A Twosome Place - taken from yo.suite.net
We then decided to go to Samseong and Gangnam to check things out.
Samseong (Samsung?) is a while away from the main city area where Myeongdong and Anguk are, but it is more like a 'true' city, in the sense where it is place where high-level executives work and tourists are not so often seen, and the buildings are more spaced out. It might have been because it was a public holiday, but the streets were fairly empty and the cars were few. Apart from its cold city-like vibe, the suburb of Samseong is actually well-known for having the largest underground shopping mall in Asia (COEX mall), and also where the K-pop (Korean pop) offices are. The main reason for us being there was because Cynthia actually wanted to visit the temple there. We had a look around, but because I'm not a Buddhist (I'm a Christian), I just sorta respectfully stood back while my two friends paid their respects/said their prayers. The temple is actually located on the edge of the main city area and the shopping district, and it made for quite a surprisingly serene setting amidst the metal buildings around it.
Bongeunsa temple 봉은사
Literally, right across the road from temple was a convention centre, which was connected to the main COEX shopping mall. The place was huge! We had a walk around the place, going into clothes shops, gift shops and whatnot, whilst slowly making our way towards the train station. Lots of families and young couples were strolling around, enjoying the new year with their loved ones. If you're unsure about Seoul being commercialised, well, this place definitely tells you otherwise.
Our next port-of-call was the suburb of Gangnam! I'm sure everyone knows the name from that Korean song. I was actually quite disappointed as we came out of the station, for the place looked pretty much like Hongdae, because they both have a main road lined with shops cutting through the town, and smaller side streets with food places etc. I did notice, though, that the shops were slightly higher-end than the ones in Hongdae, e.g. Channel, Burberry...
The three of us headed into one of the side streets (which are also noticeably brighter lit and glitzier than Hongdae), where we popped into a random restaurant for dinner. Now, the setup of the tiny eatery was quite interesting. Right when you enter the restaurant via its sliding door, there is a standing kiosk where the menu is displayed on the screen. You choose what you want, feed your money into the machine, and grab the ticket that comes out of it. You then take a seat at the bar-like set-up, so you're basically facing the ladies (ahjummas 아줌마) who prepare your food, before they call out your number and you are presented with your dish. I ordered naengmyon 냉면, which literally means 'cold noodles'. It's a dish of clear glass noodles served in clear soup (with some ice pieces floating in it!). It was a little odd that I was having it in winter, but I knew that I wanted to try having a meal that was atypical of the usual hot fare. It was actually surprisingly savoury (though cold), but because I started to feel like I was just stuffing myself with noodles towards the end (I wasn't even that hungry to begin with), I'm left with a somewhat nauseous feeling whenever I think of the time I had naengmyon. However, I'm definitely open to trying the dish again, albeit in different circumstances.
What naengmyeon 냉면 looks like - taken from Kimchi and Basil
Seeing as the area around Gangnam was just shopping (we didn't travel further away from there - it was too cold and dark), we decided to head back to uni.
On the way back, we met one of the Singaporeans, Genevieve, whom Cynthia had met before. As we chatted, I found out that she and a group of other people (mostly Singaporeans) spent their NYE ice-skating at City Hall *swoon*. Sounded like a lot of fun!
0 comments:
Post a Comment