Korean Adventure Part 5: Coex Aquarium

It was my spring break, but unfortunately the army doesn't have "spring break" lol so Hubby did not have the week off while I was visiting but his unit was kind enough to let him work half days.  This worked out really well because I hate to get up early and hate to be rushed to get ready so I was able to sleep in and then get ready while poor Hubby went to PT and then the office for a bit.   He came home at lunchtime and then we would decide what to do for the day.

One day we decided to go to the Coex Aquarium in Seoul.  The aquarium is inside the Coex mall and we had to take the train to get there.  The train took us right to the mall entrance.  I could not believe how big this mall was.  I think it was only one floor versus out two story ones but it was very spread out and had lots of high end stores.  Many of the stores were chains that we have here in the states.  Some stores had workers out front greeting guests.  Everyone was very friendly.  We walked around the mall for a bit but we had no idea where the aquarium was inside it.  We didn't mind because it was interesting to walk around and see the store fronts.  Hubby said he thought the stores were expensive but we didn't go into any of them so I am not sure how the prices compare to stores here.

Eventually we came to a mall directory.  But, it was not like any mall directory I have EVER seen here in the US.  It was very high tech.  It had a touch screen menu where you could select the language that you wanted and then select where you wanted to go.  We used the search feature to find the aquarium and when we selected it, the screen drew a line from where we where to the aquarium highlighting our route.  It also offered us textual instructions on a turn by turn basis.  I was impressed.  Why don't we have that technology here!!  When I mentioned this later in the week to a few of Hubby's coworkers, I was told that you can actually download an AP to your phone that helps you to navigate the mall too.  Very cool.

We found our way to the aquarium and paid the entrance fee.  They had fish native to Korea that I have never seen before but they also had some small reptiles like lizards and iguanas, seals, sharks, turtles, beavers, and believe it or not - monkeys and bats.  I have no idea why they had monkeys and bats inside the aquarium but they did.  They also had an interesting modern art section.  Some of the photos from the modern art area are below...

Fish living in a toilet... yes that is a real fish!

Close up in case you didn't believe me

Fish in a fish shaped sink

Fish in the fridge

Fish in a washing machine

Close up of the fish

 
Throughout the aquarium they also had fish living in pseudo lamp posts.  See below.

There was also an exhibit in the aquarium where you were supposed to stick your hand into a shallow pool of water.  The fish in the pool would come to the person's hand and eat off the dead skin.  I was kinda grossed out.  I'm not too sure that is sanitary but when I mentioned it to Hubby's coworkers I was told that all of the nail salons in Korea have these fish.  Hubby said it is a win win situation because you lose the dead skin and the fish get fed but I wasn't about to try it.  I did not get a picture from this but to give you a visual I found one of the Internet.

Overall I enjoyed the aquarium.  It was very interesting and I got to see things  I would never see here in the US.  Afterwards, Hubby and I decided that we were hungry so we set out to find a place for dinner.  Hubby had heard that there was a T.G.I.Friday's at the Coex mall and I was thrilled at the prospect of American food so we used the cool interactive directory again and headed to the restaurant. 

We made it to Friday's and sat down to peruse the menu.  It was much different than the menu at the Friday's here.  There were no hamburgers or anything like that on the menu and many of the dishes were  a lot more elaborate than what is on the typical Friday's menu here.  Some of the dishes even came with Kimchi, a disgusting type of cabbage that is  major staple in Korea.  The restaurant was also very expensive compared to Friday's in the states.  I guess American food there is like going out to a foreign restaurant here.  I was happy to pay though since it was food that was recognizable!