Seoul trip IV: Shopping + Palace

Day 7 - 27/3/2016:

Malasnya nak blog hahaha.

Went to Namdaemun Market first. (The accessories place was closed, though). Bought souvenirs like bookmarks, pouches, stickers, etc. I suggest to pusing some shops first and survey the prices. Also, if you buy a lot, don't forget to ask for discounts.

The next destination was Myeongdong so we went to the station to catch the train. There was a pop up store with cute socks so I grabbed 10 hahaha. 1,000won each! Upon reaching Myeongdong, I went to almost all cosmetic stores to buy my sister's stuff. Will list down what I bought later on.

When night approached, we got hungry so we checked out the street foods available. Had ddeokbokki and odeng first. Then I wanted to buy a twister potato so I went by myself. Was waiting for mine when the person at the next stall said "Assalamualaikum". It turns out that the food vendor was selling halal kebab and hotteok! My friends had a long chat with the owner while I was too busy eating.

Visited more shops and Seet got pulled into a less-than-aggressive-but-I-won't-let-you-go-until-you-buy-our-products selling at The Saem. I was there with her and it was really tough to communicate in Korean the whole time but we were later joined by a salesperson who could speak in English. So the problem doubled since they were seriously trying to convince Seet to buy, in Korean and in English #doubletrouble. Tried to explain that we had limited cash since she has to go to Busan later and blablabla, it took SO LONG until Aliana came and brought backup aka Maryam. Managed to leave soon after though phew.

Spent time at Aritaum, for Laneige products and headed over to Skinfood to buy masks for my mom and sister. I was welcomed by a friendly salesperson who inquired me about hijab and "was black the only colour I could wear?" (because I was wearing black). Said no and I showed her pictures of other hijabs and she complimented on how pretty they were. Friends came soon with colourful hijabs and I saw her eyes going *_____* Hahahaha. Very friendly.

Went back home at midnight I think. And again with the routine of having late dinner, having small talks and sleep.

Day 8 - 28/3/2016:

Last day!

Left the house earlier to do some last minute shoppings. If I forgot to mention, there were lots of shops near our accommodation so I could easily get everything there, with the exception of the Missha and Tony Moly brands.

Headed to the King Sejong statue and Gyeongbokgung palace after that. At the palace, we paid for admission and went through some gates. This is a very important mention as there were security keeping watch and there was a guy who made our jaws dropped because he had the cleanest face I have ever seen in real life. We stared. Wait, did we? I know I did.

Went to Bukchon Hanok Palace afterwards where we visited an old-skool housing area. Also visited a craft shop where one can send out a postcard! (Which I did) Later on, we checked out Lotte Mart at Seoul station. It was pretty late once we were done so we had a mini adventure at Grilled Fish Market in Dongdaemun Market. The area was dodgy and I wish I could elaborate further on our adventure but all I can say is we settled at a random ajumma's restaurant where we had grilled fish, kimchi jjigae, kimchi and rice. This was where Maryam's korean skills was fully tested and mine, too! Macam ni lah pengalaman travel sendiri tanpa tour. Survival baby~

Balik at 10.30pm since I had to pack. It was 1am but I inquired at the reception on how to get a taxi to get to Seoul Station so I could get to the airport but it turned out that there was a direct airport bus available for 10,000won! The kind girl told me to inform my friends as well but I said "nope, NEVAAAAAR" and then she laughed and the random guy chuckled and all 3 of us laughed kejap lol. Before I left, she said "Hope you enjoyed your stay and man I love your scarf". I was tired and exhausted but the small talk made me feel good so hehe yeayyyy thanks. Finished packing at 3am, slept for a bit and left at 6.45am.

The end  --

Random notes:

• Didn't get to visit Yeouido Park, Namsan tower, and Gangnam. 
• I have pretty friends so everywhere we went, people would compliment on how pretty they were while I just watched from the sidelines (ececece hahahaha)
• Will definitely miss going to convenience stores at 12-2am.
• Hope to visit soooooon!

Skipped souvenirs and bought the following items for myself.

• Socks socks soooocks
• 4 books and 1 pen. The books were only 700 won each (~RM2.50) and I got them from Artbox (that place is holy)
• Cosmetics : Sleeping pack, masks, serum, aloe vera, hand lotions, bb cushion, compact powder, nose packs, cleansing water and my now-favourite mascara from Nature Republic. (Btw, you can still last minute shop at the airport (which I did) and some items are cheaper there but the range is limited)

I got a lot of samples since I bought a lot of things everywhere (for my sister and friend). Also got a bunch of samples from Nature Republic at Ewha Station. The salesgirl spoke fluent English and I bought 6 items (which were mostly on sale).

Girl: *Looks at Seet* Oh my god your eyelashes are so long I'm so jealous
Me: I'm jealous of her eyelashes too let's stare at her together

Girl: That will be ***** won. Here are your free samples.
Me: (jokingly) Iz dat all lel
Girl: Oh you want more? *GRABS ALL SAMPLES AND TAKES 4 OF EACH SAMPLE*
Me: Omagaaaad lel thank you much I love you

Ya come on la I'm such a freebies hoarder huhu but she was really kind and made my shopping experience fun. A+ for awesome customer service!

Ok before I end this post, I just want to say that I had leftover cash because I am the kind of person who will only buy what I need and hey, most of my purchases were on sale. Guess I have to visit Seoul again to make use of the leftover cash hohohohohohohohohohho