Busan: The Westin Chosun

We had a hard time choosing which hotel to stay in Busan. After doing much research, we decided to settle for The Westin Chosun, Busan.

We chose this hotel because:
 - we wanted to stay in a hotel by the Haeundae Beach
 - it was recommended by some forumers
 - brand name (everyone knows Westin, so we were quite sure that we will enjoy our stay there)
 - price (cheaper than Paradise hotel, though its just a little cheaper... but a bit of savings is better than none)

Don't really remember how much we paid for the hotel but i think it should be slightly less than S$300 per night and there's wifi access from our room. I'm actually quite surprised cos normally if you stay in Westin, free wifi is only limited to the lobby area and you'll have to pay if you want wifi access in your room.

The nearest metro station nearest to the hotel is Dongbeak station (Green Line, Station 204).

 

 

 

After coming out from Dongbeak Exit 1, walk straight all the way for approx. 800m and you'll be able to see the hotel on your left.

 

 

The hotel lobby

 

 

 

 



Sea view from our room

Our spacious bedroom

View of the hotel from Hauendae Beach

Another point that worth mentioning is that the hotel is near the Dongbeak Island Park. Coincidentally, we were there during the Busan International Fireworks Festival! We were not aware until we were there. We quickly head to the Dongbeak Island Park. From there, we could see the fireworks from the Gwangalli Beach. It was so beautiful and the fireworks lasted for around 1 hour!Come to think of it, actually they are quite rich to have this Firework Festival (i think for 2 days) every year. Heheh....

Seoul to Busan - KTX experience

While planning for our trip, we contemplated whether to book the train tickets online or to purchase them when we reach Seoul. We did some research online and concluded that its not really necessary to purchase the train tickets online.

Being a typical Singaporean (being kiasu), I decided to purchase the train tickets the very first day we arrive in Seoul (just in case we are not able to get the timing that we wanted). The benefit of purchasing the train ticket in advance is that you don't have to worry about not getting your preferred time slot. Once we arrive in Incheon Airport, we took AREX to Seoul Station. From Seoul station we had to transfer to Line 4 before we can get to Myeong Dong.

On the way to take the train to Myeong Dong, you will walk pass the ticketing office. There are also several ticketing machines available to purchase the train tickets. However, after playing around with the ticketing machine, we decided that it would be safer to join the queue at the ticketing office (because we read from some of the forums that the staff at the ticketing office can understand and speak simple english).


Such a long queue at the ticketing office.....

On the day of travel, please be sure to arrive early because the train waits for no one. Once you arrive at Seoul Station, look out for the train schedule. It will indicate the timing of the trains and the boarding platform.

 

 

We saw this and were surprised that no one checked our tickets!

Before you go down to the boarding platform, there are some stores selling food. (only managed to take a picture of one of the stores)

Once you get down to the boarding platform, proceed to the train car indicated on the KTX train ticket.

 

 

And so, we arrived in Busan approximately 120 minutes later.

For more details on KTX, pls visit http://info.korail.com/2007/eng/eng_index.jsp

Seoul: Ewha Womans University

Ewha Woman's university is located on the green line (Line 2), just 1 station away from Sinchon Station.

This area is one of the popular shopping areas in Seoul and it is commonly known as Ewha Woman's University Fashion Street. It is lined with stores selling clothes, cosmetics and fashion accessories at affordable prices for young women. The clothes are not only affordable but are of good quality as well.

Besides clothings and fashion accessories, there are also many restaurants around that area. We walked past a japanese restaurant and decided to give it a try.


Udon with tempura set

Chicken Katsu set

These 2 sets cost only 13,000 won in total! So cheap right? The portion is not small and the food is quite decent. I believe the other restaurants in this area also sells decent food at affordable prices. So if you are looking for decent food at low cost, you can come to this district.

Seoul: Dunkin' Donuts

Dunkin' Donuts! I guess everyone is familiar with Dunkin' Donuts since we can still see it in Singapore. Dunkin' Donuts was founded in 1950 and they have 2,600 stores in 30 countries outside U.S.
 
I can still remember the last time I've went to Dunkin' Donuts was more than 10 years ago. There used to be Dunkin' Donuts in NorthPoint, but that was many many years ago. Subsequently, they closed down all the outlets (or almost all). Then, it came back to Singapore again a couple of years ago.
 
It was rather easy to spot Dunkin' Donuts in Seoul. You can see it almost everywhere.
The Dunkin' Donuts in Seoul do not only sell donuts, they sell sandwiches, salad, churros and hot bread too and I love their hot bread.

Initially, I thought they only serve hot bread in the morning , but after that we realised that they serve hot bread all day.

 

 

Last Dunkin' Donut meal at the airport before coming back to Singapore, with our favourite green tea latte of course!

The buzzer

They not only have a wide selection of food, the cafe has a huge seating area as well.

Price wise, 13,000 won for 2 hot bread and 2 drinks.

Seoul: Insadong-gil

Insadong-gil is a traditional street that sells creative handicraft and traditional gifts. To visit this place, take the subway line 3 to Anguk Station (Exit 6).

 

 

There are also some restaurants at the alleys on the sides and most of them sell Korean food. We were actually quite sick of Korean food but too bad there weren't much choices, so we randomly picked 1 restaurant.

Love the ambience in the restaurant that we picked but too bad it was too noisy and crowded.

Korean seafood tofu soup with side dishes

 
Korean seafood pancake

After lunch, we walked to Ssamzigil. This place has over 70 shops that sell handicraft, accessories and sourvenirs etc. I like this place because you can find creative accesories here eg. 2 sided reversible bags and some special handmade fashion accesories. If you would like to buy some unique Korean sourvenirs for your friends and relatives, this is the place you should visit.

Smoothie King, Krispy Kreme & Churro Chu

Every time we walk pass Smoothie King, the huge signboard never fails to capture our attention. However, being green tea latte lovers, we always end up with green tea lattes in other cafes.

One day, we decided to go healthy as we realised how fattening it can be to have green tea latte everyday...lol... There are a few outlets along the streets in Myeongdong and we went to the outlet at Metro Hotel.

Smoothie King serves nutritious blended fruit drinks.
There is a Nutrition Guide available in the cafe. The Nutrition Guide indicates the calories in the drinks. After much consideration, we ordered 'Very Berry' - 237 calories under the 'Vitamin Up' menu.

Price range is around 4,700 won for a small drink and 6,900 won for a large drink.
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Krispy Kreme lovers, you will be happy to know that there's a Krispy Kreme outlet in Myeongdong! We bought a few donuts for supper but to my disappointment the original glazed donut was sold out!! So sad...
Oh.. I heard Krsipy Kreme is coming to singapore soon... and I hope its true!

 

 

 

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Churros are sometimes referred to as Spanish Doughnut. If you are a churros lover like me, then try this! Definately cheaper than the Spanish restaurants in Singapore.

 

Churro Chu - There's a push cart that sells Churros in Myeongdong. The exact location is opposite Lotte Young Plaza.

 

Give it a try!

 

 



Seoul - Myeongdong super nice noodles! Must try!!!

Myeongdong is a shopping district in Seoul. There are huge shopping malls as well as small shops and restaurants lined along the lanes.

I would like to recommend this noodles shop which is always packed. The noodles is so good that I decided to visit it for the second time on the last day of my trip before I leave for the airport. This restaurant opens at 10.30am in the morning. When I was there at 10.40am,  6 tables were already filled.

You can seee the restuarant (Number 18) in the map below.

 

 

My favourite - chopped noodles! The noodles are really really smooth, served with thick chicken broth. Must try!

 

 



Dumplings - a bit too bland for my liking... have to add a bit of soy sauce

 

 

They have spicy noodles and soybean noodles as well. We didn't try them though.

 

 



Their English looks a bit funny.

Their menu - only 4 choices
Price is reasonable, 8,000 won per item

You may want to note that the chopsticks and spoons are kept in a small drawer at your table.

Seoul: Hongdae

Hongdae (aka Hongik University Area) is a popular place for youngsters. Hongik University Area is located on Line 2.

There is a Saturday "Free Market" in Hongdae (I'm not really sure why is it call "Free Market" and not Flea Market) where some of the people sell their handmade crafts and accessories. The location is at a playground in front of the Hongik University. The "Free Market" is held on every Saturday (I think its from March to November, except rainy days). Unfortunately I was there on a rainy day and hence was not able to visit the "Free Market".

Since we are not able to visit the "Free Market", we proceed right to the Trick Eye Museum. I've been looking forward to visit the museum after reading some reviews from Internet. The museum uses paintings to create optical illusion and I think it'll be an interesting place to visit. The Trick Eye Museum is located at Seokyo Plaza (Basement 2). The place is not exactly easy to find so you may take some time to figure out where is the entrace to the museum. From Hongik University Station, the nearest exit is Exit 9. If you really can't find your way, you may want to go to Seokyo hotel and check with the hotel staff (that's what we did). Seokyo Hotel is along the main road and easy to find.

 

 

Entrance fee is 13,000 per person. There are photo tips around the museum to show you how to capture good pictures. You may want to visit http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=1230958 for more pictures of the museum.

 

 

 

 

After visiting the Trick Eye Museum, we proceeded to the Hello Kitty Cafe, which is just 2 mins walk away (just cut through a small alley in front of the museum and you can see the cafe). I'm not a fan of Hello Kitty but since I'm already in Hongdae, I decided to just go there for a drink.

 

 

 

 

Hello Kitty every where..... even the buzzer......

The Hello Kitty Mini Cake (10,000 won) and Hello Kitty Waffle (3,500 won) looks nice so we decided to give it a try ...quite expensive and they are not nice... But if you are a huge fan of Hello Kitty then maybe you can consider buying it to admire before eating :P

Some people may wonder why is my blog called 'I Love Green Tea Latte'. The story has to start from the Hello Kitty Cafe. We order our first green tea latte in Seoul here and fell in love with it!

Hello Kitty every where..... even the toilets......