Coex mall is one of the most famous mall in Seoul. I usually went there for movies. My home town is Gangnam, Seoul and I visited the mall quite often when I was a teenager. Me and my friends went there after mid terms and final exams. Because all middle and high schools have similar exam schedules, every teenage students living near the area came to watch movies in certain season at once. We could notice which schools' exams were over based on students' school uniforms.
After I graduated high school, I drank and had fun not in Gangnam anymore but in Sinchon, Hongdae area so I didn't go to the mall often like before. As time went by, K Pop became popular and foreigners started visiting here as a tour attraction.
Coex mall is next to Seoul World Trade Center. You can reach there by subway line 2. There is a direct passage to the mall connected from subway station. Samsung station on line 2. There are also bus stops and airport bus stops near there. Actually there is a city airport, five star hotels and even casino. That casino is only for foreigners btw. I can't do gambling there.
There is another attractions for foreigners near Coex mall. A Buddhist temple, Bongeunsa is right across from Coex building. It was build in 794 A.D. burnt down and rebuild many times until today but still remains there. There is a traditional tea shop and rituals are still going on there. You can stop by the temple if you're interested in.
Cinema
I have visited the mall for cinema usually. There is a cinema Megabox Coex mall. Megabox is a cinema franchise in Korea and facilities are good. Actually main cinema franchises all have similar nice quality. Megabox Coex is the first multiplex in Korea, has 18 screens. Movie preview and stage greeting are often held here. It has Imax, 3D screen as other cinemas do.
I actively avoid to go there whenever there are stage greetings but some famous Korean, foreign actors/actresses come here sometimes. If you're interested, you can see stage greetings and signing events.
Aquarium
There is a aquarium in Coex mall next to cinema. Both of them are quite inside of the mall. Aquarium is not gigantic but one of the most popular aquarium in Korea. I went there more than 15 years ago when it first opened. I went there second time in my life last year again. There are Korean fresh, sea water fish zone, amazon fish zone, tropical sea fish etc.. I even did a stamp tour. There is no reward even if you get all stamps but just for fun.
The most popular area in the aquarium is the tunnel one. There are sea water fish including sharks and sea turtles. The tunnel is going under the big tank and fish, sharks are swimming around the tunnel, above your head.
There are also events performed by divers. I went there around Holiday season and they were wearing Santa Claus and deer costume. There were two mermaids. They even didn't use the nose clip and stayed under water quite long. Of course they're professionals but I was impressed. Usually children were so excited. They answered back cheerfully to MC and somehow I did too.
There was a cotton candy vendor near the stage. Cotton candy was not just round shape but character rabbit shape. We bought the cotton candy, sit there with other elementary school students and their parents and watched the Santa Claus and mermaids show.
I bought the tickets via on-line with a bit discounted price. If you plan to go there, it will be cheaper to buy tickets in advance via on-line than on-site.
Restaurant and Cafe
There are many restaurants in Coex mall. There is a restaurant area and most of restaurants are there. Not only Korean food but from Chinese, Indian, Japanese to Turkey. There are also some dessert places and cafes. When I went there with my friends, we usually watched one movie in Megabox, had a meal, moved to a cafe or dessert place, started chatting for 3 hours.
I sometimes feel Koreans only eat chicken and drink coffee because there are so many chicken restaurants and cafes. There are tones of cafes in Coex mall too. From Starbucks to other dessert places.
There are kiosks here and there English and some other foreign languages available. You can search restaurants, cafes, any other places to eat there.
I usually try to avoid the meal time and have lunch or dinner bit earlier than other people. During meal time, many restaurants have line to wait.
Book store
There was a really big book stores before the renovation. There is a still book store, Youngpoong book store but it's not as big as before. I still go there because there is a big stationery center inside.
However these days, book store in Coex mall means Starfield Library. It's located in the center of the mall. After the renovation, somehow the structure of the mall became more confusing, many Koreans say it's like a maze. If you lose a sense of location where you're inside of the mall, you will come to this library area in the end with high probability.
Books on the high shelves, they are not real books but for decoration. Books on display stands are for real sale. Some people are reading books, some are studying and even some are sleeping etc.. It seems this Starfield library area has become a symbol of the mall.
Parnas Mall
Coex mall is connected with City airport, Hyundai department store and Intercontinental Seoul Parnas hotel and a subway station. I often go to the food court in the department store. On the way to the department store, there is a mall called Parnas Mall. Actually this mall is a passage to go to the hotel and the department store. I'm not sure but it's managed by different corporation with Coex mall. This Parnas mall is much smaller than Coex mall. There are still other restaurants, cafes and shops. There is also flee markets sometimes and vendors sell small handcraft items.
I personally feel Parnas mall has better interior decoration than Coex mall. Both are connected so you can just easily come over this area. This mall has bit more expensive brands' shops compared with Coex mall.
In summer, temperature of Seoul goes up almost 40 degree and in winter, it goes down -20 degree. There are 60 degrees of temperature gap during in a year here. When it's too hot or too cold but I want to meet my friends, then I come to this mall. I prefer outdoor activities than roaming around in malls but still, I don't want to go out in the middle of summer or winter.
Ah, right. I forgot mentioning about SM Town is also here. That's one of the most famous K-pop entertainment management company's place. I'm not interested in K-Pop at all so I forgot about this place. I saw many foreigners came here to visit SM Town.
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