Located in the south of Han River is the area known as the
'Beverly Hills of Seoul' -
Gangnam.
It's a notoriously ritzy district, with neighborhoods full of luxury houses, high-end real estate, and the homes of many Korean celebrities and other crazy rich Asians (
Koreans, to be more specific). This affluent and upscale part of Seoul is also home to some of the biggest entertainment companies, which is one of the main reasons why we frequent this place whenever we're in town.
On our most recent trip to Seoul, I took a chance at finding
Namoo Actors, the talent agency of my ultimate favorite Korean actor, Lee Joon Gi. Finding the Namoo Actors building was quite tricky. There were very few directions that I could find on the internet, and the only popular landmark within its vicinity was
Dosan Park. Nonetheless, Yue and I tried to search for the place on two separate occasions, and as we went along, we discovered some really interesting things
(more like buildings) in Gangnam.
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| Gangnam-gu Office Station, Exit 4. |
On our first attempt to get to the
Namoo Actors building, we took the subway to
Gangnam-gu Office, which is just two subway stops away from where we live. According to this map that I found on the internet, Namoo Actors is within the vicinity of
Yeongdong High School, and you can walk your way towards it via
Exit 4.
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| Namoo Actors vicinity map. |
What I thought would be a simple ten-minute walk felt like an eternity, and Yue and I somehow got lost along the way. We ended up in front of the
Tree J Company headquarters instead. It's the talent agency owned and established by Hallyu star
Jang Geun Suk.
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| Tree J Company headquarters. |
The office isn't open to the public, but the cafe on the first floor of the building is.
Jang Geun Suk also owns
Cafe Pleno, and if you're lucky, you might chance upon him while enjoying your coffee.
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| Cafe Pleno. |
We walked for a bit more, took a left turn at one of the alleyways, and chanced upon yet another talent agency - though not the one that we were looking for.
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| Vine Entertainment. |
I'm not familiar with
Vine Entertainment, but I did look it up on the internet and found out that it currently manages three artists. The company is also on the look-out for fresh talents, and are open for auditions to aspiring singers.
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| Gallivanting in Gangnam, haha! |
Tired from all the seemingly pointless walking, Yue and I decided to find the nearest bus stop and take the bus to Yeongdong High School. We managed to get a ride on the
4412 Bus, but by some stroke of bad luck
(again, lol), we missed our stop because the LED display board inside the bus wasn't working and the recorded announcement for each stop did not have an English translation.
Yue was on the verge of crying, thinking that we were lost - well, technically we were. But as the bus slowly approached the entrance of COEX Mall - a place that even Yue was familiar with - I assured him that we weren't lost and we'll go to the mall instead.
At COEX Mall, we finally got to marvel at the massive collection of books at the Starfield Library. This huge athenaeum spans over 2800 square meters, has a seating capacity of around 200, and has over 50,000 books stacked in its shelves.
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| Starfield Library at COEX Mall. |
The library is open to the public, and anyone can take a book and read to their heart's content. The books, however, can't be brought home, and majority of them are written in Korean.
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| "Mommy, how do we get the books at the top shelf?" |
After flipping through some books and magazines, Yue and I headed for
SMTown, one of the places that we never fail to visit whenever we're at COEX Mall. We took this chance to check out
SMTown Museum, a cultural space dedicated to the artists of SM Entertainment and all things K-Pop.
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| SMTown Museum! |
Admission fee is
18000 won per individual
(around Php 865 or $18), but you can get a discount if your purchase your tickets online or book them through
Trazy.
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| At the SMTown Museum Ticket Counter. |
Through this museum, guests can learn more about the history of KPop and get a closer look at the successful careers of SMTown artists such as
TVXQ, Super Junior, Girls' Generation,
SHINee, and
EXO. You'll get to see their albums on display, as well as their music video costumes and other promotional materials. If you're into K-Pop, or if your favorite group belongs to SM Entertainment, then this museum is definitely worth the visit.
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| All things Mamacita - costumes, promotional posters, etc. |
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| Super Junior, the complete discography. |
Yue enjoyed the experience as much as I did, but there's one other thing that he enjoyed even more at COEX - the virtual test drive at
Hyundai Motor Studio.
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| Test driving at the Hyundai Motorstudio. |
Unlike the traditional showroom, the
Hyundai Motor Studio at COEX showcases their cars and models by allowing guests to interact with them virtually. With state-of-the-art technology, guests can explore cars of different models, colors, and specifications in a blink, just with the use of their fingertips. Even the showroom walls are lined with video cubes to illustrate the cars' exteriors, interiors, and operations on a 1:1 scale. The best part? You can test drive the car of your choice without even leaving the establishment!
Stay tuned for part two of The Great Gangnam Adventure!
Were we able to find the building that we were looking for? Did we get lost again?
Find out on the next blog post! :)
