A Heaven For K-Pop Lovers
K-Pop lovers, are you ready to hunt for everything about your favorite K-Pop artists ? I’ll bring you to the ‘heaven’ for K-Pop lovers, Myeongdong Underground Shopping Center. Myeongdong is well-known as the hippest spot for youngsters in Korea. You won’t find any days off in Myeongdong. It’s always crowded! To reach Myeongdong Underground Shopping Center, take subway all the way to Myeongdong station. Then get out at exit 5,6, or 7 and you can see the heaven I mean. You can see many stores selling K-Pop artists’ merchandises, albums,etc.
The first time I visited this place, It was like losing my mind and totally confused about where to start. I could see Super Junior’s (my favorite boyband )posters, merchandises, light sticks, etc. Don’t worry if you don’t find the merchandises or albums you want, because there is so many stores all over Myeongdong. So you can search all over for your ‘treasures’. I went inside one of the stores and found bracelets with Super Junior members’ names on it. I bought myself a bracelet with Choi Siwon’s name. It cost me 2.000 won. I also got Super Junior’s Postcard Set + Stickers ( 4.000 won ) and Choi Siwon and Lee Min Ho’s clear files ( 1.500 – 2.000 won each ~ if I’m not mistaken ). A good thing shopping in this place is that you can bargain for the things you want to buy. Some shopkeepers can speak Konglish or clear English, but It’d be better if you could speak Korean, so they can understand what you mean. At that time, I wanted to buy Super Junior’s 6th Repackaged Album, Spy. I tried to knock the price down , but I’m not good at bargaining, so i just got 1.000 won discount. Well, not lucky enough though, but the price is very reasonable compared to other stores outside Myeongdong.
You can get K-Pop artists’ official merchandise, such as posters or light sticks. The price is quite decent too. The more products you buy or if you’re just simply lucky, the shopkeepers will give you small gifts. Pretty good, huh?
Ah, if you stay for a long term in Korea, you may need a T-Money card as a transportation card. It’s better to have a T-Money card with your favorite idol’s picture on it. But of course, the card price is more expensive than the regular card price. The regular T-Money card costs 2.500 won. But this special T-Money card costs 10.000 won then you can put balance on your card in Seven Eleven stores or in any convenient stores which have the T- Money top up service.
Not only Korean fans visit this place,International fans are hunting for their beloved K-pop in this place also. When I was there, I could hear some Japanese and Chinese fans talking while choosing the stuffs they want to buy there. So wherever you are now, if you want to get K-Pop merchandises and original albums with affordable prices, Myeongdong Shopping Underground Center is the best place for hunting K-Pop stuffs. After purchasing K-Pop stuffs, you can go around the other stores and you’ll find many stores selling the latest fashion trends. Then you can make over your style to be more like K-Pop artists.