Seoul Searching | Hyundai City Outlets.

We visited Hyundai City Outlets last winter upon the recommendation of my Korean friend, Bong Sun unni, who owns the Filipino store in our neighborhood. Knowing my penchant for sneakers, she told me to drop by 'this new mall in Dongdaemun' where there's a crazy sale on shoes. And so off to Dongdaemun we did, with hopes of finding a pair of Jordan 11 Space Jam in my size.

Hyundai City Outlets.

Huge Christmas tree near the entrance.

Huge tops that kids can sit on and play with. 

More of Hyundai City Outlets after the jump!
Launched in March 2016, Hyundai City Outlets is a nine-story shopping mall located within the vicinity of Doota, Migliore, and Lotte Fitin. It houses 270 stores, including the food and beverage counters on the ninth floor and basement level 2.

ABC Mart is like Korea's Foot Locker.

We headed for the footwear section first, where Yue and I ogled over sneakers and basketball shoes. Unfortunately, none of the stores have the Space Jams in stock, boo hoo hoo. And just when I was about to settle for a black/pink Air Max Sequent, the sales staff at ABC Mart told me that they don't have a pair in my size. Again, boo hoo hoo. Not my lucky day.

My little sneaker freak.
Photo taken on our second visit to the Outlet.

Although a bit disheartened, Yue and I continued to explore every nook and cranny of this 'mega shopping outlet'. Located on the upper floors are the men's, women's, and kids' section, as well as the cosmetics counters, gadget stores, and other novelty shops. The three basement levels, however, are a totally different story.

Mi store!

One Piece collectibles.

One Piece paper toys.

One Piece toy figures.

The Sound of My Heart notebooks, notepads, and journals.

Here, we discovered the Kyobo Book Centre with its library-like atmosphere. They have tables and chairs where you can sit back and read books or magazines. Or just stare at Lee Min Ho, lol!

Lee Min Ho on AstaTV.

Maybe Stars Take Your Grief, as featured in the hit drama Goblin.
I would have bought these if they had an English version.

Yue used to watch this show a lot when we were in Korea. I forgot her name, though.

Kyobo's kids' area - toys, children's books, etc.

On the same floor, we found this wonderful surprise.

YG, baby!!!

It's the YG Zone, a haven for Kpop fans!

Big Bang Krunk dolls!

This store sells fan merchandise such as light sticks, shirts, caps, key chains, photo cards, and these Big Bang Krunk dolls.

Yue meets Krunk!

Big Bang Krunk dolls.

Big Bang 'Made' merchandise.

Oh, and they sell albums, too. And not just Big Bang's. They also have albums of 2NE1, Psy, Winner, and even Sechs Kies for sale.

Big Bang albums.

We also came across the Lineage Red Knights pop-up store at Hyundai City Outlets. This is the same game featured on the recently concluded Kdrama 'Strong Woman Do Bong Soon'. The MMORPG was already popular even before it was incorporated in the drama, but I reckon this game gained an even bigger following, thanks to Park Bo Young and Park Hyung Sik.

Lineage Red Knights pop-up store.

Bugbear, the game's main character.

Cockatrice.

Orc.

Hyundai City Outlets is also a haven for foodies, with so many restaurants and food counters to choose from. Here, we found the Yellow Cafe, the flagship store of Binggrae - the iconic banana-flavored milk.

And it was all Yellow!

Banana Milkshake with Ice Cream, 5700 won.

Right beside the Yellow Cafe is Haitairo, a snack shop dedicated to the equally popular Honey Butter Chips. The shop also sells coffee, desserts, and various flavors of Pocky and Pretz.

Hi, Haitairo!

Honey Butter Chips, plus Pocky and Pretz, too!

Honey Tong Tong, 3000 won.

Another interesting discovery is Cafe Majo & Sady, a themed cafe with several branches all over Seoul. Majo and Sady are characters from a popular webtoon; Majo is the brown bear in glasses, while Sady is the white rabbit. Apparently, they are a married couple and they live with a son and two cats.

Majo.

Sady.

Majo and Sady.

Cheese Latte, 4800 won.

Finally, there's this stall located beside the escalator at basement level 3 which sells Kdrama merchandise. On our first visit, the stall had nothing but these octopus plushies on display. Yue actually spotted them first, even calling them 'Heo Jeon Jae'. He was referring to Lee Min Ho's character in the the drama 'Legend of the Blue Sea', where these octopus plushies were first seen.

Yue and his Heo Jeon Jae doll. Haha!

A few days later, the stall had these rings and fedoras on display. These items were made popular by another hit Kdrama,'Goblin'.

How to be a Grim Reaper? Wear a cool fedora.

As seen on Goblin.

Yue and I may not have been able to buy the sneakers that we wanted, but we didn't leave the outlet empty-handed. We came home with an octopus plushie, Little Prince collectibles for me, and happy and full tummies. Haha!

To get to Hyundai City Outlets, take the subway to Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station, Exit 1. Or you can ride the Green Bus numbers 2012, 2015, 2233, or 7212.

Hyundai City Outlets

17-2 Euljiro 6-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul

+82 2-2283-2233