AnnyeonghaSEOULyo 2017 PART 2

Read my AnnyeonghaSEOULyo Part 1 here .
I realise I don't have a lot of photos for this trip because I'm too busy having fun hahaha.
There's probably more pictures in Eve's camera but until I got hold of them, I'll add them in.
Furthermore it is only 7 days so, excuse the inadequate pictures taken 😁

Day 4: 22 June Thursday

The first half of the trip is more dedicated to activities & fun, whereas the second half is shopping!!!
I don't have a lot of photos because I'm too busy looking at clothes & things that caught my eye.
Food yes, definitely!

(It's been 3 weeks after the trip so I forgot some details, I'll try to recall as much as I can hehe)
I think this was breakfast? Lunch? Brunch? Okay let's take it as brunch hahaha.
We ordered Abalone porridge, Samgyetang AKA Ginseng Chicken Soup & Seafood pancake.
There's 5 of us so we ordered quite a lot.
Soooooo good! EVERYTHING WE ORDERED IS SO DAMN TASTY.
The Seafood pancake is so crispy on the outside & chewy on the inside.
Smell damn nice too, it stirs your appetite mmMM!

Ong is sitting at the side so she got cropped out 😶
I showed my Mum pictures of my Seoul trip & she's like, 'why take picture cut the people out?? Pantang leh!!'
Then I'm like, huh really meh? I always focus on the food one leh. 😂

The first stop for today is Hongdae (Hongik University Street) where the youth hang out & do their shopping.
But before that we went to Namdaemun Market to purchase fresh ginseng.
We were suppose to go there the day before but it was already night fall when we reached & many shops were already closed.

I didn't take the 'mandatory' tourist shot where you stand in the middle of the shopping street (see: BKK Chatuchak, Taiwan Shihlin Street, Japan Harajuku Street).
& nope, I didn't have any photos of Hongdae, maybe Eve has it in her camera but I have yet to get from her.
If you wanna get contact lenses, Korea is the best place to get 'em. I got like 4 pairs for myself HAHAHA.

Moving on, Ewha Woman University for our 2nd stop.
Actually, today is 'minor shopping' day because the main splurging is the next day. 😀
I don't think I shopped anything here... Just like the previous trip; I spent on nothing at Ewha.

Next up, Garosu-gil for Line Friends Store!

Those are coasters! Cute or what??

(My boyfriend should not be seeing this)

Candlelit steak dinner with Jessica

We have two more stops for Day 4 but we already spend the whole day, so we shift Gangnam to the next day & totally removed Han River.
For dinner we had BBQ!!!
But a little disappointed because they only had one portion of beef left, & it's like a big thick piece.
I'm not saying I don't like big thick piece but I thought it'll be like a buffet..
Nevertheless, the beef is damn juicy lah omgosh LOVEEEE.

We have 5 people.. Just kidding we ordered pork also.

Day 5: 23 June Friday

RIGHT. THE MAIN SHOPPING HIGHLIGHT.
We girls, the 4 of us (me, Pauline, Eve & Bao Er) went to Gangnam to shop first hehehe because Eve want to shop for her Champion clothes but in the end we couldn't find the store. We bought cosmetics instead 😂

Okay for the first shopping haul was Gangnam, then next is Lotte Duty Free Main Store at Myeongdong. 
Actually we should have went to the big ass store because there were a lot more selection of food and cheaper too. But oh well since we were already here, traveling there would take up time & time is very precious to us hahaha.
Compared to last year, the food I bought isn't a lot... We then cabbed back to our guesthouse to place our barang barang then head to Express Bus Terminal Underground Mall.
There, I only bought one top... Their season now is not my style leh, so I didn't like what I see. We split into two; Eve with me & Pauline with Baoer because it's faster mah.
Ong & my style is similar, so imagine if one enters a shop but it is not the other 3's liking, they have to wait, get what I mean?
Oh yah, both of us were hungry so we went to see what to eat. Ong found a shop that sells mandu & I'm like YES THAT'S IT WE'RE EATING THAT.
The dumplings are sooooo good!! We ordered the kimchi flavoured one it's so bomb.. Cost wise - cheap!
The other pair called us & ask us where were we, when they found out we were eating mandu they came to find us immediately HAHAHA & they ordered as well.
(I miss their mandu already..)

Evening we zoom zoom to Myeongdong!!!!
Ahhh, one place where everyone who traveled to Seoul for vacation will definitely go.
Actually I bought many of my items at Gangnam in the morning so I only buy whatever I-see-I-like-I-buy.
In addition, having Ong in Seoul is a big asset because she knows what's good & what's not, because
1. she has first-hand experience
2. she done her homework (research) well.
Like I wanted to buy a shampoo & Innisfree Ampoule Cushion refill but she said the Etude House AC Clean Up Mild BB Cushion is good so I bought that instead.

We had street food as dinner because there are so many choices to choose from!!
My Traveler's Stomach got better today, thank God!
At night we cabbed to Namsan Seoul Tower to catch breathtaking view of Seoul City.
The cable car up to the tower is very different from our Sentosa's - they squeeze in as many guests as possible, then there is a jerk before the car move up.
So when the jerk happened, many of the people inside got shocked hahahaha!

Phone camera don't do justice 😩

But trust me, if you ever plan to go Namsan Tower, go at night. The view is legit etched in your head.
I also have a lobang for you 😉
You can purchase N Seoul Tower Observatory Ticket for only USD7 instead of USD9! Damn cheap right?? You can click either that link or here to get you tickets. 😊 

On ground there's a open area for couples to lock their 'love locks'. Look at all these lovey dovey couples!

Fortunately the guesthouse Jie booked is near the N Seoul Tower so going back is rather quick hehe.

Day 6: 24 June Saturday

Can say this is the last day of our trip (cue: cries in the background).
What better yet to wrap up the trip than going to a spa resort??
After draining my energy & strength + aches after the water sports & Everland, after much walking & carrying of shopping bags for two days, we relax ourselves at Yongsan Dragon Hill Spa.

The only picture I have 

You will get a special kind of wristband, & that is your form of payment so that you don't have to carry your wallet inside the resort. You tap your wristband at the reader of anything that requires money, then when you checkout, the counter will read how much you have spent & then you pay cash there.
They have a variety of sauna rooms there, see if you can handle the heat in each room!
The spa resort also has a cold sauna; we ate ice cream inside the room 😂
Many guests came in for a short while then they zao, but we stayed a while more even after we finished the ice cream.
There are separate changing rooms & sauna/spas for male & female. The 3 girls went to buy hard-boiled eggs & Sikye - Korean rice drink but I didn't.
In there, they got massage chairs, cafe, pool & arcade!!
Of course I'm playing the arcade! So much fun hehehhe!

You have to pay an entrance fee of USD12 but if you go here, it is only USD9.
Good thing must share right??
It is 24/7 but going between 5am and 8pm is cheaper than between 8pm and 5am.
If you're going to get Dragon Hill Spa Seoul Ticket (Jjimjilbang) might as well get at a cheaper price right?? 😄

I forgot where we went or what we did after the spa, probably revisit the shopping places & find food.
At night, all of us went up to the rooftop to have chicken & soju, because it was our last night!! :(

I miss chilling at the rooftop already..

We head to bed early because we gotta wake up early the next morning.
The host helped us booked an airport van to transport us (& our luggage) to Incheon Airport.
So nice of him! 😃

Day 7: 25 June Sunday

Sian, bye bye Seoul! 😡
Our flight from Incheon was 8.20am (I think) but we only arrived at SG at 11pm.
We flew from Seoul → HK (for fuel stop) → BKK (3 hours transit) → SG.
It's really exhausting even though I didn't do anything too physical. Being on 3 planes, being in the air for more than 12 hours..
We had in-flight meals to which I'm not complaining but I just don't have the appetite to eat. I basically slept through the flight.
Watched 2 movies on different planes, 2 movies I didn't finish watching.

I felt soooooo relieve & happy when I smell Singapore. Judge me weird but I always love coming back to Singapore because I feel so at home.
Thank God all my luggage were flown back & YAY Jake came to fetch me from the airport 😁💖
So pooped from the traveling but seeing him really makes it all better :)

That's all for my AnnyeonghaSEOULyo travelogue! I hope y'all have benefited from all the great deals I shared hehehe eh but seriously planning your trip with Trazy helps as it can make life easier!
Hmm I think I'm traveling to Seoul AGAIN next year but plans are still ambiguous. Probably more solid plans in future.

Busan & Seoul Travelogue - Part 2

I already posted Part 1 of my South Korea trip, which is mainly our adventures in BUSAN. You can read it HERE .
The link to Part 3.

SEOUL DAY 1

We were suppose to visit a temple - Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, but we were so tired & reluctant to wake up.
Breakfast were delivered to our room at 8a.m, but we woke up at 10.30am. Ooops!
Horrible sia us, except for Da Jie; she woke up way earlier than us.
We chomped down our meal & proceeded to checkout.
Again, we kindly asked the receptionist to help us call a taxi to Busan Station so we can catch our KTX traveling to Seoul.
Actually our train arrived at 12.35pm, but we thought it would arrive at 1pm, so we stupidly just stand in the cold weather with our train right in front of our eyes.
Huimin was skeptical because she saw our train number on the screen, but Pauline & I were firm & said no. Until the announcement broadcasted 'the train leaving at 1pm is at platform 8. Passengers heading to Seoul please board the train. Thank you.'
Our reactions: EH SIALAH REALLY OUR TRAIN SIA FASTER FASTER
Luckily got Huimin who thinks it was really our train, if not we'll go crazy if we see our train leave right in front of our eyes.

The weather in Seoul is colder, goodness me.
When we reached our hotel, we could only go for one plan because there wasn't enough time to cover everything listed in our itinerary.
Thankfully we didn't had a hard time finding the Yongsan Dragon Hill Spa.

The thing about is spa is that the payment is not by cash but by tap-&-go. Kinda like in Marché's mode of payment.
We had our lunch at the restaurant & the portion is fucking huge!!,

It's really huge I swear, I couldn't finish it

How the spa looks like

It's good because we don't have to bring cash around with us.
We changed into their spa outfit & proceeded to the women changing area.
Wow, when we exited the lift, I saw boobs & pubes.
Yup, naked Ajummas & women. They just walk around nude like it was nothing. Saggy boobs & pubes were all exposed.
Some women still got cover their front but left their butt exposed.

We spent the whole day in the spa. We experienced the Red Coal Sauna, massage chair, the arcade & Ice Room!
Actually we wanted to do the normal sauna but it's a nude sauna... So we have to stripped our outfit then do the sauna.
We can't even last 10 minutes in the Red Coal Sauna haha because it was hard to breath in there. The Ice Room, we went in for like a mere 10 seconds then we went out of the room to eat ice cream.
Hahhaha it's also cold but less cold than the actual Ice Room.
The arcade there is so fun!!! So much fun hahaha!
We played pump pro, shooting game like House of Dead, MARIO KART!!! & this 3 players 3 buttons game.

Which is this! Timezone have it but not sure if it's still there now

Haven't had so much fun in arcade in a long time :)

Moving on, we had our dinner at a roadside stall & we each had Ramyeon.

The Ajumma showing us the live seafood

Mussel soup

Pauline ordered live octopus!! I tried too, it doesn't taste bad hahaha.

Aaah good bowl of Ramyeon on a cold day. The Ajumma even gave us complimentary (service) eggs because we ordered side dish.
She can even speak Mandarin so yay finally we can converse with someone comfortably in Korea hahha.

SEOUL DAY 2

One night in Hotel Crown Insadong & the next morning we are moving to the traditional guesthouse!
But before it's time to check in, we went to the Songwol-dong Fairy Tale Village.
Compared to the Busan Gamcheon Culture Village, the Fairytale Village has murals & paintings almost everywhere.
The walls, the stairs, building, EVERYWHERE!
So we spent a lot of time taking photos, obvi.

These 2 photos are actually linked. The old man look like the gramps from the movie UP

Some serious game of chess here

You have 2 prim and proper sisters and then there's me

Wait the dress code is dress?? (and oops the belt came off)

It was really cold despite the sun

oh Ariel

Welcome to my palace

Come on in

My favourite guard

I cannot stop stressing how cold the weather was; when the wind blew I could feel my face became hard.
Before we left we passed by a churros stall & decided to get one each.
It cost 1500Won & 500W for sauce. Mine was chocolate sauce, it taste like Nutella but more liquid-ish.
The stall owner even gave us a free churros & said, 'service yiyeo'.
Churros was taaasty!!
There's so many service given to us :D

While we were nearing the Hanok, a kind stranger spoke to us in English & asked us where are we heading.
Upon showing him & another man (they both know each other) our itinerary, the man kindly led us to the right way.
So, so, so helpful!! Thank you!!

Our Hanok host speaks Chinese & his hospitality is very good!
Showed us room tour & let us know the amenities & how to use them, etc.

The art pieces, mattresses and heated floor is the authentic experience 

That's our host right there!

Afterward we went to Bupyeong Underground Shopping Mall to, obviously, SHOP!!
Gosh it's been a while since I pamper myself!
But I'm saving it for Myeongdong!!!

Lastly we ordered delivery but this time we only had fried chicken because unfortunately the delivery for meals like noodles & rice are mostly closed. :(
But it's fine, we will do so again (hopefully).

SEOUL DAY 3

Today is all about SHOPPING!!!!!
Actually our itinerary has 3 venues to go to - Hongdae, Ewha Womans University & Express Bus Terminal Underground Mall. but we managed to go only the 1st 2.

When we reached Hongdae, wow it's really like the youth corner. Their dressing are rather similar, but not negative in a way.
It is a fucking big shopping street, street stalls here & there, buskers too!!
You'll see crowds surrounding buskers in one spot & when you continue walking, you'll see another same thing.
So basically we just shop, shop & shop!! I got some gifts for my friends here too ^-^.

Tips: There are several shops that sells the same things and at the same price, but you can also find shops that sells at a lower price. 
There are a lot of shops that sells really stylish and cute socks but look for the ones that cost between 1000Won and 1500Won for each pair.

Sometimes I would continue walking to see if I see the same thing.
We spent almost half the day there & then when we're on the way back, we saw this street food stall that sells egg bread.
It looks super appetizing so we each ordered one. End up we bought another one hehehe because it's so daaaaamn good.

It's really super delicious!! & it cost 1000 Won!

Moving on to Ewha Womans U, well I can say we did not spend a lot here...
We had street food as our dinner & it was, without saying, deliciousssss!!
Our day ends here because it gets hella cold at night & our legs are giving up on us.
Well, I'm so happy with my loots!
You can really shop a lot in Hongdae no kidding. We couldn't scavenge the whole of Hongdae because we do not have enough time hahaha!

SEOUL DAY 4

Everyday we sleep late & wake up early, is seriously not for me man.
We had ramyeon outside the convenience store like what you'll see in K-Dramas hahah gotta live the life man.
The first thing we gotta do is rent a Hanbok at Oneday Hanbok & take pictures at Gyeongbokgung Palace but when we are arrived at the rental palce, there were sooo many people waiting in line.
We forgot to make a reservation & unable to do so the day before our intended rental.
So forget it, in the end we went to the Hanbok rental place that is under the metro station near our hotel.
It's cheaper & no one is there, so we get full personalised service from the lady.
The girl helped us matched our costumes and really friendly!!
Obviously we cabbed to the palace & obviously we took a lot of photos...

Aiyoh the boy behind

Look super Korean here

What am I doing

One must be demure in a Hanbok

We had 4 hours of rental so after we finished exploring we went to Bukchon Hanok Village.
Apparently it's very near the palace so we attempted to walk. But we are not sure if we arrived at the correct place & well, it wasn't a nice place to take photos...

End up we returned the costumes at 3.30 & the lady said we were early hahaha.
She was so friendly & pretty, striking conversation with us, we wanted to take a photo with her!

Our next activity was Dongdaemun, but when we arrived there... Ok lah not sure whether we dunno where to walk or really there's nothing much to shop.
I think is we dunno where to go hahahah.
Since we have so much time left we might as well go to the Express Bus Terminal Underground Mall we didn't had the chance to go the day before.
Okay this one we also shop like mad... Unfortunately, we couldn't explore the whole of the area.
You know we entered a shoe shop & Da Jie wanted to buy this pair of boots. The shop staff offered her 120,000W, obviously it's expensive!! She gave the contemplating face & he told her to quote price. she quoted 60,000W & he increase to 70,000W.
After much consideration, he gave it up at 60,000W!!! 
Crazy man, HALF PRICE SLASH!!!
I think this shoe shop is out to con tourists...

Dinner we wanted KBBQ, & Da Jie wanted to go to this KBBQ House that Girl's Day Minah uploaded a video of the grilling in Instagram.
In the end we couldn't manage to find it and we settled down in a grilled restaurant but they only serve chicken.
The waiter was so friendly & chatted with us! His service is 100% man!!
The chicken is great, I tried their CASS beer & it's so much better than our Tiger.
I saw a certificate that awards that best pub or whatever ah hahahha.

The name of the BBQ house in Gangnam I suppose. Sorry for the poor quality

Yup that was our last stop of the day & we headed back to our hotel.
Man it feels good to be in the hotel, away from the cold. :D

SEOUL DAY 5

Help, I spent the most today.
Our first activity of the day was Bau House, a dog cafe!!!
So excited!! We went there too early but we saw some of the dogs. One dog popped his head up above the fence & looked at us.
ADOOOOOORABLE!!!
We went to have our breakfast/lunch first since the dog cafe opens at 1.30pm. The restaurant we ate specialise in stew, kinda like Korean Army Stew.
We just ordered Kimchi stew with a packet of Ramyeon & 3 bowls of rice.
The stew was. DAMN. GOOD!!!
I cannot handle spicy food but this kimchi is soo good!! It is sour and spicy at the right level!!!
Furthermore, I haven't stress that I LOOOOOVE LOVE LOVE KOREAN RICE SO MUCH!! (& Jap rice too) because it's stickier & smaller (?)
For the 1st time since our meal, one of the side dish was potatoes instead of kimchi.
We finished the ramyeon & contemplating whether we should get another packet because well, I was scared that Huimin & I couldn't finish our food...
But we did so anyway hahah because it's so tasty!!!
& the bill is only 6600WON per person!!
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT THE KIMCHI STEW + 3 BOWLS OF RICE + 2 PACKET OF RAMYEON AND REFILLING OF SIDE DISHES COST LESS THAN 7000WON PER PAX!!
If it's in Singapore, a korean army stew restaurant can easily eat up at least $12 per pax??

We went back to the Dog Cafe & daaaamn we got so excited!!
The doggies are so cute!! THE BIG ONES ARE OMGOSH!!!
I wanna bring all back home :(
Admission is free but you have to purchase at least 1 drink.
But expensive ah the drink, then we also bought treats for the dogs.
You can only feed the big ones & not the small ones. & when they saw you with a treat, they all surround you.
The staff taught me how to make them sit, so I said 'sit' in hangul, then tried saying 'shake', & some of the dogs obeyed!!,
CUTENESS OVERLOAD!!!!
It was my 1st time going to a dog cafe & what an experience :)

 I love it when the dogs sat beside my thigh & on my laps heheh

 Video:

 What a sweetheart...

I want this dog!!!!

Like a baby hehehe

Next was MYEONGDONG!!!!
Gosh where do I start. Basically we shop, shop, SHOP & SHOP.
Mainly cosmetics & skincare. The street food here is also different but more expensive then in Busan or Hongdae.
I swear, the bags that I was carrying were soooo f*cking heavy I swear my shoulder & arms are breaking.
It's really crazy here in Myeongdong. There are at least 3 same brand of shops in the Myeongdong. That means if you just stepped out of Etude House, you just walk a while more & you'll see another Etude House.

After so long of shopping & walking, we get hungry really fast & Korean street food are so yummy!!!

This is like crab carbonara, it's good!

This is just so-so for 3000W..

Now this particular jjajangmyun stall, is very interesting.
This man take pride in his job! He is very enthusiastic in serving the customers :D
He also said 'jjajangmyun 3000W, take photos no fee!' He can even speak Japanese & Mandarin.
The noodles was very Q-Q! But I had the runs after eating ooops.

From 4pm we shopped until 10pm+, cabbed back to the hotel because we could've walk anymore, much less with heavy bags.
Then the cabbie brought us to the wrong hotel (even though we showed him the hotel name card with the address & map) & he missed the turn to the hotel.
Oh well, what to do.

& I have to buy a big bag to put all my loots in. I still haven't buy food snacks. :)
Help.