I decided to explore my neighborhood a bit, which is the area around Ewha Womens University. Apparently, the shopping is good around here due to the fact that there is a high concentration of young women in the area. There is a nice, tree-lined street with a little park, that has a lot of womens clothing and skincare shops, as well as tons of coffee shops. I, of course, popped into a couple of the skincare shops. I've spent way too much on skincare already.
There are always interesting things to see here on the streets in Seoul. One cool thing I've discovered is that there are a few places where you'll find repurposed shipping containers used as retail spaces. One of them was here in my neighborhood.
There is a food court type of area in the middle with outdoor seating, a second floor with more sit-down kind of places and small shops around the outside. It was kind of cool.
I decided then to hop on the subway and head to the Hondae shopping district. This is the area around another University here in Seoul, Hongik University. This has been designated a tourist district and I mostly explored the pedestrian-friendly Red Road area. Lots of vintage shops, clothing stores with Korean streetwear, makeup and skinkcare as well as a few familiar Western shops thrown in for good measure (I saw a Lush and a Doc Martens). Also, tons of bars...
like this one with it's selfie-friendly gorilla. It was not an exclusively pedestrian street as you did find the odd work truck, motorcycle, or luxury car slowly making it's way down the red road trying to avoid the tourists as they crawled along. It was busy, but not packed. This is the edge season for tourism here and right after all of peak spring blossoms So, while there are tourists, it's not overrun.
I popped in a few shops on the way up, but mostly watched for ones that looked interesting so that I would have a mental list on my way back. I did happen upon a billboard that made me smile. Those of you who know that my current thing is Thai TV, will know.
BL is alive and kicking here in Korea, although Thai series are still the ones that rule the school....
After I detoured into a convenience store to grab a snack and a drink, I found a bench near this cool looking house. I just had to take a photo.
The Red Road pretty juch ends at this clock and a convenience store, of course. I made my way back and visited the stores I bookmarked in my brain on the way up. Another Olive Young. This one had more of the stuff I was looking for. Got a couple of my favorite eye creams and a few more sunblocks. Yes, I'm an addict.
I bought a few pair of cute, teeny earrings at another shop that was kind of the Korean version of Claire's (but without the lead laced kids makeup). I found a stand-alone store for my favorite skincare brand Missha. You know that super crazy pricey SK II toner that costs hundreds of dollars? Missha makes something comparable for less than half the price. I found that they were having a BOGO sale and they had the sheet masks for my favorite line at buy 5, get 5 free. Woo-hoo! The place was a bit busy, so I stood aside for a bit. Finally, it was just me and two elderly ladies from the Phillipines. Unfortunately, they were trying to pay cash, but didn't have a good handle on the coinage. I thought the poor clerk was extremely patient with them. The ladies also found a buy one, get one anti-aging hand cream that looked promising. So I added that to my haul too.
This was a lot of walking, and my backpack was kind of full, so I decided I needed a treat. Matcha ice cream in a tall cup to the rescue.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. I did a bit of shopping in the subway as there are lots of shops in many of the stations. Cool thing about having a Samsung phone in Korea is that you see more accessories here for them than for iPhones. I got another case for mine, but will look for more as there is such a variety available here!
So, I did get a bit lost on the way back to the hotel from the subway. While I do get free data overseas with my mobile provider, it seems that coverage here in Korea can be spotty. I decided that I need a Korean SIM. Luckily, it's easy to get an eSIM and you don't have to change out your card if your phone is unlocked (mine is as I bought it directly and not through a phone provider). So far, the tests I've done with it are really good, so I shouldn't get lost again.
Went to bed early again. Next up, I think I'll try to see if I can find some straggling spring blossoms. Cross your fingers!
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