Kyobo Book Store and the sacred Toy Street

When I first arrived in Korea, I wanted to know two things; where is a good place to buy some cool toys and what big book-stores do they have here. I had done some research since my arrival back in February and found two such places; the Kyobo book store in Seoul, and the sacred Changsin-dong Toy Wholesale Market, also known as "Toy Street" with the famous Seungjin Toy.

Coming close to my younger brother's birthday, I wanted to get him something super awesome in return for the cool swag he and my family got for me over my birthday, but where to find it? Knowing him, and with a little help from mum and dad, I found he would like some sci-fi books and a few cool toys to have for his birthday, something "uniquely Korean" as my mom put it. After asking my good friend Terry about it, he suggested the Kyobo book store in Seoul, located at Gwanghwamun station, just north of Seoul Station. I was going to meet Terry at the store and we were going to search around for books that my brother might like.

I was utterly surprised after meeting Terry and walking into this bookstore. It was MASSIVE! Books all over the place, everything from fiction and non-fiction to biographies and magazines and everything else in between. This certainly gave me the World Biggest Bookstore kind of feel from back home, and certainly an impressive selection was set before me. Thanks to Terry, I was able to find the English/Foreign  book section and pick out a few books and things for my brother.

We didn't just stop there though, we decided to look around the store as we had some time to kill (what with Terry's 1 hour free parking going on.) We decided to meander around the lower level of the store, seeing everything from Japanese to Korean Manga, magazines depicting everything from muscles to military, technology bits and pieces and books on things like C++ and Auto-cad. It was mind blowing to see really and I totally enjoyed being able to experience such a place; definitely have to return in the future.


 Our adventures weren't over yet though. I had found that the Changsin-dong Toy Wholesale Market was only a few subway stops away, or a quick drive, thanks to Terry having a car. We drove off and parked nearby and walked a good 10 minutes from Dongdaemun History and Culture park (a place I had been to prior) and made our way to the whole-sale alleyways of Dongdaemun market.

 At first, it was a weird assortment of goods and things we were met by when we first arrived. Shoes, clothing, the usual thing. I've noticed that clothing is probably one of the largest material goods sold in these markets, not just here but everywhere. I was quite intrigued with the shoes actually, decently priced leather shoes for men and women but that wasn't what I was here for.

I was here...for TOYS!
Though, when I say toys, I actually mean kids toys, toys that kids will enjoy and are a bit...below...my age interest. Still, seeing side-walk to sidewalk of toys was an interesting experience, and each store more or less sold the same kind of things; so much for unique shopping. There was however a lot of interesting nick nacks and odds and ends around and I did find a few cool things that I would be sending back home. That said, there was one interesting place I was glad to have gone to; Seungjin Toy.

Seungjin Toy, pictured to the left here, was one of the most notable stores to investigate along the Toy Street. They held a wide selection of RC toys, some low-grade airsoft toys (for little kids) and of course, LEGO, lots of it. Lego is a huge thing in South Korea, and a lot of children love to play and build it. There was also a whole upper section of baby toys, but that wasn't exactly what we were searching for. After receiving the goods I needed, my friend and I began our walk back, where we stopped for a very interesting snack; donuts. Hand made on-site by two old Korean gentlemen; and those doughnuts they made were amazing!

All in all, a good day to experience two unique and interesting places of South Korea, I wonder what other silly little things I will be seeing for the next coming months?

I'm not sure having a second passenger is safe..