Myeongdong (명동)

The last night before leaving Seoul, we went to the long-awaited place that I longing to go and is all ladies heaven - Myeongdong (명동). It is arguably Seoul’s trendiest shopping district and a place to hunt for mid-level fashion and beauty items. 

This place really have tons of beauty items! You name it and you get it! And the best part purchasing from all these shops is you got lotsa of freebies compared to in Malaysia. Even for just 1 or 2 items for a very small amount, they do give freebies as well! They will try to attract you to go into their shops with a small freebie, like 1 piece of facial mask or nice pen.

Etude House, Holika Holika

The Face Shop, TonyMoly

Nature Republic, It's Skin

Missha

Laneige

You can get some discounted good quality fashions but you need to spot it and checkout each shops. I manage to find a great deal for a "Made In Korea" skirt for only KRW 10,000 (~RM30)!

 

And when its closer to late evening and at night, the crowd in Myeogdong started picking up and you can see more stalls and hawkers started to setup in the middle of pavement.

Accessories stalls

Getting more crowded

More photos of the crowd at nite

Scarfs stall

In Myeongdong, the two main drags meet in the center of the block with one beginning from Myeongdong Subway Station (Seoul Subway Line No. 4) and the other from Lotte Department Store at Euljiro. 

Myeongdong Underground Shopping Center

Myeongdong also has family restaurants, fast food, plus Korean, Western and Japanese dining options. Many restaurants in Myeongdong specialize in pork cutlet (donkas) and kalguksu (thick noodles). 

Restaurants

They have Cafe Nescafe too

Other businesses include hair salons, banks and theaters. Checkout my other post about Nanta Show @ Myeongdong.

Address: 30, Eulji-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul-s

Directions:

[Subway]
Myeongdong Station (Seoul Subway Line 4), Exit 5, 6, 7, or 8.
Euljiro Il-ga Station (Seoul Subway Line 2), Exit 5.

Website: http://tour.junggu.seoul.kr (Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese, Russian)  

*Check here for the summary of my 2012 Korea+Jeju Trip itinerary.

Nanta Show @ Myeongdong

It was a day before we left Seoul, we watched 5pm Nanta Show in Myeongdong.

Myeongdong Theatre

NANTA Ticket Box

The Myeong Dong Nanta Theatre has 386 seats and is located at the Unesco Building, 3 level.

Initially the tour itinerary was to watch "Marionette" show, but since the tour guide managed to get the tickets for Nanta, he strongly recommend us to watch this instead of "Marionette" so that majority of the tour group ppl won't fall asleep.

Cookin NANTA Show

Personally I enjoy the show as I really feel amazed how they able to cook, and all of them performed with the rhythm so accurately. Must be lotsa of extensive training and practices to achieve such standard. And, they able to get all the audiences to interact with them too! And during the show, I sat next to the guy in my tour group..which I find him so serious and never smile at all. I hardly heard him talking or smile also even to his wife. But surprisingly, during the whole show..I heard him laughing there enjoying the show. Needless to say, cool and serious ppl oso can laugh, what do you think? And..dun worry about language barrier because the show involves only creative use of kitchen utensils and acrobatic performance.

So, what is this show about and why it's so famous?

About Nanta

'NANTA' is a non-verbal performance of free rhythmical movements that dramatize customary Korean percussions in a strikingly comedic stage show. Integrating unique Korean traditional drumbeats in a western performance style, NANTA storms into a huge kitchen where four capricious cooks are preparing a wedding banquet. While cooking, they turn all kinds of kitchen items - pots, pans, dishes, knives, chopping boards, water bottles, brooms and even each other- into percussion instruments. 

Enormous audience had broken the theater window?
Since the first performance on the 10th of October in 1997, this world famous NANTA has been drawing the largest number of audience in Korean stage history. The record-breaking show has broadened its stage from Seoul and Jeju Island in Korea to Broadway, NY, and to the world. NANTA hits the world with countless encores from 7,700,000 spectators of 24,500 shows in 278 cities, 42 countries.

A frying pan, a water bottle, a pot, a chopping board, a knife ..a musical instrument?
In NANTA, Knives and other kitchen utensils are transformed into musical instruments in the hands of the performers. The haunting and heart-stirring music based upon Korean Samulnori rhythms of Jajinmori, Utdari, Puneori, etc., combined with five distinctive characters! Comic explosion! NANTA still grows everyday to become better production, more entertaining performance. The only and the best entertaining performance with a high energy, easy-watching experience, infectious rhythm and non-verbal humor that cuts through both age and international barriers. It's NANTA.

Synopsis:

An excellent cook, but the unmanly HEAD CHEF, a very sexy, masculine SEXY GUY, and the powerful, sassy, the only woman cook, HOT SAUCE! The three attractive, characteristic chefs start their day.Washing vegetable, carrying meat loafs, setting fire, cooks at NANTA kitchen is about to begin their busy job as always, then the ill-natured manager orders them to prepare 10 wedding ceremony menus, along with his little nephew, in just an hour. Suddenly the kitchen is thrown into turmoil and the cooks become wild as they chop, beat and stir in an attempt to meet the deadline. The wedding ceremony is at 6 o'clock and it is at hand! Will the NANTA cooks complete the preparation on time?

Word of advice: Recommended show if you haven't watch it before but remember to avoid aisle seats :-)

A short video clip I found online on this show:

Duration of Show: 1.5 hours

Nanta Official Website: http://nanta.i-pmc.co.kr/nanta/en/intro.aspx

Ticket Price: ranging from KRW 40,000 to 60,000 (which is about RM120 to RM180)
Tips: You’ll get 10% discount when you purchase the ticket online 

Myeongdong Nanta Theatre
Unesco Building 3F, 50-14, Myeong Dong 2 Ga, Jung Gu, Seoul
386 seats (VIP:119 seats, S:156 seats, A:111 seats)
14:00, 17:00, 20:00 on Monday ~ Sunday & Holiday

Getting Here: Myeongdong Station (subway line 4) Exit 6 or Euljiro Ipgu Station (subway line 2) Exit 5,6

Other Theater Location: Hongdae, Gangbuk Jeong Dong, Jeju

*Check here for the summary of my 2012 Korea+Jeju Trip itinerary.