The Empty Tunnel of the Day!

It felt weird when I was passing through this tunnel, whose ceiling was decorated with shiny crystals and its walls decorated with photographs of Korean actors and K-pop celebrities, who were trying to outshine both each other and the glitter of the colored crystals above.

This is the tunnel at the back entrance of the Lotte Department Store in Myeongdong, Seoul. It's also the path if you wanted to take a short-cut to the duty-free shops on the 10th and 9th floors of the building.

Before the MERS crisis, this place was always full of tourists having their photos taken with the celebrities at the background, a 'V' sign with their right hand, and their duty-free shopping bags on their left.

Today, there's nobody here. It felt weird that nobody was competing for a photo with a celebrity, and even weirder that not even Choi Jiwoo, 2PM and other K-pop celebrities (or at least their photos) could convince tourists to return to Korea and shop again.

The bright side? For now, you can have the tunnel and the celebrities all to yourself, and you'll no longer compete for the attention of the salesladies when you go shopping at the duty-free shop. Let's see when this tunnel gets crowded again.

Last-Minute Christmas Shopping In Seoul!

It's the my last weekend in Seoul before I fly to the tropics, and I still have a few errands to do. Luckily, Myeong-dong, where I think I need to get my pasalubong (presents) from, is just a bus ride from Hannam-dong.

But once you step into Myeong-dong, all these shops will tempt you with their bright Christmas lights, decorations and 'SALE' posters! Fortunately, I don't fall for those. I already have my shopping list and I know exactly where to go. Ha-ha-ha!

I guess some shoppers, who get mesmerized with all these 'SALE' signs plastered with blinking lights, just go into the shops and surrender their plastics, as if under a hypnotic spell, at the check-out counter with a shopping bag full of their own presents and memories of Christmas shopping in Myeong-dong. 

But for me, it's always practical to head to the duty-free shops since I would be flying out of the country anyway. The things I need are all there, and they got a sale, too! I just would have to remember to pick up my shopping items at the Incheon International Airport before I get on my flight home on Wednesday!

So, if you want to get hypnotized and mesmerized, while winterized, you know where to go!