Here's the second half to my last post! After months of pining and wishing, but never managing to get my butt off the couch long enough to actually head over, I finally got to see the LED flower display at Dongdaemun Design Plaza. They were supposed to put the display to rest sometime over the winter, but I guess due to popular demand and lucky for me, the buds are here to stay until February of 2016! 

I remember coming to Dongdaemun a ton with my grandpa when I was little. He could never sit still (I'm starting to see where I get it from), and always dragged me with him whenever he stepped out for some fresh air. Lemmetellya Dongdaemun definitely got a face lift in the last ten years. The buildings are taller and shinier, and it looks like a younger crowd's roaming these streets now. I took a mental note to come back to do some proper shopping.

After we scoured each floor of Doota and exclaimed sufficiently how cute everything was (sorry, no pics), it finally got dark. Through the mall's windows, we could already see the gentle glow of the flowers *_* 

We quickly headed over to the exhibition, practically skipping the entire way, half due to excitement and the other half because of the unusually brisk chill we were having that night. (Really strange weather we're having lately, don't you think?)

And just look how dreamy...

Now I'm not the only person in all of Seoul who hasn't seen it. #나도봤다

Like I said, the exhibit is up until next year February, so you really don't have any excuse not to see it! Oh, and best of all, it's free!

I'm a sucker for street markets. I'm an even bigger sucker for street food at street markets. No matter where you are in the world, they're are always bursting with life, and there's just something so compelling about giant mounds of unrecognizable food. So when my friend Sunyup asked me if I wanted to check out the food street at Gwangjang Market 광장시장, one of Korea's oldest markets, I immediately jumped at it. I'm down to go anywhere with questionable sanitary regulations (I'm kidding, it's impeccably clean here for a street market) and doesn't require silverware. 

Many of these stalls open as early as 11 am and go on till 2 am.

A part of me questions where all this stuff came from and how long it's been sitting here, but I mostly love it and I'm happy to know Tootsie Pops are just a bus ride away now.

After stuffing ourselves silly, we crossed the street and wandered the surrounding markets selling other random oddities like cookie cutters and vintage children's books all the while chatting away about old boyfriends and our tendency to skip class (whoops). I don't know if the makgeolli got to our heads or the conversation was just that compelling, but we somehow managed to stroll our way over to this little installation without even realizing. And that's a 35 minute walk! But more on this coming soon... :)

Thanks again for taking me Sunyup <3 Can't wait to do this again!

The long and empty dirt roads were the perfect place to shoot one of those "follow me to" photos. But I think I like them better when you face your photographer. A little more character, donchathink?

After all the rain we had this past weekend, I wonder if the tall grass is still the way it was when went.. Maybe they'll put up fairy lights around the park for the holiday season! Oh, and I'd like to see if what they say about the sunflowers is true.

I was texting a friend on Kakaotalk last week when I noticed his profile photo was of a rubber duck! I thought, "Hey, I've seen this before," thinking back to the number of photos I saw online of a similar duck floating around the Hong Kong harbor. Could it be that bright yellow rubber duckie has made its way to Korea? It's true! I don't know why it made me so happy, but it did. I'm glad I made it out to see it before the little duckie floated off to its next destination.   

It's just so cute! Its beak is curved ever so slightly, almost as if it's smiling. And it's so massive! The world is its bathtub.

I've never seen so many selfie sticks in my life. While I didn't have one myself,I found a pretty good spot to take a photo. Pics or it didn't happen, right? It was a stressful process to say the least.. If you stand there for more than 30 seconds, people will stare at you until you get out. I guess they wanted their own turn? Patience is a virtue, kids.

As soon as I took a step back, this happened. See what I mean now? 

I heard that the duck represents world peace. Here's the description taken directly from artist Florentjin Hofman's webpage: The Rubber Duck knows no frontiers, it doesn't discriminate people and doesn't have a political connotation. The friendly, floating Rubber Duck has healing properties: it can relieve mondial tensions as well as define them. The rubber duck is soft, friendly and suitable for all ages.

I smiled every time I looked at it, so I can attest to its "healing properties." I wish I had gotten something from the souvenir shop to remember it by, but I guess these photos will just have to do. The rubber duckie will be up in Seokcho Lake by Lotte World until this Friday, November 14th, then it'll float on its merry way elsewhere.

They said that summer would be the worst. They said it'd be sticky and humid, and that it'd make me miss the cold even on the good days. I don't know about missing the cold (like I've mentioned over and over again, I'm the furthest from a winter person), but New York in heat is bringing out all different sorts of characters. I guess the weird is finally coming out of hibernation. 

Over here, the shirtless puppeteer 

At least there was the view

...And Mr. Softee at the end of the road.

 Excuse the face. It was really hot.

So hot that the commute back to Brooklyn on the subway just wasn't worth it. Taxi-ing across the Manhattan Bridge with the windows all the way down is the closest thing I got to a breeze that day. So worth the extra $10 (..or was it..?)

It was a bittersweet month filled with the start of spring days, overworked nights cramming for final essays, farewells to old and new friends, and the beginning of my summer here in New York City. It's been tough finding the time to do things other than school and my job downtown, but here's what I have so far. May's wrap-up! 

From top to bottom: Sesame Creme Brule from Cha-An | Tarts from Choice Market | Sprinkles Cupcakes

There was a lot of stress eating and curbing of the sweet tooth.

And no-make-up days and last minute ice cream runs. Made even better with Free Cone Day.

Another visit to the Met. Confirming once again my ehh attitude towards museums. 

Then my second Broadway show! Maybe you can guess which one I saw? :)

Then came the moment when I finally had to bid adieu to the gates of Columbia and my time at Barnard College. This was probably the most bittersweet -- love/hate relationship with my classes and the weather on the way to class.. But all around love for the absolutely beautiful campus.