Yumdong

DAY 16

(Reading time: 3 minutes)

After spending more than two weeks exploring various amazing places in South Korea, we returned to Seoul. We dedicated our afternoon to sacrificing funds on the altar of retail therapy in Myeongdong.

The streets of this popular shopping district are lined primarily with countless stores selling Korean cosmetics, which are priced vastly differently than the same products imported to our home country. Before you know it, you’re walking out loaded with bags full of hundreds sheet masks, instantly happy at how quickly you’ve spent your money. That’s usually how it starts…

…and it continues with the purchase of Korean food specialties—whether for yourself or for family and friends, it is yet to be seen. The important thing is to buy them and taste all those snacks with cute mascots on their covers.

K-pop stores lure you in with the latest booklets featuring photos of your favorite idols, clothing with prints, plushies, keychains, stationery, or even limited-edition chocolates. Basically, anything a K-pop fan’s heart could desire.

All these shops naturally include photo corners, because leaving a store without a snapshot is like going there without any money.

Everything is designed, produced, and displayed in a way that makes you want it—even if you don’t really need it. In my opinion, no one can beat South Koreans in this discipline. They aim for you to feel good, to leave a great impression, to create a pleasant experience… basically, to make you want to part with your money.

After all this shopping madness in the physical stores, we scouted the streets for some street food. The winners of this year’s street food tasting were:

• Left: Chocolate soufflé with blueberries
• Right: Chicken bites coated in parmesan powder, served with spicy tteokbokki

As we were leaving Myeongdong, a man standing outside a multi-story restaurant offering Korean barbecue tried to tempt us in with loud calls of meaty specialties, promising a gastronomic feast.

But we had a higher calling—a mission to complete before leaving South Korea: the taste perfection that is CoCo Curry Ichibanya.

We don’t go to Asian countries just to eat at CoCo Curry, but the presence of our favorite fast-food chain in any given country is definitely a BIG plus. Until now, we’d usually had to fight for a free table in every CoCo Curry restaurant, but here, at the Hapjeong Station location… no one. It was empty. The staff, clearly used to online orders and deliveries, watched two white foreigners walk in, sit down, confidently order exactly what they wanted, and actually get it.

There’s nothing better than that sense of mission accomplished, which also satisfies your stomach tremendously.

-endy-

DONKEY’S SPECIAL:

• The cute, mascot-adorned snack bags contain almonds in unusual flavors—banana, strawberry, chili, honey, wasabi, chicken… They taste so oddly addictive that the more you eat, the more you want.
• There’s nothing inherently “Asian” about chocolate soufflé with blueberries, but we never claimed to be orthodox devotees of purely Asian cuisine. If the food’s great, it can come from anywhere.
• The chicken bites coated in parmesan powder and served with spicy tteokbokki are aptly named “Star Chicken.”
• What always fascinates me about CoCo Curry is the contrast between the unimpressive appearance and the absolutely fantastic taste.
• The Hapjeong Station branch didn’t serve any beer, which was surprising since CoCo Curry is originally a Japanese chain and should offer Japanese beer, ideally Kirin… but oh well.

-mj-