November 07, 2009. Our first night in Seoul was spent walking around Namdaemun Market and Myeongdong. I had wanted to look around the rows of camera shops in Namdaemun, hoping to buy new lens for my camera, so I suggested a trip to Namdaemun Market that night. We couldn’t locate the shops, however, and we eventually ended up in Seoul’s Myeongdong district.

Myeongdong is one of Seoul’s shopping districts featuring brand name shops in the mid to high-level prices. As we were looking for bargains, we didn’t go shopping. We just had dinner at a popular pizza restaurant chain in Korea. Myeongdong also seems to be where students and yuppies hang out, as most of the people who swarmed the streets were young people in trendy clothes. It feels like one large high-end open-air mall with a vibrant night life.

Not surprisingly, Myeongdong, Seoul also claims to be the ninth most expensive shopping street in the world in terms of floorspace rents.