Korea Trip Day 6 - [Seoul] Hongdae, Myeong Dong, Itaewon

It’s already Day 6!! Mann, time pass so fast when you’re having fun!

We woke up early, ate our breakfast at the hotel and went to the station to catch the train back to Seoul at 8:50am.

This time, I sat beside B instead of O. It was much more fun beacuse O pretty much slept all the way while I could not sleep on train. I listened to music, eat snacks and chat the whole way back to Seoul which was much more enjoyable. I was once again reminded of my trip in Taiwan where I took the normal train from Kaoshiung to Hualien for ~5.5hrs! During which Rillen was fast asleep the whole way, the seat was uncomfortable and again it was summer hot then! With bullet train, we could easily have reached our destination in half the time but Chien Yi bought our tickets without permission and so the nightmare sticks with me. This time, O does not want to go to Jeju because it is expensive. In fact, bullet train return trip costs $100 which is almost the same as the flight to Jeju. Why do I have these types of travel friends?? I am sad. But this time I was happier because I have more say in the things like hotel and trains and where to go. So this is an improvement.

We reached Seoul at around 11.30am and I am glad to be back! I like Seoul city because of Myeong Dong! Can’t wait to go back there to shop! =D

We dragged our luggage to the MRT and that’s the first time we experienced the inconvenience of stairs in Seoul. Their MRT doo not have many escalators and so for most cases, we have to carry our luggage up and down steep stairs. Luckily for me, an Uncle actually helped me carry my luggage halfway down the stairs! He just took the handle and helped me without saying anything. Once we got down I said thank you and he disappeared into the crowd. So happy! =D

But when we reached Hongdae, I carried the luggage up myself! It’s okay, exercise before lunch! We found our hotel shortly as it is situated strategically near Hongdae’s main street as well as the MRT. After checking in, we went to eat at Abiko curry, which was just right behind our hotel. I heard about this place from my friend’s blog and it seemed delicious. I ordered the chicken curry. Innocently, when asked which level of spicy, I wanted the spiciest one!

Spiciest thing I have ever tasted!

How surprised was I when I tasted the curry! It was EXTREMELY spicy!! Spiciest thing I have ever tasted! B ordered the spiciest as well while O ordered the second level. She said that hers was already so spicy, she could not imagine how ours would taste like. B and I then ordered a chicken Katsu to help us finish the curry. We asked for water again and again and finally we sort of finish! We did not manage to finish the sauce of course, as it was really super spicy.

Then we ate ice cream available in front of the store to chill our burning tongue.

 

Dousing the burning tongue

We went back to hotel to put our luggage into our room and I was a bit disappointed when I saw the room because it was quite old. It resembles those 5-star hotels that my parents used to take me when I was still little. I guess with time, its value dropped! Luckily it was clean. The air-con wasn’t really cold and I was afraid I will not be able to sleep.

Not long after, we head out to the Trick Eye Museum which was just right across the Abiko curry that we visited earlier. It was crowded inside but we bought our ticket anyway and went in. I regretted this bit as this place is near our hotel. We should have gone to it when there were fewer crowds. It was full of Chinese tourists, and it was really hard to appreciate the paintings and take pictures with it. Nevertheless, we were still able to capture few good shots before we hurriedly went out.

Second Pic

Money... $$$

Failed but still ok =p

The ticket that we bought entitled us to an Ice Museum which we know nothing about. So we went to join the queue towards the entrance which looks like a giant metal door. They were handing out Burberry patterned blankets and I presume it must be really cold inside. It’s true! When we finally went inside, it felt like we were entering a giant freezer! I LOVE IT! I am back to my natural habitat. I was told it was 0 degC and people are all chattering their teeth and wrapping their blankets around them. I, on the other hand, was so excited to see the ice sculpture and wanted to take pictures with them! B’s hand was shaking as he helped me take my pictures. There was a lot of sculpture ranging from a room full of ice furniture to cars and penguins and Santa Claus.

Penguins

Heart Shape

Car!

Hi Santa!

There was even a slide made of ice!!! I went once and I wanted to go again.. But my friends were too cold so we went out.

After we went out to the hot reality, we decided where to go next. I wanted to go back to Myeong Dong or explore the Hong Dae surrounding while O wanted to go to Apgujeoung and Gangnam. So we split! We were happy to have a relaxing afternoon ahead. First we walked around Hong Dae but not long ~10mins, the heat was getting unbearable, so we went to Myeong Dong and explore its department stores.

I thought that we could chill in their posh Dept Store such as the Lotte Plaza and Shinsegae. Who knows that their malls' air-con was so lousy that I felt so stuffy inside. So after we explore these malls, we decided to go to Itaewon for dinner. We passed by Myeong Dong street while searching for the MRT and I went in a few stores to take a look. We went to Itaewon in hope to try out the famous Vatos, but it was sooooooooo crowded with a waiting time of 1 hour!

We then decided to eat at McD right opposite of Vatos. We ate fast food 3 times in this trip but I was happy compared to forcing myself eating Korean BBQ every day like I see my friends did when they came over. But I regret not trying out Vatos as it looks good!

After eating, we walked down the street and take away Paris Baguette for next day’s breakfast. Then we return to Hongdae and walked around for a bit before returning to the hotel.

When we went back to the hotel, O was already there. So much for her wanting to go to night market at Dong Dae Mun until no more train. It was only 9 pm and she was back.

I did my ritual of putting on mask before relaxing and sleeping. =)