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......

 

 







Seoul: Prince Hotel (Myeongdong)

The other hotel that we stayed in Seoul is Prince Hotel. This hotel is located across the shopping area in Myeongdong and the nearest Myeongdong station exit is Exit 2. However, when we were there, there were some renovations going on at Exit 2 and 3. Therefore, we need to use the next nearest Exit 4 and walk down to Prince Hotel.

When we came out from Exit 4, we were greeted by Paris Baguette. Knowing that our hotel stay did not include the hotel breakfast, I was delighted to find that Paris Baguette is just 2 mins walk away from our hotel :)
If you are taking the airport limousine bus, the bus will stop right in front of Sejong Hotel, which is just across the road. Pls refer to the map below.

When I checked in to the room, I was rather happy that the room is slightly bigger than the previous hotel that we stayed in Seoul. Oh, another thing that is worth mentioning is that the cable car station to Seoul Tower is actually 10 mins walk away from the hotel.

One thing that I don't really like is the air conditioning system. According to the hotel staff, the air condition system will work as a heater in winter and we will not be able to set the temperature lower. Therefore, if you find it hot or stuffy, you will need to open the window to let some fresh air into the room. If not, then you will have to request for an electric fan from the hotel staff. Actually we don't really mind opening the window, just that we find it a bit noisy.

 

 

 

For those who are interested in Prince Hotel, we booked the room from Agoda at around S$170 per night and there's free wifi.

Seoul: Hotel Skypark Myeongdong I

We stayed in 2 hotels in Seoul and Skypark I was one of them. After the AREX has reached Seoul station, look out for "Line 4" signage (Myeongdong staion is just 2 stations away from Seoul station). Skypark I is just 2 mins walk away from Myeongdong station Exit 6 (Line 4). After you come out from Exit 6, turn left go straight and turn left at the first turn. Look down the street and you'll see SPAO. The entrance to the hotel lift is just next to SPAO.

The hotel lobby is located on the 11th floor and our room was on the 10th floor.

Hotel lobby:

The breakfast spread was rather limited. However, you can always find a nice cafe in Myeongdong area to have breakfast.

Breakfast area:

The moment I opened the hotel room door, my first reaction was "oh! the room is so small???"

The fact that we brought 2 big luggages for our trip made it difficult to keep them open at the same time. Despite the small room size, we were quite pleased that the room is quite clean. If you don't mind the space, this hotel is actually a very good choice, given the superb location.

For those who don't mind the small room space, I booked the room from Agoda at S$190 per night and there's free wifi. I think if you book 3 or more nights, the price will be slightly cheaper. For those who like the location but mind the small room space, maybe you can consider to upgrade to a bigger room.

AREX - Airport Railroad: From Incheon International Airport to Seoul Station

After doing some research on the Internet, we decided to travel to Seoul via AREX.
AREX is the railway line that connects Seoul to both Gimpo Airport and Incheon International Airport.

After arrival at the Incheon Airport, pls look out for the "Airport Railroad" sign. Follow the signs and you'll get to the AREX ticketing machines.

There are basically 2 types of train ie. express and commuter. We chose commuter train as we learnt that the express train is only like 10 mins faster?

It took us about 50+ mins to reach Seoul station and we had to transfer to another train line which will bring us to our hotel. If you have heavy luggages, I would advise you to take the limousine bus instead. I really can't imagine having to lug heavy luggages up/down the stairs in the train staion. Having to lug 2 half filled luggages is already quite hectic!

For more information on AREX, pls visit http://www.arex.or.kr/jsp/eng/index.jsp