Escape to Seoul Day 7

Day 7.

The most dreadful day when we drove back to the airport and say good-bye to one of the most amazing countries I’ve been to. It is the day to buy last-minute pasalubongs to all our friends and family. It is also one of the most challenging moments in my life where I have to pack and re-pack my luggage to fit everything and keep it within the allowed check-in baggage weight!

We spent our last hours in Seoul in Insadong and Ssamziegil since they are closest (less than 2 minute walk) to the hotel.

We bought hair accessories, tried the huge quirky glasses:

and bought poop bread!

We went back to the hotel and waited for ride to the airport. We were expecting to see Mr. Yoon but someone else drove us to Incheon Airport. As we were leaving Hotel Sunbee, my heart was so heavy but I managed not to cry. Kizia managed to catch some sleep but I woke up several times (again with a heavy heart). I just shot every interesting bit with our Flip.

Incheon Airport is the greatest airport I’ve been to (so far). You can visit a loooooooot of stores inside – coffee shops, bookstores, fast food places, food courts and more. We even saw a group re-creating/performing a traditional Korean wedding – again, INSIDE Incheon Airport.

One of our must-do’s in Korea is try some of Dunkin’ Donuts’ donuts.

Ha! What actually made us want to do this is because of Simon and Martina’s video. To read more about their review, go here. We tried to create a video on our own but we can’t grab a table inside Dunkin Donuts, and the waiting area was crowded, we had to share a seat and make the video. I will edit this soon, I promise. But here are  photos from my iPod.

I can say half tasted great, and the other half’s just okay. But we enjoyed doing the video, that I can tell you.

So we boarded Korean Air and we were welcomed with a scrumptious on-board meal

with dessert!

I’m not familiar  with the types of planes but I sure know we were inside a big one. Each passenger has access to a screen and one can listen to music (Korean or not), watch music videos, and watch Korean movies! Amazing. I started Hello Ghost first but the first part was a little dragging so I changed to Cyrano Agency and apparently, Kizia was watching this one too! The movie was a bit long so we weren’t able to finish it. Don’t worry, when we got back, Kizia grabbed a copy of the movie and shared it to me. THE MOVIE WAS AMAZING.

…

Escape to Seoul Day 6 (Part 2 of 2)

Read day 6 Part 1 here

Next stop: Hongdae! Not the Night Hongdae. The Day Hongdae for the Trick Eye Museum in Santorini Seoul!

Just to give you a warning, finding the place is a bit tricky. I wish I took a video of how we got there. From what I remember, we got off at the right stop but we walked towards the wrong direction. We didn’t see signs  leading to the place. It’s one of those artsy and secluded area. Just the right atmosphere for such an awesome place.

We took the subway Line 2 and got off at Hongik University station exit 9. Then we got a bit lost. Haha! Don’t be deceived by the small streets around you. They’re actually the right ones. Check out their website at http://trickeye.co.kr/

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

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

We were so lucky that day – we just stumbled upon it while we were getting lost. Trick Eye Museum’s location is like of Cafe Drama’s. You’ll find stairs leading down to the museum, like an underground world waiting for tourists/people and make them happy there.

Based on its name, Santorini Seoul is based on the real Santorini, a beautiful island in Greece. And if you look closely, the place is a mix of Greek and Korean art style. I don’t know if these artworks exist in the real Santorini but they are beautiful. The pictures aren’t even close enough to giving justice to how they really look like.

They are cool, hip, new (to me at least) but without showing too much. I’m no art critic but I see them somewhere between conservative and modern with a play of different medium.

On our way to the ticket booth, we saw this wall with a lot of post its with writings. But we can’t read them since most of them are in Korean. I read somewhere that this wall resembles a church or some building in the real Santorini but I don’t know why people stick post its to it. Help?

I also love this quirky map of the place. I like to have something like this on my future house’ wall.

Entrance to another exhibit inside Santorini:

We also saw this amazing miniature version of Santorini, Greece. I love the structured but quirky look of the piece.

Inside Santorini Seoul, you can also grab something to eat before or after your tour. Believe me, Trick Eye Museum alone can tire you.

Even the café place blends well with the rest of the place. Look at the effort on those pillars! I also love the warm colors painted on the walls.

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TRICK EYE MUSEUM

Don’t be confused, like we were, but basically, Trick Eye Museum is inside Santorini. It is a big gallery that is a part of the exhibit. You can check out the guide above for reference. Aside from Trick Eye, I remember seeing a door leading to a gallery full of cat illustrations, paintings etc. So again, Trick Eye Museum or Trompe L’oeil Museum is INSIDE Santorini Seoul.

And so we went inside and bought tickets for 10,000won each.

Heh! Hilarious. Obviously, I am enjoying this.

HAHAHA.

You won’t regret buying your 10,000won ticket. Because you will enjoy EVERYTHING. Like how I enjoyed this:

And how Kizia enjoyed this:

We love to pout, yeah we do.

My camera’s memory got full (I forgot to dump my files) and driventolive’s camera became a mobile phone (it vibrates when you take a picture) so I can’t take pictures aimlessly. But anyway, here are some:

GIANT SUSHI.

I don’t always shop but when I do, I make sure I buy a lot of bags…

with Kizia’s money.

And yeah, well, my money too.

TIP: It’s best to have a tripod with you when going to Santorini and Trick Eye Museum. So you and your friends/family can share the picture together. Although there are some staff around the place, they are not enough to accommodate everyone. They’re often near the most interesting portraits/pictures. And besides, you couldn’t just ask them to follow you around, right?

After Santorini, we walked around Hongdae and passed by the Coffee Prince café. Unfortunately, I haven’t watched this drama yet so I wasn’t that interested in getting inside. But I would love to go back there. The place seemed nice and cozy.

We also passed by Hello Kitty Cafe, again, by accident.

We didn’t bother getting inside because we heard it’s expensive. But the little pink café is a bit hard to resist, right?

That afternoon, we were looking for the Bau House, hoping to have a good time with the dogs for the sake of our friend, Jana, who super duper loves dogs. But instead, this is what we found:

Condomania is located near the main gates of Hongik University. It’s not allowed to take pictures but Kizia managed to get a few shots inside before the staff stopped us.

If only I have lots of money then, I would have bought some for my friends. The shop is teasing a lot of teenagers, I tell you.

After visiting this little shop, we realized we want to go back to Myeongdong for last-minute shopping! But we can’t go shopping with an empty stomach right?

We were at Taco bell when we noticed that people leave their bags freely at their tables to grab their food. We are so amazed with the fact that OUR BAGS OUR SAFE HERE. Fast foods are also CLAYGO (clean as you go). Self service. NICE.

It was also our last night in Seoul, so what else is there to do than spend it with Seoul’s happy night life?

We freshened up, and went back to.. guess where?

There were a loooooot of people in Club Cocoon. A LOT. And it was MONDAY, for crying out loud. It is unbelievable and amusing at the same time. Night life is really alive!

And who do you think we saw on our last night who made a very nice comeback pick up line?

.

.

.

(drum roll)

Oppa to me: I like you.

Yihee, he now knows how to say it properly in English. Biggest turnoff: his friend gave him a bottle of beer (although he offered it to me) but he didn’t even give me one or went to the bar and buy us drinks.

What’s more interesting is that HE WAS THERE THAT NIGHT when HE WAS ALSO THERE TWO NIGHTS AGO. Oh how playful faith was that night/week.

We danced. We danced all night. Without even a decent exchange of information about us. It was nice, the dancing part, because I haven’t danced that long in a long while.

When we were leaving, Oppa asked for my number again (and now that I think about it, it was kind of dumb because it’s either a: he doesn’t remember me or b: he didn’t understand my sorry-i-only-have-an-international-number line). So that wraps up Day 6 in Seoul!

One more day!

Seoul Day 3 – Deoksugung Palace

Changing of the guards

Photos by Clur and Kizia

Escape to Seoul Day 3 (Part 3 of 3)

(Read Day 3 Part 2 here)

After Deoskugung Palace, it’s time for shopping! Day 3 is scheduled for a get-lost-in-Myeongdong trip. It’s Kizia’s turn to educate me in what stores to go to in Myeongdong. We immediately looked for our most researched ones: Every Sing and SPAO.

I love SPAO because Super Junior’s endorsing them. Haha! Look at how cute Heechul is here:

Don’t you just want to find a similar jacket because of that?????

Which I did eventually. I found a dark gray hoodie jacket. Too bad they only have it in Men’s size. But that didn’t stop me from buying one (for BF) and a light gray for me! Close enough! Yay!

After that, we went up to the third floor for Every Sing to look for Kpop merch. (SPAO and Every Sing are in the same building. They’re not hard to find.) We almost jumped and screamed out loud when we found the place.

But we’re on a budgeted shopping spree. Well, I am. Unfortunately, we didn’t find anything that made us go gaga over it.

So we explored Myeongdong instead. We got hungry…

ate corn dogs covered with fries…

and went shopping in Kosney! We were kind of ‘ended our friendship’ back here when we went separate ways and savored the cute stuff in Kosney. I swear. Get ready for an hour or so of cuteness overload!

They have accessories, clothes, shoes, art materials, stationaries, DVDs, magazines, CDs and a lot of stuff. Was tempted to buy a magazine (in Korean) with Jang Geun Suk as the cover and buy a set of You’re Beautiful Drama Series. I thought about them really hard, but I thought 1. I can’t read Hangul yet, and 2. I haven’t seen You’re Beautiful so I wouldn’t know if buying the set would be worth it. I also saw Kim Sam Soon and My Girl sets. Eeeep!

If you’ve got lots of money, and you happen to pass by Kosney, I say GO AND BUY THEM ALL, MY FRIEND.

Of course, I won’t let this wonderful opportunity pass with Jang Geun Suk:

… and because Kizia pushed me to do it. (Blaming it to others eh?)

Well, as you can see, I have a Uniqlo paper bag with me in the above photo. So this is to certify that we also went to Uniqlo that day.

We also passed by Forever 21, and believe it or not, it was Kizia’s first time to go inside one. Early last year (2011), a Forever 21 store opened in Megamall and Kizia hasn’t been in it before we went to Seoul. So to remember the moment:

When we were finally finished roaming around Myeongdong, we grabbed hot drinks and let our feet and legs rest at Cafe Benne (near the entrance to the train station).

It was our first time to see the vibrating thingy that will light up once your order is ready. No more shouting barista!

When we got back home and tried the new Holly’s Coffee near DLSU – Taft, they were also using this disk. And then Coffee Bean started using it. And then Coffee Prince, another café near DLSU is also using a disk. Oh, Seattle’s best in Greenbelt is also using them. Who knows, maybe Starbucks will start using them too.

Going back…

We were supposed to board the train after we had our hot drinks when we learned that there are underground shops in the area that sells clothes, shoes accessories etc. And there is one shop in between the clothing stores that sells DVDs, albums, posters, stickers, stationaries, stuffed toys and OMYGOODNESS KPOP AND KDRAMA MERCH. An underground store that serves semi-fan girls like us.

Aaaand another hour passed by while we searched for goodies and DVDs to take home. We have no proof that the shop existed BUT I am hoping it’s still there since the price is cheaper there compared to other shops “above.” And besides, our hands are already full of shopping bags and our mind’s very much overwhelmed with the rows and stacks of Kdramas and albums.

We were too tired to look for a place to eat dinner and besides, we already splurged a bit that day so we decided to just buy street food! We bought Mandu (again, and they’re still huuuuuge) and grabbed a cup of ramyun/bokki, some bread and chips from the nearby convenience store.

I got the cheese bboki while Kizia got Ramyun. And in Seoul, you can survive by just eating these. Or just buy street food. Or eat along the sidewalks (with the tents and all) – like a carinderia here in the Philippines. I was already full when I reached half of my bread, with my chips untouched.

Happy happy day 3! <3

Escape to Seoul Day 3 (Part 2 of 3)

(Read Day 3 Part 1 here)

We left Changdeokgung and went to our next destination, Jongmyo Ancestral shrine. It was supposedly ‘near’ Changdeokgung because all our research and maps told us that it was right in front of Changdeokgung. So we walked… and walked… and I think we walked towards the wrong side of the palace. We were walking AROUND it. I was thinking the whole time that when we cross the street, we could easily enter the palace. But I think (please correct me if I’m wrong) there is only one entrance available. Boo.

The entrance fee comes with a free tour. But you have to check the schedule first. It’s better to go inside with a guide to learn about the place, than going on your own. Unfortunately we missed the last available tour for the day (by 10-15 minutes). Boo.

Lesson: take into consideration the scale of the map. OR: get a taxi, spare the walk, you’ll get plenty of that inside the palaces.

Or you can walk, and take photos of the neighboring houses around Jongmyo. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the walk. I love the walls of the palace! But I was too preoccupied looking for the entrance I didn’t get to enjoy it that much. Too few photos..

Photo by Kizia

We saw a lot of ajusshi there playing chess, smoking or just sitting down, looking around. It’s a bit scary though because they look like a mob at first glance. Haha!

Jongmyo is a 5-minute walk away from Exit 11 of Jongno 3-ga station subway line 1 or Exit 8 of Jongno 3-ga station subway line 3.

Since we don’t have anything else to there (anymore), we  headed to Deoksugung Palace.

We were walking towards the entrance when we saw this man carving wood at the side walk. His work looks absolutely beautiful.

We arrived at Deoksugung the exact moment of changing of the guards. It takes place three times a day (11 AM, 2 PM, 3:30 PM for about 20 minutes) in front of Daehanmun or the main gate. There were a lot of people watching outside as well. The Royal Guards Changing Ceremony is one of the things tourists look forward to in this side of the city. This experience feels like you traveled back in time and you’re seeing the actual changing of guards several decades ago.

Had to sit down (after that looooong walk) and re-think about our next destination.

Like a scene from a K-drama, waiting for oppa:

I saw this old couple walking around the area, holding hands. And I remembered my parents (not that they’re this old now). Love love <3

If you visit the palace during fall, you can see spring cherry blossoms and yellow ginko leaves. Great place for couples to have a romantic and historical walk.

And of course:

Deoksugung is closed on Mondays. You can reach it through Exit 2 of City Hall Station on Line 1 or Exit 12 of Jongno 3-ga Station on Line 2. The Palace is a good 5 minutes walk from both exits.

 

Escape to Seoul Day 3 (Part 1 of 3)

Day 3 Itinerary:

• Brunch/Lunch
• Chandeokgung Palace
• Jongmyu Ancestral Shrine
• Deoksugung Palace
• Myeongdong!

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As usual, we woke up late (because it was really hard to get up – our room was nice and cold and the blankets are so soft and warm) and decided to eat brunch/lunch before going around the city and palaces. We decided to go back to the palaces to take decent pictures and follow our own pace.

We stopped by Mr. Pizza (61 Jong-ro, Insadong) but line’s too long so we decided to try another pizza place.

Pizza More is still in Insadong (if you found Mr. Pizza, you have to get across the street and get lost. You’ll find it sitting quietly between bars, norea-bang and restaurants)

Located in a quiet corner, this place offers the best cheese and corn pizza and sweet corn soup I have ever tasted.  The place is cozy and the food is delicious!

We also ordered pasta, marinara was it? The surprise here is it was a bit spicy. But delicious. But the corn pizza was something new to us, we gobbled it down until it’s finished. Love it.

We decided to walk to our first destination, Changdeokgung Palace, which is nearest to our place. We passed by Insadong to see what we can buy and explore around there when we get back. We saw a couple of young adults doing a street show and there were a lot of people around them. There was even a camera crew filming them – maybe from a broadcasting network?

We passed by the famous Ssamssigil, looked around for a while, grabbed a cup of hot choco for the road and bought a ‘poop’ bread or ‘dung bread.

And headed to our first Palace: Changdeok-gung or Changdeok Palace.

Changdeok-gung or Chandeok-gung Palace literally means “The Palace of Prospering Virtue.” It is often referred to as the East Palace as it is located East of the Grand Palace, Gyeongbuk-gung. It was the second royal villa built after Gyeongbuk-gung Palace.

Yes, we walked from Insadong to here. It’s a bit far, but manageable. We’re avoiding taxis. Haha!

“One such notable difference is the fact that the architecture of Changdeokgung harmonizes beautifully with the surrounding nature without appearing intrusive or destructive in the process.” 

GETTING THERE: Take subway Line 3 to Anguk Station and get out at Exit 3. Changdeokgung Palace is open from 09:15~17:45 (April ~ October) and 09:15~15:45 (November ~ February). In March, visiting hours are from 09:15~16:45. Entry is permitted every 15 and 45 minutes past the hour. The palace is closed Mondays. Entry to the palace is only permitted with a guided tour. Visitors do not have to join the tour on Thursdays. Admission is 3,000 won.

- From Visit Korea

I love this palace because of the way it was built. The buildings and the garden goes well together. Although we didn’t go to the Secret Garden, you can sense that the plants around the area are well-maintained. For me, this is my favorite. It’s very feminine.

We saw a monk (?) on vacation, maybe, going around the palace just like us.

It’s really nice.

I will post a lot of pictures of Changdeokgung after this!

And oh!!! When we’re leaving, we saw some snow at the side of the road. <3

<3 love love!

Seoul Day 2 – Korean Barbecue

This post is about FOOD. And our first authentic Korean Barbecue in Korea with Narae.

To start this off, here is Kizia getting ready for the meal:

Seoul Day 2 (Palaces)

Perfectly preserved details:

Last-minute testing with a borrowed lens hehe.

I had to put this here: I love my hair color!

This one I think is also from Kizia:

The small figures/statues on the rooftop:

All photos taken March 2011 by Kizia and yours truly.

Please forgive our personal photos. It’s just we look so darn pretty there. Haha!

Escape to Seoul Day 2 (Part 2 of 2)

Read Day 2 Part 1 here.

NAMDAEMUN MARKET.

We stopped by Namdaemun Market that afternoon. Nana (so so sweet) offered to help us get cheaper prices from the ajhummas in Namdaemun. But we didn’t buy anything (yet again) because, well, we really don’t feel like buying stuff right there and then. We also felt that we are such a big burden to Nana if we make her do the haggling. And it’s a bit awkward too.

In Namdaemun, it’s better if you know how to speak in Korean because most unnis and ajhummas in Namdaemun doesn’t speak that much Englilsh. The place has a Divisoria feel to it (Divisoria in the Philippines), not the 168 area. The old parts of Divisoria. No, scratch that. It’s like Baclaran! The market place near the Baclaran Church is similar to Namdaemun Market – only it’s bigger and cleaner.

We passed by Ssamziegil along Insadong when Nana dropped us off. It was already on our list so imagine how happy we were when we learned  how near it was to our hotel! After saying our goodbyes to Nana, we walked back to the hotel to rest for a while and freshen up because we have a date in Hongdae with Narae.

HONGDAE WITH NARAE.

Kizia met Narae in a marketing class back in college. She went to the Philippines to study, and went back to Korea right after graduation. When we finalized our trip, Kizia immediately left her a message – the date was set (although it was finalized when we were in Seoul already haha), and with our trusty Seoul Tourist Map, and our ‘how to get in a packed train’ skills we learned in Manila, we braved the snowy/rainy weather to see Narae and set our foot in the famous Hongdae.

OH YAH! IT SNOWED-slash-rained. AND I WAS SO HAPPY. Oh wait, I don’t have a photo. (-_-) Pffft

Narae said that some Koreans love rain, some love snow, but most of them hate the kind of weather we had that night. Snow / rain. It was more of raining than snowing actually. But I still loved it!

The first restaurant that we went to is full so we transferred to another (unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a photo of the place). The dinner was spectacular!

Me and our cook, Narae

Dearest Kizia, please remind me the food we ate that night. All I remembered was the Pork skin. Yum-meh. I will put another blog post about the dinner after this one!

Another great thing about the place is that you can ask for big plastic bags where you can put your stuff in so the smell of the barbecue place won’t stick to them. Narae forgot they were available and only remembered it AFTER our meal.

plastic bags for your bags (and stuff)

Narae also forgot to tell us that tissue papers and napkins are also available (we were looking for napkins all night). It was just right above us!

We badly needed a sweet hot drink after the big dinner. And on our way to the coffee shop, we passed by THE Tukbokki Shop where Mary Stayed Out All Night was filmed! I know this is THE store. Plus Narae confirmed it! Yipee!

The Tukbokki Shop from Mary Stayed Out All Night

Go to and take a picture of one location in your favorite Korean Drama: check.

The boys are so cute. They posed for the camera too when they saw us taking a picture. )

We also passed by this:

Hehehehe. So back to the coffee shop.

We stopped by EDIYA Coffee shop in Hongdae. It’s a small coffee shop, with a few tables and chairs. Fortunately, we found a table despite the crowd.

The brick walls are great, the colors of all elements inside the shop blends well, and it looks really warm from the outside! The store is part-glass so you can see everything from the inside – the shops outside, the people walking by, it’s a nice spot to people-watch! You can also watch falling snow without feeling cold. Ediya Coffee is small, but cozy. It’s a mixture of modern architecture and just plain cuteness. I love the hanging light bulbs by the way. It adds to the modern feel to the place.

That night, we learned about the power of the… STRAW.

THE STRAW

It’s not just A straw. It’s THE straw. Haha! It’s really a stirrer but it’s also a straw. You can drink/sip your coffee or latte from it. It’s really nice. And it’s blue! We were so amazed with this technology (whut) that we were tempted to get more. Haha! We’ve now seen these strawstirrers here in the Philippines, starting with the first branch of Holly’s Coffee along Taft Avenue. Some branches of Jollibee started providing strawstirrers for their customers’ coffee.

Being a non-user, I rely on Kizia for make up tips and whatnots. And Korea is a known haven for cosmetics. It was one of the topics we had during our coffee time. But Narae felt her knowledge with cosmetics were limited. She decided to phone a friend. Thus the picture:

We were already in Hongdae so the urge to party was strong. But Narae’s got work the following day so the partying will have to wait. Haha! We took the subway home and surprisingly, it was still crowded at that time!

Even though it was kind of a short date with her, it was definitely one of the most memorable nights ever in my life. Meeting a new friend in a faraway country and the discovery of the STRAW = EPIC.

Let’s not forget the Sweet Potato Latte! Love love love…

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P.S. We had a little stop over at Family Mart:

Kizia's Starbucks Latte

and my ice cream. I ate all three of them while Kizia was in the bathroom. Sorry, they were delicious. I'll treat you to an ice cream soon na lang .

And another day passed in Seoul.

Seoul Day 1

Here are some photos of our first day in Seoul. Please excuse my vanity.  Haha! Enjoy!

After our breakfast/lunch in McDonald’s. Taken around 4-5 PM. Crazy right? Crazy for us at least.