Day 3 - nom nom nom

Basically , i didn't do much today. i was so tired when i woke up at 8am today... couldnt go back to sleep.. the mattress in my room is so uncomfortable! i can feel the individual rings of springs imprinting themselves onto my back. nighttime is so early right now; it gets dark after 5pm.

and it's so cold today! at myeong dong i was freezing my ass off... checked the weather and it's 0 degrees... oh my tian.. fingers all frozen. had to keep eating to stop my jaw from freezing.

Even before breakfast, i decided to go do a bit of window shopping. i went to a shopping centre at Sindorim called D-Cube city and wanted to buy this pair of boots in H&M but it cost about $92.. maybe if i still have money left on the last day i will go back and get it :D

BREAKFAST! Pig trotters!

comes with pickled radish, rice cake and stuffed intestines (personally i only liked the intestine)

the pork was too dry for my liking and the skin was too jhun. not soft enough..

after breakfast, decided to have a sit-down and write about Day 2 on my laptop. so i went to this cafe called Artisee Coffee and ordered myself a Cafe Au Lait Cake and a cup of Ice Shaken Honey Lemon Drink (couldnt get a coffee cause my throat feels kinda sore)

Artisee Coffee's napkin. reminds me of CJ7 the movie cos of the thing on her head haha

i've seen quite a lot of branches of Taco Bell here in Seoul. at least it's surviving here unlike in SG

my studious get-up today. anyways, i heard that Ewha Womans University accepts male exchange students haha. maybe i should apply for it.

After going up a few levels in D-Cube, i found it kinda familiar and i search for it on my phone. turns out that the episode of Running Man where Gary thought he was the spy, True Gary Show, was filmed here. I also passed by the Seoul Museum where Yong Hwa's first appearance in running man was filmed. the part where at the intro he sang very loudly across the street to a Japanese girl lol

Mimine rice cake! i told jackson that i loooove tteokpokki and he told me that this is one of his favourites apart from Chopok tteokpokki which i had yesterday. He also recommended the Kimari Twigim which is the fried thing at the side; it is fried seasoned noodles wrapped in seaweed. i only liked the crunchy part because the part where the seaweed is has too much pepper in it. got a queue number and had to wait 10 mins for the tteokpokki. they sealed it for easy take-away. i would prefer the chopok tteokpokki i had yesterday because this stall's tteokpokki is too watery. but if you're a soupy person i guess you'll like it.

Mini melts that doesn't melt at all. i regret buying it when i exit the building. had to went back into the building and finish it. it's too cold outside plus i look like some idiot trembling and eating ice cream. lol. asking for it only

Single trip ticket to Myeong Dong - my next destination

Myeong Dong's underground shopping. there's not a lot of stalls here but they sell cheap spectacle frames here ~$11 each. but in Myeong Dong, things are generally cheaper than those in Hongdae.

Street of Myeong Dong. Tonnes of beauty shops, shopping and eateries. best to visit from 5pm onwards because that's when the street food vendors starts opening their "shop"

remedy for the cold weather. Oden. A stick of it and a cup of soup makes it all better. for about 2mins; then you start to feel cold again.

saw people queueing so i joined the queue and bought 1. you just throw 1000won inside the bucket and take a piece of paper and take the pastry yourself.

it is fried mochi with red bean and cinnamon i think. extremely hot and sticky... dripped all over my pants while walking and it froze. lol. just flicked it off after it solidified. i guess winter weather does have its perk afterall

after window shopping through some shopping centres and the streets of Myeong Dong, i was heading back to my hostel area to get some dinner. On the way, it was just too cold to carry on walking. so i had fried squid and a hot cup of oden soup.

the oden soup wasnt enough to stop myself from trembling. so i went into this convenient store and got myself a hot can of milk tea. saw this poster with Gary in it. and his rap partner i don't know his name lol

Back at Hongdae, i went to this ramen joint which the couple yesterday, who brought me to Chopok tteokpokki, recommended me when i asked which place has good jajiangmen. they served pickled radish, szechuan chai and pu-er tea while i waited for my bowl of korean ramen

looks exactly as i imagined it to be but the taste was far from my expectations... i thought it would be alike to chinese's 炸酱面 but it was not as thick or salty as i would've expected. maybe it suits the locals' taste.

the name of the ramen joint. i wouldnt have stepped into the restaurant if the couple had not recommended me this place because it has a chinese name. haha. usually i would find shops that only have picture and no english or chinese name so i know that it's authentic korean (well, at least that's my way of thinking)

on my way back, got myself a mister donut Pon De Double Strawberry :D the variety of donuts in korea is much better than thailand's mister donut

Went back to cocobruni to get their coco cake :D) <--- double chin going to appear soon

this cake is just unbelievable can?? arghh the cream is oh my 天啊！

saw this in H&M and it was too cheap to not buy it haha. my black jeans is going through puberty. all the wool and cotton from the winter wear made it so hairy lol

$4 simpsons boxers from H&M (also too cheap to ignore)

bought my KTX ticket to Busan and back at seoul station this afternoon! cost me a bomb... the price is about $20 cheaper than domestic flight tickets but all the check-in hassle deterred me from taking it. KTX takes about 3 hrs to get to Busan while the other kind of trains take 4-6 hours. KTX is about twice the price of the cheapest and slowest train. the return ticket to Busan cost me $123.50... and i already chose the economy seats... good thing i set aside money for this

now, to pack my luggage for busan... hate packing stuff back into how it was originally. they just don't go back the way they should argh... shall wait till tomorrow morning before i pack my luggage haha. more urgency= more efficient. just like studying for exams.

at least i get to enjoy myself before i get my results for this semester. tee gong bo bi please

-byebye-

Day 2 continued (Part 2)

jackson had to fix his car plate at a garage and pick his son up so he dropped me off at a zzimjilbang (bath/recreation house). after hot and cold water skinny dipping with wrinkled grandpas, i had a full body scrub+hairwash and a massage for ~$30

after those, i headed for the coal furnace and wore their clothes (kinda look like prisoner) and tried out another photography app using iphone haha

at the coal furnace/rest area of the zzimjilbang. there was a group of ajuma eating fruit cut with their own knife. there was also a group of friends eating banana, sweet potato and some other fruits. it's kinda weird that they "picnic" at this kind of place and with those kind of food? haha

a group of ajumas were laughing loudly beside me as they folded this sheep-head-towel and wore it taking pictures. saw it on running man and other korean shows and i just had to try it. tried to fold it myself but failed. so i approach one of the ajumas who strayed from her herd of sheep-headed friends and asked her to fold it for me :D

rice cake at a famous stall in Hongdae. i asked a couple on the way and they offered to bring me there and helped me order. on the way, she asked if i was from Singapore. she said that my accent was very obvious (even though i didnt say lah, leh, lor etc. haha). she said she went to singapore before and she recognize the accent. they were very helpful and pointed out the different stuff to eat in Hongdae (youth district near my hostel).

Chopok Tteokpokki (kinda like gangster or ah beng rice cake) their rice cake is called Mayak Tteokpokki which means narcotics rice cake (meaning that it is addictive) the oden soup they have there was sooooo nice! for me it was better than the famous rice cake haha. and it's free-flow :)))))

The couple pointed this place out to me and said that it is a KTV. it's an open concept kinda KTV and she said that if i come during the weekends and after midnight, i can see drunk people in the second floor of a cubicle behaving like monkeys ahha.

each room is two-tier. u can go up to the upper level and dance or do stupid stuff in full view from the street

this guy sells candy floss using his huggggeeasss dog as publicity. his dog is the star of the stall (its picture is all over the candy floss machine

after the spicy rice cake, i had to eat something sweet to neutralize the numbness on my tongue. some of the rice cake here is surprisingly spicy lol. went to a white christmas-ish cafe called cocobruni and ordered their coco cake and carmelo (caramel machiatto). the cake is ZOMGBBQWTF delicious lol. i looooooove the lightness of the cream as it was not at all "gelat" even till the last bite. the cream taste like the foam on top of the green tea machiatto at Koi Bubbletea haha. no wonder i like it so much.

drank a few sips and found a bird in my coffee. what the bird?

end of day 2! currently typing this post at another coffee house in D-Cube at Sindorim. will post more about it again soon! annyeong~

now to search for xmas gift!!

-ciaociao-

Day 2 - Kind soul in Seoul

Today, Jackson took me around the city and before meeting him, i had a hot chicken sandwich and cafe latte. Last night i had problem falling asleep because a girl (i assume) was using her hairdryer at 11:30p.m. for at least 15 mins... i imagine she must have a huge afro of a hair. i blame her and not the excessive caffine intake that i have here.

Seriously, there's a coffee house on every single street? looking from a coffee house, there is bound to be another coffee house in sight. i asked jackson if koreans really love coffee houses and he said he have no idea at all why there is so many coffee houses... are koreans so sleep-deprived?

The cafe where i had my $6 breakfast

After touring through Yonsei University (jackson teaches there) in his car, he brought me to Changdeok Palace. He said that one must at least see a palace in Seoul to be considered a tourist. haha

the long stone pavement that leads to the palace itself. it's very spacious and most of the rooms are just empty rooms. we thought that we could access the Secret Garden (no, the drama isn't filmed there) where the King used to have "fun" there. Fun = fishing, reading poems, making poems, talk about poems...

It is said that the King never put his feet on the ground because it is dirty. so, he rode a horse everywhere he went. the Secret Garden is so serene and the noise from the city doesn't seem to penetrate the palace walls.

This is the more leafy part of the garden, the rest is kinda botak from the weather. the best time to visit this place is during late autumn where the trees are all in different shades of earthy colours

a clock/calendar i guess? the english tourguide didnt explain it to us

the colours on the inside of the roof of most buildings. this palace is said to be opened to public only 2-3 years ago after they restored it for 8 years.

one of the rare camera-and-me-more-than-30cm-away picture haha.

this "door" leads to a something-something-room. it is carved from an entire piece of rock and the inscription says "不老門" which symbolizes longevity.

why are all the pictures taken with instagram soo nice? if i were to come after december, i think all the trees would be botak and even instagram won't be able to save it

Direct Translation: "Long Happiness Door" - may you be happy long long

a door for male to enter (something like a superstitious viagra door for them)

doesn't this "dormitory" reminds you of Song Keong Gwan Scandal? haha. i told that to jackson and he told me that Song Keong Gwan isn't that far away. And that was when i realised that Song Keong Gwan is not a fictional place. i thought is a korean hogwarts sia

little pavilion for the King to play with miniature boats. The tourguide had her own theory on this. she said that because nobles in the past think that excessive movements are not elegant (unglam), she thinks that the King just sits there and watch his servant play with boats. lol. lazy till backside cannot leave his seat

this pavilion was built in 1644. one of the "newer" ones in the Secret Garden

kinda reminds me of Ex Wallaby... the dry leaves and the weather..

300-years-old tree. i think i'm taller that it is

The oldest pavilion of all in the Secret Garden. Built in the year of 1636. the surrounding of this pavilion is a mini rice padi field where the King will symbolically plant rice to show the importance of agriculture in their time. the dried straws would then be used to cover the roof as a symbol of good harvest. this is the only pavilion that is left with the original straw roof

mini waterfall carved by hand

750-years-old tree that survived the typhoon last year (or at least half of it did)

Jackson told me that this is a women-only parking lot but he parked it anyways. i asked him if the space is wider and he said no. it's just because some women are intimidated by aggressive male drivers who stress them while they're parking lol

Cho Park Chip (duno how to spell it) BBQ Pork Ribs between Gongdeok and Mapo. this place is famous among the locals and he said that if we were to come during lunch, we have to queue for quite some time

heated floor ah... warm my backside... and frozen calves...

*sizzle sizzle*

cold kimchi (non-spicy) noodles with side dishes (onion and cabbage "salad" and seasoned spring onion) with 2 condiments, bean paste and hot pepper sauce (usually the sauce we have in sg is a mix of those 2)

it's a something-something chigae. haha. some soya bean, tofu and veggie soup. they place the pot of soup on the charcoal after you're done with the meat

full ttm... 2 pax meal for only KRW 25,000 (~SGD$29)

Originally, after the bbq, jackson wanted to bring me to a traditional teahouse but on the way, he scratched someone's bumper with his car and had to wait for both sides' insurance representative to come... his car plate was dangling throughout the rest of the day. i felt so bad because he was talking to me when that happened...

anyways, the parking near the teahouse was closed and he said he would bring me to another dessert place instead. the above is a red bean paste with chestnut, kidney beans?, some green chewy stuff, cinnamon powder and a ball of mochi! other than being slightly on the sweeter side, it was so hearty to have it in the cold weather

the napkin of this store says that it is the second best. so who is the best?

the exterior of the humble store

the president's mansion. didnt manage to take a good picture in the car