Shots and thoughts from an outing to Goto Mall / Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam Food Market

Our little Korean adventure is made up of a few stages. I'm here for just about 3 weeks. Judy was here for a little over a week before I got here and will stay another week after I head home. This way she gets good quality time with her parents to start and finish the trip and we all got to see each other for the first few days I was here. To facilitate that we based in Gangnam to start, staying in an apartment in the same building where her parents live, very close to the Eonju subway station. For the next stage of our time in Seoul we would be staying closer to the Ikseon-dong Hanok Village. While the Seoul subway and bus system is pretty great at getting you around, the city is gigantic. So it still makes sense to have a game plan and tackle areas and sections versus ping-ponging around via long rides and multiple connections, if you can avoid it. All this is to say we kept our focus on Gangnam-related sights and activities for the first few days of our visit.

My arrival also coincided with the Chuseok holiday, so things were a bit quieter in general. On my arrival day we just sort of explored the handful of blocks around the apartment and then had dinner at Galbi Sarang. The next day we zero'd in on one of the few places fully open, which was the Starfield Coex Mall, where we browsed, shopped, walked, and ate a mediocre lunch before heading back to the apartment, where an afternoon nap turned into a 14 hour sleep. Oh well.

Next day, though, I was adjusted and we started the day by heading over to the combo of Goto Mall and Shinsegae Department Store Food Market. I remembered Shinsegae from my last visit in 2017, but I think the Goto Mall was new, though it is similar to the many other shopping set ups, with dozens if not hundreds of little shops lining the halls of a giant underground area.

To get there you head for the massive transit complex 'Express Bus Terminal' and then sort of follow the flow. With my back to the shopping center entrance I snapped some pics of the area, catching the contrast of nearby new and old construction, plus maybe a delivery robot / radio-controlled truck?

REMINDER: click into any foto for a higher res version

Immediately we were faced with a bakery, Tous les Jours, which has multiple (many?) locations around the city.

So much bread and pastry in this city. And so far what I've had has been delicious. Here we just browsed as we had bigger fish to fry.

One of things that I enjoy about Korean retail is the random / odd utilization of English and brands that translate a bit weird to the native eye/ear. Quickly spotted a few such outlets on this visit.

(American Trailer ... fruit stand?)

Then we entered the arena. It's large. Scenes like this as far as the eye can see.

Gemini tells me that it's 880 meters long.

Unsure if that is total length of the circuit. I don't think so. I think the parallel corridors are each 880m long. Either way, that's 1/2 mile of sensory overload retail.

Lot of socks.

Saw a few of whatever these are (oven mitts?)

This snack shop lured us in.

And the guy did a nice job offering us some samples. We left with a bag of whatever these are below, plus some black sesame snack.

As we moved around it clicked for me that the concept is very, very similar to the tianguis we have in la CDMX, where on certain days of the week they have dozens if not hundreds of stalls lining multiple city blocks selling a lot of the same kinds of things we see here in the undeground shops. Writing this post prompted me to look up the one that we visit maybe once a month near us, which is Tianguis Filadelfia. Not sure exactly how the dimensions compare to Goto Mall, but it is also large.

Vibe shots. Cabbages near the fire extinguisher safety poster. And a lady selling flowers.

Judy inspecting the parasol options.

And yes, I did buy the red hat with a white check mark on it. It cost $3.75 USD.

We spent about 90 minutes perusing the Goto Mall wares. This took us into lunch time, which led us over to Shinsegae. Not sure if you need to go outside to get there, but we did. Took some pics.

Made our way inside. It was busy. Think it's always busy. But this was Saturday of the Chuseok holiday weekend and it seemed maybe a little extra busy. Has the style vibes of 19th century train stations and retail outlets, like Harrod's or Marshall Fields (RIP).

We browsed some of the various dessert counters.

We did a spin through the gourmet grocery area.

Then, getting actually hungry and feeling a bit overwhelmed by how many of the stands were completely full, we snagged some takeaway 'sushi' from this place.

Salmon, bulgogi, and some spicy pork thing. Turns out that the protein layer was just what you see there. Maybe 1/4 inch of protein 1 and 3/4 inches of rice. Not great.

But I'm a little ahead of the plot. We needed to find a place to eat these. And Judy loves Five Guys. So we headed over to Five Guys. I squatted the table, which we snagged just ahead of some others who were circling / hunting spots like we were. Judy went to order her burger.

Took a couple of vibe shots while I waited. A giant, fancy food court.

During this interlude I was approached by a Five Guys employee who wanted to let me know that it was prohibited to eat any non Five Guys food there. He first addressed me in Korean, which was generous / optimistic of him. Then he tried in English, and I definitely understood his point, but was playing dumb. I had the Five Guys grape soda (tasty!) on the table while Judy was still waiting for the burger. So I simplly repeated a few times that she was coming with the Five Guys food. Eventually he gave up and politely said 'thank you' before returning to his other responsibilities. Net: I ate my sad sushi and we ate our Five Guys food, too. One Five Guys policy was infringed, but the Earth continued to spin, the sun continued to shine.

Fed and rested a bit, we were off to the next step of the day, which would be checking out the Garosu-gil area of Sinsa dong, which I'll get to in an upcoming post at some point.

Travel Day: CDMX > Seoul

I'm taking advantage of a sabbatical benefit this year and spending a few weeks in South Korea. TBD how and when the various posts get up on the blog, but we'll start with one on the travel day, which is long. I left my apartment in la CDMX at ~4pm to catch flight one from MEX > MTY. Around 10:20pm I boarded the flight from MTY > ICN. And right on time at 11pm we pushed off for a 15 hour flight to Seoul. So that's 22 hours from getting in the Uber to getting into the immigration line.

It all starts with the obligatory departure shot from the jetway, even though that's not the plane I would be flying to Monterrey.

REMINDER: Click on pics for a higher res version of the image

Couple of pics from the in-flight display underlining just how far it it.

Multiple times I came to from a state of semi-sleep only to see there were still 9, 8, 7 hours left. We did this once before in 2017 but maybe we left at a different time of day? This one was a grind. But I got there. "Manual Inspection" sign threw me for a second.

In the end, line was not bad and the processing process was smooth and painless.

Some shots of a big, clean, organized airport in the arrivals area. While Benito Juarez did get a facelift for the World Cup this year (and, not surprisingly, suddently the price of bottled water is 3x what it was last year), we've got a long way before we're looking this sharp.

Bags in hand, first order of business was to pick up my LG sim card. I've been using Airalo for all my recent trips, but in my YouTube research I found a guy suggesting this would be a smooth option. Thought it was worth a try. You can order online in advance of your arrival. The service counters are 24/7, so my 5am arrival would not be a problem. Just need to find the service counter. If you don't see the counter but do see one of these help screens, you're in business.

(I didn't even notice until reviewing the pics later that it cleverly switches from I to AI there in the welcome graphic. Not sure any major AI was applied in my encounter. Seemed to be a straight forward enough search-and-respond type of transaction.)

Once you're in the screen you pick your language, then either search for something specific or browse by category (e.g., Telecom), find what you're looking for and get the orienation / directions graphic. Smooth.

Once you're at the service counter there is another touch screen where you take your turn. I was a bit confused upon arrival and asked someone if they were waiting. He politely gestured toward the touchscreen, which I had overlooked. Not sure exactly how long I waited, but it could not have been more than 10 - 15 minutes despite being 7 customers deep in line.

I didn't eat during my travels to Poland back in April since I was dealing with stomach issues and didn't want to provoke anything with plane food. What I learned by accident during that trip was I actually felt better not eating the plane food. So besides a few BYO cashews and a granola bar, I hadn't eaten since departing Monterrey. That was now 16 hours ago, so, hungry, I found myself drawn to Lotteria.

I'm a big fan of kiosk ordering. Got myself some kind of fried chicken sandwich and an iced Americano to start. For the record, this is 6am local. Or 3pm the day before CDMX time.

Lingering in the Lotteria for a while, wanting another coffee, I also granted myself a second chicken sandwich.

This was a good 25 minutes after the first course, so I think it can be considered appetizer and main, or main and dessert. Either way, within my first 90 minutes on the ground I got my sim card, ate two Lotteria fried chicken sandwiches, and downed two Americanos (one cold, one hot).

Fed and caffeinated and feeling semi human again, I checked the time and see it's 7am. Judy would be coming to meet me here around 11am (ish), as I didn't see the need for her to get up and make the hour plus commute to Incheon so early in the morning. So I had a few hours to kill. In past trips where I've had long layovers (thinking of a couple 4hr + stays in Madrid, for example), I would have been one of the people on these benches.

However, in my pre-trip research I learned about Spa at Home from this blog post. That sounded like interesting good deal.

First thing I noticed was it is pretty busy.

They have a few flavors of service. Shower, shower & rest, 6hrs, 12hrs (seems like a lot).

I guess if they are super busy, and you're clear on the concept, you can order up your services on the touchscreen. As a newbie, I queued up for counter service.

As I explained to Judy later, the shower was great. Like any nice lockeroom environment. Felt good to grab a hot shower after ~24 hours of travel. The nap room, though, was just okay. Felt a little bit like what I imagine a shelter environment might be. Big open room, sleeping mats on the floor, side by side (but decent width, maybe 1.5m). It was not crowded, so I had that going for me. I was, of course, in the men's area. They have 3 distinct areas for men, women, and families. Family room was pretty busy. Just a handful of us solo dudes in a room that probably had 40 + mats. I did snag one surreptitious pic while recumbent on my mat.

Anyway, I was clean, had kinda slept, and now needed to get back outside to go meet Judy. She was running a little late, so I stopped for another coffe and some water at Paul Bassett.

Sharp place, with what appeared to be a great deal for their brand Nespresso capsules (I'll look to get some on the way out; not looking to overload myself on day 1 of a 3-week jaunt).

Also had an extensive drinks selection on their touchscreen. I opted for ... an americano.

Judy was getting closer, so I made my way over toward the part of the terminal where the train comes in. Conveniently found a Starbucks and a place I think is called 'Korean Savory Bakery Salon'.

Kind of camped out and browsed there a bit. Tempted by the Starbucks merch, but I still have my two Starbucks Seoul espresso cups from the 2017 trip, so I restrained myself.

Over at KSBS, however, I did buy some of the little bread balls, both cheese and potato flavored. Both very tasty.

Held off on the bulgogi croquette and dubai syle scone, figuring it would be a little messy to deal with and that I'll have another opportunity at some point to try something similar during my stay.

Mr. Kim decided to make the ride out to meet me at the airport, too. Snagged a pic of Judy and her dad chatting while we waited for the train.

And an obligatory shot of the subway car, which is clean and features some great a/c, for a comfy journey downtown.

So, that's the path from CDMX to Seoul. Many more pics and posts on the horizon, but very TBD as to how quick the turnaround will be.