Customized Shoes from Seongsu-dong

From my previous post in Seoul Weekend I mentioned that I had place an order on two pair of customized shoes in Seongsu-dong. The shoes finally came in. It took about 2 months to received my shoes. After placing an order the owner of the shop told us to come back on a certain date back to Seoul. She mentioned that she will send one pair of shoes to my apartment but she asked that we come back to the store to get the other pair just in case I needed to alter the shoe. Nothing was delivered to my apartment. My Korean friend was so excited for me to get the shoes so everytime she asked if it came I told her that it didn't come. She called the store like every week or so for me. I felt so bad but this shoe thing is not happening again.

As promised, my Korean friend and I went back on the certain date she told us to come. She was not there and the sales associate working at the time called her multiple times. She did not pick up. At this point, my head was boiling I was mad, taking a trip to Seoul is quite expensive for me and she did not deliver the product as she mentioned. She was all talk and full of bs..I felt like I was scammed but there were many customers that came to pick up their shoes that they ordered. That day for some reason she was not at the store at all, the day that she mentioned for us to come. This was RED flags!!!She should of have called to let us know not to come. From that point on my friend had called the shoe lady multiple times to ask her about my shoes. It took about another month and I finally received a package at my door. Here is the finally product of the Oxford.. It was more burgundy than dark drown which I choose. It fits great but I didn't get the chance to wear them out yet. But the photo above the burgundy shoes I really like a lot but I'll rate the comfort level once I get a chance to wear them.

XOXO,

Erika

Seoul Weekend

As I’m writing this post, I am sitting in the most tight-est awkward spot on the train...since I didn’t purchase the train tickets ahead of time, so the tickets were sold out. I had to stand for 2 hours…I just love to procrastinate... TT.. this is what I get for not buying it early…When I arrived at Seoul station, my friend came to pick me up from the station and took me to Wangsimi to Pink nails to get my natural eyebrows and eyeliner retouched since are appointment was at 3. The second time around, is called a touch up. It hurts like a b*&%$. When I first got it done, there was barely any pain, however the numbing cream did get into my eyes and that *&#@!!! stings. I was literally yelling, “Appa, Appa!!!” hahaha the tattoo technician laughed at me because she knew I couldn’t speak Korean. (J.F.Y.I “Appa” in Korean means hurt by the way.) It took only an hour and I was finished. I was happy with the results and my eyes and eyebrows were swollen for the day. After getting my touch up done, of course I wore a hat the entire day to hide my swollen eyes. We went to the popular Bong Chu Restaurant. The restaurant was packed and there was a line that was formed outside of the restaurant, but we decided to wait. We were both so hungry because we usually don’t eat breakfast.hahah..

The food was really good but it was spicy hot..it is one of those spicy Korean food,,haha..were you take one to three bites but if you take more than that, it gets spicier and spicier every bite.…it tastes very similar to Galbi-Jim but much spicier and it was with chicken. Of course, after lunch we had to get dessert… my favorite bubble tea, duh…duh..dun…“Gong cha”.  I got taro milk tea with pearls….so good!! I wanted to get another one but my eyes are definitely bigger than my stomach. I also tried Gong Cha’s Green Chou Chou for the first time. It was a roll cake that was really dense and the filling inside also was really dense like thick thick whip cream. However I didn't really like it even though it is a famous cake in Taiwan. It wasn't my cup of tea. Just because it's famous doesn't mean it is good all the time.

After are indulgences in sweets, we went to Seongsu-dong…why Seongsu-dong?...hahha well, the last time when I visited my friend she was talking about getting my shoes customized because it was so hard to find my shoe size. She herself bought 2 pairs of customized shoes from Tandy…she also has a difficult time finding shoes since her feet are too small...she is a size 5…baby feet!!! Lol…I happen to be the other way around….to big!!! And that is the sad part; Tandy didn’t make my shoe size they only go up to 290. However the sale rep. told us about Seongsu-dong, so he was forgiven. He was very helpful and that is when we decided to go to Seongsu-dong.

    

Seongsu-dong is the largest shoe place in Korea. In Seongsu-dong they have endless strips of shoe boutiques, customize shoe shops and shoe factories. Seongsu-dong is well known for best prices for customized shoes ranging from 100K-500K Won. I happen to walk into several shoe shops but most of the sale associates said they don’t know if they were able to make my shoe sizes…and they would get back to us later…so I was a bit disappointed. After walking around Seongsu-dong, we came across Kimme Shoes. The sale associate was great. My Korean friend did all the talking. I was glad that she was there because I wouldn’t be able to get this far. The sale associate was super nice and she took down my foot measurements. My shoe size in women is a size 13 W. My feet are a bit weird. I have arched feet but when I walk, my feet becomes super flat… Even in the states, it is really hard finding my shoe sizes and I usually wear men shoes, but when I buy men shoes I’m a size 12 or 12 W. At Kimme’s shoe store, I picked up two pairs of shoes one is a dark cognac oxford and a burgundy flat with a cute bow tie to finish it off.  She said it would take up to 2 weeks. The sale rep said after making my feet mold, she said it would be easier for me to purchase more shoes. I don’t know about getting anymore, two pair of shoes was enough for me. My bank account is looking really sad right now, but I am super excited to check out my new customized shoes. In two weeks…babyyy!!!

After Seongsu-dong, we had dinner at Kind Octopus!!! 

 Most Delicious Octopus Jun I ever had!!!

Cold soup to cool down are blazing hot mouth..

********************************NEXT DAY***************************************

 

The next day, we got up a little late. We ended up going to a few more places before I had to go back to my little town in Korea. We went to my favorite shopping mall, Garden 5 plaza, and a jewelry store. One Sterling Time (OST) and had lunch. This time around I really didn’t buy much since I spent a butt load of money on two pair of shoes. I wanted to get some sweaters but they range from 30K-50K for knitted sweaters. I remember that I have so many in the states that I didn’t want to get any…I didn’t bring them because the weight limit issue. I was worried about bringing all my candy, coffee, necessities and personal care. IF ONLY IF I KNEW!!!…. They had it in Korea…everything would have been so much more easier, honestly… I will do a what you should pack guide for Korea hahaha… seriously… to help others..if you are going to be teaching in South Korea..Time flew by so fast this weekend that I literally felt like I just arrived and now I’m going back home. I had a great weekend with my friend catching up with her and her gossip at work… I’m so grateful that I meet such good friends in college… My friend was again super nice and took me to Seoul Station…and I gave her a giant hug and off I went on the train back to my little town…<3 <3 <3 xoxo-chuiee