Week 4: Hongdae - Trickeye Museum, Ice Museum, Dog Cafe, Bukchon Village, Gangnam- O Sushi

I have to say I've done quite a lot this weekend. Every time when I begin to think that there is nothing else to do, something interesting shows up. The highlight of this week is going to the Trickeye Museum in Hongdae. This museum definitely triggers the creativity in every visitor, allowing visitors to use their imagination to the fullest to come up with different poses for pictures. I felt like I was playing a different character in each picture I took.

Right beside the Trickeye Museum is an Ice Museum where many ice sculptures are preserved in a freezing room. Besides taking pictures, visitors can go down an ice slide to end their tour. 

Unlike the typical cafes found in Toronto, there are many interesting theme cafes in Seoul. If you're a dog lover, I would recommend you to visit a dog cafe although the drinks are quite expensive. Unfortunately I did not take note of the name of the cafe we went to, but it is located around 5 minutes from Hongdae station exit 5. It was quite shocking when  you first step into the cafe. The dogs were so excited for visitors, I thought I was going to be run over by the pack. After they (and we) settled down, they start snuggling up to you waiting for your affection. I believe many of the dogs there are adapted from the animal shelter. It was really sad to see that these dogs have to suffer from their disabilities but their excitement and positive attitude automatically puts a smile on your face. I even got one to fall asleep on my lap!

On Saturday, my KUBA group took us to Bukchon Village. The area at Anguk station is a neighborhood full of traditional houses, which some people still live in! Inside the village, various vendors sell traditional snacks and souvenirs for tourists to buy. It was nice to take a small break from the city and buildings and just relax in the peaceful atmosphere. 

On Sunday, I went to O Sushi with a group of exchange students who live at my hostel. The restaurant is an all you can eat sushi buffet for 15,900 won on weekends. The interesting aspect of this restaurant is the environment and how the food is served on a conveyor belt so you can simply grab whichever dish that passes by you. Although the quality of the food is not as good as the sushi I've tried in Toronto, the experience made it worthwhile. 

Week 3: Hongdae, Sinchon, Myeongdong

Even though it has only been 3 weeks, it feels like I've been here for a long while since every day is full of adventures and I feel like I have accomplished a lot. I can't even keep count of the days I've been here so from this blog on, I won't indicate which day I am at (there's really no point in doing that anyways) and focus more on my travel experiences. This week, my friends and I subway down to Hongdae to explore the area. Because we are not familiar with any place in Seoul, it became a habit for us to just pick a place and explore mindlessly. Hongdae is a very lively place, with bars, clubs, shopping centers, and restaurants calling your name. The first thing we saw as soon as we walked out of the station is street food! I had the chance to try Korea corn-dog. Even though I'm not a big fan of fried food, I have to admit that it was quite delicious.

It was an extremely cold day that day so we went to have Samgyupsal (finally!). Samgyupsal is seasoned pork belly meat grilled on top of charcoal. You would then eat it with lettuce or rice.

One interesting thing I learned on this trip is that Korean restaurants do takeouts in a plastic bag. I didn't know that my friends ordered rice for me and I didn't want to waste it so I asked to take it out and this is what they gave me.

The highlight of my day is going to the movie theater to watch Frozen. Although I have seen the movie in Toronto already, the movie is still enjoyable, not to mention more comfortable seats! 

I haven't seen all of Sinchon yet but the atmosphere is already exciting enough for me to go back for a second time. The highlight of that night is going to a Norebang (karaoke) and sing until we lost our voices. Although the Norebang we went to is quite expensive compared to other places, it was very comfortable and the sound quality is really good. We also had access to unlimited ice cream!

Remember I said that I will visit Myeongdong again? Today, my friend and I had our girls day out and toured around Myeongdong until we were exhausted. At Myeongdong, we got to try traditional Korean clothes called Hanbok at the Seoul Global Culture and Tourism Centre for free. I don't know how Koreans in the past move around so effortlessly in those clothes because I almost tripped over my Hanbok twice while posing for pictures. 

And of course, more yummy street food! 

After a while of shopping and exploring, we stopped by an interesting cafe called Namu Guneul, where we are the ones being eaten. It was quite an interesting experience to have your feet nibbled by little guppies. I can't say whether I enjoyed it or not but at least my curiosity is satisfied. 

Those are pretty much all the more interesting experiences I had this week. Hope you enjoyed my adventure with me! 

Week 2: Orientation, City Tour, Ehwa Women's University

I know it has been a week since I updated my blog. As I see it, it will be more difficult for me to update all the time with school in the way but I will try my best to record all the interesting places and food here in Korea. So, orientation hosted by Korea University Buddy Assistant (KUBA) began on February 26, 2014 and ended February 27, 2014 with a city tour! On the Seoul city tour, we went to Gyeongbokgung Palance, had a traditional Korean meal for lunch, shopping at Insadong, and ended the day with a Nanta Cooking show. I don't know much about the Korean history and the place was quite loud for me to hear the details so I took a lot of pictures that will tell me about the lifestyles of Koreans in the past and how they revolutionized into the present.

I learned that in the Korean culture, meals are mostly communal, meaning that food is always shared. I don't know the name of the restaurant we went to at Insadong, but we had lunch on the floor with our shoes off, and shared three dishes for each table. 

At Insadong, I had the chance to taste the most interesting form of ice cream stuffed inside a cone that's shaped like an elephant nose.

Insadong definitely made it to my go-again list. There are many unique gifts and affordable bags and clothes on sale. I feel like I haven't seen the whole area yet. After shopping at Insadong, I watched the most amazing, jaw-dropping show. They wouldn't let the audience take pictures and record during the show so I will try my best to describe the experience. The show is called Nanta Cooking and consist of 4 actors trying to prepare a feast for a wedding before 6PM. Throughout the show, they ran into a lot of  hilarious mischief and troubles. What amazes me most is that they are able to make really good music with the props they have, were able to cook live on stage, interact with the audience, and yet maintain a good plot for the audience to engage in. Words cannot describe such an experience, so I really recommend anyone to come see the show if they ever visit Seoul.

The following day, I went to Ehwa Women's University with my new friend. She has most of the pictures because her camera is better but I took some pictures of the food we ate. For brunch, I had this thing that tastes like a korean version of french toast with an egg on top. After some serious shopping, we went to a Kimbap place for Kimbap and rice dumplings. Another name for the area is called 이대, and this area is a paradise for the ladies. Loads of shopping (and haggling), street foods, salons, beauty boutiques, and cute stores. I bought a winter jacket at a nice deal (about $40) and a few sweaters for $10 each.

As for yesterday, after doing some more exploring around Anam, my friends and I ended off the day with Fried Chicken and walnut cake.