Korea Day 1: Seoul [[Ewha Woman University + N Seoul Tower + Namdaemun]]

Anyo Haseyo!!!

Mr Kwek and I are back from our yearly short trip. This year we hop on to the Hayllu-Kpop wave and headed to Korea! :) Our initial plans to visit Cambodia/Boracays was ditched last minute when Mr Kwek was able to grab a very good Scoot deal in January! Our tickets costed only SGD$300 per pax!!!

Well of course, with the cheap price comes the cons of not having any in-house entertainments and a limited luggage allowance of 15KG. :'( As a result of the limited luggage allowance, I didn't manage to bring the whole Korea home!! *regretful*

Oh well, still, we did have a great time visiting the various attractions around Korea!

First up, we flew to Seoul and stayed there for two full days! Seoul is simply terrific for shopping! No doubt, our first day was spent wandering around Seoul famous shopping streets!

Ewha Woman University ( known as: 이화여자대학교 or 梨花女子大學校)
Ewha University compound is gorgeous! Loved every bit of it. I won't mind going back to school now if I get to study there!

We headed to the Sinchon ladies street nearby to do some shopping before lunch. I was busy shopping, I didn't realize Mr Kwek did not take a single picture of the streets!! So no pictures of the streets!The street was less crowded as compared to Myeong dong. However, shopping was as good as it can get! streets after streets of cosmetic/skincare and clothing shops! *Highly recommended!*

Yoogane Chicken Galbi
We proceeded on to Hongdae  also known as Hongik University Street (홍대)  for lunch before continuing our sight-seeing. We planned to have Dak galbi (닭갈비), often known as chicken galbi, for lunch. The dish, seasoned with a gochujang-based saucead, is made with chicken legs and cabbage. We came across Yoogane which was situated behind Hyundai Departmental Store, across the street, and settled for it. Sorry, no directions since we sort of "anyhow" walked to this place. We saw branches in Myeong Dong too. Apparently, Yoogane is a to-go-to for chicken galbi. We did not know it is that famous until googling on it.

We ordered the basic hot and spicy chicken galbi for two and added a side portion of rice and a side seafood pancake. Although, technically, the server will prepare the food for you so that you won't get your clothing splattered with the sauces, everyone was still given an apron to put on before eating.

대박!! (Daebak = Awesome!) The meat was sweet and spicy, at the same time, tender and chewy! The rice fried in the sauce tasted really good too! Simple yet awesomely delicious! Pancake on the other hand was a little too starchy for our liking. Nevertheless, we had a great and filling meal!

Trick Eyes Museum
Address: Seoul-si Mapo-gu Seogyo-dong, 357-1 Seogyo Plaza B02-01

Directions: From Exit #9 of Hongdae Station (Subway Line 2), walk straight for 200m towards the Starbucks coffee shop.

Ticket price: 15000won/pax

The Trick Eyes Museum is often known as Santorini Seoul because the surrounding is supposingly decorated based on the real Santorini, the beautiful island in Greece.

Did we enjoyed the museum? Nopes, not really. It was so crowded, hardly any good pictures can be taken.

Hongdae Free Market (홍대 프리마켓):
Address: 19-3, Wausan-ro 21-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul
Opens: March to November, every Saturday (1300-1800)
Directions: situated at a park, near Hongik university main gate

Since we were in Hongdae on a Saturday, we walked over to the Hongdae Free Market to have a look. It was relatively easy to spot the free market because you will notice there are lots of people cramping in the small while the streets human traffic were of a smooth flow, making the sight rather weird. As a curious on-looker, you will probably pop by the area to find out what's happening!

The free market was an interesting market that promotes art. It was filled with rows of stands with individuals selling their hand-made art pieces. All kind of trinkets can be found here. :) Lovely market! Do head down if you are nearby on a Saturday!

N Seoul Tower:
Directions to cable car ride: walk for about 10~15 minutes following the street of the right side of the Pacific Hotel, after coming out of the exit 3 of Myeong-dong Station (line 4)
Opening time: 1000-2300

Ticket: 8500won/pax, return ticket

After a whole day of walking, Mr Kwek and I decided to take the cable car up to N Seoul Tower instead of hiking up the Namsan park.

 

 We did not take the orumi (elevator) up to the cable car station because the queue was pretty long and the orumi was pretty slow. We hike up instead and caught a beautiful sunset! :)

The queue for the cable car ride was so long, by the time we got up to the Tower, night has already fall. Once again, it was terribly crowded, we didn't get to go to the Teddy Bear Museum as planned. :(

On a brighter note, we left our love lock on the love terrace on N Seoul Tower! :) Amazing place filled with love locks - rows after rows of locks! Despite the crowd, it was still pretty romantic to be up on the terrace with Mr Kwek, admiring the sky-scape of Seoul while hunting for a good place to place our love lock!

 Namdaemun:
Directions: Line 4, get off at Hoehyeon Station, Exit 6. Turn right and down any of the side streets to the market.

It was already 9ish when we left the Tower. We headed toNandaemum for our dinner/supper. Nandaemum was surprisely quiet. Not as crowded as we thought it will be. With a row of tanks selling almost the same street food, we settled for one with  a couple of patrons inside.

As there were only two of us, we only managed to order a bottle of Makgeolli (rice wine), three sides (mungbean pancake, gimbap and tteokbokki) and one main (stirred-fried sundae) to share.

Gimbap (sushi roll) and the stirred-fried sundae (korean sausage) was SO GOOD! Awesomely tasty, it just makes you want more, even when you are full! Highly recommended!

We headed back to our hotel after the meal and spent the night watching running man before retiring to bed!

Korea Day 2: Seoul [[Gyeongbokgung Palace + Tosokchon + Buckchon Hanok Village + Insadong + Myeong Dong Kyoja]]

Korea Day 3: Seoul [[Nami Island + Petite France + Red Sun Budae-jjigae + Dongdaemum]]

Korea Day 4: Seoul [[Panmunjom JSA + DMZ + 3rd Tunnel Tour+Gwangjang Market]]

Korea Day 5: [[Suwon Hwaseong Fortress+ Folk Village + Walnut cake+ Lotteria + Haha Restaurant Pal Ja Mak Chang]]

Korea Day 6: Busan [[Nampodong Street + Yongdusan Park + Busan Tower + Gwangbok-dong Cultural & Fashion Street + Jagalchi Market + Gwangalli beach]]
Korea Day 7 Finale: Busan [[Haedong Yonggungsa Temple + Haeundae Beach + Gukbap Alley + Gamcheon Culture Village]]