Myong-dong 명동

Saturday, 21st August 2010 

Okay, I'll tell you about my outing to Myong-dong with Donggu Nuna with more detail. 

Myong-dong and Lunch 

Basically, Myong-dong is equivalent to WangFuJing in Beijing or the Sydney CBD. It is a commercial district and very classy. We got there around lunch time and so looked round for something to eat. In the end, we decided to eat Cold Noodles (冷面) since I thought it was appropriate for summer time. I don't have a picture since I was kinda hungry and forgot to take one :P 

Contrary to what I expected, the Cold noodles was a bit hot, as in spicy. It was seriously Hot n Cold and I think Katy Perry should have used this in her MV. Hahaha. It was still delicious, but it was too spicy even for me. I don't know how Donggu finished hers. I guess she man up and kept eating :D

The Great Han Gate

After Lunch, we started walking and found one of the tourist attraction. I don't know what day it is, but it seems there's a special occasion going on today. At the Great Han Gate, you can dress up in traditional clothes for free. There is also a performance every hour or so - a shift-change of the Royal Guards. 

 

I think it's wonderful that they can have these kind of activity going on in such a busy city. It really highlights the juxtaposition between the Old and New.

Swimming in Public

I think everyone would have dreamt to just splash around in a public fountain at some point. Well, you could realise that dream right here in Seoul.

These water features are entirely man-made and are very tempting to jump into in the hot and humid weather. 

The Character of a City

After that, we went walkabout to a big bookstore. One thing I found interesting was that, is the seating place for having a look through the books. 

It's actually a flight of stairs used as seats. I know this is so trivial and petty, but I'm trying to document the little things that you don't find in Sydney. I think lots of people missed these quirky little features that makes a city quite distinct, and so I hope to point out the characters of a city in my pictures.

On another note, books are generally cheaper here. Not to mention they offer a great range from Korean, English to Chinese and Japanese books. 

Weather

It's freakin' hot in Seoul and humid too. Those who have been to Indonesia, Singapore or China would probably know the feeling. Although, It's not that humid like Indo, but hot nevertheless. I'm still adjusting to the weather. Like I have said to some of you before, I went from below 2-10 degrees temperature in Sydney to 30 degrees Celsius in Seoul. IF I WAS A FISH I would have died. :D

The hot weather isn't all bad though. The girls here get to show off their summer fashion, which is refreshing to the eye anyways :P

That's it for Myong-dong so far. I'll probably revisit this again. 

Thanks for reading.

Regards,

Ray K