Korea, Day 5

This is our last "day" in Korea since we'll be flying home on the 12th of May. We needed to shop for souvenirs and pasalubongs as well as check out the ever-famous Namdaemun (Great South Gate).
We woke up early, meaning to be out by 9am...a bit apprehensive that someone "unwanted" might want to join us. Thankfully, he was quiet and distant.

We took the subway this time. Our feet couldn't take another long walk...On the way, Jed and I talked about what happened the previous night.

Namdaemun turned out to be like, again, Divisoria...the Ilaya, Tabora etc. part. Compared to DDM, Namdaemun was busy, noisy, crowded and cheaper...or perhaps, it was because it's daytime.
I bought several small items for pasalubong...mostly bookmarks for my colleagues and Ginseng Tea for my dad. Still apprehensive about losing my luggage at an alien airport, I didn't want to buy anything too pricey. Furthermore, the clothes were pretty much the same as in Manila, so I wasn't tempted to buy anything. Jed, however, is a jacket/coat addict, so with her haggling skills, managed to buy some clothes and slacks.

We had lunch at a little side-steet restaurant. This time, we weren't so adventurous, so we opted for good ol' kimbap and the only ramyeon we could read...it turned out to be spicy.

We got a little lost on our way home, since we couldn't remember which way we came from. So we asked for directions from a passer-by and she told us Seoul Station was just around the corner. Seoul Station is pretty impressive. From afar, it resembled Manila City Hall..teehee.

We rested for a while, packing our things, trying to fit everything in our luggages. Jed and I have become a bit sad...knowing that it was our last day.

We were to meet Louise and Julia (remember her colleague who also visited us last year?) at the CoEx Mall at 6:30, and Louise said the subway trip is around an hour long. So after a brief rest, off again!

Seoul's CoEx Mall is to the Philippines' Glorietta. It was the only mall we were able to visit, actually. He he. The internet says it's suppose to be the largest underground shopping and entertainment mall. Having extra money now to spend (because I haven't bought anything for myself yet) I bought a shirt at Giordano...because of Jang Dong Gun. I was hesitant to ask if they give out posters...but what the heck, it was our last day...but they don't have posters to give...sigh. Disappointed...

Jed and I visited the Bandi & Lunis Bookstore and spent almost an hour getting lost there. Woah! I love this bookstore. By the way, books are less expensive in Korea than in Manila, and the quality is better, too. I bought a book to help me with my Korean grammar (I wish they were selling miracles, too!).

We met Julia and Louise outside the mall and had samgyetang (chicken soup, made of ginger and chicken stuffed with rice, Seoul's version of our arroz caldo). After dinner and a short stop at a cd store to buy Bambie's cds, we had dessert (yogurt ice cream) at Red Mango. It was getting quite late and we had to pack out stuff and sleep early, so after a series of goodbyes and several pictures beside DaeJang Geum's Lee Young Ae's milk ads, we took the subway back to Anguk-Dong. We took pictures of the most memorable subway station and said our silent goodbyes to the police (one was quite a looker, actually...). Jed and I were feeling a bit sad so after a while, we went out again to stroll at Insadong, check if Missa's still open and if there's still sweets sold on the streets. It being almost 10 pm, Insadong was lonely but still charming...and I could remember that on our first day, it was filled with students, tourists and what-have-yous.

I had ice cream to perk me up and Jed had milk, on the way home. We stopped by the small grocery store in front of SEBPs to buy ramyeon, wishing we had visited a sauna or public bath. There were so many things we still wanted to do, but time was really not enough. And here Louise was saying five days in Seoul is toooo long.

We had a brief chat with new comers in the dorm before we had to call it a night, and I couldn't help but feel wishful that I could be like them...work for two years and then take a vacation anywhere...Sigh...