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

Nami Island:
Directions: City Hall to Gapyeong (Line 1, transit at Hoegi to Jungang Line, transit at Mangu to Gyeongchun Line, 25 stops [Travel time: 87min. Travel Cost with T-Money: 1950won])

Our day started early as we made our way from City Hall to Gapyeong to catch the 9.10am bus to Nami Island bus stop, where you purchase tickets to take the ferry over to Nami Island.

The bus has a one hour interval, hence be sure to be there early to catch the bus.When we reached Gapyeong Station Terminal, just outside of the tourist information office, there was a queue formed for the bus. Tickets are to be purchased from the bus driver. With the ticket, one can freely get on and off the bus as many times as one want.

From Gapyeong Station Terminal to Nami Island bus stop is only a mere five minute ride. After alighting at the bus stop, we headed to the ticketing counter to purchase the ferry ticket before heading to the Wharf to take the ferry.

 We were lucky that the ferry was about to depart when we reached the wharf! The ferry looks like an UFO. Many people chose to stand outside to admire the scenery. Mr Kwek and I on the other hand, decided to hide inside as it was freezing cold outside!

 After about ten minutes, we alighted on Nami island and started our exploring the island. The island was pretty small. We reached the legendary "first kiss" site in less than half an hour! 

After getting someone to take a photo of our "First Kiss", we proceeded on to explore the island and came across Drama Cafe where we got ourselves the famous shake shake bento to share.

The shake shake bento, served in a tin container, and came with a pair of gloves. Wear the gloves and shake the bento to mix the kimchi sauce with the rice. 

 After shaking, the content looks like this:

The rice comes with an egg. For 5000won, this is may look expensive but it tasted surprisingly good! Really good for such a simple meal. *Highly recommended* As the Drama Cafe is a Halal cafe hence, everyone can try the shake shake bento! :)

After our early lunch, we continued to explore the island for another hour before heading off to the wharf to wait for the ferry back to the mainland.

Once back on mainland, we headed into a cafe for some hot chocolate to warm ourselves up before heading to the bus stop to take the bus to Petite France.

Petite France:
The bus ride from Nami Island bus stop to Petite France was a long and bumpy twenty-five minutes ride! The ride was filled with countless up-sloped S-course road! The bus stops right infront of Petite France.

After walking up a slope, we were greeted by a ticketing counter. After purchasing the tickets, we started exploring the place. Petite France looks exactly like it looks on running man: Very colorful and cheerful! However, it was quite small. We were able to finish exploring the place in less than two hours.

Red Sun Budae-jjigae: 
Address: The 2nd floor, 55-14, Myeongdong 2 ga, Jung-gu, Seoul 
 
Since we finished exploring both places earlier than expected, we decided to head back to Myeong Dong for dinner before heading to Dongdaemum for some late-night shopping.

We headed for Red Sun in one of the Myeong Dong streets to have our dinner after failing miserably to locate the initial restaurant we had in mind. Red Sun is situated in a narrow building and occupies 3 to 4-levels. The place is brightly lit and the staff are very friendly.

We were ushered to the 2nd level and were given a window seat where we were able to people watch while enjoying our dinner. :) We ordered the 2 people set which costed around 15000 won. 

We were given an apron each too although the staff helped set up the pot and did the cooking for us. All we had to do was eat when the staff said she was done with the cooking! This meal was well worth the money! It was very filling and most importantly, delicious. *Highly recommended* We missed this soooo much when we returned to Singapore!

Dongdaemum:
Address: Dongdaemun Station and exit 8 or 9.

After dinner, we headed to Dongdaemum for some late-night shopping. Dongaemum area is very lively and colorful at night. There are three famous mall here: Doota Mall (most expensive), Hello APM (cheapest) , Migliore (medium pricing)  which open till wee hours.

Despite the vast varieties, the shopping was very disappointing. We walked around for two hours without purchasing anything. All the shopping streets/malls around the area felt like a tourist trap. Vendors were inflating the prices of items before slashing it to half the initial price when we tried to walk away. 

It was unfortunately, the first time during a shopping trip, I requested to head back to the hotel to rest instead! So before we left, we walked over to the Cheongsam stream to have a look.Did not manage to walk down the stream because we will need to make a big U-turn back to the metro should we do so!

 Thats the end of our very tiring day! Stay tune to my next update on JSA and DMZ tour! A very eye-opening tour for us! :)

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

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


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]]