Seoul 11.12 - shopping in Myeongdong

After having yummy dumplings and noodles at Myeongdong Kyoja, I was all ready to start my shopping "spree"! I was planning on getting some skincare products and makeup from a few Korean skincare/makeup companies, plus other fun things I saw along the way.

John, on the other hand, was not excited about the idea of shopping all over Myeongdong, so we didn't end up spending a lot of time (according to me) shopping, really.

But I went prepared! I had a list of items I was interested in, and all I did was to politely ask the girls at the makeup shops to help me find them. This way I was able to get the things I needed without spending too much time. I was also planning on browsing a bit more around the different shops, though, but that didn't come about. Oh well. I still got a lot of goodies!






Oh, this is very helpful: when you buy things in shops with a "Tax Free" (or similar) you can get your tax money back at the airport! Make sure you ask at the register at the stores if they had such services. I will post a little "tutorial" about the tax return later. 

I also picked up some cute earrings and hair accessories. Oh my goodness there were so many choices!






There were also many street food vendors in different parts of Myeongdong!





Shopping in Myeongdong was definitely lots of fun!

Seoul 11.12 - Pink

When we finally found the Hoehyeong Underground Shopping Center, we also found one of the stores I wanted to visit down there pretty soon. It's Pink!

Pink and the owner of the shop.

You can find good skincare and personal care products for a good price at Pink. Of course the more you buy, the more discount the owner would give you. He would also help recommend products that suit your needs. Pretty cool, I think.

Here I purchased quite a few sheet masks (photos in a later post.) These were usually in packs of 5 or 10. I asked the owner which masks were better, and he recommended the ones in cute doll-shape foil pouches. The other kinds were in classic rectangular foil pouches. There are ginseng, red wine, snail cream (!), and other interesting varieties! Nice. 

I also bought a couple Laneige "sleeping packs," which were jelly-like masks you put and leave on your face before bed. You'll then wash the mask off with water in the morning. During your sleep the sleeping pack (or what's left of it on your face... I'd think most of it probably would get on your pillow cases... ) will help hydrate and nourish your skin, so when you get up in the morning your skin is all "dewy" and happy! I have yet to try mine, but from what I read this product is promising. Oh, and Pink apparently has some of the best prices for these.

The last thing I bought at Pink was the snail cream (!) hand lotions. They work very well and both John and I really liked it.

Pink is near exit 12 of Hoehyeong Underground Shopping Center, between a bag store and a camera store, in case you're interested in visiting this little shop with tons of goodies.

Oh, and the entrance/exit to the Hoehyeong Underground Shopping Center is on the right of a cool fountain when you face the twin towers, as show below:

Seoul 11.12 - got a pair of glasses

I've been wearing my contacts for years. I do have a pair of glasses from 15 years ago (!) that I wear at home. I can still see with these glasses, but I knew the it was totally not for my current eyesight any more.

I had heard that Korean-made glasses (especially frames) were of good quality and style, and it would be fast and easy to get a pair while in Korea.

So I did a quick research and decided I would get a new pair of glasses when I was in Namdaemun, Seoul.

John and I were going to visit the Namdaemun Market anyhow, and getting a cute new pair of glasses along the way would be great!

So we arrived at the Hoehyeon station and took exit 5, where it was pretty much at one beginning/end of the Namdaemun Market, and there were quite a few eyeglasses shops!



And which one did I choose?



There was this ajushi smiling and trying to get people to get into his store, and on top of that there was a manikin wearing a pair of sunglasses and bowing (!) in front of the shop! I had to go in!

I probably should have taken more photos of my whole eyeglasses-getting adventure, but I didn't. I did take a photograph of the lady who was kind and helping me along the way. I even haggled down the price of the pair I got. hehehe.



The lady had me pick out a frame that I liked first, and I looked and looked, and chose one that was made in Korea. It was flexible and pretty classic-looking and I loved it.

She then took me to have my eyes examined. We repeated the different processes quite a few times just to make sure I was satisfied with everything. (And during this whole time John was helping by holding my bag and coffee.) Then she had me choose the type of lenses I wanted.

The lady spoke fluent Japanese and her English was very good, too (even though she was shy about it.) It was an absolutely wonderful experience and I loved it! My new glasses was very light, and the thin Nikon lenses were wonderful! It only took about 20 minutes for the glasses to be ready, so during that time John and I just walked around near the shop. And when we returned it was all ready for me!

I love my new glasses. I took a couple silly photos of myself wearing them at 5Extract, a wonderful coffee shop, while John and the shop owner/barista chatted.




I love my glasses!

IKEA swedish meatballs

The Swedish Meatballs at IKEA is yummy, and it's a way better deal if you get a large (20 pcs) to share than to get two small ones (10 pcs each). We each got a small order of Swedish Meatballs last time, and it was $4.49 each; and yesterday we learned to get a large one for $4.99 to share, and a side vegetable soup. The soup was not impressive. Not at all.


However, the apple cake was sooooo apple-icious! I had to say it beat the meatballs for me.


With that being said, we went to IKEA again because I finally decided to get the VIKA ARTUR combination of table and legs. Apparently everyone wanted it, because it was all out of stock as of yesterday.

We did buy John some bins to store his green coffee beans.

swedish funness

We finally went down to the new IKEA yesterday, and while we were tempted to get one of everything, we managed to only take a few specs of tables and shelves. I think I'll be getting a VIKA series table for my little work area "studio" in the back of the caffe... similar to the one below, but with a wood tabletop instead of glass.


How did we get to go to IKEA without getting anything? Of course we got a little somethin' somethin'. I spotted these Bilar "chewy candy cars" and got a bag. I thought they'd have gummy bears' texture, but they actually had a bubble-gum chewiness and flavors (but you do swallow them after you chew them.) Interesting.



John got a small box of Swedish cakes, which were actually like chocolate covered nut rolls. Yummy.

IKEA

It's finally in Salt Lake Valley! IKEA Draper is officially open for business today.



and John said, "ahh, let's go and have some Swedish Meatballs."