21 March 2015
Almost the airport
Dinner at a mall in Gimpo
I decided I wanted to head somewhere quite far this evening, and relax on the subway, rather than just hang out in the awesome local area.
So I considered Gangnam for high end expensive Cartier and Lamborghini action, Itaewon to see all the foreigners looking for trouble, Hongdae for the University crowd, none seemed the ideal option.
Then I read that at Gimpo airport, Seouls second airport, they have a new huge shopping centre (who cares) with a Sky garden on the roof from which you can view the planes taking off and landing (lets go!).
This was overhyped, the mall is huge, and much like an Australian megamall in its design but with a huge flash department store in the middle. I kept looking for a way outside to see where I was, turns out the entire thing is quite literally under the airport.
The subway station joins to the mall which is between the international and domestic terminals underground. That was impressive. The department store sticks up out the middle into the sky, so to the top floor I went.
Unfortunately it was quite a way to the runway, and a glass screen ruined the spectacle somewhat. Oh well.
Nearby however, I saw an epic mythical battle between 5 year old girls. They were leaping off a wooden deck, spinning and kicking each other and having a great time, and making hilarious noises.
Things were looking bad for one particular girl, she was surrounded by 4 others who each had their own deadly pose and accomanying threatening squeal.
But then she pulled a pink umbrella out of her backpack, stabbed it into the ground, let out the loudest scream ever and thrust it above her head.
The others looked terrified.
Then, finally, she opened the umbrella and spun around really fast screaming, and one by one the others fell down dead. They even wriggled for a while before dying with frozen shocked looks on their faces. Their dora the explorer backpacks and hello kittie drink bottles littered the battlefield
Given that I spent ages crushed on the subway, and then was inside a mall, then repeated the crush, theres a record low number of photos, sorry about that.
The view of Gimpo airport from the department store roof.
Vertigo. I often wonder when doing this, what would happen to the people 12 levels below if I were to drop my camera?
Oh, hello.
It is a tradition, every trip I go on, Din Tai Fung. However this one is the worst I have ever been to.
The noodles and beef were not up to standard. The Xiao long bao, not pictured, were just as good as always though. It was also expensive, more expensive than Australia.
But the clincher, no chilli, I asked for chilli and they brought me out a squirt of sweet chilli sauce.
I have been to another one of their Seoul stores years ago, and got the full experience, so this was disappointing.
I even walked and looked at other peoples tables to see if they had been provided the real chilli, no.
However I must say, disappointing Din Tai Fung meal is better than good Korean meal!
Now after spending an hour on the express subway, crammed in to record levels of uncomfortable, I came up out of the station. I forgot which exit I need, due to lack of air for the previous hour.
Not to worry, Im over the road from the giant Shinsagae store. Only I couldnt find it. Its huge.
I went walking off in different directions, and was quite amused that I could be lost.
Finally, in the darkness, I spotted the building. The photo makes it stand out much more than it did, I honestly could not see it. For whatever reason, the bright sings and all the lights are off.
My tour of backstreets near my hotel did however go past an outdoor free hair cutting volunteer station, and then I saw a big fat guy with no shirt on carrying 4 cats, 2 under each arm. Fat guys are rare, cats are not, do the math.