Visited my friend in Seoul back in late November, and I remembered being so exhilarated weeks way before departure.
In fact, I was super motivated and driven when I was mugging for my semester’s final papers and was already making mental notes on which places to go and visit once I was finished with my paper in the exam hall. (I used the extra pieces of foolscap to jot down the itinerary. hehe)
All in all, Seoul is a very beautiful city, full of life and culture!
I thought my luggage was huge, but Andrew’s was even LARGER. I mean seriously, he-who-always made fun of me and my huge traveling bags should totally be ashamed then!
It was pretty easy to navigate around the airport, given the convenient signage in English and most of the Korean signs are understandable… i suppose?
Due to the super last minute planning for the trip, it was impossible to get a decent hotel at a reasonable price. The rest seems to be dodgy love hotels with bathtubs lying right smack in the middle of the room, or the super atas 6-star hotel, which would make us broke for the rest of the trip.
And in order to truly immerse ourselves in the culture, we decided to stay in Hongdae (Mapo-Gu), which is technically the university area. And yup, in a quaint guesthouse this time!
Walking past the streets of Hongdae really makes me want to study in Hongik University. All the independent cafe stores and fashion boutiques are really so attractive. It’s pretty sad that Singapore doesn’t have such a culture here… perhaps it’s all due to the huge commercial rents.
For the photos below, it’s a two-storey HUGE cafe that is dedicated to selling only … FISH PANCAKES. The interior totally blew me away. (This cafe is located at Ewha University stretch of street shops.)
After checking into our guest room and exploring a little, we decided to give dear Miss Chin a surprise at her school instead of her coming to find us later in the evening. (A really failed and retarded idea)
I mean naturally, if her dormitory is located at Seoul National University, we would assume that we will stop at the subway station named, ‘Seoul National University’ right?
But… apparently not. We walked out of the station totally lost, with no sprawling university grounds in sight. Approached an old man selling socks, and asking for directions in my broken Korean, he just grumbled and said he has no idea.
Our phone were not working too (because we HAD to switch on 3G to get a signal. See, reasons why research must be done before a trip!), and we were trying to tap into a cafe’s unlocked wifi across a huge busy road.
Really tragic.
But I really like Seoul’s subway system. Their screens even depicts the train traveling past the stations prior to yours, and it’s pretty accurate! Plus the super infectious train system jingle when the train is approaching.
Ewha Women University
When night falls, the temperate dropped to about 12 degrees, which was really cooling.
I expected the temperature to hover around this range for the next one week throughout my stay, but I was so wrong!
I only packed my baseball jacket and a simple knit cardigan. And that’s it for outerwear.
Frozen Yogurt in the chilly weather! But it was so warm inside!
I must not forget to mention this particular shop in Hongdae. (I think it was opposite Etude House).
Three quite cute dudes selling these luncheon met buns for 1,500 won!
Super awesome snack in the cold weather!
Paid a visit to Dongdaemun. But was too lazy to cross the road… (That’s our picture with the gate across the road. haha)
