After the rushing and (at times, literally) running over the last few days, the coming days slowed down considerably.
Day 6 started late, and come to think of it, I can't even remember what we had for breakfast. Namely because I did not take any photos of it.
Shopping was high on the agenda today.
After breakfast, we visited the Ginseng outlet.
They claim that Korea is the only place where Ginseng can be found. It was also here that the grad-trippers are really segregated (wallet & budget wise) from the rest of the tour group.
The cheapest item on sale? Around SGD 300 for a pack of 12 low-grade, honey coated ginseng roots. There are items that goes up to the thousands and there were families that left the place in BOXES of ginseng products. BOXES! Gosh! I don't even want to disclose how much I heard was spent.
We also visited this water crystal outlet, which did not remotely interest me.
Finally, we visited one of the thousands of facial product shops.
It was here I purchased some of the Face Shop products for Mery and Connie. Wah lau, I haven't even brought anything for myself.
No photos were allowed at any of the above places for proprietary reasons, so I didn't take any. Not that there's anything interesting to see anyway.
We had lunch thereafter, at the same restaurant we had lunch the day earlier.
More steamboat for lunch, what else do you expect?
As we were early in our shopping ventures earlier, Mr. Kim decided that we had the time to make an unscheduled trip to the Seoul World Cup Stadium!
I'm visibly excited since I loved the Old Trafford tour and watching a live England match at the Wembley Stadium last summer. Though I did not get my expectations too high because nothing will top Old Trafford for me. Hee.
It's huge!
We were first led to the theatre to watch a short documentary on S. Korea's journey to 3rd place in Japan/Korea 2002.
It. was. bullshit.
And here I thought only North Korea engages in propaganda video clips.
The documentary is one of the most one-sided film I've ever seen. And it's no understatement. It overstated S. Korea's successes and made ZERO references and mentions to the failures and controversies the the S. Korea team was embroiled in, from the refereeing blunders and facades to the 'robbing' of the Italy team. NONE of those were mentioned. So, bullshit.
We were then given time to walk around the public areas of the stadium. No access to the dressing room like Old Trafford though. I think it's because we made an unannounced stop and there were no staff to tend to our tour group.
It's huge!
By the pitch side.
At the stands.
Tunnel entrance.
Excited, we embarked on a jump-shot frenzy.
Jump shot fail cos Chuwen always seems to jump and land earlier.
Let the guys show her how its done!
Me!
Chuwen!
Leo!
Yi Hui, Peck and Audry! Okay, they weren't exactly jumping.
Chloe!
Russell!
They are the two cutest kids ever!
Every grad-tripper just wants a piece of Russell, haha.
Chuwen wants a photo.
Leo wants a photo.
Yi Hui, Peck and Audry also want a photo.
Heck, even I wanted a photo. Lol.
One more try before we leave the stadium:
Failed. Again.
~~
It was around 3PM when we left the stadium.
The next thing on our itinerary was the NANTA (乱打) show. I can't remember if we had dinner before or after the show, but apparently by now, I've stopped taking photos of our meals as they are getting repetitive.
We had some free time before the show starts, which means shopping time.
Saw a few interesting things though I didn't buy anything or did much shopping.
Their parking summon auntie. Okay, uncle here.
Hello Kitty Cafe, heard it was quite pricy.
Many many illegal Angry Birds merchandise.
Finally, it was showtime!
Outside the theatre.
At the entrance.
Inside the theatre, before show starts.
Curtain call, end of show.
No photos allowed to be taken during the show so I didn't take any.
~~
Last item of the day? More shopping. This time at the 24-hour shopping belt, Dongdaemun Market.
There were a lot of shopping malls and wholesale markets around the area.
Wholesalers.
The only things I got from here came from this street...
where the Face Shop is located.
This outlet is recommended by our local Singapore tour liaison, Sally. She's awesome in seeking out a bargain. She brought a box of Face Shop items from here too, most are for friends and past tour customers. Damn nice of her, ain't it?
Roadside stalls, just like the Korean TV shows. Or so I'm told, cos I don't watch K-drama!
I also saw this cutest kid ever!
Playing with bubbles while her father looks on.
So adorable!
So today was pretty much a shopping day. After Dongdaemun market, we went back to our hotel to spend our last night in S. Korea.
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