the first mall in seoul 19:48

The first department store in Seoul was the Gyeongseong Branch of Mitsukoshi (三越京成支店), built in 1930 and designed by Japanese architect Hayashi Kouhei. It is one of the few structures that actually survived the Korean War. In 1963, the Samsung group took over the building and began the Shinsegae Department Store (신세계 백화점) and in 2007, it was remodeled with escalators.

During the colonial era, this department store was one of two Western-style buildings that ordinary Koreans could enter (the other being Seoul Station). It is here that concepts such as 'modern boy' and 'modern girl' entered the vocabulary of young Korean people.

A view of it today at night

During Christmas

 In 1914, Japan opened its first Mitsukoshi in Nihonbashi in Tokyo modeled after department stores in London (Harrod's) and Paris (Le Bon Marché). Sixteen years later, the Seoul branch would open.

Harrods in London, 1898

Le Bon Marché, 1850

the most economically powerful cities 21:52

1) London, England.
GDP: 452 billion. population: 8,567,000.
2) Hong Kong, China.
GDP: 244 billion. population: 7,206,000.
3) New York, USA.
GDP: 1.13 trillion. population: 19,040,000.
4) Tokyo, Japan.
GDP: 1.19 trillion. population: 35,676,000.
5) Chicago, USA.
GDP: 460 billion. population: 8,990,000.
6) Seoul, Korea.
GDP: 218 billion. population: 9,796,000.
7) Paris, France.
GDP: 460 billion. population: 9,904,000.
8) Los Angeles, USA.
GDP: 639 billion. population: 12,500,000.
9) Shanghai, China.
GDP: 139 million. population: 14,987,000.
10) Toronto, Canada.
GDP: 209 billion. population: 5,213,000.

From Forbes.com

rocket ship 19:19

I saw this building back in Tokyo near Shinjuku in February and I thought it was a pretty neat building. Looks like a rocket ship in the middle of all the other buildings.

happy lunar new years 05:49

I left for Jeju Island early Wednesday morning to catch a flight to Tokyo in the evening. My friend Tim and I decided to meet down there because we would be able to avoid the madness of people traveling in and out of Seoul. Lunar New Years is one of the two biggest holidays here in Korea.

Tim took me to a bar/restaurant called Bagdad in Jeju City that served Indian food. It's a bit random that it would be called Bagdad but a lot of things here in Korea seem random. I never really liked Indian food but the food here was amazing. Definitely would love to go back there again. We then went to the airport and enjoyed what has become one of my all-time favorite fruit - Hallabongs. I believe that they are a cross breed of some Japanese Satsuma Orange and Jeju Island Mandarins. We hung out in the airport for about 3 hours or so. By 11:30 we were in Tokyo.

Tim and I stayed with my friend Takuya who I met in Tokyo back in the summer of 2006. I got to meet his family and they were especially kind and welcoming. We had dinner with Takuya's family every night so it really saved us money. The whole time however, Takuya tried convincing me into moving to Tokyo with him. He even tried looking at jobs for me. I guess it's still an option for the future... I actually would love to live there.

Rather than being tourists, Tim and I just hung out with people. We met our American teacher friends, Emily, Meredith, and Kirsten, who were also in Tokyo, their military friends Davia and Derek, hung out with my Japanese friends Tetsuya and Wataru, and met two British girls who were also vacationing in Tokyo. 

Things I realized in Tokyo:

1) My Japanese is very rusty. Takuya even said that he noticed that I forgot a lot. Kinda disappointing. 2) Only if you want to throw away money, try avoiding Roppongi Hills. It'll drain your wallet fast. 3) I really really like Mister Donuts. 4) The taxis remind me of Transformers.