It's Always Sunny in South Korea: Sizzling Seoul

I always feel at home when I am in a big city. Spending almost all of my life in Philadelphia, I have learned to truly appreciate and embrace the hustle and bustle of city life. Two weekends ago Margaret and I visited Seoul. Seoul truly takes the meaning of city to a whole other level. This weekend was full of shopping and eating, a little resting, and some drinking.

Location: Hongdae

We stayed in a hostel in Hongdae, which is a college neighborhood centrally located in Seoul. Hongdae is quaint by day: tree lined streets, small boutiques, filled with cafes and restaurants. This was also my first hostile experience. Not going to lie, I was a little scared at first, but it was not bad at all. We shared a room with 4 other people. Party of 6, yes please! We actually met some nice people, two of which actually live in Gwangju.

Bringing back the bunk beds.

View from my bunk. Margaret was kind enough to give me the bottom :)

Shopping: Myeongdong
Another reason we went to Seoul was for the shopping. Here in Gwangju there are many Korean boutiques, but not too many international clothing stores (we have a zara's). The clothing in the boutiques are beautiful, except one thing: it's "one size fits most Koreans." The women here are beautiful and very thin. I would say the average size is a 2. I need the big and tall section. So needless to say, I was extremely excited to hear that Seoul had a H&M and Forever 21.
So back to Seoul....Myeongdong is a busy neighborhood in Seoul; roughly 2 million people pass through on a given day. There you will find mid to high end international clothing stores, numerous street vendors, and restaurants. We spent most of our Saturday afternoon in Forever 21. It was three floors of heaven. The best F21 merchandise I have ever seen and it's comparatively priced. We also popped in Zara and H&M. I was extremely disappointed with H&M though. The prices were so much more than back in the States. There were no $9.99 knit tops :( I didn't have it in me to pay almost three times the price; I left empty handed.
After shopping we stopped for some ice cream. It was hands down the largest ice cream cones I have even seen, and all for less than $1.50 usd.

Busy Streets!

Shoes for sale

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!!!!

Snack time- dried octopus jerky...

dried fish jerky... no thank you!

Nightlife: Party like it's spring break...
Seriously, the crowd here is WILD! At night, Hongdae turns into an electric night life haven. Bars and clubs on every block; you can even by shots on the street. Drinks out of buckets, bartenders blowing whistles, bars that don't close till the sun rises, flaming dr. pepper shots, live dancers, and people literally passed out on the streets... Kinda Mexico-crazy.

Bartenders gone wild

Live entertainment- they were dancing to pussy cat dolls- buttons; classic.

rough night- my guess, he's a meaty american.

such ladies

Food: Non-Korean, yes please!

I eat a lot of Korean food in Gwangju so it was nice to get some Western eats in my belly. I had my first cup of Dunkin Donuts, which tasted the same as back home, and one of the best burritos. We also had Sunday brunch, which is hard to come by in Gwangju.