Day 11

So today we weren't sure what we were doing. This is because we didn't
exactly follow the pre-made itinerary exactly in order, we did random
things that would come up. We also weren't able to do some attractions
that we really wanted to do during our stay here. This is because it
was either inconveniently far, raining, or we simply had no time. Some
things we wish we went to were a spa / sauna since we hear Korea is
known for these, Carribean Bay / Everland (aka. Korea Wonderland) due
to the last couple days raining like crazy, Busan Beach because it was
extremely far and finally the DMZ tour to check out the border of N
and S Korea because we didn't book it on time or reserve seats (but we
hear that we didn't really miss out on much because its "boring"
haha).

So we've been pretty lazy since we got to Seoul. In Tokyo, we would
always wake up early like 7am or 8am and leave our hotel but here in
Seoul we weren't waking up until 11am sometimes later and leaving our
hotel by 1pm. I blame this on how comfy our hotel room was. Anyways we
woke up to either the cleaning lady buzzing our room, or it was
someone back home calling our room. It was one or the other. It was
12pm and we were surprised how late we woke up. We quickly got ready
and made our way out the door and deciding as we walked to the subway
we would check out the Gangnam and Apujeong area.

So we decided to go to Apujeong first because we hear this is also an
extremely trendy area for young people. When we arrived there was
nothing around us that would lead us to the right direction just a
bunch of buildings and a huge bridge. We also came to this area to
check out the Hyundai Mall and its famous Meal Top restaurant that
sold red bean bing sa that SL told us to check out. We couldn't find
it and didn't want to bother asking so we randomly started walking
around. It was kind of frustrating because we were walking for such a
long time and we couldn't find anything and we were so hungry. So we
made a left because we saw this alleyway across the street that a lot
of people were going into. We walked around and realized this was
Rodeo St. The Seoul version pretty much, but not with all the fancy
brand names. Just lots of trendy stores, nail spas and restaurants /
bars. We were starved so we went to this place called Best Chicken. We
assumed that this place knew a bit of English cause of the restaurant
name but unfortunately the menu was pure Korean. The lady taking our
order didn't know a word either so she just pretty much used her
fingers and wrote "2" and then that was it. We were kind of nervous
cause we didn't know what the heck we ordered. But it was a table top
thing again. She then brought out and tossed in our pan cabbage,
onions, mushrooms, rice cake and raw chicken legs/thighs with the bone
attached (which she later cut off obviously). We realized this was
"Dak-Galbi" that a friend back home kept telling us we had to try. It
was pretty good despite how spicy it was with the mixture of
everything. Also, we ordered the rice and seaweed they cook on the pan
afterwards, also very delicious. I think anyone who would try this for
the first time would really enjoy it. They also give you aprons so
that while its cooking it won't splash on you or make your clothes
stink.

After brunch, we walked around this Rodeo area and walked into Coffee
Bean which is like everywhere in Seoul. Its like Starbucks basically,
a gourmet coffee shop. We asked the barista there where Hyundai Mall
was and he said by the station. At this point we had no idea which
direction the subway was but we were certain we didn't see a mall
anywhere. So we just kept walking when we saw the Galleria Dept Store.
This is pretty much Holt Renfrew but in a mall with all the luxury
brands and labels in different floors of the department store. We had
nothing to buy here so we just continued walking down the street
looking at signs that pointed to Apujeong Station.

When we got to the station we really laughed at ourselves because we
found the mall. It was truly beside the subway but we didn't see it
because it was covered by the massive bridge! Like all department
stores, we didn't find anything special. All we wanted was to try this
shaved ice that SL says is "famous." It did not disappoint as I feel
like it was the best red bean I ever had. We were like wow, they must
add drugs in this because its THAT GOOD. The restaurant is also packed
(all they sell are desserts), that you have to take a number from the
machine and when your number flashes, you get seated. Pretty good
system!

We left the Apujeong area and decided to venture out to the Gangnam
area where they are famous for the Coex Mall and Aquarium as well as
Lotte World (indoor amusement park). It was already the evening so all
we wanted to do was go to the aquarium and walk around Coex Mall but I
guess we were too late because although the mall was still open, the
aquarium closed at 7pm so we were at a loss. I blame this partially on
myself because when we arrived at Coex Mall, I was dying to get my
nails done and did this as Ray waited 45mins. So when I was done, we
walked around Coex and decided to check out the not famous but well
known Lucky Seven Casino. It wasn't anything worth mentioning but it
pretty much had your typical roulette, blackjack, spanish 21,
caribbean stud, 3 card, some slots and also baccarat. It had
everything except poker basically. We put 12,000krw into the slot
machine and came out empty unfortunately but better that we left than
to play.

By the time we left the casino it was 9ish and I saw that there was a
Lotte Duty Free shop which unfortunately was closed already. So after
we checked out the whole mall, we just called it a night because all
the walking and shopping we were pooped out. I think we had dinner
before we went back to the hotel but my memory is groggy at the
moment. But we had something to look forward to on Tuesday aka Day 12:
Itaewon and Ilsandong aka where CK lives!