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| Hongdae night life |
Seoul is a big city with several distinct areas to explore. But
where would home base be? You can go to the pop-culture
famous Gangnam area—the business district where you can also do luxury
shopping, to Jongno-gu where you can immerse yourself in Korean
history and palace life or to Myeongdong where you can shop Korean skincare and gorge on street food
nonstop. It really depends on your main interests, doesn’t it? After much
deliberation, my sister and I decided on staying in Hongdae.
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| Hongdae view from our apartment hotel. |
It’s purported to
be wild and lots of fun and very youthful and trendy, so there we went. In reality, there was a subway stop at Hongik University straight from the airport-- which made it super convenient for us. That's how it won over Myeongdong.
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| Hongik University |
Because Hongdae is right there with three other universities
in the area, the streets are replete with young college millenials shopping or
eating or just hanging out. It never seems like they’re ever at school either!
You’ll see groups of them early in the morning, in the middle of the day and
very late at night—I’m talking midnight here and they’re still in the streets!
It is very lively indeed!
In the morning, you’ll find clothes shops with racks out
their door. Hats range from KRW 5,000 or
less than $5, skirts and shirts go from KRW 10,000 (-$10) and dresses are
around KRW 25,000 (-$25). Some stores let you try their clothes, but if they’re
on sale, tough luck. May I say, too, that these are Asian sizes so a Small may
equate to Juniors XS. :-/ If you’re
buying, better try them on first.
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| Clothes shopping everywhere! |
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| Make sure to try the clothes on before you buy! |
You'll also find that Koreans like cute, quirky things...
At night, music fills the air as young buskers and entertainers litter the street. It seemed to me that many Koreans want to be in a boyband or are already in a boyband judging from the lot we saw in Hongdae. Their similarly young audiences lap it up, so all is well.
There are some
street foods but not as much as in Myeongdong. There are restaurants and cafes
all around, make sure you look up. A lot of restaurants occupy the 2nd and 3rd floors of store fronts.
I heard there is a great night life in Hongdae, but we're sober titas*, so we never found out. Also in Hongdae, Hello Kitty Cafe, Trick Eye Museum, Karaoke and Puppy Café (more on that in the
next posts!)
Tell us where you’ve stayed in Seoul and why!
Xoxo, Karrisa and Ketie
*****
*Tita- from Titas of Manila, If you're in your late 20's or early 30's and are no longer interested in night life and other youthful endeavors, you're already a Tita. Own it. Haha!
*At the time of our trip, February 2017, $1= KRW 1,140.
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