Missha

Unlike before, now I was so frantic looking for a bus from Namdaemun Market to get to my next destination, Myeong-dong.

Looking for all route boards at bus stops around Namdaemun Market, I still couldn’t find any clues. The cold wind finally brought me to underground. Yup, I was now stepping down the corridors of Hoehyeon Station, looking for a platform to get to Myeong-dong Station. I got it easily. At the edge of platform, my face continued to face left to look up the appearance of Seoul Metro Line 4.

The increasingly bright light slowly approached the platform, a sign that the train was ready to arrive. In an instant I was crammed to stand holding the carriage pole so as not to be hit by the flow of passengers. Shortly after all passengers were carried away, the Seoul Metro began to creep away from platform.

Not through for any station, I then got off at Myeong-dong Station, leaving all passengers who were still crowded in the carriage. I couldn’t wait to get away from the carriage when I got off because I wanted to see the bustle of Myeong-dong, a popular cosmetic shopping center in Seoul. Of course not to buy a lipstick, masks or face whiteners, but just wanted to see beautiful auras of Ginseng Country girl….Oops.

Coming out of Myeong-dong Station I kept muttering, “Why is today colder today than usual”. a gloves I was wearing couldn’t contain the cold that penetrated to outermost layer of my skin. As a result, I walked around enjoying Myeong-dong by occasionally gritting my teeth because I couldn’t stand in the cold air any longer.

It was true, tall, slender girls with white faces filled every alley in Myeong-dong. Cosmetic shops seemed full of shoppers. Meanwhile, some local culinary traders were starting to get busy setting up stalls at many points. Myeong-dong, which seemed to me already crowded, apparently hadn’t reached its peak point yet. Maybe in the night would be the culmination point.

Since that area was a cosmetic shopping center, it didn’t interest me to enter cosmetic outlets lined up along Myeongdong 8-gil. I just stood on the edge of Myeong-dong shopping corridor, enjoying the traffic of Seoul youth and the busy culinary traders who were busy preparing their wares. Meanwhile, several well-known cosmetic outlets such as Holika Holika, Aritaum, Missha and The Saem seemed to be flooded with visitors.

Just standing still, made me an easy target for the cold air which blew in Myeong-dong. It was true, I could only endure the cold for half an hour. The rest I started shivering uncontrollably.

I gave up….

I started to move and was forced to enter one of outlets, as I remembered the outlet was called innisfree. Since most of the guests were women, I just pretended to be looking for cosmetic gifts so that I could freely enter the outlet. Of course I wouldn’t buy anything at the outlet. I just walked around while paying close attention to the various kinds of cosmetics sold at the outlet.

In order not to arouse suspicion, fifteen minutes later I decided to leave the oulet. Now I continued down the corridors in Myeng-dong while slowly moving away from the cosmetic center to make my way to the station.

Yup, that time I intended to go back to the hotel first, put the groceries which I bought from Namdaemun Market before visiting Myeong-dong. For then I would continue to explore again to Gyeongbok Palace.

Next Story—->

<—-Kisah Sebelumnya

Tak seperti sebelumnya, kini aku begitu ripuh mencari bus dari Namdaemun Market demi menuju destinasi berikutnya, Myeong-dong.

Mencari segenap papan rute di halte sekitaran Namdaemun Market, tetap saja aku tak menemukan petunjuk apapun. Terpaan angin dingin akhirnya menggiringku ke bawah tanah. Yup, aku kini berderap di koridor Stasiun Hoehyeon, mencari platform demi menuju ke Stasiun Myeong-dong. Dengan mudah aku mendapatkannya. Di pinggiran platform, wajahku terus menghadap ke kiri untuk menjemput penampakan Seoul Metro Line 4.

Cahaya yang semakin benderang perlahan mendekati platform, pertanda si ular besi siap merapat. Dalam sekejap aku sudah berdesakan berdiri memegangi tiang gerbong supaya tak terterjang arus penumpang. Tak lama setelah semua penumpang terangkut, Seoul Metro mulai merayap meninggalkan platform.

Tak berselang stasiun manapun, aku kemudian turun di Stasiun Myeong-dong, meninggalkan para penumpang yang tetap berjubal di dalam gerbong. Aku tak sabar menjauhi gerbong ketika turun karena ingin segera melihat wujud keramaian Myeong-dong, pusat perbelanjaan kosmetik populer di Seoul. Tentu bukan untuk membeli lipstik, masker ataupun pemutih wajah, melainkan hanya ingin melihat aura-aura cantik pemudi Negeri Ginseng itu….Duh, keceplosan.

Keluar dari Stasiun Myeong-dong aku terus saja menggerutu, “Kenapa hari ini suhu lebih dingin dari biasanya”. Gloves yang kupakai tak mampu membendung dingin yang meresap hingga lapisan kulit terluar. Alhasil, aku berjalan menikmati Myeong-dong dengan sesekali menggeretakkan gigi karena tak mampu menahan dingin lebih lama.

Benar adanya, para pemudi nan langsing, tinggi dengan wajah putih aduhai menjejali setiap gang di Myeong-dong. Toko-toko kosmetik tampak dipenuhi para pembeli. Sedangkan beberapa pedagang kuliner lokal mulai sibuk menyiapkan lapak di banyak titik. Myeong-dong yang bagiku sudah tampak ramai, rupanya belum juga mencapai titik puncak keramaiannya. Mungkin malam nanti akan menjadi titik kulminasinya.

Karena area ini adalah pusat perbelanjaan kosmetik, maka tak menarik minatku untuk memasuki outlet kosmetik yang berjajar di sepanjang Myeongdong 8-gil. Aku hanya berdiri di tepian koridor pertokoan Myeong-dong, asyik menikmati lalu lalang muda-mudi Seoul dan kesibukan para pedagang kuliner yang sibuk menyiapkan dagangannya. Sementara itu beberapa outlet kosmetik kenamaan seperti Holika Holika, Aritaum, Missha dan The Saem tampak kebanjiran pengunjung.

Dengan hanya berdiri terpaku begitu saja, menjadikanku sebagai sasaran empuk udara dingin yang berhembus di Myeong-dong. Benar adanya, aku hanya bisa menahan hawa dingin itu dalam setengah jam saja. Selebihnya aku mulai menggigil tak terkendali.

Aku menyerah….

Aku mulai beranjak dan dengan terpaksa memasuki salah satu outlet, seingatku outlet itu bernama innisfree. Karena kebanyakan tamunya adalah kaum hawa, aku hanya berpura-pura mencari oleh-oleh kosmetik supaya bisa dengan leluasa masuk ke dalam outlet. Tentu aku tak akan membeli apapun di outlet tersebut. Aku hanya berkeliling sembari memperhatikan dengan seksama berbagai macam kosmetik yang dijual di outlet tersebut.

Demi tak menimbulkan kecurigaan, lima belas menit kemudian aku memutuskan keluar dari oulet. Kini aku berlanjut menyusuri kembali koridor-koridor di Myeng-dong sembari perlahan menjauhi pusat kosmetik itu untuk menuju ke stasiun.

Yup, kali ini aku berniat kembali dahulu ke hotel, menaruh belanjaan yang kubeli dari Namdaemun Market beberapa saat sebelum mengunjungi Myeong-dong. Untuk kemudian aku akan melanjutkan eksplorasi lagi ke Istana Gyeongbok.

Kisah Selanjutnya—->

Tag: Missha

Giving up in Myeong-dong

Menyerah di Myeong-dong