It was Seoul again for us after our stay in Jeju Island. We truly were pleased that we had three and a half days to spend in the Korean capital to sightsee, discover, and explore. For this leg of our trip, we stayed at the Lotte City Hotel in Myeongdong.

During our previous two trips to Korea years ago, we stayed in Gangnam, the Korean capital's super elegant and upscale district. After watching many You Tube videos by travelers to Seoul, we decided to stay elsewhere and were we happy we did. Myeondong was surely the best place to be since it was in the middle of all the sights and shopping.

After lunch, we made our way to COEX Mall in Gangnam. I wanted to see the area we used to stay in during our previous two visits. Another reason why I wanted to return was to see the Starfield Library. I get the impression it was made famous by Instagrammers because it was exactly in IG where I first saw a picture of it. The mall looked totally different from the way I remembered it. It looked less upscale and more utilitarian this time. We did see the Hyundai Department Store. It was still there. My partner and I used to frequent the big food court here for lunch and dinner. That was gone. I originally thought there were several floors. I don't think there were more than two this time. I got to buy two winter coats at the equivalent of $40 a piece. One gray wool jacket and a full length winter coat. I realized later on, I could only wear the latter in a very cold place and not in San Francisco where winters are so mild. We also had dinner in one Korean restaurant where we ate shrimp with soft tofu soup and white rice and a beef bowl.

By the time we returned to Myeongdong, it was peak hour, after 6 pm, and the subway trains were packed with office workers. We went back to the hotel to drop my purchases and then went to Lotte Dept. Store although just briefly. It was nearly 8 pm and it was near closing time. We decided to explore the street markets and finally ended the day buying some snacks from one 7-11 convenience store we passed. It was a long and tiring first full day back but we were happy, very happy to be in Seoul once again.