Wednesday was another busy day however, instead of company visits we once again ventured as a big group to explore Korea some more. We started the morning by visiting Bukchon Hanok Village. This village is a residential area, and we were told to be quiet and not be boisterous as we walked the streets. The village has become a tourist attraction due to the traditional housing called hanoks. The houses were very traditional, and many looked beautiful and intricate from the outside. While I walked around, I spotted a cat also roaming the streets. It was the first stray-looking animal I had seen since being in Korea. Contrary to when I went to Italy, there were several cats in different cities.
After visiting Bukchon Hanok Village everyone migrated to Jogyesa Temple. We had been there the first week of the trip to explore on a random day. However, when we went on Wednesday the temple was bustling with tourists, citizens, and news reporters. This was due to Buddha’s Birthday celebration which is a national holiday in South Korea. The president of South Korea, Yook Suk Yeol, was present during this celebration as well. The whole temple was as crowded as a general admission concert. Everyone practically shoulder to shoulder within the proximity. We were there for less than an hour before heading onto the bus to go to Starfield Coex Mall.
Coex mall is an underground shopping mall in Sameseong-dong, Gangnam-gu Seoul Korea. The mall is Asia’s biggest underground mall. we had free time for about 2.5 hours here. Everyone shopped and ate dinner while exploring what this ginormous mall had to offer. The mall was so big it had an aquarium, movie theatre, and a library inside. The Starfield Library is a big tourist attraction as well. Thankfully I didn’t shop too much here. I left having bought Shake Shack, one shirt, and a pair of shoes.
After arriving back at the hotel my group and I worked on our presentation some more because the following day was presentation day. A few days prior to today my ground was brainstorming ideas for our business and came up with the idea of JIBEN. An app that would focus on pedestrian safety and drivers in Seoul Korea. After working for 2 hours our group called it a night and we all went to bed.