finally be reunited in the second week of September. The big boy said he plans to take one week off work in the end of September or first week of October for us to go away for a vacation. cum honeymoon. He said he planned to have us to go up to the lake and stay at one of the quiet bed and breakfast place for 2-3 days. It certainly doesn’t sound like his style of vacation. :-)
He is a Leo who likes places with a lot of actions, entertainment and excitement,. Branson, Missouri, the Live Entertainment Capital of the World, which has theme parks with exciting rides and attractions, is more like his cup of tea! May be he should check into the various vacation packages available at Branson Getaways. Apparently, they can even custom design a package to meet your specific needs. Or, if we are lucky we may win a FREE 3 day 2 night Branson vacation with this entry. :-)
Filed under buzz, travel | Comment (0)What a bus journey
Decided not to drive but ride a bus to PJ. Left the house at around 2.00 p.m on Wednesday, got to the bus station half an hour later. Bought the 3.30 p.m bus ticket. Since it was an hour of waiting, went for lunch and bought the newspaper to read. By the time I finished both lunch and reading the newspaper, the bus has arrived. The bus left at 3.45 p.m, 15 minutes later than the scheduled time.
The bus got on the highway, I felt asleep almost instantly. About an hour later, I woke up because the bus stopped. Well, this has never happened to me and I wasn’t sure how this could happen. The bus was running out of gas!!!
We were instructed to stay on the bus and waited for another bus to pick us up. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait too long. A bus from the same company came about half an hour later. All of us got on the new bus and the driver continued the journey. We arrived at the destination an hour later. Phewy….
Filed under musings, travel | Comment (0)
