Busan - Seoul 2019 Day 6: Gangnam and Garosugil (all for BTS!)

WHERE ALL MY ARMY AT?

Today is a special day where we fly around Seoul to (AGAIN) visit places BTS visited etc. Poor I-Lovelies. K-Armys are so blessed.

So we started our day in Hongdae to get some breakfast. I've seen Egg Drop in Singapore before and it's pretty good! Surprisingly, they don't handle cash so my youtrip card came in handy here.

We then went to a huge stationery store called Morning Glory (지하 1 층, 169-11 Donggyo-dong, Mapo-gu) and the stationery were all pretty affordable! The thought of carrying just paper back in my luggage wasn't great so I decided to hold my horses and just get a few items.

ALSO HELLO BTS. I CANNOT IMAGINE HOW MANY HANDS HAVE TOUCHED YOU BY NOW SO I STAYED AWAY I'M SORRY

We headed to Sinsa Station, which was near BTS' first office building. The first time we came here, we didn't know that we had walked past this restaurant that they frequently visited during their trainee days.

Address: 8-8 Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

And it was GLORIOUS. Look at all the posters! There was a particular table where they would always sit at and this had stickers of which BTS member sat where. The thought that they would routinely sit at the same spot each time was cute.

But wah I tell you, it's a safety hazard here. We are all packed really close with each other and the staff would move between the diners. I unfortunately got kicked a few times, and only the boss ahjuma bothered apologising to me, the other staff didn't lol.

Here's the menu. Surely some of you recognise the characters on the right, right? xD

We ordered just one stew and the bangtan bibimbap. Both of them were really yummy, but I think due to the popularity of this place and the novelty factor their prices are a bit steeper la.

Do note that they have a specific lunch hour! I saw them starting to close the restaurant by 2pm, so please come during lunch time. They didn't write their opening hours so we were lucky to come at about 12pm-ish.

We then headed to Garosugil which was nearby and well.... We were disappointed by how boring the place was for us. As pretty as it was with all the trees... I think it's something no longer unique to this street and I trust it will look much prettier in autumn.

There were some interesting shops we saw and walked past but nothing of particular interest for us. I know there are a lot of flagship stores here, so just eye-shopping! And take note garosugil is a pretty long street, so to walk back and forth is quite a long walk. If you've never been to korea, you can come here to have a look but try to have in mind places that you want to visit. It's also not easy to find toilets so do take note of that.

So what are we here for? CAFES

Cafe Sona

40 Gangnam-daero 162-gil, Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea

We were here just to eat this interesting concoction with flowers and fruit, a clear candy bubble, sorbet froth, and cheesecake crumble. This was truly just for the gram, I don't think I will eat this again for the price tag of 13,000won. The drink we ordered to go with this was Shy Peach at 7,000 won. This was quite yummy.

Cafe Mula

Near Sinsa Station Exit 8, 524-22, Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea

This cake was what I was here for and it was an absolute overkill JUST LOOK AT IT. Couldn't finish it but it was really nice, priced at about 8000 or 9000 won. I actually think this cafe is really pretty and conducive for a rest or a chat. My mum had to take a seat to do some work and I thought it was really nice for her too. Due to the gorgeous lighting and white space, every pretty girl around me was taking pictures for the gram. lol

We wandered around and saw Lotte ElCube with a lot of kpop light sticks for sale. Get yours today! The display with all the autographed albums and the CDs were pretty too.

We wandered to this restaurant that BTS ate at based on my mum's recommendation (519-26 Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea), but we both realised that there was no way we can finish so much food at a BBQ with just the two of us so we sadly left the place.

AND GUESS WHAT

WE ATE MACS. IT WAS GREAT.

I like how they served drinks in plastic cups that can be recycled! The wedges, sweet chili sauce, mayo, bulgogi egg burger all tasted great. But the nuggets were disappointing and there was a plum chilli sauce that I didn't like.

We wandered back to Hongdae since the night was still young and tried 黑花汤. At this point in time last year, everyone in Korea started to be really into black sugar bubble tea. They must have really never tasted gula melaka before heh.

Busan - Seoul 2019 Day 5: Tongin Market and Myeongdong

Our job today was to take a risk and go to this place where they use old traditional korean coins on a string to purchase goods in the market.

Oh right, why was it a risk? Because I couldn't find ANYTHING about their closing dates. Were they closed on Sundays? Mondays? Did they open later on certain days? No one knows!

The idea was to exchange 5000 won for 10 coins at the entrance (look out for a lady sitting at a small table). You'll then receive a plate/tray (with multiple compartments) and then go buy your food. One coin can buy you about a handful of kimchi, this and that. If you'd like to use regular cash, you can as well but the whole point was the experience of paying using these coins.

In any case... we headed to Tongin Market (통인시장) which was located a loooooong walk away from Gyeongbokgung station exit 2. The map said 0.7km but we felt that the walk was... much longer.

And it turns out. My sixth sense was right. IT WAS CLOSED. FOR CLEANING. FOR THE ENTIRE WEEK. A WASTED TRIP.

Some stores were open but they were truly far and few between and there wasn't much to see. The only things interesting were how all the stores had their English names spelt out full in Korean here and how we witnessed a protest march.

And Gyeongbokgung Station was quite cute as well, look at the decor!

Sigh. Oh well. Mum was really sporting about it though so since it was our first stop we just headed off to spend more time at Myeongdong instead.

Myeongdong

When planning the itinerary, I had intended only for an afternoon to be spent here and not the full day. From my past trips, I felt that Myeongdong was really catered to the foreigners, many things were sold out in each store and because I am truly treated like a tourist I felt uncomfortable shopping here. The sales staff are able to speak English more now (previously it was mostly Chinese) although the usual sales tactics of "today is the last day of the offer" etc are still commonly used.

The only time I felt that uncomfortable was at one of the Innisfree stores. One of their staff just trailed me everywhere I went, staring at whatever I picked up as though I'm about to steal it. You know, that kind of suspicious eyes they look at you with? Yep. Wasn't pleasant, so I put back what I thought of buying and walked out.

In any case, many of the stores here are equipped to give you an immediate tax refund by deducting it from your bill! Do remember to ask for it though, some of the staff don't check in with you on whether you need the tax rebate.

I have since changed my mind and I now think that shopping here is great! Right off the bat from the exit of Myeongdong Sation we saw these pillars with BTS all over and a sock shop. (You can smell it, my bias towards BTS, can't you?)

For lunch: 홍콩반점 (Hong Kong Ban Chan)
Location: 7 Myeongdong 8-gil, Myeongdong 2(i)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Another fantastic restaurant researched by my mum, this place is famous for its Tang Su Yok which is the sweet and sour crispy pork. But hor, if you have had our regular sweet and sour pork in Singapore.... I think Singapore's one is better... #sgpride.

They used a lot of flour and gelatin in the dish, to a point that some pieces I eat the amount of pork inside was ridiculously little.

We over-ordered, my fault because I was too excited to have Jamppong (Spicy Seafood Noodle) and JJa Jang Myeong (Black Bean Noodle). Both were absolutely delicious. AND MAN TOU. The fried dough bread. With condensed milk. Wah really...

There were actually a lot of food options in myeongdong but because we don't have enough meal times to eat all of them.... we tried our best.

Here are some of the different street food we ate!
We also had odeng (fish cake on skewer) and tornado potato but it was too much of a hassle to take a photo so don't mind us.

Milky Bee's Rose Ice Cream (Strawberry Sorbet and Yogurt flavour) and the brown sugar pearl ice cream. BOTH OF THESE WERE SO GOOD. 

This was a strawberry red bean mochi.

And others we walked past:

Some tips:

1) Some of them do not display their price! Always ask first BEFORE you place an order. Some of the prices are RIDICULOUS. LIKE 6 SGD FOR CARAMELISED FRUIT, i.e 冰糖葫芦.
2) Prices for the same item are all different depending on the vendor. Doesn't mean that you "walk further into myeongdong" equals to cheaper food.
3) Have wet tissue on hand. Toilets are a pain to find in this huge area.

Speaking of toilets, a lot of the stores are very stingy about you using their toilets unless you are a customer of theirs. Even for some stores where you have purchased something, you won't be allowed to use it (cough cough Mediheal cough cough)

Some toilets free to use are at Uniqlo, Noon Square, 6ixty 8ight on the 4th floor.

Back to the business of shopping, we explored the area and landed in Olive Young.

WAH TWO STOREY LEH I WAS SO HAPPY. There was a lot to see and buy here so... only regret is coming here too early, so we ended up lugging the goods everywhere for a long time. My poor shoulder!

Another store to mention was how Mediheal had a standalone store of their own and a lot of BTS stuff, even a second floor dedicated to them. Idk if they are still the spokesperson anymore sooooo depends! We got a free coffee because we purchased above 30,000 won I think. Mum liked it but it was just americano, too strong for me....

We also visited the Daiso here. Surprisingly, we found a few different things here to still pick up hehe.... This daiso was 5 stories instead of 7 stories like the one in Hongdae.

Lastly would be the undergound shopping area of Myeongdong, there aren't a lot of stores here and we didn't get anything, not even from the KPOP shops this time. I'm still hearing rumours about how the owner of one of the stores is a male who keeps harassing some young female tourists out there so just be on your guard as always!

Dinner time!

We looked around and decided to try this place for their Hanwoo, or premium meat.

황금목장 명동본점
Location: 6 Myeongdong 8na-gil, Chungmuro 1(il)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea.
It is also opened 24 hours so even if you shop until really late (like us) you can have your meal here. We ate about 8pm, as we were so full from the day's snacks.

We ordered about two plates of the premium beef and asked for their help to cook it for us. We also ordered their ginseng chicken soup as another dish and it was so good. Would recommend this place if you are in Myeongdong. Price wasn't cheap though - I scribbled down in my notebook that it was 150g for 39,000 won.

And that concludes day 4!! :D We honestly shopped quite a bit today but other than skincare, I noticed that we barely found clothes that we wanted to buy, or any other items. Mostly food and beauty stuff.