freakZspeaks: Shopping

Thursday, 19 March 2015

Visit Seoul 2015: One week travel guide

Thanks to all the addictive K-drama, I was so into Korea for the past one year. I finally made it there with Panda earlier this year. Although it was a short, one week trip to Seoul, we covered pretty much everything that I've been aiming for ;p. I might have mentioned this in my previous post, but just let me say it again that Seoul is more for the food and shopping lovers in general (of course apart from those die hard K-celebrities fans). I'll share with you the summary of my trip instead of day to day itinerary because everyone might have different preferences in mind, hence, you can adjust the amount of time according to your interest; be it shopping, eating, cafe hopping or sightseeing :)

Accomodation
Novotel Doksan

Since Panda was on a work trip, we stayed a couple of days slightly away from the city central. For those on business trips in Doksan or vicinity, Novotel is definitely a good choice. Home plus, a departmental store and supermarket is conveniently located directly opposite the hotel. Panda specifically reminded me to mention on this 24-hour dining place which is located beside the hotel. This place offers rich, beef ribs soup much to the liking of Panda. He never ever misses this whenever he is in Seoul for work. I must say the soup here is really delicious, rich and flavourful. For those visiting Seoul as tourist, stick to hotels at city central to avoid far distance transportation as Novotel is located approximately 45 minutes from Seoul Station.

L: Beef ribs soup; R: Pork dumpling in rich beef broth

Nine Tree Myeongdong

We stayed a couple of nights in Myeongdong because this apparently is where all the hype is (well, at least for tourists). We were pretty sure we are not going to be in the hotel room most of the time seeing our tight itinerary, hence, we decided to choose a mid-range place. This hotel was definitely one of the best in terms of location; approximately 100 m from Myeongdong Station. We were even given a free upgrade to a family room :)

Transportation

As it was peak winter in Korea and considering our tight itinerary, we spent quite a lot using cabs to move around. Cab prices are quite reasonable since there were 2 of us. We also purchase a T-money card, a rechargeable card that can be used in all transportation system. It's slightly cheaper than paying individual tickets and also allows easy transit (eg from one train line to another). This card is rechargeable from 1,000 to 90,000 won in ticket vending machines found in most subway station. However, not every station has the T-money machine to purchase the initial card. We bought ours from Seoul Station.

Wifi

If you cant read or speak Korean, wifi is probably the most important thing during your visit. Although there are many cafes or wifi hotspots in the city, having an individual, portable wifi will definitely be much more convenient particularly for directions. I got my pocket wifi from Wifi-Korea for USD$3.99 / day; with $100 deposit and $5 one way delivery fee (or free if you collect / return it to the office yourself). Moreover, you will receive a 10 % discount if you use the referral reservation form where they are partnering with a few guesthouses and blogs.

Things to do

Our trip was very much a food and shopping trip rather than a sightseeing trip. However, we managed to squeeze in some of the major tourist attractions such as Namsan Tower, Gyeongbokgung palace and vicinity, Insadong, and Bukchon Hanok Village. We also managed to catch an English movie in Megabox Coex Mall, Gangnam on a Friday night. The Ewha's Women University area was also a nice place to visit but preferably at daytime (to see the architectures). Don't forget the FREE hanbok experience at Myeongdong Tourist Information Centre (all-year round), M Plaza (all-year round) or Korea Tourist Information Centre (only in spring/summer). If you have time to spare, hop around the various cafes around the city~

From L to R: Gyeongbokgung palace gate, view from Bukchon Hanok Village

Insadong-A lovely, tourist-y place with various traditional items and food

Super chilly in the evening at Namsan Tower!

Ewha's Women University

My Korea shopping haul @ Seoul, Korea

Buying souvenirs for people or for myself when I'm abroad is already beyond my interest. Likewise, when I decided to make a trip to Seoul for the first time, majority of my relatives have already been there (and loaded us with souvenirs as well), hence, my target was just to shop and eat. Honestly speaking, one has to like shopping or trying out new food if you want to visit Korea. In terms of attractions, apart from the palaces and traditional villages, majority of the attractions are the usual stuff that you see in other countries (museums and places built to become tourist attractions). So, since I'm currently so free with nothing-better-to-do, let me just share with you what I've actually shopped in Seoul:

Food

Ok, this is not exactly the ONLY food stuff I bought but I basically went for grocery shopping on the first night I was there to try out some of the items that other people have been raving about. I was in Doksan area, so I visited Home Plus, a retail chain owned by Tesco, and is the second largest retailer after Shinsegae Group. The store I went to was directly opposite Novotel Doksan, where I stayed, which was super convenient. Basically, everything I bought were snacks (haha). Panda and I loved the banana milk (3000-4000 won/pack of 4) (quite similar to the one I had in London) and we even tried the honey dew flavored milk, which was nearly as good as the banana milk. I found a Korean brand of banana milk in Jaya Grocer, Main Place for RM 6 ++ / single served box..freaking expensive. CJ's Petitzel pudding was something I wanted to try after watching celebrities in recent K-dramas eating them (probably promoting the brand). And if you know Kim Soo Hyun, he's the brand's ambassador ;p. I personally liked the Mascarpone and Cheese pudding which really tasted like cheesecake but in a pudding way. I bought that twice during my trip in Seoul. It didn't come cheap though (1800 won), unless there's some sort of promotion (eg 2 for 3000 won). If you like bottled makgeoli (rice wine), drink as much as possible because it costs way, way more in Canada or Malaysia.

Skincare & cosmetics

If you've been to Seoul, you will realised that you will find at least one cosmetic / skincare store just about at every corner of the building. The usual brands that can be easily spotted are Innisfree, Etude House, Nature Republic, Misha, Clio, Too Cool for School and Olive Young whereas the lesser but more premium brands such as Laneige have less stores around.

My tips:

-To prevent from overspending, research on the potential items that you will buy beforehand.

-Don't be easily intimidated by the ever so hardworking staff promoting their store products and focus on those on your shopping list.

-1+1, 5+5, 10+10 items (buy 1 free 1 and so forth) are pretty worth it especially if the items are actually useful

-If you like lots of free samples (especially if samples are useful), buy from any of the stores you see. But bear in mind that to get the Korea VAT tax refund, you have to spend at least 30000 won in one receipt and the cashier will provide you with the form and envelope for it. Tax refund is really simple and can easily be done at the airport prior to your departure. Just allocate about 30-40 min extra for that (in case the queue is long).

-Lotte Duty Free (9th floor Lotte Department Store) is probably the craziest place I've seen-loaded with tourists particularly from China, busy hauling all the skin care and cosmetics that they can get (mind you, skin care and cosmetics aren't exactly cheap stuff). Check with the counter if they give out samples (usually yes with a minimum purchase order but not as much as the usual stores). But really, I found out that the prices here (for Laneige at least) were still cheaper than those in usual outlets, even after calculating the value of the free samples and tax refund for those purchased in the outlets.
*Update: Another possible place to purchase would be Lotte Duty Free in the airport. Panda, on a business trip, recently bought some Laneige products for way cheaper price compared to the flagship store and Lotte Department store (and with really good samples as well). The difference would probably be the variation of skincare sets; usually sets are slightly cheaper.

My haul from Nature Republic and Laneige in Myeong-dong with lots of samples

*For some reasons, due to the poor exchange rate for Malaysian ringgit to Korean won, perhaps you can even purchase Laneige from Amazon. Before going to Korea, my supply of Laneige were all from Amazon (of course, try and get it from trustworthy sellers like Laneige themselves). The price is really not that much of a difference and the best part is, you have a choice to purchase miniature sizes to try out the product first:) There you go, Korea at your doorstep ;p
Moisture Care Miniature Set: Skin Refiner + Emulsion + Water Sleeping Pack + Essence 8821 - 4pcs
FREE INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING + LANEIGE Firming Sleeping Pack (All Skin / 50ml)
KOREAN Cosmetics LANEIGE White Plus Renew Trial Kit (5 Items) - Skin Refiner / Emulsion / Original Essence / Original Cream / Capsule Sleeping Pack

5+5 assorted masks from Etude House (for buddies in Canada:) at Gangnam Underground Shopping Centre

1+1 facial mists, lip tints and clay mask from Innisfree flagship store at Gangnam

Laneige haul from Lotte Duty Free. We would have been entitled for a free gift if we had combined all the purchases :(

BB cream and foundation powder with lots of samples from Misha stores at Edae (Ewha Women University area) and Gangnam Underground Shopping Centre. Again with lots of free samples. By the way, that Misha cleansing tissue is a superb alternative to make-up/ BB cream/ eye remover.

Clothings

Since it's winter, majority of the shops are selling winter clothing and sweaters. Majority of the items are also similar with same prices as well (probably same supplier). I personally like Gangnam Underground Shopping Centre (linked to Gangnam station) because they have plenty of stores (clothes, skin care, cosmetics) without the need to shop at outlets by roadsides in the cold chilly winter. Bought a cute pink sweater for just 10,000 won! I think that Hongdae however is more expensive compared to Ewha Women University and Gangnam Underground Shopping area.

freakZspeaks

freakzspeaks

Thursday, 19 March 2015

Visit Seoul 2015: One week travel guide

Tuesday, 3 February 2015

My Korea shopping haul @ Seoul, Korea

Easily earn some extra cash!

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