Bau House cafe, Gwanghwamun and Myeongdong

Today, we decided to go to Bau House cafe which is a very famous dog cafe near Hapjeong Station. Exit 5 if I'm not wrong. Right across Bau House cafe is a restaurant that serves pizzas and spaghetti. Since we were all hungry, we decided to grab a few bites here in this restaurant before entering Bau House. We settled down and ordered our food and then I discovered that the whole restaurant has photos, posters and banners for Sungyeol, a member of Infinite. After a little googling using their wifi, turns out, this restaurant is opened by him. Talk about coincidence. 

The food is delicious, we love the pizzas, though the spaghetti wasn't that worth it. We were given honey as well, and we started asking for more honey to soothe our throat. Cause one by one, most of us had gotten sore throat, so we were really thrilled when the restaurant serves honey. We started taking scoops of honey and mix them with our ice water. Then gulp down the whole thing. The lady who was serving us got a shock and kept looking at us. We tried to use our broken Korean to let her know of the ancient Chinese remedy to soothe sore throat, but we doubted that she really understood us. Nonetheless, she was kind enough to give us more servings of honey. Thank you!

I would give this restaurant a thumbs up for their service and the pizza. Love it.

Bau House is relatively big in land space and the place is split into 2 parts. 1 for the dogs which can roam about freely and 1 for the dogs who likes to be with their owner still. To enter, drinks have to be bought. Also, if you want to feed these dogs, you can purchase dog food/tidbits for a small fee. 

When a new pet dog is brought in, the dogs will start barking and would crowd at the entrance to welcome the new pet dog. You can see their eagerness with their wagging tails. I love the golden retriever (or is it Labrador) which was lazying around. And the triplets! White triplets which could represent Daehan, Minguk and Mansae from The Return of Superman!

Next up would be Gwanghwamun, where we had to change our phone SIM card at the English speaking Olleh Shop. Gwanghwamun is an iconic place, with statues of their Emperor and General. The Gwangbok Palace is just behind Gwanghwamun and the Cheonggyecheon stream is just round the corner. 

Here are some of the food that we tried in Myeongdong. The famed egg bread! I love it! The xiao long bao wasn't as worthwhile as we thought. But we probably just entered the wrong restaurant to try this Chinese dish. There are lots of restaurants in Myeongdong, so do google for the best option beforehand. And use Naver app to find for the exact location. Google map doesn't work well in Korea.

Everland

Today's post will be about Everland!

In Seoul, there are 2 famous theme parks, namely Lotte World and Everland. You will spend about a day at Everland, depending on the period and the crowd. 

To go to Everland by train, you have to start very early, because Everland is all the way at the end. Technically speaking, it is not in Seoul, more like the outskirts of Seoul. Take train all the way to the end (green line) and from there, you'll have to take a shuttle bus to the theme park itself.

This is the view that greeted us when we stepped out of the train station. We are on a bridge which leads us to the pick-up point for the shuttle service. 

Our tickets to an exciting day!

This is the scariest ride in Everland, the legendary T Express, which has the steepest falling degree in the world.

Well, besides that, the material that the whole track is made of is scary and definitely not assuring enough. It's made of wood. Not steel. Not metal. But wood. I kid you not. My friends and I were quite terrified by it. 

I think most theme parks have Express Pass, but in Everland and Lotte World, you cannot purchase Express Pass. It's standard entrance ticket. However, you can get Q-pass which is similar to Express Pass. Quoted from the phamplet/Guide "This time-saving service allows you to minimize wait times so you can make the most of our attractions, when visiting during specialized times found on your coupon. Attractions accessible via Q-pass: T-Express, Amazon Express, Safari World. T-Express: Tickets are issued only once in the morning/afternoon. Amazon Express: Issued on a first-come, first-served basis during operating hours. Safari World: Issued at the moment when the wait time exceeds one hour on weekends, also on a first-come, first-served basis." If you have the opportunity to get the Q-pass, please get it. Otherwise, you may wait up to 150 minutes for T-Express like what we did. Unfortunately. Another thing to note is to do some research on possible discounts for the entrance ticket. My friend manage to find coupons which entitled us to 50% discount (If I remember correctly. But nonetheless, it was a whole lot cheaper.) 

Everland is pretty big, but not all the rides are extremely exciting. Once you conquered T-Express, I guess the rest is just a piece of cake. T-Express is operational even at night, thus my friends and I took T-Express the second time at night and the view was spectacular. And what's even more exciting about T-Express? There is no proper harness/protective cover or whatever you called it.  There is just a simple safety guard around your waist. There is nothing covering your chest. So you can only grab that safety cover on your waist for dear life when the roller coaster falls down. WOOHOO!

As for Safari World, when we were in the buses/boats to look at the animals, I kind of feel bad for the animals. I'm not really into enclosing animals for our entertainment, but you can try it out and see the animals. It's pretty cool. But I also feel bad for the bears. Sigh... Well, different people has differing views. 

Last but not least, if you spend above 30,000 Won, you can get a tax refund. But the entrance tickets and the food & drinks are not counted within.

ABC Mart at Gangnam - Shoe edition

Right along the street where School Food is at, there are tons of shops and good buys to look out for. And Tadah! Summer Sale at Hollister! Singapore doesn't carry Hollister (If I'm not wrong, there's only A&F) so seeing this sale got me real excited. Cause my plan for this exchange is to buy clothes or stuff that is not found in Singapore. Well and I kind of like Hollister, so I guess my money was well-spent. 

Along this street, there is also 8 Seconds, Osulloc (famous for it's Green Tea Milk Spread, which cost about 8,500 Won when I bought it in Dec 2015) and LINE etc etc. The whole street is lined with Korean branded stores mixed with foreign brands like Hollister and Ralph Lauren. If you venture into the smaller streets, you'll find a lot more gems hidden. I think I'll cover more about Gangnam in future post. 

In Korea, there are tons of ABC Mart. If you love sneakers from Nike, Adidas, New Balance, Puma, Skechers, Vans, Timberland etc, this shop is for you. They always have sales and their sales can be quite cheap, though not as cheap as Outlet Malls. The clothes and shoes from Outlet Malls can be really, really cheap. ABC Mart may be cheaper compared to buying the shoes from the actual stores, but if you want an even cheaper option, you should try Outlet Malls first. I like shopping at ABC Mart cause you can select any shoes from any brand in just a single shop.

In Korea, youngsters and even elders love to wear running shoes/sneakers when they go out. It is their fashion. They even have matching Nike or Adidas shoes for couples. And because of this, there are aplenty of shoe shops in Korea like ABC Mart, Shoemarker etc etc which carries many shoe brands. There is also, Shoopen or Snoopen, which I think is Korea's home brand that sells shoes and bags at very cheap prices during their sale period. There are also many other sneaker/sports brand that I have never heard of in Singapore such as Descente, Kolon Sport, Sbenu etc.

The ABC mart image above is at Gangnam, which is near the subway station. They have 3 levels, so you can have an idea of the huge range of shoes they carry.  

This is what I got in the end, after much debate at the ABC mart @ Gangnam. 

New Balance for 85,000 won, cause they give me a discount since it was the last pair and it was a displayed pair. Thank you Korea for this kind of services. 

I got another pair of New Balance from the Outlet mall in Busan towards the end of my trip. Unfortunately, I think my feet size may be too common, that shoe I eyed was also the last pair and it is also the displayed pair. So I asked if they could give me further discount. They apologized that they couldn't cut further but they gave me an additional shoe lace. I could even choose the color of the shoe laces! I love their services. Hahaha! (Thick skin me)

School Food @ Gangnam

This is School Food in Gangnam (near Sinsa Station on the orange line). I've heard from a friend who said that EXO loves to eat at School Food. But this wasn't the reason that we went there. We googled about this restaurant and it was highly recommended by tourists due to its authenticity in Korean Food. There are aplenty of School Food in Seoul and we just happened to walk by this particular School Food restaurant in Gangnam. 

This dish consists of Mandu, Teokbokgi and sundae (not the ice cream Sundae but 'soondae'). The mentioned food are Korean's local food and School Food actually serves all in the same plate. So if you like to try Korean Food in one go, School Food is the best place. I like the teokbokgi and the mandu, but the sundae doesn't suit our taste buds. It tasted weird. We weren't sure what it was made of, but we suspected that it is made out of pig's blood. It's like purplish-maroon in color. 

School Food is a pretty good place to try, but I won't really give it a high rating. I prefer the actual Korean restaurants that you always see in the streets. I think those taste better. 

Gangnam at a glance

What is this I see!? BOY LONDON!!!

Where am I?

GANGNAM!

Gangnam has a lot of hidden gems along the small streets. My friends and I happened to pass by this cafe which is really pretty, This cafe is called Dore Dore, and it's somewhere in Gangnam, near the LINE store. I love their cakes! They served an array of cakes that look so cute and adorable. There's even gold covered cakes, like the one next to the Korean flag cake. There's rainbow cake, the standard, Red Velvet, Carrot Cake and many others. 

(There's one branch at Haeundae, Busan as well, which we also happened to walk by. They have the same name and they both serves cakes and drinks, so we believe they're the same, just different brancehs. Cause in Korea, with so many shops and cafe, there may be times when shops have the same name but are actually not affiliated.)

We have decided on these three. The price range for a piece of cake is about 6,000won to 7,000won, which is (I admit) a little pricey. But for the atmosphere and the vibe and the gigantic cakes, it is pretty worth it.

I ordered a coffee on the go too. Summer heat + lack of sleep = iced coffee please!

Interesting artifacts/interior deco in Dore Dore. 

Next up, is Remicone!!! The famous(?) ice cream with a unique take on ice cream. The decorations of the shop is really unique. It's like an ice cream van. 

This is da bomb! Hahaha! Literally. There's this pop thing that fizzles in your mouth. You can really feel it fizzling in your mouth. Don't be misguided by the grey bulk at the top of the ice cream. That is candy floss. The ice creams they serve have special concepts and special names/designs. Remicone is something all should try when in Korea. There is a Remicone in Dongdaemun as well.

Hongdae Pt II

Got to try spray on tattoo at the streets of Hongdae! I've forgotten the cost of it, but it should be around 3,000 won for this tattoo. I wanted a similar airplane style without the curly line, but the template was not available. On a side note, the street store owner is quite good-looking. #justsaying But when I went back Hongdae in later days, I never see the same store again. 

Hongdae

We got to eat amazing Kimbab from a Kimbab store in Edae area. It's called Kimgane, which I think means Kimbab House, since there is a Chinese 'Home' character at the signboard. This place serves delicious side dishes which tasted like 'home' to us. I went back there for about 3 times just for that particular side dish, which is like an egg with meat within. But that side dish that we all love is only served when you order the regular meals like Omelette rice (Omurice) or stews. Thankfully, the kind Ahjummas still serve us the side dish even though we only ordered Kimbab and Mandu! 

After spending our morning/afternoon at Edae, we went to Hapjeong (one station away from Hongdae) to check out the Dog cafe (Bauhouse dog cafe). However, it was crowded with dog lovers, so we decided to head to this Patbingsu store next door to have some Patbingsu to cool ourselves down from the summer heat. This Patbingsu is not exceptionally nice. There's lots of chocolate powder on the ice, so when we were eating, we kept choking on the powder. It was quite a terrible experience. 

The H&M store at Hongdae.

Daiso at the top floor.

I love Hongdae. It's my favorite place in Seoul. Cause of the vibe and the crowd. It feels so different from Singapore.

There's nothing much to shop at Hongdae, cause the clothes and all are pretty expensive. There are lots of tarot card readers here, so if you're fluent in Korea and would like to have your 'fate/future' read, Hongdae is the best place for all. 

There are two main sections to Hongdae, which is divided by a road where many Koreans jaywalk across to get to the other side. One, houses mainly restaurants and all the street performers, the other consists of shops and make-up stores and the tarot card reading shops. 

There is also the famous Noraebang (Karaoke) which is called Luxury. This noraebang has served many artistes and it's famous because of the 'open' concept that it has. You'll get it when you see it for yourself or from google images. However, the price is pretty expensive for a Karaoke room. It's about 20,000won for 2 hours (plus extra service meaning extended singing hours) for a person. This means a hefty $24 for a person for 2 hours. This is even more expensive than Singapore's Karaoke. And you may not get to experience the 'open' concept Noraebang rooms. So I guess it is by luck. Of course, the price is subjected to the time, so it may get more expensive or cheaper. 

Edae (Ewha Womans University)

Isn't this school marvelous?

This University is the prettiest I've ever seen in Korea. It has a Harry Potter Howarts feel. Especially with the church building. There is an ethereal feel in the school compound. To go up to the church, we had to climb the huge flight of steps. But it was totally worth it for the view. Then we turned right and walked downhill towards the road. Walk right and you'll face the stairs downwards to the more modern part of the school compound.

The modern section with the slope downwards and glass walls around houses classrooms if I'm not wrong. Most of the glass doors were locked and not accessible to the public. To enter, we had to walk down the stairs to the bottom and enter the glass doors there. There is actually a theater within that holds public events. When we were there, there were many children who were waiting to watch a robot cartoon show in the theater. There is also a bookshop inside that sells books and textbook, but no English books. There is a souvenir shop too, where souvenirs such as tote bags, files, notebooks with printed Ewha logos are sold to the public. There's also a Starbucks within and a few restaurants. 

The school compound is really cool. I love the architecture and I've been there almost 5 times and I still love the school.

We heard that although it is a Womans University, male exchange students are allowed to exchange there. So for the guys, lucky you. Teehee.