Shann Shine Corridor: Soulful Seoul- Day 1

prologue:

just came back from seoul a few days ago and before my short term memory kicks in,

I better start jotting down everything in my blog

It's a good thing that both of us are planners when it comes to traveling

we're definitely not the kind that can just go somewhere without a clue and be carefree about everything

our itinerary is horrendously long hahaha

and it looks like some kind of business plan

it was me and bum's first overseas trip together and tbh I was quite anxious because i've heard a lot of stories about couples breaking up after a trip together but maybe because we've always been very true to ourselves in front of each other ( ie. disgusting habits)

so it was all good.

Anyway,

It was my first time taking garuda and I was a bit skeptical mainly because It's not as well known at least to people around me but after countless of reviews, i gave it a try and it was the cheapest option at that point of time

we'd booked our flights before MERS happened so it was really expensive

airasia was more expensive than garuda at around rm1400 (including baggage)

after the trip, I'm glad to say that I would definitely book garuda again! service was good, seats were okay (economy standard) , in-flight entertainment system was quite good, food was good ( plane standard)

the con is the traveling time is really long because we had to transit at jakarta before heading to seoul

so including transit time, our average traveling time was 12 hrs as opposed to air asia's ~= 7 hrs

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Travel:

our flight was on a friday evening and we landed in seoul the next morning at around 8-ish am

went to the conveyer to grab our luggage and contemplating whether to get a sim card

we've finally settled with a wifi dongle from SK telecom with a rental of 5000won per day which works up to be cheaper than getting a simcard that has a 1gb limit but the dongle has unlimited internet

Day 1:

After sorting out our internet, we took the subway from incheon international airport to yeongdeungpo station where courtyard marriot seoul is located at

took us around 1hr and 17 mins

The subway app that we used was " seoul subway" which is in english which calculates the stations that you have to take after entering the departing and arriving stations

after getting off at yeongdeungpo station, it took us awhile to roam to our hotel which is located inside times square

not big but i think it's a very pretty room

the toilet

a full view of our room and i like the hugeass window

our view from the window, it's very pretty at night

how can we not selfie when there's good lighting

times square and shinsegae is connected to each other

First stop: Hongik University

I wanted to have Noh Chef and Pane Chicken for lunch so there we went!

subway station: Hongik Univ (Line 2) station exit 8

It's really hard for me to give directions for this place because we ourselves got lost and it took us longer than it should be to get to the restaurant

but once you get the hang of hongdae, you'll mobile fine=)

the exterior of the shop

this is the one that everyone orders when they're here

our beautiful cheesy chicken!

I love the bread so much! very crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside

the chicken is really fragrant too thanks to the cheese!

if you're a cheesy person, you have to try this

definitely not a traditional korean meal but definitely recommend this!

after lunch, we were absolutely famished

what to do? shopping!

stylenanda was really one place that i wanted to visit

just a few rows away from pane chicken

google map from hongik univ to stylenanda

the shop is huge! and there's a free photobooth there so boyfriends that accompanies their gf get to have a bit of fun

random street at hongdae

we went to hongdae a totalled of 2 times during our trip because the clothes there are relatively cheap and there's always promotions

cosmetics shops are everywhere

heaps of clothes that costs from 5000won to 10000 won ( rm37) can be found

it really is a student town!

after walking around hongdae

we then headed back up to ehwa university

subway station: Ehwa university (line 2 ) exit 2&3 that shows ehwa university

after exiting, you'll see streets full of shops, just walk straight for about 5-10 mins then you'll see the university itself

you'll definitely wont miss it

this would be the direction to head to ehwa uni

the campus is really quaint and beautiful

so pretty! no wonder people wants to study here

how to not take a picture on this beautiful campus

i have steepness fright, this is definitely a nono for me to walk down

after a stroll around the campus, me being a glutton wants dessert! and what's popular at ehwa and what's korea's most popular dessert? Bingsu! and where? Ho Mil pat!

directions, from walk down from ehwa univ and when you reach the main road, turn right

you'll see megabox on your right, keep walking until you pass the building itself

then cross to the opposite side of the road, keep going until you see gongcha and ho mil pat is just a few shops away from it !

tadaa~~~

our Milk bingsu with redbean and rice cakes!

the ice is awesome!!! it's not normal shaved ice but shaved milk! so milky and really thirst quenching *yums*

even bum that doesnt like dessert likes the shaved ice!

one dessert is never enough!

I happened to stumble upon a stall selling churros just next to ho mil pat and I want!!!

churros with milky soft serve

I tell you! best churros i've ever had!

so crispy yet chewy ahhhh heaven omggg

but if you don't like cinnamon then this wouldnt be for you because it's overwhelmed by powdered cinnamon

but for people that likes cinnamon like me! go for it! no regrets!

After dessert, we wanted to catch the light show at Banpo Bridge,

so we took the subway from ehwa station to

station: Dongjak Exit 1,2 (Line 4)

there're other stations which i think would be a better choice because the view from this place is kinda far

and we didnt actually catch the water fountain show because we didn't know that on this particular day

it was their annual autumn fireworks show

and there were so many people camping there to watch the fireworks

so i would say lucky and unlucky?

got to watch something that only happens once a year with all the local koreans

and after observing I feel like seoul is a place that's filled with places and activities for couples

couples everywhere!

just me and my boo

not bothering to post more fireworks pictures because my camera doesn't come with a zoom and I'm a cheapskate for not getting one for it = bad firework pics

but it's freaking rm700 for a zoom lens leh

but I assure you that it's really pretty in person but the crowd was horrendous

we felt really peculiar at first thinking why is the crowd so massive for something that goes on everyday? the koreans so happening one ah then only later i knew that it was an annual thing