Hello again, Seoul! After our packed two days in Jeju (see Part 1: Jeju), we made our way to Seoul via JejuAir once again! We would have three to four days to explore Seoul again, and it was the perfect weather to experience Seoul all over again.
Showing posts with label seoul. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seoul. Show all posts
Honestly, I didn't have any intention to go to South Korea again so soon since I've been there once in 2012. However, at my youngest sister's persuasion, I relented and thought "heck why not" - and so we bought our tickets and packed our bags for another Seoul & Jeju adventure (this time with a different sister!).
DAY 9 (19 Nov): Dongdaemun, Myeongdong, Hongdae
- Dongdaemun
- Myeongdong
- Dinner around Hongdae area
Since this was to be our last day in South Korea as we had to leave early in the morning the next day for our flight back to Malaysia, we decided to stay out as late as we can and go shopping around for souvenirs and other items around the area. We hit Dongdaemun and Myeongdong (which are walking distances with each other) and headed back to Hongdae for our last dinner that night.
- Dongdaemun
- Myeongdong
- Dinner around Hongdae area
Since this was to be our last day in South Korea as we had to leave early in the morning the next day for our flight back to Malaysia, we decided to stay out as late as we can and go shopping around for souvenirs and other items around the area. We hit Dongdaemun and Myeongdong (which are walking distances with each other) and headed back to Hongdae for our last dinner that night.
Overall, it was a memorable trip for all of us, although looking back I wished that I'd stayed in Jeju a little longer and would've extended our stay for a couple of days for a more leisurely walk around the remaining areas. I would also have liked to go to Nami Island via their Zipline Ride, which looks like some tremendous fun. Well, obviously there's gonna be a next visit ;) Possibly next time, I'll go to Busan - Seoul - Jeju and stay there for more than two weeks in order not to rush around.
Until next time, South Korea!
DAY 8 (18 Nov): Yonsei University, Sejong Center, Namdaemun, Banpo Hangang Park, Itaewon
Morning
- Yonsei University
- Sejong Center
Afternoon
- City Hall
- Namdaemun Market
Evening
- Banpo Hangang Park
- Itaewon
On this day, my sister and I were going separate ways with her friends - they were headed to Nami Island, and we were just going to explore the area. My sister and I weren't that interested in Winter Sonata, so we decided to have a day out with another friend of my sister's, who happened to be studying and living in Seoul at the moment (well, to be precise, he's a student of Sungkyukwan University).
So he was basically our (free) tour guide for the day, lol. First order of business, he brought us to one of his favourite restaurants in the area - even though it was too early for lunch, we gulped down everything because it was delicious.
We then made our way by taxi to the King Sejong Center, since we didn't get to go in last night because it was closed. It has some pretty interesting exhibits, as well as a historical 15-20minute movie about the war between Korea and Japan (well, one of the sea wars, anyway). If you don't know who King Sejong is, he's one of Korea's most influential rulers. He invented the hangul (Korean handwriting) system - prior to that, most of the Korean commoners were illiterate since the writing system used Chinese characters, which wasn't conducive to literacy as it hardly suited their language. Hangul uses a phonetic system to denote Korean's syllables and alphabets and increased literacy among the Koreans.
We also got to write our names in hangul at the center - it's FOC for tourists, where you'll write your names and place of origin on two papers. One will be plastered on the wall at the back (which you can see in the pictures below) and one will be kept by you as a souvenir.
Afterwards we just went walking around Dongdaemun for souvenirs, went to the City Hall and just walked around the area before making our way to Banpo Hangang Park by taxi. As I understand it, the building of Banpo Hangang Park was rather controversial, as locals lamented that it's mostly a waste of money.
Unfortunately, when we went the place was closed, as the buildings at Banpo Hangang Park wasn't opened for access, and there's also no show on the Rainbow Bridge :( Ah well, maybe another time.
We made our way to Itaewon for some dinner and prayed at the mosque there. Went home with the kebab we bought (yummy!) for supper, had some coffee and blacked-out once we got home for a good night rest.
Go to Day 7 (Hongdae, King Sejong Statue, Cheonggyecheon Stream) | Go to Day 9 (Dongdaemun, Myeongdong, Hongdae)
South Korea 2012 Masterpost
Morning
- Yonsei University
- Sejong Center
Afternoon
- City Hall
- Namdaemun Market
Evening
- Banpo Hangang Park
- Itaewon
On this day, my sister and I were going separate ways with her friends - they were headed to Nami Island, and we were just going to explore the area. My sister and I weren't that interested in Winter Sonata, so we decided to have a day out with another friend of my sister's, who happened to be studying and living in Seoul at the moment (well, to be precise, he's a student of Sungkyukwan University).
So he was basically our (free) tour guide for the day, lol. First order of business, he brought us to one of his favourite restaurants in the area - even though it was too early for lunch, we gulped down everything because it was delicious.
 |
| The squid has got to be the most delicious dish ever - and I don't even eat squid! |
After the meal, he took us to Yonsei University. The grounds of this university was beautiful! Ahhh, I wish Malaysia's local universities were this sprawling and beautiful :'(
 |
| This building's architecture was reminiscent of one of Malaysia's older buildings. |
We then made our way by taxi to the King Sejong Center, since we didn't get to go in last night because it was closed. It has some pretty interesting exhibits, as well as a historical 15-20minute movie about the war between Korea and Japan (well, one of the sea wars, anyway). If you don't know who King Sejong is, he's one of Korea's most influential rulers. He invented the hangul (Korean handwriting) system - prior to that, most of the Korean commoners were illiterate since the writing system used Chinese characters, which wasn't conducive to literacy as it hardly suited their language. Hangul uses a phonetic system to denote Korean's syllables and alphabets and increased literacy among the Koreans.
 |
| What is it with Japan and their miniature displays anyway. |
Afterwards we just went walking around Dongdaemun for souvenirs, went to the City Hall and just walked around the area before making our way to Banpo Hangang Park by taxi. As I understand it, the building of Banpo Hangang Park was rather controversial, as locals lamented that it's mostly a waste of money.
Unfortunately, when we went the place was closed, as the buildings at Banpo Hangang Park wasn't opened for access, and there's also no show on the Rainbow Bridge :( Ah well, maybe another time.
We made our way to Itaewon for some dinner and prayed at the mosque there. Went home with the kebab we bought (yummy!) for supper, had some coffee and blacked-out once we got home for a good night rest.
Go to Day 7 (Hongdae, King Sejong Statue, Cheonggyecheon Stream) | Go to Day 9 (Dongdaemun, Myeongdong, Hongdae)
South Korea 2012 Masterpost
DAY 7 (17 Nov): Hongdae, King Sejong Statue, Cheonggyecheon Stream
Morning & Afternoon
- Walk around Hongdae
- Hope and Free Market
Night
- King Sejong statue
- Cheonggyecheon Stream - Seoul Lantern Festival 2012
We had a relatively early night (I think we slept at 11pm and forwent dinner altogether), so we got up early the next day to go for a walk in Hogdae.
Hongdae is a more urban/hip neighbourhood in Seoul, and is practically crawling with students as there is a Hongik University in the area. Apparently it's one of the more "happening" area when it comes to people looking for a fun night out. Obviously we weren't interested, but we spent half a day just walking around the area, which are basically rows and rows of shops, bars, and restaurants.
First we went for a light breakfast at one of the many coffee shops in Hongdae area - South Korea is all about coffee apparently, the cafes and boulangeries are aplenty and you're spoilt for choice.
Found a cute macaroon store, where the macaroons are actually made by a French chef and its staffs. The macaroon were good! There were a number of interesting stores, but I think we were there early in the day so a lot of the stores weren't really full with people just yet.
Stumbled upon the place which should have been the Coffee Prince cafe! Unfortunately it was under renovation :( We were so psyched to go, too. Ah well, maybe next time.
So we walked around some more and came across an interesting store which sells lots of pins, brooches, and more importantly, bracelets & watches. Plus the guy who helped us with our purchase was so cute that we had to take a picture (the ahjummas who were visiting the store was just cooing "how cute!" when we posed for a picture. Sorry, nameless-cute-guy!)
Walked around some more until we encountered the Free Market, which is basically where all the freelancing students/business owners set up their simple stalls which sells unique things. Bought some homemade postcards and notebook here. There was also a live music show which showcases some indie bands. Worth a look around. We were interviewed by two students who were asking around on how foreigners heard about the Hope & Free Market.
Later on in the evening, we decided to go to the Cheonggyecheon Stream. We heard from one of the other guesthouse occupants (a German man traveling alone) that apparently the Seoul Lantern Festival was ongoing. This was serendipity at work since we didn't know anything about the event until we were told that it was held annually since 2009 and showcased some amazing lantern works.
Morning & Afternoon
- Walk around Hongdae
- Hope and Free Market
Night
- King Sejong statue
- Cheonggyecheon Stream - Seoul Lantern Festival 2012
We had a relatively early night (I think we slept at 11pm and forwent dinner altogether), so we got up early the next day to go for a walk in Hogdae.
Hongdae is a more urban/hip neighbourhood in Seoul, and is practically crawling with students as there is a Hongik University in the area. Apparently it's one of the more "happening" area when it comes to people looking for a fun night out. Obviously we weren't interested, but we spent half a day just walking around the area, which are basically rows and rows of shops, bars, and restaurants.
First we went for a light breakfast at one of the many coffee shops in Hongdae area - South Korea is all about coffee apparently, the cafes and boulangeries are aplenty and you're spoilt for choice.
 |
| Breakfast! A garlic bread with honey (if you can call this "light"). |
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| Don't ask. |
Stumbled upon the place which should have been the Coffee Prince cafe! Unfortunately it was under renovation :( We were so psyched to go, too. Ah well, maybe next time.
 |
| Can you see our disappointed faces? |
So we walked around some more and came across an interesting store which sells lots of pins, brooches, and more importantly, bracelets & watches. Plus the guy who helped us with our purchase was so cute that we had to take a picture (the ahjummas who were visiting the store was just cooing "how cute!" when we posed for a picture. Sorry, nameless-cute-guy!)
Walked around some more until we encountered the Free Market, which is basically where all the freelancing students/business owners set up their simple stalls which sells unique things. Bought some homemade postcards and notebook here. There was also a live music show which showcases some indie bands. Worth a look around. We were interviewed by two students who were asking around on how foreigners heard about the Hope & Free Market.
After all the walking around, we found out that it was noon and decided to have an early lunch. We were so early that I think we were the first costumer, lol. We loved this shop as it served one of the best haemultang dish! (The only one which we figured we could eat, lol.) In fact we went here twice on this day (once for lunch, another time during dinner) and went back here the next day for dinner as well ha. The auntie probably recognized us at one point.
On the next night we went here, a cute couple (possibly in their 30s-40s) made some small conversation with us after we showed some difficulty with the menu (we wanted something else other than the haemultang, but it was hard to describe any other halal food with our limited vocab). The man spoke fluent English and looked a little bit tipsy haha, but otherwise we had a pleasant talk - seems he's been to Malaysia and spoke favourably of it :) Ahjussi, come to Malaysia again and we'll show you around!
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| Hotpot yummm. |
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| Arrived from this subway station. |
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| First, we had some fun at the King Sejong statue (with the Gwanghwamun Gate as a background) |
Then we made our way to the entrance of the stream, where we found out that there's a loooong queue to enter the stream! Guess I shouldn't be surprised. I think we were in line close to 30 minutes before we saw the first lantern figure.
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| Which was a replica of the Gwanghwamun Gate! |
Since it was Saturday, it was a lot more crowded than I expected - the queue was long and the procession was pretty slow. But it was worth it for one of those once-in-a-lifetime experience abroad, considering we didn't even know it was occurring during our visit. The lanterns were beautiful, truly some masterpiece artwork.
Go to Day 6 (N Seoul Tower, Hongdae) | Go to Day 8 (Yonsei Uni, Sejong Center, Namdaemun, Banpo Hangang Park, Itaewon)
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