We didn't come back to the hotel late last night, but we ended up waking up quite late. There was a restaurant nearby that we stopped for lunch. We got beef soup, which was quite filling. It reminds me of the oxtail soup back in Calgary. After lunch, we strolled around the district to shop for a bit, before heading back to the hotel to rest. She was feeling ill, and I was strangely feeling tired myself. After taking a nap, I got up and went out on my own to finish some errands.
Traveling on my own in Japan is one thing, where I knew the customs and language enough to squeak by. Fortunately, despite not knowing South Korea, it wasn't as challenging as I imagined it would be. I started off by visiting a nearby music store that I saw the night before, to get a CD for my brother. They had a wide variety of popular Kpop groups, with many I recognized either by myself listening to them or having my students talk about them back home. After picking up the CD, it was off to purchase dinner.
We wanted to try gimbap and BHC, so I found the gimbap restaurant that she wanted to try. It wasn't very busy, so I was able to place my order and have it made in about 10 minutes. After collecting the gimbap, it was off to BHC. It wasn't as busy as last night, but there was still a relatively long line. I placed my order and was told that it'll take about an hour. Having explored much of the night market last night, I decided just to wander around another section of Myeong-dong. The streets that I went down wasn't filled with as many tourists as the night markets, but they still carried the same charm. I ended up stopping by a large Lotte department store. Wanting to see how similar they are to Japanese department stores, I entered. The layout did seem reminiscent of Japan, and they even had a food hall on the basement level. I went down to the basement to see what they had to offer. I ended up getting more gimbap and a roll cake for dessert. After strolling down the various stalls, it was time to head back to BHC to pick up my order.
With my hands filled with bags of food, it was time to head back. I wanted to grab some fresh fruit drinks from the night market, so I stopped by a vendor we visited yesterday. Now, with my hands extra full, I made the trek back to our hotel. I'm horrible when it comes to directions and I tried to rely on my sense of direction heading back to our hotel. I admit, I did take a wrong turn and ended up going down a familiar path, but one that took me further away from our hotel. It didn't help that I tried using Olive Young as a guide post, since there were many Olive Young stores. I eventually did a U-turn and found the right direction. There was a red onsen sign near our hotel which helped me hone onto the right street.
That pretty much marks the day! It was a pleasant experience traveling on my own for a while. Maybe it's just me, but it didn't feel as hot and humid in South Korea in comparison to Japan, which also helped. Just two more days to go in South Korea!
As for dinner: the gimbap from the restaurant was decent with the rice still tasting fresh and the fillings having full of flavor. The gimbap from the department store though, hits on a whole different level. I can't say why really, but I really liked it more than the other gimbap. The BHC chicken though... was a bit of a let down. It was good, but wasn't enough to blow my socks off. It was nice that they offered a large container of pickled radish and a coke can though!
Waiting for the BHC chicken!
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