Friday, May 16, 2008

KR Travelogue Day5h: The Conversationalist, Bow!!

The old man whom Lawrence was talking to stood up and the latter motioned for us to follow them. Hmm, I wonder what Lawrence is looking for. Prickled with intrigue, I hurried up to catch up with them. Once beside Lawrence, I was able to confirm that niggling feeling that the man was leading us into another money changer. Ggggreaaa----NO!! I don’t want to raise my hopes again. For all I know it could be another closed one.

Three minutes of walking in that cold and gray December night and I noticed that we’re heading towards one of the most decorated malls of Dong Dae Mun. Hey, this is the very first one we entered and no one from here was able to point us to what we’re looking for. But when they pushed the glass door open and I saw that white stall on the left with a lady in there, my heart surged. Yes, it’s an OPEN money changer!!

That man was an absolute saint!! It was hard to believe that I’d only met him that time – not minding the fact that he’s a touch over sixty or so – because I thought I was in love with him. Hahaha!! I checked the wall clock and it said it’s 11 PM. Oh goodness, where have we been going all this time?? I turned around to thank the old man but he’s gone. I thought he’d just spread out his wings and flew away. Really, he’s heaven sent. Ü

With thousands of dollars popping in my wallet, I can feel overexcitement rising through me. It’s true when they say, there’s light at the end of the tunnel or that there’s a rainbow after the storm. Wahaha!! Forget Samuel, I’m going to go shopping!! Get ready!! :P

Like I said, we already made a quick round on this first floor earlier and while it’s true I found lots of interesting clothes, they’re all too winter-y. Like, it’s not gonna be useful for the Philippine weather – even in the coldest December. Hello, stylish trench coats!! Although I promised myself that I will buy a very Korean-ish top to serve as a remembrance from this fashionable country, I want to buy first for my aunts, moms and friends. How thoughtful. ^_^ Up we made it into the 2nd floor and I noticed that it is still a women’s clothes section. I’ve inspected each and every store but still I can’t find anything. If there’s any, they’re way too expensive. Hehe. Lawrence and Dien have been closely ambling behind me and in all fairness they were very patient with me. Surely, they’ve already lived through their girlfriend’s shopping moments and the scrupulousness of it all. :P I noticed I’ve been quiet all the while (Gee, I didn’t realize I was that serious when shopping haha!!) so I tried to open up some conversation specially when we passed by a cosmetics section.

“You know what I’m so curious why Koreans have a lot of these beauty cosmetics – moisturizers and all. They don’t have to – they already have great skins!” Even in my words there’s no denying that I’m irritated that these races (Chinese and Koreans) have very great skin. I mean come on, I’m an Asian too. :P

The two slid into muteness probably in agreement or still reeling from what I said.

“But of course they need these moisturizers!! It’s the weather!! It’s not good for their skin!” Lawrence explained to me as though I’m a complete moron.

Oh right!! Why haven’t I thought of that??

“So why haven’t you chosen anything yet?” Lawrence asked.

“I don’t know. There are really a lot of stuffs I like but then I can’t really give them to my friends back home you know. For example, this cloth (pointing to a wool coat). This will have to undergo dry cleaning in the Phils in order to get clean and that’s very expensive. They can’t appreciate that. Now I’m wondering how Koreans go about cleaning their clothes. I mean if it’s always in the form of dry cleaning then that’s not good.”

“For sure they’ve devised some ways in order to clean their clothes maybe dry cleaning is cheaper here I don’t know. But for sure they’ve got it figured out.” Lawrence confidently replied.

Strike two!! I’m pissed. He’s been making me feel like a moron and I hate it – but somehow I liked it. Weird.

“You know what, I hate you!! I hate it when you’ve got the answers to all my questions!” Oops, I hadn’t meant to say it aloud but it had slipped. Besides, I was enjoying that moment. :P

“And you know what also, you can ask me anything under the sun and I can probably explain it all to you. But there’s only one thing I cannot understand – PMS!” Dien slightly amused watching this dog-cat fireworks show. :P

Hmm, witty reply!! I’m impressed!! I smiled and I wasn’t able to counteract anymore. I recalled the reason why I liked this guy before. Yeah, you shouldn’t have missed my SG travelogue. :P His amazing wit made me realize how important it is to find someone who’s more than what the looks could offer. Someone whom you can just talk to or debate with for long hours with just about any topic under the sun. Someone who can even make me feel dumb and yet I won’t care two hoots about it. But then I remembered also what I found out about him last Monday (Day 1) and I was certain it can’t be him. Nope, can’t be.

If my memory served me right, 3rd floor was surprisingly for the men’s wear. I don’t know since when was this coz I know for a fact that all malls in the Philippines dedicate their first floors to men. 4th floor – babies section. 5th floor – accessories and yet I came out with none from there. No fairly priced bags for Mom and Tita, boohoo!! 6th – fabrics and 7th – souvenirs section. We stayed here longer coz Lawrence wants to finish his gift list. He’s already leaving at 6 AM tomorrow. We found some Samsung chocolates!!! And I walked away with a very cute mirror for my girlfriend Lisa and űber-cute figurines as well that I’ve been hesitating to buy a while ago at Everland coz of its price. How cute are they?? Very much inspired by one of my favorite Korean drama – Goong (Princess Hours). Instead of 25,000 KRW in Everland, I got it for 14,000 KRW here. :P Funny how I've got too much money in my hands and I'm being tight-fisted about it.

2nd floor

as to how yummy are these - i can't tell. I didn't buy. :P

my very cute figurines

I thought I can still go back to the street stalls I found a while ago but I have to be considerate. It’s past 12 when we left the mall and Lawrence had to be up in about 4 hours later. While I was certain that the poor navigator me can manage alone, the weather made it impossible. Beside's I've got a whole day tomorrow. Taxis here are giving fixed rates at nights like this (and you thought extortionate taxi drivers exist only in the Phils?) and after many tries Lawrence yielded to this black cab just so we can all have our rest from this tiresome day. Because of exhaustion, I wasn’t able to give him my goodbye hug before he went into his room which is just next to mine and after doing my night regimen, I was out like a light.

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