Day in Hongdae
Meggie
4 days ago
Today I went to Hongdae for the first time! This is the place for clubs, youth, loud music and trend-making.
As a woman in my thirties, I definitely felt too old to be there. I love my age and have no desire to be any younger again, but this kind of place really reveals your inner toddler or party animal age to you whenever you forget it.
For those of us more interested in chill, a daytime weekday exploration is still quite exciting. Because it is so well-known within South Korea and on international social media, there always people strolling around and looking stylish.
I made it during the most famous internationally- exported beauty brand's Pokémon event, so an entire beauty store was dedicated to specialty Pokémon merchandise. It was a cute experience, and well done. I also went to a second location which had a large seasonal display, but this seems to be the best place for this event in May!
There always seems to be a pop up going on, even in the middle of the week during the day. Today I found an artificial nail event hosted by a company specializing in artificial intelligence designing nail stickers and press-on fake nails. I chose a shape of nail set for a low fee, and watched a printer put the design on them there. It was super Hongdae to me- very loud, young, inage-focused, busy and memorable. There were many women enjoying this event!
There are vending machines for everything cute, from toys to fresh flowers. This isn't unique to Hongdae, but featured maybe more prevalently.
There's a variety of food and drink, but think more college town or university district offerings and crowd focus. This is a huge asset in the convenience stores, one had an entire wall of instant cup noodles stocked from wall tl ceiling woth delicious options. Gotta love it!
I read that many people come to busk and perform here, but I didn't experience more than one solo artist in my hours here.
Toilets can be tricky to find, but you can use apps to find public options. Be warned that they're especially packed with lines and dirty from use.
A small note: I have found Korean culture and people to be quite polite, to focus on interactions that are quiet if possible, and to not draw attention to someone else's flaws. I will say that the only rude people I've met so far who were strangers- especially who were working when I was a customer- were younger adults here. Only place so far I've met Mean Girls during the day, unprovoked.
Prices are surprisingly similar to other urban, central parts of Seoul for purchases. There are plenty of things to buy, but more targeted to the youngest generations or less-pricey fashion for tourists.
Definitely worth an exploration!
