I really felt like blogging today and though nothing special happened, I shall talk until something perhaps significant comes along.

I thought I had missed out on telling of the damage I did on Saturday. What started as a spontaneous buddy shopping day turned into a trio and soon a quartet of broken wallets. I have been deprived of a really good shopping day. Street shopping is fun and diverse, but I realize I have been craving store shopping. Myeondong had the best of both worlds, so I headed there with the intention of setting a budget and breaking it (I know tsk tsk). I was so happy to be in Forever 21 and immediately felt guilty upon leaving wondering why I had just shopped so much there when I could do so at home. Well, I justified it with the fact that I don't go to F21 as often as I like to since it's a far and inconvenient trip from where I live in Edmonton. Also, as it was started by a Korean couple, I thought I might as well support their location in their home country, and lastly, because I miss it so-that's enough of a justification to me. However, to my surprise, I found lots of sale items and F21 at home never has sales (well only crappy leftovers), and everything I bought was less than what it would cost on the street-especially stuff not labeled with a price on it (the seller usually jacks up the price if your a foreigner, therefore speak Korean and be assertive on getting a discount).One of my friends usually fills out a form for tax refunds when she spends quite a bit at one store. I always thought it was for custom purposes until she told me that if you keep your receipts and have a tax refund form filled out from that store, then when you leave the country, you are eligible for about 10% (depending on the store) of the tax you paid back (tax is 9% in Korea and usually included in the price tag already). It sounds fairly little and insignificant when the items are cheap, but being here for a semester can add up to a few bills back in your pocket.

Unfortunately, I found this out after I had paid and left F21. I guess this tip will be for future shopping trips. Otherwise, even though Myeondong was busy and crowded as expected for a Saturday, us girlies were satisfied with our store and street shopping and headed for dinner at Pizza Hut. Again, why are we eating at a place where we can eat back home? Well, because we wanted to try bulgogi pizza and this popular sweet potato crust. Pizza here is not cheap, its about the same as home or a little more. No surprises when you acknowledge that most western food places are considered higher end here. But again, our taste buds were happy with pizza selections you can only savour in Korea.

Well, nothing really significant came about in this post, except the fact that its okay to be doing non-Korean activities in Korea. Having these places gives you a piece of home and happiness. Sometimes, that's just all you need to make a day special.