Whether you prefer shopping with a street vendor, in traditional brick-and-mortar stores, or even underground (a totally different feeling altogether), it’s all here, and it’s all close. Here’s the kicker: it’s not even the biggest one! I’m saving Dongdaemon and Namdaemon when I have an entire day to spend (and a fair portion of a paycheck!)

Warning: This place is big enough that you’ll easily get lost. You almost certainly won’t end up where you started, and it may be difficult finding a given store without detective-like instincts or a very good sense of direction. Consider yourself warned.

You’ll get started by getting off the Myeong-dong subway station – almost any exit out of the Myeong-dong station will do, although I started off of exit 6. You’ll get sucked in almost immediately – there’s that much to see. It’s easy to get started – just walk along, take a left or right, and wander some more. You’ll find a wide array of clothing (mostly women’s – guys, we have to look a little harder but some good stuff is here), lingerie, food, drinks, and so on. As I warned you earlier, it’s easy to get lost within the shopping district, but you’ll know if you’re headed outside the area based on fewer people or shops around you…

You’ll also see regular traffic – cars can only make it onto a couple streets inside the shopping district, and those are mainly used to park. If needing to exit quickly, walk in a straight line until you reach the perimeter of the square, then walk around the perimeter until you see a subway station. At most that should take about 10 minutes.

A couple familiar names are around, including the Cold Stone Creamery (an excellent ice cream place) and the ubiquitous Starbucks (which has a lot of competition from places like the Coffee Bean and Tea, as well as Dunkin’ Donuts) (Myeongdong, 14 May 2008)

When you first enter a store, expect to be greeted, then followed and watched. Don’t worry, it’s not because they think you’ll try to steal something – the Korean culture is to wait on you, especially if you’re the only customer in the store. They’ll suggest items or point out their special deals or prices. At one store I noticed not one, but two employees go from ‘stocking mode’ to ‘customer mode’ – one to follow / watch me and one to man (woman?) the register. One side note: prices aren’t uniformly marked – just ask kugo olma (which basically means how much?), but don’t be surprised if they tell you in Korean! If you don’t understand, they can write numbers down or use fingers – most people have 10 to work with 🙂

Amidst the blocks of stores are enough jewelry and hair products to keep the ladies satisfied (or the lady in you, big boy). Plenty of earrings, necklaces and hair stuff, although it seemed a bit gaudy to me… Then again, I don’t wear earrings… or necklaces.. so judge for yourself. In most cases prices are usually set and aren’t often negotiated – but it never hurts to ask for a discount. If dealing with a street vendor, the chances are pretty good you’re speaking with the owner of the business. This chance goes up if they look slow or it’s later in the day. If they refuse to bargain you can always walk away and come back a little later to see if they reconsider.

As far as service inside stores go, I was very impressed. These kids – either high-school or college-aged – actually hustled making sure the seriously-shopping customer had help with sizes or selection. Maybe it’s because I’m a foreigner. but it didn’t seem to matter whether I was buying a 7,900 won (about $8) polo shirt or a 30,000 won (about $30) graphic t-shirt. I bought the former, by the way.

Come for a couple hours, then grab a bite to eat – it’s basically busy every night of the week after people get off work (between 6 and 8pm here). Speaking of food, the above are waffles on a stick, topped with syrup. A cheap and sweet snack, although a little unusual to an American.

I stopped by a Pizza Mall for dinner – a Korean take on pizza, which was surprisingly good. The place felt like a chain, complete with framed Italian records (a little tacky) and chairs anchored in place with the table. Good price and good service, plus the menu is in English and there’s a salad bar. A regular-sized pizza (about 9″ or 22cm in diameter) filled up one pretty hungry guy or could make a decent snack for two – to feed two people well, get the large.

An example of a street vendor setup – a pretty decent variety of stuff, with more magically stuffed away just in case they don’t have your color / size out. (Myeongdong, 14 May 2008)

Most of the stores and restaurants close between 10 and 11pm, but I suspect the street vendors are out as long as the people are. While there isn’t a club or bar ‘scene’ there are enough bars to serve you (sometimes bars are called ‘hof’s’ to advertise that they sell beer). If you decide to check out the bar scene, be aware that not every place sells every kind of alcohol, but they usually say what they serve on their front window.

On the whole, Myeong-dong is a fun place to shop – and even more fun with a friend or a group. Don’t expect to hear much English, as it’s not (yet) a big ‘tourist’ area for Americans. you may hear some Japanese spoken so often. It’s supposedly a place where Japanese tourists and businessmen come to shop, but I didn’t see many Japanese tonight. Unless you really enjoy fighting through packed crowds, avoid coming on a Friday or Saturday night.