Korea DAY 11: (Pt. 2) Times Square/Shinsaegae

Read Part 1 HERE !

​As we kept walking along the corridors of the Yeongdeungpo Underground Shopping Mall, we eventually arrived at drastically more modern building. Named "Times Square", it housed five floors of attractions, with majority of the eateries located on the B1 or B2 levels.

​I could detect a sense of relief from my browsing partner, who regarded uncertainty and aimless wandering in a wholly negative light discordant with my views.

​Into the air-conditioned corridors of the nearby food hub we would wander. The front section of the market housed an alluring assortment of mandu and shimmering jokbal that had me salivating.

Neither small platters nor single serving portions were provided, and so I turned to my browsing partner for support. Jokbal and traditional Korean eats had been the original aim of revisiting Sillim/Shinwon Market anyway.
"We should look around more." came the infuriating response.
I refused to compromise my desires any further and replied in outrage. "No, you always want to keep looking and looking. Eating time will pass and I'll be hungry and never get to eat the things I actually wanted!" This time I was adamant. "You can keep exploring, but I'm going to eat what I want since it's the last day and I deserve at least this."

​We parted ways as a result of differing desires, with me immediately committing to a portion of jokbal that was knowingly too large for one meal. While I wasn't keen on carrying leftovers for the rest of the day, I simply could not allow my last meal in Seoul to be dismal.

​As expected, the coveted item was as glorious as could be: rich in collagen, positively brimming with umami, and a delectable contrast of flavours and textures. Even the sewoojeot, a condiment that was usually salty and dimensionless back home, was delicious. In place of fishiness was an enjoyable brininess. The sauces contributed complexity, while the romaine and perilla leaves a refreshing crunch.

Admittedly, I was quite impressed with my own stomach capacity, though I didn't succeed in depleting the tray's contents.

​Visitors were spotted sorting their trash and refilling water bottles nearby. I followed suit, then wondered why this type of discipline was nonexistent in North America. Any public gathering space permitting dining was guaranteed to be dirty, sticky, and littered with trash. 

Once my solo lunch was concluded, I head out for a quick saunter about the vicinity. The extravagance of Korea's many malls makes them impossible to explore in a matter of hours, for even walking from one end of the shopping centre to another would involve at least thirty minutes (or an hour for the round trip).

​In a dire attempt to locate KANU coffee, I made a beeline for emart, only to learn that grocery store was closed on Sundays. The last day of the week was ostensibly inconvenient for roaming the city.

​I found my browsing partner in a different section of the food hall. Part grumbling and part residually annoyed (for no good reason), I was informed: "I want ice cream."
Raising an eyebrow, I found the request odd, but nonetheless began to scan the proximity for related vendors. Alas, the indecisiveness of my browsing partner had me stomping away once more.

When I returned and joined the queue for Baekmidang (百味堂), it was learned that a soft serve affogato had been ordered to quench my declared need for a "drink". But my cravings were far from a milky, sweet, temperature-sensitive caffeinated concoction.

​And so, the Soft Serve Latte was pushed away as I dipped the spoon into the vanilla-chocolate swirl soft serve. The formula was creamy and gratifying, but a tad too heavy after a hearty meal of jokbal.

Of course, the latte was sampled as well, but in small amounts. It was with astonishment that the Japanese ice cream parlour was found to offer the best coffee, espresso-wise, over the entire trip. Meanwhile, 곁에 would reign strong for their pour-over and filter varieties.

​My browsing partner began to eye the entry area of the adjacent specialty food market, but it was up to me to shut down the inkling of desire to wander. I warned that we needed to be on our way back in order to retrieve our luggage and catch our flight.

​Retracing our steps back towards Yeongdeungpo station, we boarded Line 1 back to Guro via Sindorim.

​The pedestrian overpass provided an entirely different view of the surface-level passenger cars compared to nighttime.

Another unspoken bucket list for the trip was trying the infamous "ice cup beverages".

On our way back to the hotel, I pointed towards 7-Eleven. There, I'd obtain an extra-large cup of ice and two drink packets to soothe my soul in the face of rising temperatures.

The pairing of Iced Americano Black (since there are sweetened and milky editions) and Shine Muscat Ade yielded somewhat off-putting visuals, mainly in the Mountain Dew-like hue of the latter component. Regardless, the drink was invigorating and adequately icy to combat the unexpected late spring heat. Artificial shine muscat notes could be deemed overpowering though, as coffee in Korea is generally bland.

Recall my mention of The Link being a venue for weddings and business conferences. When we returned to the hotel to retrieve our luggage, the lobby was brimming with wedding guests and young adults clad in suits. There was a small buffer between our return and requesting a taxi to the airport, but customers who had checked out were unable to reside in the lobby without first making a purchase at the lounge bar. Two members of staff eyed us uncomfortably, eventually leading to our expulsion to the outdoor waiting area. It was unbelievable that treatment varied so drastically between active hotel guests and those that had checked out just hours prior.

The stone planters outside doubled as bench seating. While we observed tour buses travel to and from the parking area immediately east of the hotel, neither of us could deny the horrendous sewer stench that filled the air. The issue lay with potential insufficiency of storm and sanitary sewer capacity, or the pipes being buried too shallow beneath the grade level.

Rapidly downing the rest of my XL beverage, I urged my browsing partner to summon an Uber for our trip to the airport. Once again, we'd need to make haste; traversing across Seoul was a time-consuming journey.
The taxi driver pulled up in a sedan, then gazed in awe at the amount of luggage in tow. This wasn't the first time receiving such a response, nor did I believe transporting the entirety of it was unfeasible. My browsing partner seemed strangely apologetic, though I disagreed with the need to feel sorry for above-average luggage counts.

​The journey to Incheon Airport approximated one hour. Over the course of this trip, I dozed off gently. Congestion levels were higher than expected for a late Sunday afternoon, making for sluggish (read: controlled) movements on the freeway.

Read Part 3 HERE !