Day 13 - Dongdaemun & N Seoul Tower

So today we decided to finally check out the Dongdaemun Market since this is one of the more popular touristy attractions. What we heard ahead of time is that they had a lot of cheap clothing, bags, shoes, etc. Anything you could imagine would be here. They also had a lot of wholesale things as well. So we left the hotel, went into the Metro and made our way to Dongdaemun Station. We were hungry of course so we decided to walk around and check out what restaurants they had to offer in the area. We decided to go to some random restaurant that seemed pretty popular. This restaurant didn't have a lot of items you could share with the entire table but more like your individual dishes. I decided to have cold buckwheat noodles with the hard boiled egg on top and Ray had some sort of spicy rice dish in a hot stone pot kind of like bibimbap but more so it was fried rice in the stone bowl.



Famous Cold Noodle Dish



Sliced Pork Belly to accompany the Cold Noodle

 When we left the restaurant we stopped into a bunch of beauty stores on the way to pick up some gifts for friends back home. Honestly Seoul has sooo many of these beauty shops which I'm sure I've mentioned in previous blog posts. One of my favourite stores were Skin Food. I liked this store because it had a lot of cheap skin care items like facial cleansers and random things to the more expensive priced items like scrubs. Anything ranged from 8,000 -20,000KRW there. I heard a lot of good things about this store as well so I picked up some facial scrubs. Another thing I like about these stores is that they give you a lot of mini samples from some of their various products which comes in handy when you want to see what products are good or not.

After that we went to watch this show/ride thing happening on this stage in the middle of this area (kind of like Dundas Square). Basically it was like one of those rides you see at CNE or WL where its like a circle and you sit and it spins around and around as well as moves up and down at the same time it spins so you get knocked out pretty badly. The funny thing about this ride is that it was just a circle and around the edges were seats and then a big center in the middle with nothing. So when people who tested out this ride were being spun around, their shoes were coming off, they were knocked off their seats cause there weren't any seat belts and it was just a really funny site to see. All you could do was hold onto the rails on the sides of the chairs to hold you up but even then it wouldn't help because it is also extremely painful to have to use both your hands and arms to hold you from being knocked off your seat. It also didn't help that the ride operator was purposely knocking people and making it spin extremely fast. It was also cool because the guys who worked there were doing flips as this thing was spinning which was really impressive.



Disco Ride

Now we talk about the shopping! We've been told that there was a lot of malls in this area that had a lot of cheap clothing and accessories. The most popular being APM, Doota and Migliore. We decided to check out each of these malls and what they had to offer. Basically, APM and Migliore were pretty much the same. When you walk in there's a bunch of mini shops selling women's clothing and the next floor they sold boots and on and on. It's basically a bunch of mini vendors all on one floor which was pretty interesting to see cause each place had something unique or nice. It all becomes a bit overwhelming because they all offer the same clothing and some of them try to call you over to sell things. They have all their prices on the items but you can always bargain with them. ie. lowering the price for two items. We did that a lot at some stores. I must say that these malls have a lot of nice accessories so if anyone likes these types of things should definitely go there to check it out. We went to Doota after, and this was a very nice mall as well. Same concept, many different vendors in one mall but this was way more classier. It had the higher brand clothing, cosmetics and accessories. But the prices were so high it was ridiculous. We went to a souvenir shop to buy some shirts which we thought were "cheap" but then we went outside and walked a bit and saw the same shirt for half the price! So when you go shopping in these types of places and night markets, definitely check out everywhere before you make a heavy purchase.

We left Doota and decided to walk down more to the market area. We stopped at a food vendor and got some fried chicken on a stick :) and when we walked into the huge buildings, we realized it was all wholesale items selling fabrics and such. It was kind of boring walking through this so we tried to go on the other side of the street. It looked like a dead town so we asked for some info from a tourist booth and they said that this place is most live at night time starting 9pm. By this time it was already 6pm so we didn't bother to stay there so we decided to head to the N Seoul Tower because it was night time and we heard it was really nice to go at night.

N Seoul Tower

We exited the station and followed the directions on the pamphlet on how to get there. It was kind of sketchy because it told us to walk pass this hotel and it was basically a small side road. It looked like an alley to me and it was dark and empty with not a lot of people. The pamphlet said it was a 10 minute walk but it felt like a 20 minute uphill walk. Seriously by the time we got there, we saw a set of stairs and ran up. We felt like we did a work out doing that uphill walking haha. So we bought the tickets to take the cable car up which is super high and scary. However, it's a really nice to check out the scenery and all over Seoul. By the time we got up there it was dark and we didn't realize that going up the tower would cost us more money so we decided to just check out the view from the cable car platform area. What was cool about this is that couples come up here and put their locks on the wires/railings. Pretty romantic.

So after taking our photos and stuff we saw a caricature artist doing a couple's portrait that looked really cool. Her name was like Connie Woo or something. But I know I totally got the name wrong. Anyways, we decided to get our caricature done because she did a pretty accurate job with everyone else and they were funny. She honestly didn't look older than maybe 20 years old and she was so talented. This is what she did for us:

The artist who drew our portrait!

 This girl is so talented, we loved her photo of us! Ray doesn't like his bushy eyebrows though ;)

After we checked out around the tower we decided to head back into town and we took the cable car back. Since we were in the Myeongdong area, we decided to stick around and grab some food that was around. We noticed that were were 4 huge Lotte stores that we vowed to check out before we left here. We walked through the mini streets of Myeongdong and we found a nice restaurant that consisted of the same type of food, basically dak-galbi. This time we had something with seafood in it as well. The food was okay but we both agreed that the first time we every had this dish, it was honestly the best place we tried. This one we gave it 3 out of 5 stars

Popular Dak Galbi Restaurant

Dak Galbi

Dak Galbi

After dinner, since everything was closing up we were pretty tired to go back to Dongdaemun to check out the night market, so we decided to just head back to our comfy hotel. 

Next Day 14 - Lotte Department Stores & Myeongdong pt. 2 & Dongdaemun pt. 2

Day 12

Day 12 - Hongdae & Ilsandong


So when we woke up, it was raining yet again. We were kind of sick of this crappy weather because it was really limiting us from doing certain things and we were hoping it would stop raining for the next few days we were here (but we were wrong). But we're lucky and fortunate that we were in Hong Kong when the typhoon happened in Seoul or else that would've been pretty bad. We decided this day to check out Hongdae area. We woke up kind of late so we only had a few hours to check out anything before meeting up with CK so we decided on going somewhere close.

We heard that the Hondae / Hongik University area was a very lively area at night time. This is the area / subway station you head to if you want to go clubbing or check out the night life. We wanted to see what this place was like ensuring that we didn't miss any hot spots while we were here (even though daytime is not the time to go haha). So when we arrived, our first intention was to find a place to eat. Any first impressions? The fact that it was raining and there were many students (obviously at a University area station) and lots of coffee shops, restaurants, little stores and bars. I believe there are plenty of night clubs in this area too that were closed because it was a weekday afternoon.

So we walked around the area which seemed like an alleyway and road with shops and restaurants. We were extremely hungry so we were searching for a good place to eat. We saw many places that had the same table top cooking we always ate but we wanted to try something new. So we spotted a restaurant that had a really good deal for cold noodles. We went to the restaurant and ordered two bowls of this cold buckwheat noodle, one spicy and one regular. They both came with the cold noodles, broth, half of a boiled egg and some raddish. Also they give you a small plate to share amongst two people, grilled pork belly (yum). This was so good, it was different from other cold noodles we've had in Toronto. What was even better, the bill came to 9,800KRW, less than 10 bucks Canadian!

So after walking around a bit and checking the place out we made our way back to the hotel to drop off some things and make our way to Ilsandong. There was a bus stop in front of our hotel that went straight there so we hopped on the bus. The bus driver was pretty rude, I was trying to tell him to let me know when to get off because we never took the bus before and had no idea where the place to meet CK was and he just brushed us off. So we sat there not knowing when to get off but remembering that CK said that it took about an hour to get there. So we asked this man beside us (I showed him a paper that CK wrote in Korean that said "Please let me know when we arrive at Ilsandong") and luckily the man said he was getting off at the same stop so we were relieved.

CK was there to meet us when we got off and she took us to this big outdoor mall complex with a bunch of stores inside. We never really found anything worth buying (in our opinion) but it was still nice to check out all the deals and the prices on numerous clothing items. We were waiting for her friends until 7pm to eat dinner so we continued walking around. We went into this 3D movie simulation thing where you sit into the chair and it's like a rollar coaster simulation that moves. It was fun and felt pretty real and it was just 2,000KRW a person so it didn't really cost us much. We decided to take a little break and go for frozen yogurt at A Twosome Place. We ordered red bean bing sa with frozen yogurt to share which of course was delicious once again. It was getting late and time for dinner and we were wondering what we should eat even though there were tons of places around. CK asked us if we ever had Sam Gyup Sal. We said no, we didn't even know what that was. So she said dinner was decided then because she wanted us to try. It is basically pork belly that is cooked on a table top eaten with lettuce, rice cakes and accompanied by soju.

We met up with her friends who thought we were Korean but to their surprise we weren't. We had to force them to speak their English which I might add was pretty good! We went to the restaurant and decided on a traditional table where we had to remove our shoes and sit cross legged. This was slightly uncomfortable but was still good. They started grilling the pork belly and when it was close to being cooked, they cut them into the smaller pieces. This was eaten with either rice, wrapped in a piece of lettuce, or with a thin piece of rice cake and some sauces. This was an extremely delicious meal and having it with soju was even better! We had tons of soju and then when we were done with the meat we left half a bottle of soju. I asked why we left it empty, and Rob (one of CK's friends) said because there wasn't any food left. In Toronto, people would still drink up the soju whether there was food or not. Only because soju in Korea is inexpensive compared to Toronto.

So we decided to walk off the dinner and take a stroll in the park where CK and friends shared their stories with us about Korea, the military, their experiences etc. It was a really nice conversation learning about their lives here in Seoul compared to ours in Toronto. We came to this musical fountain which pretty much reminded us of the Bellgaio fountain in Las Vegas that moved to the music. It started to rain and was getting late so we decided to head back to the hotel. CK brought us to our bus stop and wanted to tell the driver to let us know where to get off but like I said, the drivers are mean and rude. He forced her to get on the bus with us and so she rode the bus with us for an hour until we got back which we were so grateful for but felt guilty. We got off the bus and waited with her for a different bus and we end up making plans to meet at Lotte World tomorrow (an indoor amusement park).



We slept and were looking forward to Day 13!

Day 11

So today we weren't sure what we were doing. This is because we didn't
exactly follow the pre-made itinerary exactly in order, we did random
things that would come up. We also weren't able to do some attractions
that we really wanted to do during our stay here. This is because it
was either inconveniently far, raining, or we simply had no time. Some
things we wish we went to were a spa / sauna since we hear Korea is
known for these, Carribean Bay / Everland (aka. Korea Wonderland) due
to the last couple days raining like crazy, Busan Beach because it was
extremely far and finally the DMZ tour to check out the border of N
and S Korea because we didn't book it on time or reserve seats (but we
hear that we didn't really miss out on much because its "boring"
haha).

So we've been pretty lazy since we got to Seoul. In Tokyo, we would
always wake up early like 7am or 8am and leave our hotel but here in
Seoul we weren't waking up until 11am sometimes later and leaving our
hotel by 1pm. I blame this on how comfy our hotel room was. Anyways we
woke up to either the cleaning lady buzzing our room, or it was
someone back home calling our room. It was one or the other. It was
12pm and we were surprised how late we woke up. We quickly got ready
and made our way out the door and deciding as we walked to the subway
we would check out the Gangnam and Apujeong area.

So we decided to go to Apujeong first because we hear this is also an
extremely trendy area for young people. When we arrived there was
nothing around us that would lead us to the right direction just a
bunch of buildings and a huge bridge. We also came to this area to
check out the Hyundai Mall and its famous Meal Top restaurant that
sold red bean bing sa that SL told us to check out. We couldn't find
it and didn't want to bother asking so we randomly started walking
around. It was kind of frustrating because we were walking for such a
long time and we couldn't find anything and we were so hungry. So we
made a left because we saw this alleyway across the street that a lot
of people were going into. We walked around and realized this was
Rodeo St. The Seoul version pretty much, but not with all the fancy
brand names. Just lots of trendy stores, nail spas and restaurants /
bars. We were starved so we went to this place called Best Chicken. We
assumed that this place knew a bit of English cause of the restaurant
name but unfortunately the menu was pure Korean. The lady taking our
order didn't know a word either so she just pretty much used her
fingers and wrote "2" and then that was it. We were kind of nervous
cause we didn't know what the heck we ordered. But it was a table top
thing again. She then brought out and tossed in our pan cabbage,
onions, mushrooms, rice cake and raw chicken legs/thighs with the bone
attached (which she later cut off obviously). We realized this was
"Dak-Galbi" that a friend back home kept telling us we had to try. It
was pretty good despite how spicy it was with the mixture of
everything. Also, we ordered the rice and seaweed they cook on the pan
afterwards, also very delicious. I think anyone who would try this for
the first time would really enjoy it. They also give you aprons so
that while its cooking it won't splash on you or make your clothes
stink.

After brunch, we walked around this Rodeo area and walked into Coffee
Bean which is like everywhere in Seoul. Its like Starbucks basically,
a gourmet coffee shop. We asked the barista there where Hyundai Mall
was and he said by the station. At this point we had no idea which
direction the subway was but we were certain we didn't see a mall
anywhere. So we just kept walking when we saw the Galleria Dept Store.
This is pretty much Holt Renfrew but in a mall with all the luxury
brands and labels in different floors of the department store. We had
nothing to buy here so we just continued walking down the street
looking at signs that pointed to Apujeong Station.

When we got to the station we really laughed at ourselves because we
found the mall. It was truly beside the subway but we didn't see it
because it was covered by the massive bridge! Like all department
stores, we didn't find anything special. All we wanted was to try this
shaved ice that SL says is "famous." It did not disappoint as I feel
like it was the best red bean I ever had. We were like wow, they must
add drugs in this because its THAT GOOD. The restaurant is also packed
(all they sell are desserts), that you have to take a number from the
machine and when your number flashes, you get seated. Pretty good
system!

We left the Apujeong area and decided to venture out to the Gangnam
area where they are famous for the Coex Mall and Aquarium as well as
Lotte World (indoor amusement park). It was already the evening so all
we wanted to do was go to the aquarium and walk around Coex Mall but I
guess we were too late because although the mall was still open, the
aquarium closed at 7pm so we were at a loss. I blame this partially on
myself because when we arrived at Coex Mall, I was dying to get my
nails done and did this as Ray waited 45mins. So when I was done, we
walked around Coex and decided to check out the not famous but well
known Lucky Seven Casino. It wasn't anything worth mentioning but it
pretty much had your typical roulette, blackjack, spanish 21,
caribbean stud, 3 card, some slots and also baccarat. It had
everything except poker basically. We put 12,000krw into the slot
machine and came out empty unfortunately but better that we left than
to play.

By the time we left the casino it was 9ish and I saw that there was a
Lotte Duty Free shop which unfortunately was closed already. So after
we checked out the whole mall, we just called it a night because all
the walking and shopping we were pooped out. I think we had dinner
before we went back to the hotel but my memory is groggy at the
moment. But we had something to look forward to on Tuesday aka Day 12:
Itaewon and Ilsandong aka where CK lives!

Day 10 - Myeongdong and Insadong

First off I'd like to apologize for the lack of updates. We're actually in Hong Kong right now and we're not exactly living like how we were in Seoul. No laptop, no rented cell phone and no wifi access in our hotel room. Only certain times i can catch a signal so I'm taking the advantage right now to blog. Also, blogging with this iPhone is slightly difficult. 

So I'm trying to remember day 10 since it was pretty much more than a week ago but I pretty much remember because we experienced some interesting things that day. This day I woke up and checked my email and received an email from my  friend CK who lives in Seoul. She knew I was coming and wanted to meet up. I gave her a call and she said she was free so we decided to meet up. She lived an hour away from us so it took a bit of time but I was glad to see her. She was kind enough to take us around town, lend us her laptop and rent us a cellphone to use while we were here. 

This was only the second day that we were here so she asked me what I wanted to do. Looking at our itinerary we decided to go to the Myeongdong area which according to our guide book, it is similar to Tokyo's Shinjuku. This area did not disappoint as it had many department stores/shopping options such as Migliore, Lotte Dept Store, Lotte Duty Free etc. As well, there were many shops and restaurants in the side streets / alleyways. It really reminded us of Tokyo Shinjuku Red District that's for sure. We walked around and decided to grab some food. CK and her cousin SK who joined us afterwards, decided to take us to eat shabu-shabu which is hot pot that came with beef, veggies, dumplings, fish balls etc. After we were done with those items, they brought us noodles which we boiled in the broth. If you think that was a lot of food then we must be pigs because after the noodles they tossed in rice and seaweed to make a dish kind of like congee using the leftover broth and rice. It simmered in the pot and made a nice flavorful congee.  It was a huge and really tasty meal. 

After lunch we decided to walk to Insadong near anguk station. This area is a very traditional place, meaning it had a lot of traditional food, stores and traditional gifts/souvenirs. It was  an interesting site and had such a different atmosphere. We also encountered these guys who on the street, made this korean dessert using honey and a sweet peanut filling. They put on a performance for us which we have on the camcorder and will upload as soon as we get home! We decided after the long walk to check out this traditional Korean teashop. We didn't have any traditional tea but we did have red bean shaved ice with ice-cream and this 5 flavour tea that was sweet and sour. We didn't really enjoy the tea but the ice-cream and bing sa was good. CK and SK had to leave because they had other plans so we decided to stay in the Insadong area after they left for a bit. 

We were planning to go to the Seoul N tower because we heard the view at night was beautiful but it started to lightly rain so we just walked around where there was shelter a little more. By then it was time for dinner so we walked down the streets kind of in between insadong and myeongdong area trying to find a good restaurant. We were enticed by an Italian restaurant so we decided to try it. Dinner was slightly expensive, well more like moderately priced, but it was really good. We had the best lobster spaghetti, caprese salad and pizza. So it was definitely a hit this night picking this place for dinner. I know you're all probably thinking we should be eating Korean food in Seoul but sometimes it's good to switch it up a bit. 

Unfortunately for us, after dinner we caught some heavy rain so we ran to the nearest metro station and made our way back to the hotel to sleep and be ready for Itaewon the next day. 

I don't know if I mentioned this in the last blog, but we saw a free concert at City Hall the other night and this dude named To Yun Yuen (sounds like toe yun yoon) performed. I think he sounds good but I guess he's not at international stardom yet cause no one seems to know who he is back home! If anyone knows him leave us a comment haha.