12 Days in South Korea With My Bestie

It was getting late so we just hung around the area. We visited the shop upstairs (from the restaurant that we ate in) named K-Story. Of course I was clueless about it. But bestie was excited, apparently it was her favourite SJ member and he likes cats. Ok, I like people who likes cats. We walked around for a short while and the place was crowded and there are really a lot of K-Pop stuffs selling everywhere. The clothes were all cutesy and nice too. Even though we were indoors, it was cold so everyone was wearing their jacket indoors. Found a cute yellow dinosaur, I simply had to take a photo with it. We wanted to go for the Seoul bus tour but because of the rain, the tourist guide advised us to come again on another day. Apparently, when it rains, it will be misty so going around to view the city will not be clear. After stopping for a drink, we headed back to our guesthouse to rest early so we can have an earlier day tomorrow!

Before this trip, the bestie asked me if I had any place in mind to visit while we are in Seoul. I did some research and discovered this museum. I have never been to a museum like this so I thought it would be a great experience. Frankly, I was so excited to be here!

Waffles is my true love. Can I marry it?

While drinking, we heard a meowing so we decided to follow the sounds of the cats. The sounds brought us here! A cafe full of cats! We felt so warmly welcomed by the cosy and cute designs of the cat cafe. There were cats everywhere! It was like heaven to me! When we left, they were still sleeping! It was a lovely experience. I am so glad we came! Thank you to the best for coming with me, the crazy cat lady even though I know she has always been slightly terrified of cats. Like all cat cafes, they only served drinks.

Next, Seoul city bus tour! It was getting dark. We were freezing cold actually. After about 45 minutes in the best, we finally arrived! The beautiful view!! But it was too cold to stay outside the bus for a long time! It was actually a really lovely place to walk but I felt worried that I could not feel my fingers because I was too frozen.The view was beautiful, we could almost see the whole of Seoul but our cameras were unable to capture the view. This is why its best to experience being there yourself.

We were scheduled to go to Nami Island today but we after checking with the tourist information the night before, we found out that we had to book our bus tickets in advance, which we have not done so. Therefore, we were up early to check out the bus and hoping that they have 2 empty seats for us. Walking through the streets looking for breakfast. It was really cold at -2 degrees. We got the bus / ferry tickets to Nami Island! Finally arrived and waited for our ferry.The place was covered in snow and it was such a pretty sight. As we walked on further and further, we realised that there were lesser and lesser people around. We were not sure if its because they could not be bothered to walk on, or whether it would be too crazy to walk on in this freezing temperature. However the beautiful view seemed to be endless and we were curious to see how beautiful the view would be at the other side of the island. When we arrived here, we could see the half frozen lake. It was too spectacular. We had to pause for a while to take photos and admire the magical view. Even the bare trees looked so gorgeous with the mountain and lake in the background. The lake looks like its mirroring the mountain. We were too awed by the beauty that was right in front of our eyes. We took some time to enjoy the view, I somehow forgot how cold it was when I tried to capture as many photos as possible. All the walking was worth it! We were too in love with the view that we wanted to capture as any photos as possible with both of us inside so we had to be creative! I was also trying to mentally capture the image into my mind. I have never seen anything so beautiful.

We are leaving Jeju Island today! We thoroughly enjoyed being here thanks to the wonderful hosts at Jejueco Suites. If you are going to Jeju Island, do check out Jejueco Suites. Its cosy and they provide you with transport around the island.

There were so many interesting characters. And they are real people! Reading about their stories was such an eye opener! There was this lady who was the heaviest human at 630 kg. I was reading what she ate in one day and my jaw almost dropped! Ah…may I never ever get even close to this!

We were going to take it easy today. Took some time to sleep in. For some reason, I was not able to sleep that well in Jeju even though I was exhausted from all the walking. Lunch at Itaewon, because I miss chicken. If you are looking for halal food, you can find a lot of halal restaurants in Itaewon. Its also where the mosque is. We were the first customers in the restaurant, and it was such a long wait for our food. The owner was nice enough to give us fruit cocktail while waiting for our main food.

Today we decided to follow Rachael’s schedule of walking around Bukchon area. This Bukchon area is situated in the middle of Seoul but the interior designs of the entire area (including houses and shops) have been preserved the traditional way. After a late breakfast we started our walk from Angguk (where we were staying). The Bukchon Culture Centre was actually quite small and we missed it the first time we passed by it. The traditional korean designs were beautiful. I actually really loved that they used wood, I think it made it look really vintage yet classy. We managed to enter some of the shops, but sometimes we can’t really tell whether they are houses or shops. The weather was really hot and the road was steep too. Yet, we continued walking. Actually there are guest houses such as this one, in Bukchon, which are available for booking. It would be really interesting to experience staying in one, except, the prices are quite steep compared to the regular guest houses that we stay in. As we continued walking, we arrived at this massive concrete building. Its actually a high school! Apparently, a lot of tourists do come into the high school for photo taking because its situated in the middle of Bukchon too. We decided to drop by a museum in the area. It was a museum of traditional and vintage furnitures.

This place was huge! I was just glad that I was in my sports shoes! From afar, it does look like a chinese temple. The signs on the boards are written in chinese characters because hangul actually derived from chinese characters. We wanted to explore the whole palace but it was really too big! I wonder if any of the King’s subjects got lost in the palace. Apparently, this palace has lasted hundreds of years and was once destroyed. To preserve the history and tradition, it was rebuild and now its a tourist attraction. We were scheduled to tour the ‘Secret Garden’ at 2 pm. This garden was sacred and only the king and selected people were allowed to enter it. Even visitors are not allowed to randomly walk around in the Secret Garden by themselves. We were informed that the Secret Garden tour would take up about 1.5 hours and 3 km walk! Since we were already there, I thought we might as well go all the way. I so loved the calmness of the Secret Garden. It was as if the Secret Garden was created to allow the king to rest and enjoy some private time.

Time for dinner! This restaurant is called ‘School Store’ and has a school canteen-like concept.

Once we were done with dinner, we made our way to Banpo Bridge. Banpodaegyo (Bridge) is a two-tiered bridge over the Hangang (River) that features the Moonlight Rainbow Fountain. We were rushing because we were hoping to catch the 9.20 pm show. The place was crowded with people and I could see why. It was cooling at night and the music and the beautiful view of the fountain made it a popular place to hang out. If you are in Seoul, you must check this place out!

Beautiful potted plants and flowers greeted us at the entrance! I fell in love with the ambience of the cafe immediately. The cafe actually has a basement to it. Yes, its 2 levels! We went down to the basement and there was no one there! Its really a pretty cafe! Actually the bestie has been wanting to visit this cafe. Also, we have heard great reviews about this place so here we are! What was also nice about this place is that you will receive a stalk of rose when you order your food! The bestie was so happy about that and yes she carried that stalk of rose with her the WHOLE day.

We are actually here at Lotte Word to visit the Star Gallery that was featuring SJ. We could not really locate it so we went to the information counter to ask. To our disappointment (again!), we found out that the gallery was closed down! I think our hearts really bruised badly today. There was nothing much to do so we walked around to so some window shopping.

Since we had nothing much to do today, we decided to spend the rest of the night at Mouse Rabbit. The place was pretty crowded but we somehow managed to find a place to sit on the second level. We went ahead to make our order. It was also a nice place to chill and there was free wifi. No wonder everyone never budge from their seats. We finally decided to order drinks. Remember, we ordered dessert before this so we do not really have drinks. How to get to Mouse Rabbit: First you need to get to Line 2 (Green Line) Subway station. Take the train to Konkuk University. Then take Exit 2. Walk straight and turn left. After turning left, walk a bit more until you’ve reach a street light. Turn into the alley. The building is pretty big and its in white. *Please do not take photos of Yesung as he is currently serving the army. There are usually ELFs around to help keep a lookout as well so you do not want to get yourself into trouble with ELFs. :) MoBit Address : MouseRabbit, 5-14, Hwayang-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, Korea

Today was supposed to be our shopping day so we were walking around Myeongdong area. Just a tip, if you plan to go to Myeongdong to shop, do not plan to go anywhere else after that. This is mainly because, you will find yourself shopping non stop and before you know it, you will be carrying multiple paper bags. Perhaps we came an expensive country, we found the things in Myeongdong cheap and we could not resist buying a of things such as face masks, bags, clothes, accessories etc. Its like a disneyland for shopaholics.

After resting, we headed to Kona Beans to chill. We did not get to visit Kona Beans the last time we were in Seoul. It was raining and we had to walk quite a distance from the subway station. Finally here. The cafe was huge and it was not crowded too. This cafe was jointly opened by Leeteuk, Sungmin and Kyuhyun’s families. Its a franchise all right, but this outlet will stand out from the other Kona Beans because its mostly known to ELFs. If you are an international ELF in Seoul, you may want to visit this place. There were so many desserts to choose from! After a few minutes of being fickle minded, we finally made our choice. Our sinful dessert. What’s holiday without dessert right? The cafe has so many fan-arts and letters from all over the world!! We were amazed by the so many photo books that were handmade by ELFs worldwide.

Today we travel out of Seoul to visit the Korean Folk Village. It was a long journey there!

This place looks different in summer! The last time we were here was winter and it had christmas decorations all over the place. Headed to Zootopia first to see my animal friends! Such beautiful place. All the colourful flowers really put you in a better mood. The rotating house really made me scream my head off!

We were hungry so we went over to Itaewon area to have lunch. I need chicken. We stopped by Pasha because the bestie was craving for meat and I really miss chicken. If you are in Seoul and looking for halal restaurants, you find the most number of halal restaurants here at Itaewon. There are a huge number halal restaurants here, serving food different types of food from various countries. Therefore, whenever we are in Seoul and craving to eat chicken or any halal meat, we will stop by Itaewon.

So I read about this sheep cafe in Hongdae. The bestie did not want to go originally because she thinks it will be smelly. Haha…but she finally gave in and we were on the way there! I think she already know by now that I have a special relationship with animals. This cafe was huge and it was a sheep-themed. We actually walked passed it, its on the left so you have to pay attention when you walk.