Planning

Since I didn't have too much time to plan anything before I got here, things have been off to a slow start...at least that's what it seems like to me. I'm trying to make a list of places I definitely want to visit in the next month. In the next week, I'll be visiting the Gangnam area again, and I'm also hoping to visit:

• Namdaemun Street Market (Affordable -relatively- assorted goods)
• Gyeong-bok Goong and Chang-deok Goong (Historical Palace)
• National Museum of Korea
• Hong-dae (Young, hipster district)
• Ewha Women's University
• Insadong
• Itaewon (Gay district!! I love gay districts.)

The week after that, I'll be sight-seeing around Jeju Island, which I hear has lots of amazing scenery. Then I'm hoping to visit some Buddhist temples (Haeinsa temple) and Historical villages (Hawae). I might end up going to a green tea farm instead...apparently eating green tea ice cream from green tea farms is tasty. I'm contemplating whether or not I want to do a half-day temple stay at a Buddhist temple, where you get to meditate...but a requirement is that you have to be able to bow 180 times to the Buddha. That sounds painful. And I'll also be visiting the Seodaemon prison, which I think showcases the prison conditions for Korean rebels during the Japanese occupation? Which would be interesting to see. Anyways, today I bought a map, so I'm good to go!

The bookstores in Korea sell more assorted cute products than actual books...which is actually very smart because nobody buys books anymore. This is the bookstore where I bought my map.

Right now I've relocated from Seoul to the Pangyo district, which is about 30 minutes out. It's a relatively new neighborhood, so there isn't too much out here, but the air is SO much cleaner here than it is in Seoul. I'm not used to air quality that's so bad back in the States - unless we're talking about Manhattan. In Seoul, the air is muggy and the streets smell like sewage!...so it's a little nice to be out here for a bit. But I was in Seoul up until this morning and took a stroll around the Cheum-damdong district, which has a couple Western brands and cute bakeries. I had an awesome Ice Americano and really delicious Sapporo bread (A sweet dessert bread with crumbs on top) at a bakery that my cousin recommended (She's a baker) called Le Alaska.

Awesome Ice Americano!

I finally saw a plastic surgery clinic too! My cousin said that I just need to come again during the week to see lots of mummies, haha (AKA post-surgery patients). I also found the SM Entertainment HQ! But no celebrities...so disappointed. 

SM Entertainment HQ

And then it was super hot and disgusting outside, so I ended the afternoon with some Bingsoo (Korean shaved ice dessert)! I forget the name of the cafe though, sad.

Bingsoo. It had some persimmons and dried apricots, red beans, mochi, and peach ice cream!

Addition: Oh, and I also went to this bag boutique (I can't remember the name...again.) but they had lots of different animal hides. My cousin and I were definitely being way too loud and not high-class by making immature comments about the number of dead cows that were in the room. But anyways, it was very high class. So crasssy.

The big thing in the center is apparently a buffalo. RIP.