Myeongdong

I had a lunch of jeonbokjuk (abalone porridge) at a stall in the market. It was delicious. I explored the nearby City Hall metro station shopping arcade. These underground arcades are convenient for commuters and provide shelter from the weather for the shops.

Above ground is the architecturally impressive Seoul City Hall with the old one in front. In front of them is a plaza.

Rubber matting lined the ground and roadies were setting up for an event while citizens enjoyed the fresh air. I myself had a bit of nap time on the matting, using my daypack as a pillow.

Across the avenue is the Daehanmun, which is the entrance to Deoksugung, one of the royal palaces, which I didn't explore.

This was a curiosity I found in one of the entrances to the walkway between City Hall and Eujiro-1 ga subway stations, piano stairs. When you tread on a step, photoelectric sensors will trigger the corresponding note to play. If you do a search for "piano stairs Seoul" you will find YouTube videos of it in action. Apparently there's another one in the Express Bus station.

I spent some time walking down the main shopping street of Myeongdong. Lot of expensive brands and willing shoppers.

The Shinsegae department store, which is near the Namdaemun markets, anchors one end of the shopping district. I bought some persimmons in the basement supermarket there as they were in season, tasty and reasonably priced. I also bought some imported muesli to supplement my breakfast fibre.

The Pokémon GO fad had also reached Seoul.