It was after the secret garden tour at
Cheongdeokgung that DramaQueen suggested going to
Apujeong to visit a famous café there… To be more precise, it was the
Kona Beans Apgujeong Store (opened and operated by the mothers of Super Junior members). So armed with the subway map and
instructions on how to get there, we made our way to the
Apujeong MRT station. The instructions seemed simple enough, but we never found the place and ended up walking for at least 2 hours (haha). Nevertheless, it was an interesting 2 hour walk as we walked past quirky cafes, boutiques (vintage, local, imported etc…), restaurants and the
Hyundai Department Store, as well as the
Galleria.
 |
| Poem to read while waiting for the train |
Although seemingly architecturally the same as the rest of Seoul, Apgujeong has its own luxurious feel with famous department stores and luxury brands. Apujeong is located within Gangnam and is famed as a hangout place where celebrities and models reside and hang out, alongside entertainment companies such as SM Entertainment. What intrigued me the most about Apujeong was the number of plastic surgery centers and advertisements that promoted plastic surgery: from the moment we arrived at the mrt station and made our way out, all the way to our nice little stroll along the streets of Apujeong nearby.
 |
| Suzy's Advertisement |
 |
| A little plastic anyone? |
Random Thoughts: With the advertisements and strategic positioning of the clinics, so much emphasis was on external appearances and plastic surgery that it is no wonder it has become a norm to strive to be ‘beautiful’, allowing people to have unrealistic expectations/standards of beauty. Beautifying oneself is a perfectly normal thing. But when one feels inferior to what is considered the norm of being beautiful, no matter how much changes (and surgeries), if a person is not happy (and/or satisfied) with the way they look, there will be no end to it.
 |
| Shops, banks and more |
 |
| Restaurant with an interesting name |
 |
| Clinics, clinics, clincs |
 |
| Hotel |
Besides the prominent plastic surgery clinics, advertisements and dermatologist clinics scattered throughout, the little stroll made me take notice of the cars that were in the area. Maybe it was because it was in an upscale local where celebrities are (and can be spotted) and/ or that most of the cars were driving at a leisurely speed, but more than 80% of the cars (that drove past us) around this area had extremely dark tinted windows. The shade of tinted glass is darker than what we would normal see in Singapore and considering the location; it does make one wonder who is in the car with windows tinted so dark driving past (lol).
When travel collides with a byte, a unit of information made up of bits, TravelBytez is formed: snippets of ramblings on travel, food, shopping, living and anything else that comes to mind.
0 comments :
Post a Comment