N and Out

Towers N' Things

Today's update is brought to you by the letter "N". N'other stuff too, but let's start with N, N-Tower in Seoul that is! Located on Namsan Mountain, N-Seoul-Tower is the second tallest point in Seoul, and boy is it a sight to behold. Only accessible via cable car, the tower is home to merchants, thousands of love-locks, and many many tourists; I've probably seen more white people today than I have on my whole trip thus far.

A quick breakfast and we're off to Seoul. I asked Jo Jo how she would describe the road trip. "Long and sleepy" she says. If you ask me it beats LA traffic... but not by much. Come with me to explore Seoul N and out!

Love Locks!

A lot of them...

And fire beacons

You know, from the olden days

But first, the cable car

While I did record a video of the cable car ride, I made the small mistake of taping it upside down... so just take it from me that it was a sight to behold. Lucky for you I had my head screwed on straight by the time I arrived at the top of N Tower. Mr. Lee pointed out a lone, classically oriental house with a blue roof. He says that the president of South Korea lives there! Apparently, it's their version of the white house.

After taking a litany of pictures, Mr. Lee treated us to candy from the tower stall. If that wasn't enough, he bought me a souvenir shirt! After a hasty costume change at the top of N-Tower, I discovered that I fit snugly into a Korean XXL T-Shirt!

Gulp

I made it!

And now the spoils! coffee and candy

And a great view to match

Energizer Bunny

Keep going

Some sort of Exhibit

Aww Sweet

Abandon all money ye who enter here

It's hard to describe just how strange it was to walk into what I thought was a subway, only to find an enormous underground shopping facility. It was not just any shopping facility, no. In fact I even struggle to call it a mall... It was more like a winding bazaar filled with eclectic time travelers. All stores were locally owned, and in every direction was a mile-long corridor with too many shops to count. As we made our way through the underground, we passed two store owners yelling and gesturing to each other. They were both tugging at a broken purse string, shooting each other accusatory fingers and looks that could kill. On the way up the escalator, out of the heated argument, Mrs. Lee told us they were fighting over a customer. I guess every one counts?

As we made our way out of the vast shopping scape, we were met with an even grander one! This time: Myeongdong. From what I understand, this is where most of the tourist hotels are located, and it's no wonder. There are food stalls as far as the eye can see, shops upon shops upon shops, and the pure chaos and randomness means there could always be some nugget of gold behind the next corner. If golds not your thing, try grabbing some fresh squeezed orange juice in a pouch. Maybe some candied strawberries on a stick? No, i'm not joking, they have those, and yes they're delicious.

Myeongdong

More Blues Brothers! I guess they must be pretty popular around here

We stopped for a rest in this awesome... egg shop? I don't know what it's called, but they had cool stuff

Always room for one more

Pictured below is the restaurant Mr.Lee's mom used to take him to when he was a young boy. JoJo says she remembers coming here too when she was a child, so I'm happy to be apart of the delicious tradition. They make some good chicken.