COEX Mall - Its diversity

On the next weekend we had thought of going to COEX Mall. It is the largest shopping centre in Seoul. It is the largest underground mall in Asia with an area of about 85,000 square metres. Among its 'must see' areas were Aquarium,Megabox, Kimchi Museum and Bandi Luni bookstore. It is located on the COEX center building which is the World Trade Center for Korea. So we planned out beforehand which areas to explore first as we got all information from this site.

This time while we ventured to go alone without taking someone's company. We had the map with us, train info as to in which stations we need to change train. This time we had to transfer 2 times. We were kind of unsure in the beginning. But we kept moving on, issued our tickets and boarded the train. The whole time we were alert and kept checking the voice announcement inside unless we miss the station to get down. So we exchanged line at a station and went on to our next destination where we had to change again. But the second time we got confused as to which platform to go. The platforms were diff for to and fro trains. Suppose you want from A -> B that will come in Platform 1 and B->A in Platform 2. But we kept searching for our platform and kept coming in a full circle to where we got down. Tried asking local people but it was not very helpful as they don't understand english. Finally someone told us the right way and we got the train to Samseoung station. And above the underground lines was the COEX mall. So we need not move to some other place and it was easy to get trains.

When we came out from the Millenium Plaza we came into this open area with food joints on both sides. It had multi cuisine resturants from diff countries.We thought of exploring food area first as it was near the entrance. The Food court had resturants serving Korean, Chinese, Japanese, American, German food with many Cafes. We strolled and looked at all items taking some snaps as the food court was beautifully decorated. I wanted to try Sushi as I had seen so many times in my fav travel channel. Then we kept on window shopping and exploring the area. The clothes and all items sold were branded mostly so it was expensive. One thing I like most about Korean people are they are very fashion conscious. Till now I haven't seen a single person dressed badly. All seem to come straight from the pages of fashion magazines. So I enjoyed browsing though the stores. Highly priced but super cool and stylish attires. My hubby kind of enjoyed my sense of amazement by looking at various stuffs. And he had to drag me from the stores to keep moving :-)...

Then we went to the Aquarium. It is the greatest theme aquarium in Korea, with 2,500 tons of water, and 40,000 marine wildlife of 650 species. It was divided into 4 sections. An Ocean Theme Park Water Journey, Undersea Tunnel, which passes through 2,500 tons of sea water and a walkway that takes you through exhibits of sharks and other marine life. It was amazing to see so many different types of fish and other water animals. We enjoyed the whole trip immensely. And I thought the penguins were really cute and had some great snaps of the jelly fish. But watching shark and Ray fish swimming around us was the ultimate experience.

Then we thought of having something as were hungry by the long walk. We tried some Kimbap (Korean sushi rolls). I liked it very much. We took a veg one as others had beef or pork in them. It was a dish made up of small pieces of veg inside rice, rolled over by a piece of laver. Then we again explored the area looking at different shops. And suddenly there was a commotion, the reason for which we realised after some time. Apparently some celebrity was there too!! And I guess from Hollywood by what little I could see from a distance. I had read in the site that the mall was a frequent visit for celebs here and abroad.

The other must see places were the Bandi and Luni book shop and Megabox theatre. We just had a walk by both of them as we wanted to see the Kimchi museum. But before that we went out towards Millenium plaza,had lunch at KFC(safe option). Then we rested for a while and started for the museum. It was mostly visited by the tourists and no locals were present. So it was kind of deserted. There the journey of Kimchi was presented in different forms. Kimchi, which is made of fermented cabbage and spicy hot pepper sauce, is a Korean staple. The vessels used to prepare it were displayed along with diff types of Kimchi according to diff regions. The overall experience was ok.

Then finally after spending the day here we decided to board the train and take rest for the remaining weekend at home. While returning it was a smooth journey but I was feeling dead tired and sleepy due to all the walking. Just wanted to sleep in the comfort of our room for a long time. As as it was Sunday nextday it was ok to wake up late. It was great day overall with our making the journey on our own, seeing the most hippest people and place in Korea but the best were the fishes.

1st Trip-Dongdaemun & Jongsan

After 2 weeks of staying here, me and my hubby decided to start seeing the places. As it was our 1st time so we went along with some of his colleagues. At first it was totally confusing as the Suwon station was huge, not like in India. And here they are station + shopping places. As many shopping outlets are there including Chanel,Louis Vuitton etc so you can imagine how classy the stations must be. Then we went and booked our tickets. It was all automatic. There are machines installed for it. You just enter the destination and give the money, ticket and remaining change will come out. Then we took one Seoul Metro Map from the Tourist Information Centers(which are present in all stations) as it clearly has a layout of all stations,where you need to transfer train etc. You can see the map here too. It was very helpful in our later journies.

Then we used our tickets to enter into platforms(as it operated like ID card in office when swiped give access). There we came to know from his friends that there are 2 types of trains operating.First is the general one and the second is Rapid train where the speed is much more than normal and it doesn't stop in all the stations. Since it would be confusing to go in Rapid trains as our stations may be skipped we thought of sticking to normal trains. Today we were going to Dongdaemun Market which is one of the most biggest wholesale and retail markets in Korea. In total the market has 26 shopping malls situated over 10 blocks, 30,000 speciality shops, and 50,000 manufacturers. Most of the wholesale shops operate from 5 pm to 8 am. When we reached first we went to Hwanghak-dong flea market. Some of his friends were interested in antiques and other stuff which won't be available in any regular market. It was a row of shops selling 2nd hand,3rd hand goods mostly. And some antique shops too. But we were interested in just looking at people around and few stuffs in antiques stores. Rest items were regular, even 2nd hand clothes were sold on the streets.Most items sold were clothes,watches,fishing kit, jackets, old electronic stuff, shades, currencies of other countries. Then we decided to have lunch as it was nearly 3 pm. So we walked back towards the market. There we took some snaps on bridge over Cheong gye cheon. It was the Cheongyye stream below with walking area on both sides so that people can enjoy the calm scene. Finally we came to the market area. Had lunch at Burger king in Doota Mall( since we were scared to experiment so soon). Then again we exlpored the markets. It was just rows and rows of shops in the long buildings. Like in ground floor we found only shops selling hats, scarfs,jackets,leggings mostly. Then in 2nd floor was ladies clothings. Since we were late we left after exploring only ground floor shops. I had never seen in my life so much varieties of hats in a shop before. There were shops and shops of Hat and likewise. Then we went to Jongsan as it had the biggest electronics market. In the station itself was a big mall selling electronic goods called Ipark Mall. It was about 5 floors and all full with digital stuff. Like in 1st floor only cameras,2nd floor laptops,3rd USB related etc. Any gadget loving person will go mad here,I am sure of it. Then we went to another electronic market just 15 mins from the station. There 2nd hand stuff was kept too. And stuff were cheaper than anywhere. Where in Ipark you get 1 floor for any type of gadget,here it was buildings. For ex, 1 building only cameras,1 building laptops and so on. But we just explored a bit and returned as it was already 8pm and shops were getting closed.

When we returned home it was 9.30 pm and we were dead tired by all the walking we did. But the trip was really worthwhile. We got to see different people, their ways of living, dressing, and passion for gadgets!!

My first International trip

It was a normal day at our home, I was waiting for my husband for lunch. Never did I thought that he will come with a surprise with him. The first thing he said to me after entering is 'We have to go to South Korea-Suwon'. It was for his work purpose and for 3 months. I was in state of mixed emotions. As it was just 1 month of our wedding and I was going to miss being in India for sure. But the traveller inside me kind of said 'Wow!! '. We then began planning for the trip. It was easier for me as I had left my previous job due to wedding, relocation and all. And I was thinkin about searching another one. So the bottom line is I was free with no obligations. I was really excited as I researched more on Korea. First of all its a totally different place with different culture,language,habits(as in food as I'm a foodie). And never in my life I had thought I will go there anyday. So it was all new and refreshing.

The D day came soon, we had all our documents ready. We had planned to cook there as we were about to get a kitchen in our room at guest house. So we took all spices,masalas,pickle which we eat in our daily meal and wont get there. The first flight was till Hong Kong. And from there to Incheon, Korea. I was fascinated by the airport as it was very big and so much modern in its facilities. We had to catch the next flight after 2 hours. So my hubby and I just sat there looking at people passing by. We lost the count of time and soon there was announcement for our next flight. I was feeling a little bit down as we didn't get adjacent seats. But the helpful airhostess solved the problem and I enjoyed the flight till Incheon.

When we were flying over South Korea,we could see Islands covered in ice. And a very misty and cloudy day. I got excited as I had never seen so much ice before. My home town is in a place where we bear upto 45 C degrees in summer and the average temp would be around 35-40 C degrees. It was a nice change for me. When we came out of the airport I had a feeling as if someone is pricking me with icy cold pins. So was the wind outside. It was easily below 0 C degrees may be in negative. We got a bus ride from Incheon to our destination of Suwon. We enjoyed the journey seeing snow covered mountains, frozen lakes, white trees. Then finally we reached Suwon where our Guest house In charge came to pick us up. We stay at this Indian guest house and there is its resturant serving Indian food. So after the chill we were served hot and tasty meal in the Resturant after which we decided to call the day off and take some rest. Thats how we spend our 1st Valentine's day this year. Travelling into different time zones made the day a bit longer. So we got a looong Valentine's Day!


Incheon Airport Overview