DMC and MBC World - Day 6 - Korea 2016

This was probably the day we were most excited for - we were heading to DMC to go to Mcountdown at CJE&M! I did some quick research and saw that the order you enter the studio is based on who comes first to the ticket booth and on which tour you're with. So we decided to go early at 11am or so and then just look around until 4pm. However, after finding the venue - we realised the booth wasn't even set up yet!

We exited from DMC station and walked out Exit 9 and continued walking in that direction for a while, before turning left on the second large road. We passed a few other company buildings on the way and also were able to follow other fans heading there. Some took the first large road to the left and then crossed through the block, waiting in the courtyard for the pre-records. However, the entrance was closer from the right (the second road). On the right hand side, across the road from CJ E&M there were more company buildings spread around another courtyard. What I first noticed from this area, apart from the nice architecture and sculptures, was that it was so much cleaner than the main streets we had walked on previously to get there. 

This is probably one of the main areas of DMC to look around. It was such a nice open space and it was quite empty at the time. There was a school trip hanging around this sculpture shown above, and they were taking so long and even though the teachers knew I was waiting and tried to clear everyone out of the way, a few kids stayed back on purpose. I was staring at them really not amused as I'd patiently waited for at least 5 minutes already, and one of their friends shot a glance at me and urged them to leave. Still took some time, but eventually I was able to get a clear shot.

We went to have lunch while as we really didn't know what else to do and were quite hungry. However, there weren't many places around that looked like they had an English menu - and we eventually ended upstairs in the MBC Mall building. We found this Italian restaurant serving squid ink pastas and risottos which we tried! We then headed to Digital Pavillion however decided not to enter after doing a bit more research. 

Wandering back towards the courtyard, we found a few standees (Changmin, above) in the Star Park and finally found the area of MBC World of Contents where you enter! MBC World is broken up into three sections Hallyu Experience Zone (C Zone), Stage Experience Zone (M Zone), and News Experience Zone (B Zone). The Hallyu Experience Zone was ultra cheesy and cringe! It was full of taking virtual photographs with Korean celebrities (mainly Big Bang members but also several other singers, actors, comedians, MCs and TV show personalities). You also have a chance to record a song with an artist! However, they use Korean subtitles which we can't read fast enough (not romanisation) and there's no backing vocals to follow along T.T so it was quite awkward in the booth. You have a chance later to purchase all the pictures, however we just took photographs of them. 

 

      

Moving to the M Zone, which was a short walk as C Zone is in a separate building, we entered a building full of technology where everything looked so professional. Inside is a: Hologram Theatre (a short Big Bang performance played when we were there); a Dance Experience where idols teach you to dance (we danced to B1A4's Solo Day and Apink's Mr Chu); VR Experience (a variety of videos including rollercoasters, trips and some kpop stars); News Experience where we were able to record our own broadcast following a script; Digital Guestbook, shown in the pictures where you were able to leave comments and Hallyu stars would hold them up on the screen; the Garden Studio, which you can actually see from the outside as well but it was nice to see a different point of view (unfortunately no one was inside); The Hall of Fame and the Golden Mouse Hall (a history of the MBC building and development, along with contributions from stars; and replica Golden Mouse and Bronze Mouse awards). 

Onwards to the B Zone, we kind of skipped most of it as we weren't too interested in the Historical Drama Zone or Visiting the Newsroom. They did however have a trick-eye zone which we visited.

 

Just caught in bed with Lee Minho :o Heading back outside, we found the Star Street, where the handprints of many stars in Korea are exhibited.

                       

    



We then headed off to get some pearl milk tea and waste a bit more time before heading back to Music Core. Unfortunately a fair amount of people had arrived by then - but thankfully we were 6th and 7th in line for our section. The fee for admission was 18,000W for adults, 13,000W for youths and 9,000W for children. Purchasing photos start from 3,000W and you can wear a costume for 20,000W.

Directions
Get off at Digital Media City Station on the Airport Railway (light blue) or Gyeongui (green) Lines or Line 6 (brown) and come out through Exit 9. Walk for about 10 minutes and it should be on your left.

Sorry I took so long to update,
faithfully,
Mai