Travel Log - South Korea Day 7

Click here to read from the 1st post of this travel log! 😄

Day 7: Shopping Day II

13 June 2018, Wednesday

Our last full day in Seoul, & it was finally time to fill that half-filled luggage of mine that I brought for the trip (brought just shorts & a handful of t-shirts 😆).

Le dad decided we should go Dongdaemun and check out whats there (instead of the more known Namdaemun).. 

Walked out of the metro's entrance and it just felt like we were completely... at the wrong place (to do shopping). The street was filled with people pushing their carts around loading fabrics and textile goods. 😅 Within minutes, we found ourselves walking back to the station and leaving for Ewha's University instead. 

Lunch @ Ewha's University food street...
Mummy finally got what she had been wanting to try... Jjajangmeyon.

While the parents parked themselves at the cafe, sis & I started our hour-long shopping. There's like 3 main streets, one for food, one for apparels and one for skincare/makeup. I picked up a couple of items and we actually found the same pants we saw at Hongdae the previous day... which was great because we had originally intended to go back to Hongdae for it (but since we found it at Ewha's University, we didn't have to make the trip back there 😎).

Its definitely a place I would head back to if I ever find myself in Korea again. One-stop shopping~

The damage done... over the days

Dinner @ BHC Chicken Myeongdong
Map (Nearest metro: Euljiro 1-ga exit 5)

Prior to my trip, my colleagues had raved to me about this chicken place that I must go to if I were in Myeongdong... BHC Chicken endorsed by actress Jun Ji-Hyun (acted in "my love from another star").
Pro Tip #1: don't order too much... 

With an order of a plate of boneless sprinkle chicken & sweet garlic soy sauce chicken, fish cake soup, fries & 2 cokes, it was simply too much for four. LOL. I have no idea what made us feel like we could actually finish that.

The boneless sprinkle chicken was one of the more uniquely seasoned flavour... It was definitely not something I have seen in SG, though it would be great if we didn't over-order as it gets a little overpowering (imo) after each piece.

He's everywhere 😍

Next post: Travel Log - South Korea Day 8 (Last minute buys & Home-bound) 

Previous post: Travel Log - South Korea Day 6 (A Cultural Day)

Travel Log - South Korea Day 6

Click here to read from the 1st post of this travel log! 😄

Day 6: A Cultural Day

12 June 2018, Tuesday

For a first time in Korea... Palace visits are literally mandatory (though that is probably just me 😅😂). 

There are five palaces in Seoul but we decided to just pick one of them to go to (since... parents) and that is none other than the UNESCO recognised, Changdeokgung Palace. 

While making our way to Changdeokgung Palace...

Something to do with Hyundai... I think. LOL

Changdeokgung Palace

Map (Nearest Metro: Anguk Station, Exit 3) 

Within the compounds of Changdeokgung Palace, there are two other sections which requires an additional admission fee. One of it is the Secret Garden which only operates on guided tours (meaning, advance planning if you want to include this in your palace visit schedule) - the price to get a ticket for the Secret Garden (5,000₩/adult) is actually a tad pricier than the general admission fee (3,000₩/adult).

There was also an inner palace that required an admission fee of 1,000₩/adult to enter.

Bukchon Hanok Village
Map (Nearest Metro: Anguk Station, Exit 1 or 2)

After our self-guided palace tour that took slightly over an hour, we took a lunch break at An Guk Jung... at a food alley within Bukchon Hanok Village area near the metro's exit 2. 

While lunching, we met a group of young Singaporeans in their twenties that was seated next to us... It was really cute/funny because my mum was returning a smile to them and I was like "o.o" before they started conversing with us. I guess, Singaporeans does have a unique identity while overseas, it's just so easy to spot a fellow countryman abroad. 😅

After lunch, the dad parked himself at a cafe while the rest of us tried to find the picturesque spots of the village that was highlighted on their tourist map.

No, this wasn't one of the spots listed, but we made a wrong turn and landed ourselves at Baek In-Je House Museum! 😎 This is probably one of the only kind of museums that interests me.

Look at these details

After the visit to the Baek In-Je's House Museum, the mum decided that she had to find hanboks for her grandchildren with my sis, while I continued in our original quest of finding the scenery spots of the traditional village.

Sadly... I was following people and instead of getting to the scenic spots, I found myself at the shopping street that was way out of the scenic zone. LOL. #thingsnevergoasplanned

Having gone the wrong route and was close to my arranged meeting time with the sister & mum (my dad & I are the only two with the wifi router), I decided to head back to the station. I actually got a little disorientated/lost trying to find the right way out of the shopping street and back to the station (I am pretty bad at reading maps), but thankfully I made it and ended up contacting the sister through traditional SMS so all was good.

I can't remember if we went back to the hotel to rest after an entire day out on a self-guided cultural tour but we headed to Lotte Department Store for dinner~

@ StarAvenue, this picture was for my ex-colleague, she loves Jimin

Jong Suk oppa~ 😂

Japanese cuisine for a change!

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