More Seoul searching…

Hi folks:

So the weather is finally breaking here in Korea and that means I’m back out exploring as much as I can.

My friends and I decided to head out to Seoul to check out a few rooftop cafes that we heard about. The first stop of the day was to a small but very picturesq place called Seoulism. It was initially a little hard to find especially since there is a lot of construction going on aroung it. I took the subway to the Songpa stop (exit 2) and then had to catch a cab from there. You can also walk. (it was about a 20 minute walk but it was so hot) The sign on the front just says coffee and it’s mixed in a small strip of other businesses along a main road. (Address Songpa-gu, Songpa-dong, 48-7, Seoul)

There is usually a small wait since the rootop area is very small. They let people up as other people come out. In order to have access to the rooftop you have to first purchase a beverage. The beverages are a little pricey as far as cafe drinks go. (6,500-8,000 won) I purchased an iced caramel macchiato, my friends had the berry ade and the cookies and cream smoothie. The berry ade was really good so I highly recommend that. Once you are given your drinks you are allowed to take the elevator up to the 6th floor.

When you get upstairs, you think that you are in the wrong place. But once you walk throught he curtain to the left you are taken to the small terrace like area to enjoy your drink. You can then walk up another set of stairs to find the gorgeous photo spot with the lotte world tower in the background. To make your photos even better, there is a really cute “SEOUL” backdrop and even a chair to sit in. Luckily the photo area wasn’t crowded when we were there, but then again it’s not that big anyway.

We literally only spent our time taking photos and then we left.

Out next stop was on the opposite side of Seoul so we had about a 30-40 minute subway ride to Hongdae.

We made our way to the Sangsu stop (exit 1) to get to Contoyner cafe. It was about a 5 minute walk from the station to the cafe. Just like most cafes in Hongdae, it was a little hard to find since it is in one of the smaller alley ways. (Thanks to my friend’s naver app we didn’t get lost)

Contoyner is a super cute cafe that sells all types of trinkets and memorabilia from your childhood. In addition to this, they have a really adorable rooftop as well. Just like with Seoulism, you have to purchase a drink to get access to the rooftop. The drinks here are a little more reasonable in price. This time I had the lemon ade, my friends had the grapefruit ade and a green grape smoothie.

We made our way to the rooftop and WOW!! It was a rush of pastel colors and cute props perfect for a photoshoot with friends. We could barely stop to enjoy our drinks before we started taking photos. Again, there wasn’t a crowd when we went so we were able to take lots of pictures.

We spent about an hour or so here just taking pics and coming up with random ideas for new poses. I highly suggest this place for the photo opps alone.

We worked up quite an appetite after this, so we made our way back toward the Sangsu station and stopped at a cupcake shop called Chikalicious. We stumbled upon it on our way to the cafe, so we had to make our way back. They had a large assortment of cupcakes from salted caramel, red velvet, and even earl grey. They also serve banana pudding. We sat at the small bar and enjoyed a cupcake and the banana pudding. It was probably one of the best desserts I’ve had in Korea especially since Korean dessserts aren’t usually prepared the same as Western desserts.

Even with our cupcake tasting, we still needed to eat real food. Just like the cupcake place we stumbled on the Hongdae location of Nekkid wings. I had never been to the Itaewon location, but according to my friends this location has more options on the menu.

I decided the nuggets as my meal. The nuggets come with a choice of two dipping sauces. I had the smokehouse BBQ and classic buffalo sauce. We all were really impressed with the tastes. Getting actual Western flavor is very hard in Korea since they love to put their own spin on most things and it tends to mess it up. But this place reminded me of an upscale chick-fil-a! My taste buds were very happy.

As you can see we had quite an adventurous day. I have about 7 weeks left here in Korea before I return to the states. I plan to explore as much as I can between now and then. There is still so much to see before I leave so stay tuned.

Thanks for reading and Happy Traveling!

 

Soul Searching in Seoul: Entry 2

Hey folks!!

I hope all is well. Can you believe that I’ve been living in SoKo almost a full month? (2 days away) This is crazy! Time is really flying.

In today’s post I will talk about my 2nd and 3rd trips to Seoul. (Yes I’ve already been 3 times. There’s so much to see)

On these trips I went to two of the most popular areas of Seoul: Itaewon and Hongdae. Itaewon is known as little America and literally has ALL the shopping your heart would desire. Hongdae is also full of shopping but caters to street performers too.

My trip to Itaewon happened on a Saturday. My friends and I decided to go just to explore. I had looked up some of the more popular things to do in the area ahead of time. As I mentioned in a previous post, the subway system in Seoul is very easy to use. (And super cheap. It’s like 1.25) Just like my first trip to Seoul, I took a bus to Seoul from my city and then took the subway to get to Itaewon.

Our first stop was to the Line Friends store. Line friends is a popular Korean character store. The place was huge!!! We spent about an hour walking around, taking pictures, and even having cute bear shaped funnel cake bites.

There wasn’t much else to do from that particular subway stop so we hopped in a cab and went to a popular shopping district called Myong-Deong. The cabbie dropped us off right at the main street and we were instantly overwhelmed.

The streets were lined with food and clothing vendors on top of 5000 skin care stores and clothing stores. (Korean skin care is amazing and it’s a big deal) We simply started from the beginning and made our way through. We spent about 3 hours just walking the long street and we barely covered half of it only because it began to rain and we didn’t have umbrellas. BOOOOOOOO!!! Don’t fret, I’ll be back there soon enough.

Now for my trip to Hongdae…

So, this trip happened spur of the moment. I had the day off from my training class on a Wednesday and wanted to go explore. (Yes, I’m still in training. One more week though) I had read about a few cafes in the area and I decided to venture out on my own to find them. The number one on my list was the Hello Kitty cafe. It’s exactly what it sounds like…a whole cafe dedicated to the character Hello Kitty. After stopping to ask for better directions from a random Korean girl, I finally found it. OMG!!! It was soooooo cute. As soon as I walked through the gate and up the stairs, I was met by pink everything! Once inside, it was everything I imagined.

I ordered a green tea latte and walked around the 2-story house while I waited for it. I sat and sipped my latte while taking it all in.

Next stop was CaFace. CaFace is a coffee shop where you can get your picture printed in the foam of your drink. (So cool) I ordered an iced vanilla latte. The picture came out so clear. I was amazed. I still don’t know how they print it on the foam but I enjoyed it.

After spending a few minutes in CaFace I walked around Hongdae some just taking in the sights and sounds. Hongdgae is known for housing aspiring singers and artists. They set up shop to display their talents along the streets. I was able to catch a few singers and they actually sounded really good.

After all of that walking I got hungry so I found a super cheap noodle shop and had lunch for about $4.

Once I recharged, I ventured out to find the Kakao friends store. Kakao is a popular messenger app here in Korea with its own set of characters. They sell all types of merchandise with the characters and they are the competitors of Line Friends. (To me they are both SUPER cute). The store was packed, so I only got in one good pic.

My last stop of the day was to DB Story Café. DB Story is a DIY cell phone case and coffee shop. YES! You create your own cell phone case while enjoying the coffee or tea of your choice. I walked in and once again was overwhelmed by everything to choose from. Luckily, they have pre made cases on the walls to give you some inspiration of what you want to make. You start by picking a basic case for your phone, then you go around picking out whatever trinkets and jewels you want to glue on. I chose a cute girly look dawned in pink. You pay for each item a la cart but it’s all super cheap. My case cost about $8 total to make. (You can’t buy a pre made case that cheap anywhere.) Once you glue everything the way you want it, they let it dry for about 20 minutes and package it up for you to take home. They tell you to give it an additional 2 days of drying time. The lady also gave me a free gift for coming in, which was a cute cosmetic bag that I picked out.

It was getting pretty late so I headed back to the subway stop and back to the bus station to head home. As you can see, Seoul has sooooo much to offer and yet I still haven’t covered half of it. Stay tuned for more entries and thanks for reading!

Happy Traveling.