KRISTINE IN KOREA: Hongdae

Showing posts with label Hongdae. Show all posts

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Seoul Mates: Day 5 of 5

05 February 2012 - Sunday

Last day in Seoul! Neither of us can believe how fast time flew, but we accomplished a lot and have the pictures to prove it.

A massive icicle seen outside of Grape Garden Guesthouse.
A vent blowing up steam turned into ice!

You can't say that you've toured Korea without eating Korea's version of Mc'Donalds: Lotteria. There isn't much noticeable difference, but I reckon that the beef is slightly better quality. They also use different sauces that are more sweet than they are savory --welcome to Korea-- and portions appear smaller. Michele tried the bulgoki burger. I ordered my usual: a squid burger. The squid burgers are great. It includes a deep fried patty with bits of squid nestled between two buns with lettuce and a moderately spicy sauce. They also have shrimp burgers, which are more of the same, minus the spicy flavor.

By the end of this trip, Michele's spicy face is plastered on,
even when foods are not spicy

We did a wee bit of shopping in the Hongdae area. Every shop had a sale.

We initially took the same subway, but after a couple stops, I needed to get off and transfer lines. Gimpo International Airport is in the opposite direction from the Express Bus Terminal.

Waiting for the subway

The last picture that Michele took. Good-bye Dunkin' Donuts!
Oh hey, and there's a sign for Nanta.
That pretty much sums up our trip.

Seoul Mates: Day 4 of 5

04 February 2012 - Saturday

The weather is not nearly as cold, and we take to the streets of Itaewon. The area is foreigner central and abundant in Eastern and Western eateries.

In foreigner central, Taco Bell is never far behind

After eating some Middle Eastern wraps, we headed to Baskin Robbins. It's never too cold (or too early) for ice-cream.

3 Flavors: Twinberry Cheesecake, Cappuccino, Almond Bon Bon
in a waffle cone with chocolate syrup, brownies, chocolate flakes

I like my hair in this photo

nom nom nom nom: Where to start first?

We explored the street vendors selling everything from knock-off wallets, purses, scarves, jewelry, socks, and underwear. Basically more of the same from Namdaemun Market. Then we headed to Apgujeong for our spa day at Hill Spa.

Can you spot the foreigner?

We were greeted with herbal tea.
Those plumerias are fake.

We each got full body massages for an hour and a half. It was alright, nothing life-changing.

Traveled back to Hongdae and shared a Korean pancake (파전). It was good!

We made reservations for a popular show called Nanta Cookin' at 8pm. It's like the Wicked of Korea meets Vegas' Blue Man Group. Nanta has been performed since 1997, making it the longest running show in Korean history. It's about a group of chefs, who must prepare a laundry list of meals in one hour. While they cook, they create music with their various kitchen utensils (pots, pans, and yes, even huge knives). The show plays everyday in several places in Seoul as well as Jeju Island.

Entrance to the theatre

During the show, the cast selected people from the audience to go up on stage. I didn't volunteer, but I was chosen to go up and sample some soup. A fellow audience member and I were incorporated into the plot as the bride and groom whose wedding the cast was preparing for.

The guy looked like he was a tourist from another Asian country like Vietnam or China. He seemed confused the entire time...

Nanta took a Polaroid and framed my wedding photo. Nice!

Went out for another bite to eat, which concluded our last night in Seoul~

Seoul Mates: Day 3 of 5

03 February 2012 - Friday

Good morning, Hongdae!

We are waiting for Dos Tacos to open, so we can eat Mexican food for lunch.

What is with the caricatures at the bottom?!

I ordered a potato burrito. Michele ordered a veggie burrito. We split a Nachos Grande. The food wasn't authentic or remotely close to the real thing, but at least some of the flavors were there and it was still good for what it was.

Next we traveled to Dongnimmun to visit Seodaemun Prison. The prison was built during the Japanese occupation (1910-1945). The site witnessed the torture and execution of Korean followers of the Independence Movement. Inmates constructed the prison itself and served as labourers during the day. Methods of torture included using sharp needle-like objects to prick prisoners' fingers, pouring boiling water into prisoners' mouths, hanging prisoners by their feet and dunking their heads in water, and bodily mutilation. If that didn't lead to mortality, the scorching Summers and frostbite-inducing Winters did.

Our visit felt sadly poetic because we came at the heart of Winter. The grounds were covered in untrodden snow. The indoor cells were freezing, even with our thick / puffy jackets, hats, scarves, and several layers of clothing. It was quiet because there weren't many visitors. The largest group of people we saw were an older group of Korean photographers, who seemed more interested in taking artsy photos than learning about the history. I think they had been there several times before because one of them kept telling us which way to go. He asked where Michele and I were from. He was surprised that such young tourists were interested in visiting a prison/museum, probably because it's not centralized on the map.

The displays were a little bit freaky. Wax figures + cold prison = no bueno. In one building, the prison cells were pitch black, but Michele bravely peered in and saw wax figures sitting in each one. She took a picture with her phone and showed me. I couldn't see anything from where I was standing, so I warily stepped closer to see for myself. Then Michele jumped at me and I let out a scream that scared everyone else in adjacent rooms of the building. We observed people in pairs huddled much closer together after that.

Afterwards, we headed to Namdaemun Market in Hoehyeon. The large traditional market supposedly dates back to 1414 and is one of the oldest continuing markets in Seoul and South Korea. We bargained in my crappy Korean and got some pretty good deals.

For dinner, we ate back in Hongdae. Chicken & Cheese Dduk-Boki (떡볶이).

It was really spicy for some people ...

And a breach of dietary regulations for others.

Seoul Mates: Day 1 of 5

01 February 2012 - Wednesday

Less than 24 hours before Michele and I reunited in Seoul: We Skyped the night before to review where we would meet at Gimpo International Airport. Plan A was to meet at a point on the map labeled "Meeting Point," which we later discovered was the arrival gate. Plan B was to meet at Dunkin' Donuts.

I woke up at the buttcrack of dawn and caught the 8:20am bus to Seoul. I misprinted the subway directions to Gimpo International Airport, the first of several hiccups. After re-routing my journey, transferring onto a different line (in the wrong direction), and re-routing again, I finally made it to Gimpo. I planted myself at the arrival gate next to several people holding signs. Maybe I should have made one? Nah. Just when I put all of my stuff down --I definitely overpacked-- Michele was already rolling her luggage through the doors. Perfect timing! First stop? Dunkin' Donuts.

Dunkin' Donuts Connoisseur

Together at last!

Dual Filled Heart Donuts with Creme & Strawberry Jelly

I can't stress how well we stayed on schedule. Everything was timed perfectly. Soon we departed for Hongdae, where we stayed at the Grape Garden House Guesthouse. The accommodation was nestled in a neighborhood just a few blocks from the main restaurant area and the subway exits.

It snowed heaps the days before we arrived in Seoul. The roads were covered in ice and extremely slippery. There were countless times that we almost face-planted in the streets.

Just in case tourists couldn't read the sign the first (or second time) ...

3:30pm - 4:00pm : We checked into the Grape Garden House. Min, the guesthouse owner, led us to our twin private room. The room came with two twin beds, a small table, a chair, and a rack to hang our clothing. It was cozy and quaint. We rested for a bit and looked for free Wi-Fi on our phones. We probably could have done that all day, but the next activity on our itinerary was fast-approaching: Sunset over Seoul at N Seoul Tower.

We took the subway to Myeongdong and navigated our way to the cable car platform.

Riding the cable car up to N Seoul Tower

Catching the Sunset over Seoul

Hangang River on the horizon

We grabbed a bite to eat, while waiting for the sun to completely set. Then we caught a glimpse of the Seoulscape at night.

Soon we backtracked down the cable car and searched for dinner outside of subway exit 8. Weaving in and out of restaurants, we searched for an affordable place to eat authentic, Korean galbi (갈비). The temperature was already at an intolerable low and the streets were very icy. We quickly read through some menus and walked upstairs to this restaurant.

갈비 wrapped in lettuce with kimchi, onion, fresh garlic, and soybean paste

All together, dinner was great. Michele claims that she ate the spiciest garlic of her life, which I don't doubt because she was red in the face and on the verge of passing out. Afterwards, we took the subway back to Hongdae, grabbed some street food, and called it a night. Tomorrow would be the Korean traditional and cultural leg of our Seoul adventure~ ^^