Seoul in Winter (Day 4: Shopping and Eating in Myeongdong)

So after three days of train rides, we decided to ditch the trains and go on foot for a relaxing day at Myeongdong (read: shopping). We hoped that the bulk of the shopping list for our friends in Singapore would be completed by the end of the day's shopping, and that there would be time to visit some of the shops Mummy and the kids have been looking forward to.

Daddy on the other hand played porter and tried to appear as excited about all the shopping as the women in the group. However, he often found other means of entertaining himself, such as grabbing embarrassing photo-opportunities with the funny mascots as we strolled along.

While the girls browsed cosmetic stores, shoes, bags and such, Daddy got his daily dose of coffee and breakfast from the nearby 7-Eleven convenience store. It was interesting to note that many of the convenience stores here had their own sit-down eating areas where visitors can use the microwave and seating facilities to 'cook up' something off the shelf.

But we had started out of the room late today since we were not in a rush, and before we knew it, it was time to refuel. Daddy introduced Mummy and the girls to one of his favourite eating houses from his last work trip here. We ordered decently priced local dishes with generous helpings of kimchi.

Korean Ginseng Chicken soup (Samgyetang).

Beef bulgogi soup.

This was the kids' favourite - large sized egg omelette with tomato ketchup which went really well with the rice.

After lunch it was time to check out more shops ... ...

Back on our feet again!

Mummy checks out the movie options for her appointment with friends.

Window shopping... ...

We browsed a number of shoe outlets hoping to find something to replace the boots we brought. All the walking we were doing was starting to make the boots feel heavy, and a pair of sneakers might be more comfortable.

We browsed a number of shoe stores. The boots we brought were starting to feel heavy with all the walking we were doing, and we were looking for an alternative.

In the end we could not make up our mind with the shoes, and decided to try some of the street-side vendors another time.

The best way to take a break from shopping was to have tea at some nice chic cafe, so we found something that caught our eye and sat down for a while.

The cafe is called 'Cacao Green' and is on level 3.

Frozen yogurt with fruits and hot chocolate.

Citrus tea to go along with it.

Our girls are mini-fans of the Line Friends, and we decided to treat them to the Line Friends themed shop in Myeongdong. Most of the items there would be out of our comfort zone in terms of price, but I am sure we can find some souvenirs to take with us, and of course, plenty of photo opportunities.

There's a massive Brown Bear at the entrance where we actually had to queue up for a photo with.

Lots of pretty stationery everywhere.

Snacks in the form of Line characters.

By this time, some of the vendors were already setting up their pushcarts along the central walking streets. There would be pretty little accessories and stuff to look at.

Street food vendors setting up their stalls.

We decided to get some fried prawn fitters and tiny crabs to try on the way back to the apartment.

Just as we thought the day was well spent and coming to an end, we chanced upon a Hello-Kitty themed cafe we had to try.

Ice-cream waffle, cake, and some hot chocolate to warm up.

The temperature was dropping quickly and we decided to return to the apartment earlier than originally planned. We had our fill and dinner had to wait till we were hungry again anyway. Daddy had wanted to explore the nearby Namdaemun market and headed off by himself but we learnt later that he headed down for some grocery shopping at Seoul station's Lotte Mart instead. Looks like we'll have some large apples, pears and sweet strawberries again tonight.