Day 1 | Seoul Good
Hazel have always wanted to bring me to Korea for good food and shopping. Having spent half a year, I actually pretty excited to see where are the good places she's been to and of course authentic Korean food.
tl;dr
- Train tickets to Busan can be bought on the day itself
- Google map doesnt work- Naver app seems to work best
- Getting around is very very easy with Metro / Taxi fare is almost the same as SG
Ewwa Woman's University
This is one of the popular places to get your hair done at affordable prices perhaps due to its close proximity to Ewwa Woman's University. There are also quite a bit of shopping street selling apparels, bags and accessories etc. It gave me the Bugis street vibes. I went to Paik's coffee and bought a cup of iced coffee for my daily caffeine fix. Didn't manage to catch some sleep onboard the overnight flight
Myeong-Dong Meetup
Myeong-dong very much resemble the orchard road that we have in Singapore and I could see some familiar international brands around. There were also push carts selling street food and imitation goods (I see supreme brands almost everywhere).
I met up with one of my friend and had a great dinner and catch up.
Day 2 | Ihwa Mural Village
Ihwa Mural Village is one of the most popular places to visit among tourist due to its mural village and artistic landmarks. Expect some stairs at certain parts of the village but one thing for sure is that there are plenty of drawings that you can pose with (just a matter of how far your creativity stretches)
Day 3 | Train to Busan
The train ride to Busan is around 2 hours and you're allowed to bring food (I bought Lotteria, which is their local version of fast food) onboard. I actually quite like intercity train rides (brings back the memories when I was travelling in Europe).
The tickets costs us around xxx
Haedong Yonggungsa Temple
The weather in Busan is pretty cooling since it is quite close to the sea. We checked in at Canvas hostel and made our way to Haedong Yonggungsa Temple. We took a 20-min cab ride. On our way back, we stopped by at the factory outlet for a quick shopping.
Day 4 | Gamcheon Cultural Village & Jalgachi Market
We had our first breakfast at the Canvas hotel and it was pretty lively with families gathering to prepare their own breakfast. The space is actually a communal kitchen with just enough equipment to cook ramen and toast bread. It was a simple yet fulfilling breakfast!
Our first stop of the day was to check out Gamcheon cultural village where the trademark of the place is the backdrop of coloured houses. You can expect alot of shops that sells handcrafted art and souvenirs, couple of cafes, restaurants and street food stalls. I begin to realise that there is no lack of creative background you can use to take photos!
We bought some snacks, some obviously for the gram like the cotton coffee which is pretty mediocre. On the other hand, the cheese fishcake and fried ice cream definitely worth the calories.
Jagalchi Seafood Market
Jagalchi Seafood Market is actually considered as the largest fish market in South Korea. Customers can choose to their catch to dine on the spot or simply pack to go. This place is very very popular with tourist. I must say that some of the way the stall owners handle their food is actually quite off putting perhaps because I am quite particular about how people handles my food.
The variety of the haul ranges from fishes, crustaceans (basically prawns, crab, lobster),clams, eels, octopus (i think you can practically find everything there)
We then walk towards the city and headed to BIFF square market
BIFF Square | Bupyeong Kkangtong
We walk towards the streetfood market and saw a stall selling takoyaki the size of a tennis ball! It was kinda fancy and you could choose what topping you want. (It isn't that cheap if you asked me - costs 3500 KRW and the stall name is TAOMONYAKI
Day 6 | Heyri Art Village + Namsan Tower
Heyri Art Village is located in Paju-si, Gyeonggi and there are loads of hipster cafe and shops. Expect to spend minimum of 2 hours here to explore the area. Our first stop was at a book cafe with storeys of books as background. I thought it was pretty creative and gave the feel of a grand library
BMOCA | Blume Museum of Contemporary Art
We saw another cafe tucked nicely under the building of an Art Museum and decided to check it out. The waffle was something that attracted me to go in but upon seeing their menu, we felt it was probably more worth for a high tea set. It costs us around $38 and I think we sat there for a long time just chillin'
Namsan tower
So we're here at the famous Namsan tower where couples come here to 'lock' their love. It is actually an observation tower but I guess whatever sells right? You can also purchase locks there in case you forget yours. I think the view at night is better so perhaps going there at 5 might be just right
Day 7 | Pocheon Granite Gallery & Herb Island
We passed this bakery on our way to the subway and the exaggerated shape of the bread caught my eye. I bought the chocolate one and it was really really good, add to the fact that the bread was still lukewarm. Only thing is that I cannot remember the exact name of the shop. I only know it's near Sinchon-ro 3-gil sorry
Lunch @ Granite Gallery
I think it took us close to 2 hours to reach Pocheon Gallery. there's not really any food choices here so we're having stew again. Honestly i'm not really a big fan of Korean cuisine, it can get quite sick if you have it daily. The entrance fee costs W5000 which is ~ 6 SGD. You can also pay additional 3500 for monorail but we decided to walk up the slope in the scorching sun
Herb Island
I think herb island
Lotte's Loot
As like any other tourists, we headed to Lotte supermart for grab 'some' snack and I think we spent total of $255 SGD! I think the most popular/basic snack people get are honey butter almonds and chips, seaweed and some SPAM luncheon
Tongin Market
So we heard Tongin Market provides a unique experience and has plenty of food stalls so we decided to head over for our brunch. So you're supposed to buy coins/tokens so that you can use them for food purchase. There's also lunch/bento boxes provided so that you can use them to hold the street snacks as you go along the street. There will be a person sitting at the entrance of the market selling these coin so take note before you venture into the market.
Note: it is closed on the third sunday of each month
Gyeongbokgung Palace
Who comes to South Korea but doesn't visit any palace? Actually I only visited one and it was free due to my hanbok (traditonal Korean dress for ceremonies and festivals) . You can easily find a few rental shops along the street. The average price of rental costs around 13000 - 15000 KRW for 4 hours and additional top ups for accessories. Once dressed, you can basically walk into the palace without paying any entrance fee. If you're there during summer, please be prepared to drown in your own sweat because the costumes can really trap heat.
We also took a short walk to Samcheong-dong to see the beauty of traditional Korean houses. If you're unfamiliar with the place and not sure how to get there, fret not. There will be quite a few people like yourself dressed in hanbok, so be a sheep and follow them
Common Ground
Common Ground is an modern district with shops made from containers. Good variety of food & fashion, I bought an Evisu tee on discount for $16 and had a quick bite at Dore Dore for some rainbow cake and iced coffee.
Admission is free and it opens from 11 am to 10 pm (pubs till 2am)
Dinner @ Han's Deli
Something different for dinner, portion's pretty big and affordable. This trip to Korea has been really great, not to mention the free footage for world cup that is taking place. I've always wanted to visit Korea just to experience the place of kpop and kimchi.
Time to head back to work after a week's hiatus.
