떡 [Korean rice cake]

From Saturday, June 23, 2012:

Today toured around Seoul a bit by car since my aunt and uncle wanted to show me and Ling around. We went around to see the area around Namsan, Namdaemoon, Gwanghwamoon, Samcheongdo, the Blue House, Gangnam, etc etc. Seriously I feel like we past so many places... We also stopped by Kim and Johnson bookstore that is connected to Gangnam Station. It has such a cute design! Most books, if not all, are English / prep books. Pretty cool. Got a bunch of Korean Language books for me and Ling to learn. (maybe like a meter tall worth of books... omg ridiculous lol but they are the ones that Seoul Uni uses.)  Then, we picked up my niece @ Gwanghwamoon (who's similar age with Chris - my nephew!), said hello to my aunt's older daughter and my oldest niece, and then went out to lunch. After lunch, went cruising around Insadong (where a bunch of traditional and artsy stuff are sold), and then went makeup store hopping at Myungdong. Then went to Incheon to pick up Ling's lost iphone 4s that was found ! Such an honest country :)

Alright, now it's picture time. 

 deok (korean rice cake) and other stuff for breakfast. you dip the green ones in the honey.

 passing Gyungbuk goong in car tour lol 

 passing the blue house (where the president lives, similar to the US white house)

 passing Samcheongdo and the hanoks (traditional houses) around there. then headed to Kim and Johnson (really good English book store in Gangnam), then went to lunch @ gang gang sul rae bc Ling wanted Korean food :D

 (looks like a huge modernized version of a hanok from the outside)

 went to bathroom @ the restaurant, and it has toothbrushes...and toothpaste 

 koi fish in the pond thing inside

 niece heading off to our room @ restaurant

ooo I guess this is how they do bbq in Korea? this is the 2nd time I've seen coal (?) used

 galbi (Korean marinated beef) and side dishes. uncle ordered for 6 people when there were 5 people (one of which is sorta a baby lolol). so much foood D:

 really tasty kimchi

 then uncle ordered nangmyun after (cold buckwheat noodles) when everyone is really full lol needless to say, Ling and I didn't eat dinner that day bc we were still so stuffed.

 meshil

niece is so cute! koi fish was opening their mouths and coming to the top of the water

 niece turns on a drama (I think it's called "Big" with Gong Yoo?) D:

 uncle stops by Dapanda and brings out a bag of organic icecream lol yum coffee flavored

 haha playing cat's cradle

 aunt dropped us off in front of KT's main branch in Gwanghwamun to go to try and get Ling's Korean phone working, but alas, they don't activate on weekends! then saw this right outside. 

"Kim Jong-un OUT" .... :o

 Korea also has McDonalds. Walking towards Insadong.

considering buying a couple for my dad to paint on. found in Insadong (a very traditional and crafty place a lot of tourists like). They are around 12000? bigger ones are more expensive.

cats. 29000 won I believe.

bark pencil

 korean dolls in hanbok

 lol such inappropriate shot glasses

 taekkyeon performance. flocks of people came to watch once the show began, but Ling and I only stayed for about 15 mins (the show was an hour). They're performing for the next month I think on Saturdays?

 we got thirsty so bought some drinks at a 7-11 in the subway station while on our way to Myungdong. Aloe was 900won and Ling's tea was 1200won.

 cute. right across from SkinFood, a makeup store.

 Etude House. One of the many make-up stores we stopped by at

 lemonade for 2500won bc we got thirsty again.

 so many lemons

 one of the lipsticks I got from Skin Food! My favorite atm. It's sorta like the colored Nivia chapsticks.

 Then on our way to Incheon Airport again to pick up Ling's lost iphone. Gosh. There's 2 entrances to the subway (they're right across from each other), but bc of that we couldn't find each other for a good 30 mins! (I waited for Ling with our stuff @ one end, while Ling when to get her phone)

 Stuff I got from make-up stores. 2 10packs of masks from Holika Holika. Each for 3000won. A steal?

 6 masks from Innisfree, each for 900won. Also mascara + cleansing wipes for 9000won.

 Tinted chapsticks for 5500won each, orange nail polish was 1500won, yellow nail polish 2500won.

Samples galore. There are the ones from TheFaceShop (I also got a clear nail polish from here, but didn't bother to take a pic)

Samples from Skin Food

Samples and Freebies from Innisfree. I got some sort of cloth from them (one of them is shown-the blue square cloth). The lady was super nice and gave both me and Ling two of them :)

samples and freebies D:  wow Korean make up stores give out a lot if you buy something from them!

Side note- sent in my passport size photo and arrival/departure info to POSTECH today. Will be heading down to Pohang @ 6am today. It's 3 15am so I should probably go to sleep... Will post today's post tomorrow I guess.