South Korea Trip Day 9 Robotic Centre & Myeong-dong
My everyday’s suffering from my roommate’s alarm (set at 5:30 AM!), what’s worse is that she keeps hitting the snooze button for 30 min! I couldn’t go back to sleep, now that I’ve never had breakfast since day1, I’ve decided to go for it, no girls would be in the restaurant at 7AM lol, anyways, only foreigners were there, many sat alone like me, I ate 1 sausage & half a hash brown with roasted veggies, my tummy started hurting later, maybe coz I’m not used to eating in the morning, I returned to the room as 1 hour remained before departure.
Off to Robotic centre, half the girls weren’t on the bus including my roommate, coz starting today they’re allowed to go anywhere they want, however, this statement came very late, I mean this is the last day in Korea.
PS: I’m using the pink ribbon pin I bought yesterday <3
Our destination takes around 2 hours to reach, so we stopped at a rest area on the way, I got an ice cream from the supermarket, also Korean manga potato chips which turned to be a drama called (Cheese in the trap) & ofcourse lemonade from their cafe <3
Finally we’re in the Robotic Centre (Digital Pavilion), again school kids everywhere lol, they showed us around while illustrating different technologies, I think it consisted of 3 levels, the 1 we were on had many displays of tech’s history, equipment used in old ages, early tries of tech and tablet stones with science theories engraved, along with equipment & machine used in new age tech like rockets.
The middle level contained video games, I really wanted to play but kids had already invaded it lol, plus we didn’t have time. There were also Robots on display, like talking & dancing robots, those were dancing on 2PM’s song lol.
The lower level had physical games that required jumping & running, such as soccer, basketball & cycling, ofcourse it’s all connected to a computer that calculates the result.
Outside, there were tents with people sitting, but I had no idea what’s it for.
Back to the long journey on the bus (2 hours), we’re supposed to head 1st to Chelsea shopping outlet then Myeong-dong shopping district, however we were short on time, so a clash of opinions took place, some girls wanted to skip the outlet & head directly to Myeong-dong that consists of Korean brand stores, unlike the outlet that consists of international brand stores, which are all available back in Dubai’s outlet, despite this fact, others still wanted the outlet, conclusion = we shall stick to the original schedule.
We reached the big Chelsea outlet, but we (8 opposing girls) didn’t go inside, as we took (2 taxis) & headed off the moment we arrived in order to save time, coz shopping in the outlet will not give us enough time in Myeong-dong, we’re in Korea for Korean stuff not for stuff we have back home, anyways, little did we know that it’ll take another 2 hours coz of traffic, imagine 2 hours sitting on the bus then 2 hours sitting in the Taxi *Dies*, but seriously our Korean guide is to blame for not telling us this, or else we would’ve just stayed in the Chelsea outlet & came later to Myeong-dong (even if we would not have much time).
The taxi cost 120,000 Won (that’s 100$), we were 4, so every1’s suppose to pay 30,000 Won (25$), but they made me pay the whole amount & said we’ll return it to you in the hotel, I only had 200$ cash, so 200$ – 100$ = 100$, that would not have been enough for me in Myeong-dong as they don’t accept credit cards in open shops, so I walked up to the 3 girls & told them to pay me back now! People need to understand that every1 has a certain budget during travels, you can’t just tell some1 (pay now & I’ll pay you back later) what if they needed the money right now?
Can’t help but to love Myeong-dong <3 it’s like multiple crosses in the center with 6 long streets of open & closed shops, along with restaurants & street food, there are also shops underground coz I think it’s connected to a metro, in addition to a huge Lotte Department store with many levels. I guess it needs more than 4 hours to cover the entire place, but we only had 2 hours.
I started from the underground, the 1st shop I entered was a K-pop merchandise one, I got pens on Suju <3
Upstairs to the main streets, I had to finish all my souvenir shopping, I’m mostly done except for 1 of the kids (a boy), toys were mostly Lego but come on who plays Lego at this time? after giving up on toys, I bought him a t-shirt, socks & a school bag.
While I strolled along the shops, I got a lemonade, but it wasn’t in a glass or cup, instead, in a plastic bag lol, also, fresh coated strawberry, it was delicious, I had no idea I’ll be writing this blog or I would’ve taken a pic *Sighs*.
I wanted more snacks for home, but unfortunately Lotte Department store that had a big supermarket already closed, so I bought from a small grocery instead.
(Han’s) a bags shop I came across, sells Korean-made bags in different shapes & colors, I purchased a cute pink one for myself, navy for my fiance & brown for my mom.
I noticed 1 guy dancing infront of a cosmetic shop he works in, causing a scene that people enjoyed, ironically, the played song was (Hot Summer) but it was freezing cold lol.
Returning to the start point = no sign of the girls, nor did we agree on a meeting place or time, I sent my fiance audio notes updating him on my whereabouts, then I ran into 2 girls who chose the Chelsea outlet, they arrived here very late, I tagged along until we met up with the others, lastly I bought a warm egg cheese bun & ate it on the bus.
This is how I looked like at the end of the day, taking into consideration the forever long hours sitting in moving vehicles, then walking in a very cold weather at night = Toomi turned into a zombie lol.
My roommate went to different places with her friend that lives in Korea, she showed me videos of street performances in those places.
Pack Pack Pack since we’re saying bye bye Korea tomorrow.
