Myeongdong

Myeongdong, essentially the equivalent of the Causeway Bay district in Hong Kong or the Shibuya ward of Tokyo, is one of the major shopping and tourist areas of Seoul. Here, you can find many department stores, shops, restaurants, noraebang (aka karaoke), roadside street-food vendors and even Samsung Fashion!

As you walk into the thick of the Myeongdong district, you'll see similarities to many other crowded asian metropolises like Tokyo or Hong Kong with the huge amounts of signage, advertising and people everywhere.

One of the things I really miss about Asian markets is the street food. There's so many booths surrounding various markets in Seoul and there's so many different types of snacks you don't even know what to try!

Here's another shot of the shopping district with a view from the south end of Myeongdong of N Seoul Tower in the distance on Mount Namsan.

Having walked around for a bit, I decided to take a short break inside one of the numerous cafes in the area to grab a delicious, green tea ice cream snack.

Here's a view of one of the Myeongdong alleyways from SM Entertainment's Everysing Noraebang. Since this was a weekday afternoon, the streets weren't too crowded but I can just imagine how bad it could get on a weekend evening.

One of the stands I passed by was selling super, super tall ice cream, great for a day like today.

Passed by some more food stands like this one selling sausage (and eating some more =P) before finally leaving the area. Definitely would've been awesome if I got to walk around the area a bit more before leaving =( I'll definitely need to try out some other noraebang and restaurants in the area next time!

For those looking to get to Myeongdong, the region is easily accessible from the Euljiro-1 metro station at the north end and from Myeongdong station from the south. The general district itself is pretty walkable with lots of shops and restaurants to see. So leave plenty of time for a visit especially if shopping is your plans!