Korea Post #4: (Must-See Places!) Myeong-dong...THE SHOPPING!

If anyone would ask me what my most favorite place in Korea would be, I would definitely answer you "MYEONG-DONG!!!"

Why do I love it?
First, you NEVER run out of things to SEE. There's always something new that pops out everyday!
Second, the SHOPPING! There's just too many make-up, clothes, bags, and all sorts of things you can buy at good prices.
And lastly, the FOOD! Eating AND shopping are 2 of my most favorite things to do and they're all here in one place. But eating WHILE shopping? Heaven for me!^^

Me and this adorable bunny in the Cottiny store!

You can probably imagine my delight when I saw endless rows of stores littering the entire area! I swear you cannot cover the entire Myeong-dong in one day. You have to do it in 2-3 days if you want to get your money's worth of the place.
Myeong-dong is actually a district in Seoul and it features middle to high range retail stores. So expect to find branded local and foreign brands here. It even has an underground mall, where there's a good CD place to buy all your k-pop goodies!

Before the shopping, we said a quick mass in the Myeongdong Cathedral:

I was very very impressed with how devout Korean Catholics are. The difference between their masses and ours is that they don't have kneeling pews! But what amazed me was that everyone was very quiet inside the church and there were still some women wearing veils. A lot of young couples were also present and saying mass together and everyone sang.

Then it was off to shopping!

This is the usual street...it is literally packed with vendors selling their wares from clothes, shoes, bags, anything under the sun!
Plus some of the stores I visited:

 Etude House: always cheap and very high in quality!

Laneiege...also pretty pricey even in Korea 

Close-up of that Garfield mascot by Laneiege, he was waving at me!^^ 

Tony Moly: my go-to place for the BEST gel liner I've ever used 

Do you guys notice the girls in front of the stores? Specifically the one holding a white shopping basket in the lower photo...they have BARKERS in their stores! They basically have microphones and encourage (aggressively) customers to go in and take a look-around. Sometimes they will even give you a freebies for just entering.
Unfortunately I was a victim of a very aggressive male barker who grabbed my arm and hustled me inside a Tony Moly store--it was an experience all right! I think he thought I was Japanese because he started talking in Japanese!

One store I could literally not stop looking at was TODACOSA, which is like the Korean Sephora. But I would like to say that its even better than Sephora because the store is overflowing with various cosmetics on every space. They have anything you need, from lipsticks, lip glosses, make-up tools, foundations, blushes, hair products, and nail polishes.

 Total heaven for lip gloss lovers, right?

All sorts of brushes ready for the picking! 

Also went to the SPAO flagship store which features a lot of clothes endorsed by Super Junior and Girls' Generation (bought a jacket that they used in the Oh! MV):

 They were selling those shirts that SNSD is wearing in those standees--I wanted the Taeyeon one but it washed me out hahaha!!!

Plus I also bought some accessories and leggings in the stands that were around...I noticed that a lot of the sellers were males...see the man by the lamp? He's the seller! I also bought my leggings from a guy! In fairness to them, they knew their stuff!

A lot of people say that Korean things are pricey...but they're not! They're cheaper if you know how to find the right deals. If you want those cute Korean dresses they sell online, they do sell it in Myeong-dong, around P450 or below. The catch is that you can't fit the clothes, but the SA would tell you if it fits you or not. (My dress was a perfect fit!)
My tip is to always carry a mini-calculator with you and know how to say "How much?" in Korean ("olmayeyo?"). When they tell you the amount in Korean and you can't understand them, hand the seller your calculator so they can punch it in. Voila! Language barrier disintegrated!

And now I bid you adieu with a photo of me posing with my husband whom I happen to see while walking around:

Stay tuned for the second part of my Myeong-dong post featuring...THE FOOD!^^