A Two Day Seoul Safari

Photo of A Two Day Seoul Safari 3/13 by Wherew3Wander — The 63 Building

Photo of A Two Day Seoul Safari 4/13 by Wherew3Wander — The Wax Museum at 63 Building

Photo of A Two Day Seoul Safari 5/13 by Wherew3Wander — From the observatory deck

Photo of A Two Day Seoul Safari 6/13 by Wherew3Wander — The Aquarium at the 63 Building

Photo of A Two Day Seoul Safari 7/13 by Wherew3Wander — The Yeuido Park

Photo of A Two Day Seoul Safari 8/13 by Wherew3Wander — The War Memorial

Photo of A Two Day Seoul Safari 9/13 by Wherew3Wander — The War Memorial

Photo of A Two Day Seoul Safari 10/13 by Wherew3Wander — Near W Cafe

Photo of A Two Day Seoul Safari 11/13 by Wherew3Wander — Hongjik University

Photo of A Two Day Seoul Safari 12/13 by Wherew3Wander — Inside the University

Photo of A Two Day Seoul Safari 13/13 by Wherew3Wander — Namdaemun - Seoul gate

Seoul, Day 1:

We reach Seoul at night and it’s our first day in Seoul! We booked a hostel located around Hongdae Area- DW Design Hostel. Hongdae station is just a quick 10minutes walk away! The nearest exit is exit 2! There are lots of cafes, food joints and 24 hour stores around. No complains for the hostel AT ALL. NONE. It was so clean, spacious and fully equipped that you won’t even feel that you are staying in a hostel. Totally worth the price and the owners were so caring, friendly and helpful!

I’m not paid to advertise or review positively about the hostel, but it is so good that I will definitely stay there again on my next trip to Korea!

After resting for the night, our first stop for the day was Noryangjin Fish Market.

After a short tour of the market, we went for breakfast at a coffee chain nearby and headed over to 63 building. We took a bus from the subway station and after alighting, Tada!

Seoul, Day 2

We started off our day bright and early! Decided to step into a café near our hostel for breakfast- W Café.
I had cheesecake for breakfast, while Vivienne had a chicken sandwich and latter to go with it. The waitress was friendly and the service was good!

This morning got us in search of Hongik University as we wanted to take a look and see how different their universities are from that of Singapore’s! After much asking around from the young Koreans for directions, we finally found it!

After much shopping, off we go to something that Korea’s famous for too- Jimjibang (Spa/sauna)! We visited the Dragon Hill Spa which was one of the most famous and established one. Upon entering, they will hand you a locker key that works for everything after paying an entrance fee of 2000 won. You have to leave your shoes at the outer most locker before heading into the main area. Level 3 is the ladies area where you get to change into their jimjibang outfit, and deposit your clothing and belongings into the numbered locker ( number as per your key). We went down to level 1 to experience the different sauna rooms that they have. They have the charcoal room, ice room, salt room and also the large main area for you to take a rest after all the sweating in the sauna. I LOVE THE SALT ROOM, because it makes me sweat just minutes upon entering, and the temperature is just right to fall asleep!

After spending some 1 hour or so, we went back to the main area at level 3 and ordered some sikkye and eggs ( must have at a jimjibang!) of course. We tied the sheep head and wore it on our heads! Felt so relaxed and cool after the sauna and just enjoying our food. We changed and left for our hostel after the satisfying sauna season. As we haven’t taken our dinner yet, we requested for the take in of jajangmyeon to our room after our friendly hostel owner made the order for us over the phone!

YAY! Jajangmyeon for supper in the comfort of our own room, while watching Lee Min Ho on TV! One of the simple yet satisfying meal thus far! The jajangmyeon tasted heavenly though it ain’t that photogenic. One item off my To-do/eat list in Korea!:D

Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market

They have a large variety of live seafood! Ranging from stingrays to octopus and other crustaceans. You name it they have it! The fish market is similar to that of Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, other than it being slightly smellier and lacking in the hygiene area as compared to that of Japan. You can purchase the seafood on the spot and bring it up to any restaurants at level 2, where you can have it cooked or not cooked in any ways you desire!

63 Building

We were greeted by yellow, red and green autumn leaves! What a sight to behold! We couldn’t stop admiring and busk in such beauty. We went into 63 building and bought the ticket for entry to all 4 attractions: Imax theatre, Wax museum, Aquarium and the observatory deck! The wax museum was slightly different from Madame Tussauds because it has more wax figures of prominent figures in Korea, political figures around the world, famous music composers, and even Frankenstein! The whole concept was quite different. We then went up the observatory deck to take a look at the day view that Seoul has to offer! The aquarium was filled with marine life! They even had displays for us to spot the fishes due to a “camouflaging” background. There were real pelicans too!

Yeouido Park Centre

We took a short walk after that to Yeuido Station and chanced upon Yeuido Park. The park was so tranquil. It feels like a heavenly spot to have a short lunch during the working hour. A place to relax and soak in the sun. What’s more, the park overlooks Hangang River too!

War Memorial of Korea

Such a pity that the monument was under renovation and maintenance, but we managed to find a nice place to sit and relax. We saw the bronze statue of the Korean warriors too. After that, we went to Garusogil area for some shopping, dinner and hit the sacks! The shopping wasn’t that fabulous at Garusogil, unless you are on a no budget like of shopping spree. Otherwise, the products and clothes that they have to offer there are quite upscale. Won’t really recommend going there for shopping.

Hongik University Seoul Korea

Stepping into the university, we saw a huge stadium for students to exercise. Pretty and colourful trees were all around the school! Would be wonderful to have such a nice environment to see everytime I go to school. It will liven my mood for the day I guess? We took our time to stroll and explore the school grounds. Walking on, we decided to enter one of the building to have a feel of what their classrooms are like- we entered the IT building. To my horror/disappointment, the internal of the school varies hugely from that of the exterior. It gave off a very solemn and depressing feel. Probably due to the colour scheme that is being used too. It looks exactly like a scene out of a Korean horror movie. Like the saying goes, never judge a book by its cover. Now, I’m having second thoughts of studying in a university there.

대한민국 서울특별시 서대문구 대현동 Ewha Womans University

Decided to visit Ewha women university after our school-ly tour! We did not enter the university, but the whole area around the university was a shopping heaven! Strongly recommend all to visit this area. There are so many shops that sell cosmetics, clothing, accessories, food and also hair salons! We had kimchi fried rice and kimbap for our lunch and we went into Juno Hair Salon for a Korean haircut. The service was very different from a hair salon in Singapore. The stylist will ask you for a hairstyle that you like and even recommend a suitable hairstyle according to your face shape.

Namdaemun

Namdaemun is the south gate of Seoul. It is also called Sungyemun gate. It is located at Exit A of Namdaemun market. Took us quite some time to navigate and ask around before managing to find our way out of the humongous market and reach Namdaemun! It’s a piece of history buried in the city and modern landscape. A constant reminder to Korean and tourists alike that Korea has a lot of history and been through a lot over the years to be at where it is now.