Korea Day 3

My first day going out to explore, and the first time on the Korean Subway. Beautifully clean as I expected, but once you have experienced the fast paced and extremely frequent subways in Hong Kong this just does not compare. But the subways in Seoul are so much larger, and during the rush hour you can understand why, to accommodate the sheer amount of people that travel at those times!

Having been in Hongdae for the last two days, this area was vastly different. Admittedly we ended up here by accident and did not actually leave the station, but just looking at it from this difference you can see. Reminds me a little of the korean melo-dramas that show the people in poverty, interesting as this was my only exposure to what "real koreans" might live like.

This day we set off on a little adventure to Myeong-dong, this is a shot of one of the many underground shopping malls. This one was listed on the internet but actually it was more catered for the older crowd and was quite small. So unless you are actually looking for a present for your nan, I would probably say avoid this underground shopping location.... 

HOWEVER, Once you get outside you are in a dream girls world. Cosmetic shops everywhere, shoe stalls everywhere. Just a dreamy shopping heaven. Myeong-dong is quite a popular place, always listed on the internet travel websites and just about every tourist knows about this location. So if you look like you are chinese, do not be surprised that you will be heckled at in mandarin! And also do not be surprised if the rest of the people surrounding you are chinese and not korean, because the amount of tourists here is immense!

Apparently this is quite a famous bimbimbap restaurant, I was not one to question because I was damn right hungry, edging on hangry.

Being asian means taking lots of pictures of food. It is part of the memory okay? And if you are hungry in Myeong-dong come to this bimbimbap PLEASE. It is filling, delicious and so darn cheap! And the greatest thing about ALL korean restaurants? ITS THE FREE SIDES THAT ARE UNLIMITED. 

A clothes shop that consisted of several different floors, all with a different layout and design. It reminded me of Urban Outfitters, although most of Korea does because half the people are hipster!

CUPCAKES. CUPCAKES. CUPCAKES. CUPCAKES. CUPCAKES

For dinner we opted for something a little "lighter", well when I mean lighter I mean street food. Several rice cakes, my absolute favourite, and these twisty fish rolls!

And a little ice cream to help it all down! This ice cream was not anything special, I think it is just another fun and crazy shape to draw people in, and it sure does! There are so many of these ice cream stalls around the touristy areas in Korea. The outside twisty cone actually tastes quite stale so if you want to buy the ice cream for the taste, probably avoid. Otherwise go right ahead, an expensive ice cream gimic for you!

I read about this little gem on the tourist forums before I visited, it is located in Dongdaemun and is apparently known for attracting lots of couples. They said avoid walking down here if you are afraid of couples haha, I did not quite get the romantic experience but it was still pretty to look at from above. 

We just missed this, having come on a Monday which seems to be a rest type of day for Korea this concert exhibition was shut. I believe it is a 3D Concert experience of some famous K Pop stars but unfortunately as I did not get to see it I do not know, queue sad music.

At the end of the day we just went for another little walk. Rainy and calm.

Korea Day 2

Day 2 consisted of more sleeping in and hanging out in my room and recovering from the last 6 weeks. The Bauhaus Residence is such a wonderful little guest house that you do not mind spending so much time there. 

With 2 computers and a large television downstairs you can do as you like. I brought my own laptop so there was endless entertainment for me. (Boring I know, who goes to travel to another country to spend hours on the internet? ME APPARENTLY) 

After spending my sweet time just chilling around the house, having a long shower I got ready for what was dinner time now. 

Again we headed into Hongdae, the place we found the hipsters of Korea. For cheap food, cheap entertainment, e.g. Karaoke and several dessert restaurants come here. 

If you are young this is definitely a place you have to come at least ONCE during your trip. Night time if possible because during the night, especially over the weekend it is just buzzing. 

How I miss this place so!
This evening we went to have some PAEJON, korean pancake. This was a little traditional place in Hongdae which had a fair few foreigners but the food was really delicious, if not slightly on the salty side. This was my second time having paejon, the first time was in HK and I loved it, so to have a traditional one in Korea only made my love for it grow immensely.

Again we had a few drinks over dinner, this time we had rice wine? Is that what it is called? Anyways, I was not such a big fan of this one, I have tasted this several times in different places and yet my taste buds still are opposed to it. 

After dinner we walked around Hongdae again, this time we ended up a karaoke place. This place had SEVERAL private rooms and they were large. What really shocked me was having to take our shoes off, although I should have guessed, we are in asia after all, however I would still consider this a public place, who knows, it was an interesting experience. Tambourines was a fun addition too!

After karaoke we eventually returned back to the guest house, as you go up the stairs they have little notes, letters and post cards from all of their previous guests, it is so endearing! 

Korea Part 1

To begin, the trip to Korea was exhausting. Arriving at 5am in the morning meant I had no rest, at most an hour nap on the plane. Obviously I was not keen on navigating Korea to my guest house on my own, so being naive and tired I jump into the first taxi I see! Unknowingly I jump into a high end taxi, can somebody tell me since when these came intk existence? 

Costing me 88,000 korean won, this was probably the most expensive way to travel. This old driver was extremely helpful and so nice so I couldn't complain, it turns out these high end taxis are the only ones that can speak english, or you can ask for an interpreter! (Pretty darn cool if you ask me!) Having found the guest house after getting lost 3 times. It was around 8am and unfortunately my room was not ready, however I chose the perfect guest house (even if i am biased) and they had a lovely living room area with sofas and a television and I just made myself comfortable

 The guesthouse named Bauhaus Guesthouse in Hongdae was in a quieter area of Hongdae, but trust me, you need this quaint area after being in Hong Kong for 6 weeks. The peace and quiet is almost a pleasure. This guest house is run by a little Korean family, mother, father and a young son around the age of 20, all extremely pleasant and with free breakfast every morning! This ranged from eggs to cereal to bread, and feel free to eat as much as you want! I found this was the perfect way to meet others in the guest house. This was also how I met my now friends from Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong and some from Indonesia. After breakfast my room was finally ready, I could not continue without a nap. So despite offers to do something touristy I decided to stay in. Napping from 11am to 3pm I woke up much more bright eyed and ready to explore this new city! Although my luck meant that it started to rain, so going out by myself was not an option, I went out to the corner shop and picked up a few korean snacks for myself.

I have no idea what this actually was, a bit of "meat" with rice and other processed stuff, but for my hungry belly it would have to do!

The pop hot chicken on the other hand was DELICIOUS, crisp lovers this is a must. I even bought some home for my sisters to try, because I loved it THAT MUCH. 

Later on Odilia and Livia returned from exploring Sinchon and for dinner we went to Hongdae, to the comedian Haha korean barbeque restaurant. Neither filling or cheap I was not satisfied. But the first evening was to get a little more exciting. 

Walking around we decided tonight was the night, the hongdae boys were out and so were we haha. We were not prepared for what we were about to experience. We went to a total of 4 locations, a bar in which we HAD to buy food in order to drink (Soju here was NOT CHEAP, avoiding buying soju from anywhere apart from corner shops and supermarkets!) 

Korean street food, I doubt anywhere else in the world does street food better than asian countries. This little egg cupcake dessert thing filled a slight void from dinner. MMMMM

Jasmine posing with the incredibly small treat!

Street performers in Hongdae are incredible. We walked past this exact place on several different days. This first night was an older than average guy singing a few comical songs (I think, due to everybody clapping and laughing!)

Later on, a few others and I decided we could not enter a club without feeling slightly tipsier, that was the uni side of my brain talking! Entering 7/11 we saw that the exact same soju which we paid around 4500 to cost 1200korean won! Shocked could not explain it!

After this it was just us entering multiple different night clubs and all the night clubs full of men. Definitely not what I was used to, and a whole lot of what they called "skinship" just a wholeeeee lot of touching, and no place to move. And so we decided to call it a night.

That was day 1 complete, and with 6 more days to go!

Liquid Nitrogen ice cream! (That I did not get to try :()

Seoul: Korea

This trip was extremely spontaneous. Having previously discussed plans with a friend to visit Seoul together, like many things plans can change. However, I still went for it. Alone and holding everything I own, ending the internship meant I was off. Flying to Seoul, by myself at 1am in the morning. Amazingly I was not scared, I was too excited to experience space and retreat into myself for a while. But, it turns out I had picked the perfect place and the perfect people to make this trip even better than anticipated. 

To begin this little series of Korea, here is the numerous reflection pictures I took in various different locations. 

The final couple of weeks

So, Hong Kong was drawing to a close. The time flew by and despite my several moves over the 6 weeks, I felt kind of at home. It gave me sufficient time to explore and yet settle in. 

Here are a few more photos of the last days of Hong Kong.

 My last week was spent living in Sheung Wan, so to my delight I could take the tram home everyday. This allowed me to have some nice refreshing coconut water on my rides home. If you have seen any of my previous posts you will know my love for coconut water. It does not get any fresher than this!

 On my last evening in HK I indulged in some pizza. Seriously this was the largest slice of pizza I have ever eaten. This place is in Central in HK, worth a try, not that many different toppings (as I always expect from placing other than Pizza Hut & Dominos) This was seriously a whole medium pizza just placed into massive slices. 

 My co-worker intern Haotien, it will probably be a long time until I see him again. MISS YOU ALREADY! 

 Last lunch at The Hive Hong Kong, lovely people and free pizza. WIN! 

 A few pretty lights in Central outside the nightclub Dragon I. 

 The farewell dinner on the Thursday, ONCE AGAIN in Central. I had delicious fajitas. I am a Mexican girl at heart. 

 Another pizza, this time from Amaroni's, a chain restaurant across HK. Delicious and relatively cheap. The portion size is also MASSIVE, so make sure to share! 

 Pictures of the couple of sunsets I managed to see and capture. Kowloon and on Kennedy Town on Hong Kong Island. 

The two pictures below are from a little place School Food in the large shopping centre in Kowloon Tong. The name may sound unappetising but my oh my was this delicious. Not the traditional Korean food that I have tried elsewhere but so full of flavours. 

At a very well known tourist attraction, Wong Tai Sin. It is not as spiritual as it looks but many chinese people also flock here to make wishes and pray to the different God's. The almost special attraction to this place is the palm and face readers, so many to choose from but BEWARE, NOT CHEAP. Worth going just for a few laughs with your friends I must admit, and just to get away from the high rise buildings for a while. 

An old photo from the Macau trip at Sky 21. It was a beautiful view until the torrential rain, thunder and lighting came!