Seoul Backpacking Day 5 – Apgujeong, SM Entertainment, Legally Blonde, Dinner With Kim Family

Our day 5 begin lazily, mostly because of the hectic schedule we had the past week. We head out to Apgujeong to experience the Korean rich people culture. Lol.

When we get there, the atmosphere was so different from the other side of the river. The buildings are new and the people were wearing more fashionable clothes. And then we found the infamous ‘plastic surgery’ road. It wasn’t hard to find because the whole street was lined up with plastic surgery clinics! There were 5 storey buildings and there were 5 different clinics or more in one building. And there were so many buildings I lost count. If you’re looking for getting some job done, lol you’ll be spoilt for choice.

We wander around as I wanted to visit SM Ent building since we were there. We got on a taxi since we didn’t know the way and shyly asked the driver to get us there. Lol idk why but it feels embarrassing to go to SM Ent building as if we’re sasaeng fans. But I just want to visit like visiting a historic monument. haha.

While we were in the cab, I saw a young woman came out from a nearby clinic. Not sure if she just got her face done or she’s there for a follow up, but almost her whole face was bandaged, leaving only eyes and mouth visible. It wasn’t a pleasant sight to be honest and it was hard to take that image of my mind even until now.

The taxi driver dropped us at SM Ent building and I take photos lol.

We left SM Ent through the new Apgujeongrodeo subway line and boy I was surprised. The underground walkway to the subway was luxurious unlike the subway we’ve been before.

It was still too early to go to COEX for another Legally Blonde so we decided to go to Itaewon for lunch. We had more Bunggeoppangs and Turkish Kebab also Hotteok yum!

And then it was time for another play for lovely Jessica Jung’s Legally Blonde Musical. No other Girls’ Generation members visited the play this time. The play was fun like usual. One who watched can tell how much Jessica enjoys playing her part as Elle Woods and performing with the whole team. Her smile was radiant and she was so cheerful making everyone laugh with her witty lines. I fell for Jessica all over again. Like I said before, she’s amazing.

They gave orange juice at the end of the musical

After the musical, we rushed back to Myeongdong to meet up with the Kim family. Mr. Kim met with my sister through work and now his whole family already familiar with us. Their family drove all the way from Gwangju to meet with us. We were lost in Myeongdong lol. We can’t find Lotte Department Store even though we went there before. So while navigating through the crowd with the aid of a kind couple, we saw people filming, presidential candidates giving speeches and also this SNSD giant board.

When we finally met them, Mr. Kim treated us to lunch at Saffron Restaurant at Ibis Ambassador Hotel just across from Lotte. It’s my first time eating Arabic food and I love it! Gosh it’s probably the best meal I had while we were there.

Mr. Kim’s daughters were as usual, the eldest one who looks like After School Uee was so prim and proper while the younger one was being a princess and demanding this and that. Lol. I spoke Malay with her and she spoke Korean to me but idk how we managed to communicate. Haha.

Ahwon latching onto her father while our Princess Shiwon waits

After dinner, they treat us to coffee and then gave us presents each awww. It was handmade Korean dolls in traditional outfit and the boxes were hugeee. We’re not sure how to take it home lol.

After parting with the Kims, which the wife even shed tears as we said goodbye, (lol she said Koreans like to cry) we head down to Myeongdong for last minute shopping. We had a lot of fun hahaha.

The next day we woke up early in the morning to catch the shuttle bus to airport as our flight was around 9am. We managed not to exceed the maximum weight with our luggage yay. We checked in early and even have the time to get our tax refund.