final day of my Seoul trip... didn't do much today... since it was our last day what we did was to spend on everything we needed to get before flying off to Hong Kong... woke up early... had toast + jam and yucky coffee... left our baggage with the guesthouse staff... then headed off to insadong - coex mall - gangnam - itaewon - gangnam - dongdaemun - airport (to purchase last minute goodies...)

insadong... we covered the entire street cos the night before we hardly visited many shops... i have totally forgotten that one of a must buy item from would be their playing cards... till sy reminded me after she caught a glimpse of a box which looked like a deck of cards... and turned out it was... we were looking all over for it for the past few days and gave up on looking... it was the only deck so we asked if he has another... he made a call and managed to get us another deck... but the cards were old and ugly... he gave a lower price yet we still reluctant to pay...

the first time i went asking was at the folk museum and their reaction to it was HUGE... that was the first time... then for the past few days we asked... not successful in finding so much so i thought it may be illegal to play it in korea... but sy said no cos if it was they wouldn't show it on their series... so fine... we continued walking down the streets... in and out asking... many of them said 'yes' only to be disappointed later when they showed us postcards instead... not just a shop but most of them thought playing cards were postcards... then tak ape lah... but their reaction to it was BIG... like no no NOOOO showing vigorous hand movements... till sy now thinks that most probably it is illegal to play such cards in korea... almost given up but did not... we continued searching... thankfully we went into 1 shop which understands us... and i asked what it was called in korean... it is called 'hwatu' = korean picture card they also said convenience store... this eases our search as now u don't have to explain playing cards + showing hand gestures of playing... but instead the word 'hwatu'... after several shops we landed on one which sells threads or fans... don't quite remember... this man doesn't speak english but knows 'hwatu' and he points some direction and said yondae = hyundai haha... after much walking finally saw hyundai building AND a small convenient stall/shop... with korean makcik there... and FINALLY WE GOT IT!!!~ she took out the 'hwatu' together with the poker cards incase that was the one we wanted... we bought it for 3000won... brand new one clean and pretty

so yeah it wasn't illegal to play 'hwatu' in korea AND that it was so easily purchased which was why the koreans were giving such big reaction and all this while i thought it was some traditional game... bah all the trouble we gone through... thankfully we didn't get con into buying from the earlier shop with the same price... the lowest he gave was 2500won each... i bet the cards displayed in his shop wasn't even for sale it was for him to play during leisure... baka...

on the subway to Coex Mall... we made it a must to go because... it was new it was huge and it was the nearest to our hotel then before we stayed at the guesthouse... it would be ridiculous not to visit

it was a right time to visit the supermarket then... they were cooking for free tasting... they were cooking various marinated meats which tasted oh-so-good... they had pancakes, sausages etc... we took bit of everything... it fills the tummy... haha... no need of lunch... there's this korean guy who was cooking grilled beef... we were conversing in some ways and sy wanted to film the supermarket... he thought we wanted to film him... he with a very paiseh look tidied up his hair... told his workmate and sort of pai seh-ish lying on the glass casing... so funny can...

korea is so high tech that u can even play foot games on the ground of the mall... the projector on the ceiling hits the display on the ground which sensors leg movements... instead of playing arcade with ur hand... u use your feet... but it was all simple games where u kick some object into the goal or something... nevertheless it's amazing

after coex mall... we went to gangnam to buy our skinfood products... only to realise sy hasn't the cash and needed a money changer... couldn't find one there we headed to itaewon... for less than 10mins and back to gangnam again... bought everything and back to guesthouse... and for some reason not to be mentioned here we were at dongdaemun for a period of time and then to airport

koreans are really friendly... there were this cute guy and i really mean cute cos he's tall, broad shoulders and cute... hehe... so nice of him to notice we were looking rather confused with the subway map to find the airport bus station and it was wee early in the morning like 5am+ he actually went out looking for the bus stop, came back after some long while to lead us there =), helped sy to carry her trolley luggage up the stairs, offered frozen iced water when all i said was 'summer is hot' and he thought i was hot and needed water... i said no need it's ok... he put the bottle on my face to prove it was iced cold... damn cute hor... aiiieeeee i look like crap being sleepless =( of cos apart from this scenario many of them help us by leading us to the place we needed instead of showing hand gestures, helped sy to carry her luggage... 2 guys offered to help her with her luggage ok... can't they see me the one suffered from backache of carrying heavy backpack? isssh next time i shall bring trolley luggage instead... everything's pretty positive except for the fact that the older generations pushes themselves through crowded area or banging onto us without appologising... else they are a jolly good bunch of ppl

it wasn't as easy as i thought it was to travel in a foreign country which their language is alien to u as yours to them although they are now improving, having to travel this way rather than to follow tours makes u learn something new everyday... like being more observant, like picking up importants words/phrases, like tasting what the locals taste... and other inexplainable experience... although the trip is short, having the hassle moving from one place to another, sleepovers at the airport, some not to be mentioned experience, being melted from the heat, traveling freakin' long distances in subways, interchanging subways, walking up and down the freakin' long stairs of subways, being squashed like sardines during peak hours, being rudely pushed or sounded by some aunties, being out the whole day having to come back sweaty and tired...

i still love this holiday experience =)

mun [ 10:20 PM ]

 Anonymous said...

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ok-lah

since you have taken the effort to edit photos and do a write up...yes mun. i'm still here reading. happy? =)

all my photos of the past few years are still in haphazardly arranged files in my laptop :S

fy

1:59 AM  

 Anonymous said...

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muahahaaaa...

thanks babe for this comment... sobs sobs i tot ppl have been abandoning my blog...

hehe...

4:27 PM  

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