Edmund’s second day was a combination of okay and not okay. He woke up with some pain in his buttocks and legs. Para daw sobrang ngalay pero sobrang sakit. He was given steroid injection and strong painkillers. The feeling of relief was on and off. But maybe because 24 hours haven’t even passed yet after his surgery. Maybe, as the hours and days pass, the pain will begin to subside. Less and less, until it’s done and gone.
My husband seemed okay so I left him at the hospital at 4:45 pm to go to Myeongdong.
The hospital security guard called a taxi or Uber for me. Nay ko po, grabe ang traffic, sumakit ang pwet ko kauupo sa taxi. We left at 4:45 pm, arrived at the Lotte Department Store in Myeongdong at 6:15 pm. One and a half hours! I paid KRW 23,000 or roughly US$17.30 or Pesos 995.
My first time in Myeongdong was in Dec 2014 and I actually have no recollection where Lotte was in relation to the street market. I went around the high end mall for 10 minutes, just looking for the restroom. Then I asked two persons who looked like they speak English. Haha, galing ko pumili.
I crossed the street and not quite sure of where to go, I followed the crowd. Yes, that was what I did, I followed the noise and people walking, going to the same direction. I saw two people dragging their carry on luggage, so this is the shopping street. Actually, it’s more of a night market with dozens of vendors selling delicious Korean street food.
I found Okonomiyaki, mini crabs fried in front of you for Korean Wong 5,000 which is roughly US$3.80, grilled squid, crepes, croissant taiyaki or bungeoppang, meat skewers or bbq, grilled scallops with cheese, grilled lobster tails with cheese (KRW20,000 per tail), gyeran-ppang or egg bread (over easy egg on a slice of bread) and for KRW2,000 each it is the cheapest food you’ll find in the night market.
There are also fresh fruits on sticks, different flavors of kimchi, potato fries, freshly squeezed pomegranate juice, orange juice, tornado potato on a long stick, kimbap rolls, Ddalgi /satang or fruit hard candy.
My son will surely like this lamb stick. I would like to come back here with him. He is a good food trip companion because he loves to eat street food. My sister will love this place, I am pretty sure of that.
For my dinner, I had grilled beef sirloin steak on a bed of fresh bean sprouts for KRW15,000. They sprinkled it with crispy garlic chips and drizzled it with some sauce. Oh so delicious. If you eat it with steamed rice, it can feed two people. The steak was so tender and was comparable with those served in a fancy steak house. My husband will like this too.
My dessert was a mix of vanilla and chocolate soft serve ice cream that was not so sweet. For W 5,000 it was a good treat for a stressful day.
My stomach was full, My eyes were entertained, My mind got distracted for a few hours. Time to go back to the hospital. I wonder how my husband was doing.
Every stall has a hanging QR code for foreign tourist taxi. This made me feel safe that I can go back to the hospital.
At the end of the food street, I saw Aloft Marriott Bonvoy to the left, and the Lotte Department Store to the right. I found my bearing. The taxi driver dropped me off at the entrance of Lotte coming here.
I also saw a luggage store a little bit hidden from view. I bought a medium sized luggage kasi Edmund and I only brought a carry-on luggage each thinking that we would only be here for three nights. However, due to his surgery, we needed to stay here longer so we bought a few supplies before going to the hospital. Upon discharge, the hospital will also give him medications good for 60 days. We need a bigger maleta to stuff those all in.
I found a taxi within minutes and the ride from Myeongdong back to the hospital only took 15 minutes and KRW13,000.
The hospital locks its doors come night time so I waited for a few minutes before the security guard opened the door.
When my husband saw the white luggage, he said bakit yan, mukhang mumurahin, at dapat dark. Ilang gamit lang daw yan itatapon na.
Mura lang talaga ito $54 para after a few uses, pwede na to give away.
Happy ako sa nabili ko na wallet or pouch ba ang tawag dito? The pouch is KRW5,000 plus 1,000 for each letter, and the white poodle is 2,000. I thought the poodle was 1,000 lang. When I gave KRW10,000 kulang daw. I am happy with this. I should’ve bought two more. It’s perfect for foreign currencies.
