so our friday began with a breakfast that looked like this.
the fruit juice tasted great but the bread was meh....
thought the loaf would be nice and fluffy and fragrant but it turned out to be.... dense and tasteless.
for someone that eats every and any kind of bread, this was pretty hard to stomach and the bread ended up growing mould and we were forced to chuck it away.
maybe we should've bought a bread spread or something.
after a painfully long journey to sindorim from our place, we finally reached d cube city!!!!!!
we had planned for today to be an indoor-shopping-mall kinda experience but guess what rotten luck we had????
d cube was closed for the day -_-
no to be exact, it was closed for 3 days idk for what reason.
hmmph, since it kinda screwed up our itinerary for the day, we detoured down to gangnam (another painfully long journey) and explored the good sights, great food and (expensive) shopping!
we stopped by a naengmyeon + bibimbap shop just outside the exit.
for the price of 6,500W i think it was pretty worth it considering that each portion of rice/noodles came with some grilled meat!!!!
good place if you wanna kill 2 birds with 1 stone - have traditional korean cuisine while having a go at the barbeque.
that was the day that marked the last naengmyeon throughout my trip.
i had enough of cold noodles already hahahaha.
after lunch, we figured that the shopping in the boutiques at gangnam was too much a burden for our wallet to carry, we went back underground and covered the entire gangnam underground shopping centre.
i swear i got a headache after hopping from shop to shop.
it's like there was no end to the shopping.....
but yeah the clothes are cheap!! you just have to look out for the 5,000W and 10,000W racks.
i bought a jumpsuit and maxi dress for only 10,000W each! what a steal.
after the endless shopping we found ourselves at the samsung d'light gallery which was recommended by many bloggers online that it was worth a visit.
plus, it's free so why not?
samsung d'light gallery, as its name suggests, boasts samsung's smartest technology and is a technology playground for both the young and old.
there was a huge photo display screen and we decided to give it a go...
and viola! our faces appeared on the huge screen lol.
you could even save a copy of it by dropping it at your own email.
van playing with some kinda device that allowed you to watch movies and all (which i think she ended up spoiling LOL)
and look at the super duper cool television below!!!!!!!!
it's curved and flat at the same time.
what an ideal woman's figure to have though hahah.
from the above photo you can tell that 1) girls like to take selfies and 2) i need to brush up on my dslr selfie skills.
blame the heavy weight of the camera..... :'(
the led light gallery got us all hyped for cool shots such as these!
van and i felt that the streets of gangnam kinda felt like taiwan (though i've never been there)
there were lots of flashy billboards and signboards advertising mostly on food and the high-rise office-cum-shopping buildings really did feel a little un-korea.
and look! kim woobin as the face for giordano in korea!!!
the giordano there is so much more high-class than it is in singapore.
as prestigious as the clothing brand is, the prices are really extravagant too.......
after gangnam we walked (or did we train i can't remember hahaha) to coex mall!!!!
thank god we stopped by the smtown artium (it's artium i thought sm was being funny with the misspelling of atrium) bc that was our first and last trip to coex.
why? it is god-knows-how-far and obviously, being a SHOPPING MALL in GANGNAM....
i repeat, SHOPPING MALL in GANGNAM - it's a crazy expensive place to be at unless you don't feel the heartache when you part with all your money.
salads for S$10 and branded goods like MCM flying everywhere.
definitely not a place for the poor soul with tightened pocket strings.
anyway, smtown's coex artium was a little building adjacent to the mall that consisted of 5 storeys.
it was a magical place for fangirls because it is really like the closest you will ever get to meeting your star-crossed lover.
there is the official smtown merchandise store on the 2nd floor, a costume/make-up/recording studio on the 3rd (which i think is kinda out-of-bounds to the public), a cafe on the 4th and a theater on thr 5th.
i took so many photos with the huge posters in the store (don't even know if that's allowed but ah wtv)
not gonna post 'em up here for i think i will be judged LOL
a pity i didn't get myself anything here though but anyway the things are crazy expensive.
a poster for S$12 and official photocards for like S$25?!
no way.
polaroids lined up row after row at their lifts - spot kyungsoo & baekhyun in their debut days!!!!! so cute.
the cafe on the 4th floor sold all sorts of things like idol ice cream, idol cakes, idol cupcakes (for like S$8), idol this idol that.
basically it's like a little coffee shop that prints your favourite sm group onto edibles and then you consume them for like a costly price and then there it goes. poof. gone.
^ damn i should've posed with baekhyun in the above photo hahahaha.
anyway, i think the only reason why sm is earning huge profits despite their painful losses in numerous lawsuits, is probably the coex artium.
they come up with the most ridiculous-sounding things that strangely appeals to fangirls (me included), and the worst part is that they charge you for it.
i chanced upon a nice little photobooth where you could choose your favourite smtown group + favourite member, take a photo with him and have it printed!!!
but no you gotta pay for it.
i can't really remember the price but i know that it wasn't cheap.
then they have a whole collection of concert photos that i think were twice of an A3 size (is that A1 is there such a thing) that cost you almost S$50 to print on poster quality...
they also do theater screenings which idk shows what but it's not like the ordinary cinema where you watch movies that most probably your idol has acted in.
apparently you choose the group you like again and then you just go in and watch something.
like what do you even watch?????
an overly edited slideshow with excessive visual effects and dramatic music of their debut to present-day photos???????
unreleased behind-the-scenes for their music video filming or teaser photos??
i have no idea but no i am not paying S$20 to do that kinda thing
-end of smtown artium rant-
lol ok with that being said i conclude that being a fangirl is an expensive job.
i can't even call it a low-paying job because you don't even earn - it's a money-sucking black hole.
say hello to negative income!!!!!!!!!
glad i got to sneak a few photos though ;)
16 May. Day 6 - Insadong, Hongdae
insadong is best known for being a touristy area whereby most people come to shop for little trinkets of souvenirs and handcrafted goods.
i was pleasantly surprised by the area because i didn't expect myself to buy a lot as i wasn't really interested in getting souvenirs like keychains that people will most likely misplace.
there was a quaint little mall situated in the middle of the street of insadong.
it sold mostly expensive and exquisite handcrafted goods like bowls and designer phone cases.
didn't buy anything from here 'cos the shopping didn't really appeal to me...
moved on to ssamziegil mall which had a really unique architecture and structure.
it's famous for it's singular spiral staircase connecting all the floors together.
ssamziegil is REALLY packed on a weekend so if you want to avoid the crowd do visit on a weekday or come later at night (at the risk of some shops being closed)!
this place is also super famous for it's poop cake.
tried for the fun of it - a pretty 'meh' because it was a tad too dry.
if only we had the freshly made ones then the warm chocolate inside would taste so good :-)
insadong also has this little 'love corner', something like a smaller version of the namsan tower love locks!
everything about insadong screams 'artsy-fartsy'.
even the walls along the staircase are lined with tumblers decorated and drawn by children.
bought quite a bit here - authentic leather badges, customized bracelets and earrings!
i just couldn't resist how pretty all the handicraft looked here!
finally got the chance to try the jipangi ice cream (j-cone ice cream) that looks quirky and tastes equally good!
that night we left for hongdae and went to hongdae to try haha's 401 restaurant!!!
i was quite excited because it was our first kbbq of the trip and van is a huge fan of haha!
so we thought we'd give it a try~
his restaurant isn't the easiest to locate - it's nearer to hapjeong rather than hongdae station,
but if you can find the sangsangmadang design square, haha's restaurant is just around the corner and further down the streets.
we spotted 401 faraway from sangsangmadang so it shouldn't be that hard to find!
anyway from what we've read online, we were stoked to try samgyupsal (pig's intestine/liver?) at his restaurant.
not that we both are fans of it but we thought it'd be a good experience here. #yolo
however, it seems like he had his menu changed and the restaurant only served pork belly, pork collar, well you know the usual stuff that you get at bbq places.
oh well, guess fate just wants us to stick to the conventional.
^ look at the goodness of that meat mmmm
anyway, overall, i would give it a 7.5/10.
the meat is good but slightly tough, and i felt that it could've done better with more seasoning.
it's rather expensive too - maybe because it is a celebrity-run restaurant hence the jacked up prices.
but i think the service made up for a lot of it :-)
the staff were really meticulous be it in serving the meat or clearing up the old grill.
bonus points for their footwear though heheh.
socks and slippers be the new fashion. ;)
walked to sangsangmadang after dinner and it's another aesthetic gallery that sells a lot of cool stuff.
and look what i found...
why you encourage kids to sleep in class???? tsk tsk.
and for dessert/supper we had some ice cream rolls as we continued to explore all the shopping hongdae had to offer.
that brought day 6 to an end. how quick.
17 May. Day 7 - Petite France, Nami Island
we set out on a long and faraway journey that led us to petite france and nami island.
^ that's the ITX train we took and look at how they do things airplane-style hahah super cool!!!
would have dropped by nami island before petite france but the latter closed at 6pm so... :-(
initially thought i would regret going to nami island at night but no, the place is so serene and peaceful after sunset :)
all that beautiful architecture that i only got the chance to see on tv (running man) suddenly came to life!!!
this is a photospot for all you "you who came from the stars" k-drama fans!
there's even a little pedestal for you to stand on so you can be close-up with kim soo hyun ahahaha.
quite cute though :P
i really love the flora (and fauna....?) in korea omg it's really amazing how the weather permits all the beautiful flowers to blossom in such vibrant colours sigh ;;
then just look at singapore's weather.... out to kill flowers and us too.
being a usual tourist hangout place, there are obviously hundreds of photospots to pose by.
that is the fun of being a tourist - you get to pose with all these lame props and do funny faces of all sorts without getting judged...
ok you definitely will but at least it's short-lived hohoho, not like you're ever going to come back in the near future?!
reasons for high-fiving the WOLF:
그래 Wolf, 내가 Wolf! Awuuuuu~
아 사랑해요난 늑대고 넌 미녀!ok pardon me.
because petite france sits snugly at the top of a mountain in the gyeonggi-do province, the view from the observatory is breathtaking and honestly the photos do no justice to the real scenery over there.
it's a place full of magic, wonder and beauty.
it's kinda perfect a place for me because for someone that doesn't seek thrill in the adrenaline rush from roller coasters and likes to be narcissistic most of the time (by taking photos), i think petite france was quite a nice getaway from the hubbub of central seoul.
this looked like a vandalism wall for running man lovers ahahaha.
yes bella i'm with you too ;)
anyway i found my old companion - the piano.
i've lost touch with it sadly because i haven't touched it in almost 2 years?!
trying so hard to recall the old songs i learnt by heart but i failed ;;
i can't even sight-read properly now omg what even..... T_T
and there you have van playing with my camera while i play the piano lol.
all in all i think petite france was a pretty good place where my money was well-spent :-)
i enjoyed taking so many photos and acting like a tourist (while i was still busy juding the other tourists from x country).
for all the hardcore running man and you who came from the stars fans, this is definitely a place to check off your list of attractions to visit in seoul!
off we went to nami island after that!
tried this a snack home to nami island (apparently a specialty) - but it was so-so.
reminded me so much of the poop cakes i had earlier just that this one has red bean filling, (and i'm not a huge fan of red bean)
not even warm at all hmmph.
but i had no choice bc i was too hungry and this was kinda like lunch??!?! how sad.
^ after many decent days of little-red-dot-hunting we finally found the sg flag on the cruise ship to nami island!!!!!!
the cruise attendant was really friendly towards us and he asked us where were from.
after knowing we were from singapore, he thoughtfully nodded and smiled at us and translated everything to us in english really carefully.
how nice :-)
nami island is filled with lush greenery and nothing but endless rows of trees.
it's kinda just like a forest and is the famous filming site for the drama winter sonata (why do i keep mixing this and stairway to heaven up ugh)
the pros of going in the late evening is that the place is almost empty and it's really nice to just walk around to bask in the beauty of the greens and enjoy all that peace and quiet to yourself.
however, one con would be that most of the shops/attractions were closed.
apparently there is a little amusement park and performance halls but too bad they were all already closed :-(
but it's fine, i'd rather not jostle with the crowd.
here's all that free-roaming wildlife we saw here too!
rabbit!
peacock!
and cows!
......
ok i take back my words about the last one.
it took us so much effort to get the jumpshots taken after the sun set because me being a dslr newbie and van being a novice struggled to get nice pictures....
i think we stood there for almost 20 whole minutes with a group of ahjummas walking by sigh.
but all that struggle was worth it.
NICE PHOTOS WE HAVE THERE.
and i conclude once again that i look extremely stupid in jumpshots.
this got us really fascinated lol there was this entire row of sculptures with boobs and all and apparently it signifies good luck and fertility or smth like that
but.... boobies hahaha.
these is the first kiss bridge whereby the soju bottles are recycled, displayed and illuminated in the background!!!
if i'm not wrong this was were they filmed the kiss scene of winter sonata and hence the name of the place.
and finally we spotted another thing that gave off the scent of home.
merlion and sg flags????? don't even know why they were there anyway but wow!
caught the second last boat back to gyeonggi-do so yup this meant goodbye nami island!
it was nice being around and honestly the place is so darn pretty.
korea has 1001 ideal picnic spots all around sigh so jealous.
more fascinating photos on the way home:
these are flies. FREAKING FLIES OMG THEY ARE SWARMING EVERYWHERE AROUND WHEN IT GETS DARK EW UGH.
and not only are they flying in the air but there's millions of them on the ground too.
so for every step you take, you can hear the crispiness of the wings ugh ewwww crunch crunch.
i was rly fascinated with the train's onboard toilet.
oh and we were laughing really hard that night because 1) i accidentally switched off a public light 2) i tried real hard to flag a cab and nearly flagged down a police car LOL 3) i made a kid fall because i HONESTLY didn't see him and literally just walked into him omg i am so sorry
and here we have these fries.
they aren't just any ordinary fries but they are shaker fries!!!!
but they aren't just like any other shaker fries but they are HONEY BUTTER SHAKER FRIES!!!!!!
legit.
the seasoning was honey butter and i shake it off, shake it off~~~ *cue taylor swift*
and wow the taste is really just...... exotic.
this is really the korean honey butter craze taken to the next level.
18 May. Day 8 - Namdaemun, Myeongdong
we were supposed to visit shinsegae today but then again OUR LUCK. IS. ROTTEN.
it's freaking closed every 2 mondays of the month so well done la it just had to be this monday....
what luck right wtf....
anyway we had damn good mandus to cheer ourselves up and yum yum yum THIS IS DAMN GOOD.
so worth my 3,000won omg the filling is so generous and there was so much meat!!!! (omg hungry now....)
try it if you pass by the streets of namdaemun market.
it's just about 10-20m outside hoehyeon stn exit 9 (if i rmb correctly, it's the exit to namdaemun market anw)
explored namdaemun a little more in-depth today (literally) hahahaha.
went to the underground markets that sold every single thing possible lol omg.
ok basically they're all just like household items but wow this is really packing taken to a whole new level.
see pictures below.
everything is so 'neat but messy'.
and look at how the ahjumma looks for the customers' size for just a pair of shoes.
salute to how she can even find her things in all this mess hahaha!
and look at this little eating corner that an ahjumma runs.
this store is so small and cramp - it legit is run under the main stairwell leading to this underground market.
really cool how they have such a small shop area but they manage to convert into a full-blown shop that does all the cooking, washing and serving.
more street food that i live for: the fishcakes on the stick that taste so freaking good argh is there not a single street food in korea that tastes bad lol ok (YES FREAKING CHICKEN FEET, again another story for another post)
and then there's the ahjumma's toast OMFG this is life toast is life egg is life T_T
I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER THE TASTE OF THIS AND I AM SO INSPIRED TO MAKE THIS FOR MY OWN B'FAST OK SOON SOON
after leaving namdaemun with happy, filled tummies, make-up haven myeongdong was next in line.
don't know if you can see but the start of myeongdong already has 5 different facial products stores lined up: tonymoly, innisfree, beauty credit, etude house, the face shop
i think there was nature's republic beside the face shop too.
and there was spao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A HUGEASS EXO ENDORSEMENT POSTER WAS PLASTERED THERE HOHOHO MY FANGIRL EGGCITES
and obviously you know i went crazy at spao.
both taking photos with their standees and also buying clothes...
i even bought this 'sweat hood zip-up' that was meant for guys....
^ photo of the standee, but NO i'm not posting my photo WITH the standee
i think i bought like $50 worth of clothes from spao???
ok la not a lot but if you know me i don't usually splurge on clothes all at one shot like this?!
that heartache, or should i say heart-warmth bc exo.
LOL save me from this fandom help
i think even van thinks i'm crazy.
not only is myeongdong full of facial product stores but also these streetside stalls that sold freshly squeezed juices.
the first one we saw was a pomegranate one, and subsequently there was orange, watermelon, strawberry etc etc
it's like fruit and face land LOL
aha! so this was also the nature republic that exo was at for their nature republic press conference/fansign/fanmeet idk what you call it.
just look at that prominent grassy building LOL what even is with the building deco??
we know you are NATURE republic and yeah you're going all natural but this is too much hahahaha
tbh i don't even know what this mascot was advertising but bc it resembled luigi and i REALLY love mario & luigi so yes photo time!!!!!!
^ wth my fatty arms....
I ALSO PASSED BY THIS PPOPGI STALL OMG IT WAS MY FIRST AND LAST STREETSIDE PPOPGI IN KOREA I WAS DAMN SAD OMG
and the ahjumma manning the stall was so fierce she scolded me for taking a photo :-(
ppopgi is a traditional korean candy made up of brown sugar and baking powder.
i tried to make it once at home and i failed v bad bc i couldn't find a stick strong enough to support it...
anyway how ppopgi works is that you are supposed to try and eat all the candy without breaking the shape in the centre.
if you successfully do so you get another one on the house!
walked back to namdaemun and had udon and kimbap for supper!!!!!
anw i really like places with free-flow kimchi (sometimes they only give radish so yeah very sad for me)
and that was the prettiest kimbap i've eaten yummmmmm i need to make my own.
ugh korea's food will really be the death of me.
ending this day's post with central seoul at night!
19 May. Day 9 - D-Cube City, Times Square
opted for another slack day of itinerary - indoor mall shopping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yay for aircon and readily accessible toilets omg so thankfullll :')
the mall finally reopened so yup pororo theme park here we come~
the first clothing store we stepped into in d-cube..... and was probably the only one we could afford too hahah.
don't ask me why i even bothered shopping at h&m here when there are franchises in singapore...
tbh the sale in h&m korea really means sale.
not like sg where the slashed prices don't really differ from the original.
in korea it's really like 70% off all the oversized clothes. (hence i finally bought my flannel)
what's more they even have like 50% off usual stock, like wtf it's crazy cheap!!!!
i bought a guy's shirt (for my dad) for like S$10 because it was on half price???
just think about h&m prices in singapore ugh damn crazy overpriced pls.
and we spotted gongcha and bee cheng hiang in the mall lolololol singapore at its best
we roamed around the place to decide on lunch - which took us quite some time because there was so much to eat and choose from.
but we finally settled for kokoro bento and though it's like slightly more than S$10 for each bento it was super worth it.
they really decorate their bentos with so much care and effort and they're also really generous with the side dishes.
note to self: dedicate a post titled 'bentos in kr vs sg' and blog about the crappy service we have
(lol thanks to korea i have so many side posts to complete ugh hahaha it's hard)
the only thing about d-cube that van and i were actually excited about was the pororo theme park!!!!
we both didn't mind paying the admission fee but then again after looking at the age group of the participants in the 'playground'..... we figured that it wasn't really appropriate for us.
the youngest kids are probably not even a year old and the oldest parent is probably like 35?????
so we'd either be looking like really childish oversized babies or scandalous teenage moms.
but it's okay!!!!
to comfort ourselves we sat by the bench just ouside the theme park and watched the kids have a go at this choo choo train ride.
times like these you wish you were a kid again...
^ hi all meet my fat belly friend hehehe tbh i don't even know what's his name in the show...
before we left for times square i tried a cuppa smoothie from smoothie king which is probably my favourite place in sg.
but boohoo for the ones in korea although that's where smoothie king actually originated from.
funny how the overseas franchises always 'do better' than the original...
smoothie king in korea tastes kinda weird - and i thought i was wrong on my first judgment but no i tried it twice and i'm not going back.
in general the smoothies there are rather.... sour.
it's not that kind of like citrus-sour but rather the antibiotic/medicine kind of sour.
not that sour is bad, but the taste is strong that it overpowers all the fruity-ness there is to the drink.
and i was so disappointed but oh well :-(
did i mention i had a really hard time deciphering the menu bc it was all in korean and i had to read every single letter out like a baby learning to talk idk how embarrasing i was then
until van found a truckload of english menus by the side only AFTER we ordered
claps for me
next we went to times square!!!!!!!!!!!
spotted a life-sized kwangsoo standee ooh omg he looks damn handsome here hehe
paid our first trip to an e-mart here which is kinda like our giant hypermarts here haha.
i think we both love this place a lot omg hahaha, van was so engrossed with the latest xbox games + the animals that they sold (YES IT'S LIKE A PET STORE IN THE SUPERMARKET what even) while i really liked the toys and the whole magic of a grocery store :)
^ this is probably my favourite picture throughout the trip hahahaha i look SO happy
look, they even sold the marble bowl game that appeared in rm a few times here!!!
it was cold noodles dinner day for us two - naengmyeon for van and soba for me!
so so good omg soba really reminds me of home hahaha bc i always cooked it for myself whenever i'm home alone~
was dying to eat softree for dessert (it's the best soft serve in korea according to my online findings) but by the time we finished dinner it was already closed....
CRY ME A RIVER sigh
but it's ok, settled for a nice cup of froyo from the snow spoon cafe and we tried the rice flavoured froyo LOL it was not bad hahaha kinda tasted just like plain froyo!
so after today we actually learnt that we could afford NOTHING but the food in indoor shopping malls...... so shinsegae dept store was pushed all the way to the back of our priority list hahahaha
finally finished days 5-9 omg next up will be days 10-14!!!!
i'll be back again sooooooon
click here to read days 0-4 in seoul~
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