DAY 13: Ihwa Mural Village and Dongdaemun

Lunch @ Bbongsin

After both psych and Korean language classes and lunch at Bbongsin in Sinchon, Kelly, Cynthia and I headed towards Naksan Park (Hyehwa #2) to get to the Ihwa Mural Village (이화 벽화마을). It's a suburban neighbourhood on a hill that has multiple murals meant for taking pictures, and is the location where quite a few Korean dramas have shot at.

As we slowly meandered up the hill, walking in between houses and stopping for photos, the sun started to melt slowly into the horizon. We got to the peak where the lookout point was, and we were dazzled with the golden skyline of Seoul and it's surrounding suburbs. It was absolutely gorgeous, and super cold. The wind brought with it the winter chill, and I could feel my fingers slowly going numb. Nonetheless, it was well worth it, and I would recommend heading to Ihwa Mural Village sometime in the afternoon, so that your pictures would be coated in soft glow of the 'golden hour'.

As we headed back down, we stopped by at the Ihwa Postcard Shop to have a look, as well as steal some of its warmth. I probably spent half an hour just choosing postcards, while Cynthia took the time to send herself one (they provide the service there, but the postage is kinda expensive). I'm not sure how, but I managed to spend 14,000W on postcards that day o.O

At the Ewha Bookshop 이화상점

We then headed to the Dongdaemun area (#1) for dinner and had some simple hand-cut noodles for just 3000W at a restaurant plastered with celebrity endorsements and photos. It might have been famous?

Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP)

After dinner, we went to the DDP, which is like an expo or convention center with independent designers and stalls selling unique and quirky designs. They can be a tad expensive though. I bought a file, pens, and cards. The items were all very interesting, and I would definitely recommmend if you're looking for something quirky as there are so many options all in one place.

Some items sold in the DDP

As many know, Dongdaemun is known for its shopping - there are 4-6 large shopping malls all in this area alone! We crossed the road from the DDP to get to the Doota Mall for some quick shopping. However, as expected, the items were all quite expensive. This was the day I decided I had to buy some skincare items on my list, so I bought them all at full price :'( At both the Doota Mall and later in the Sinchon area, I spent about 45,000W alone on these products.

Pro-tip: depending how long you're staying in Korea for, you probably should never buy any beauty item at full-price. For the three weeks I was there, I think they had about 2-3 major sales, though it might also have been because it was part of the Christmas/New Year sales..

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