Seoul Spring '17 - Ep. 03 - Garosugil & Seongsu

Travel Vlog: Third day of the trip, we went cafe hopping in Seoul. From Mr. Holmes Bakehouse in Garosu-gil to Daelim Changgo in Seongsu. We also went to Common Ground and accidentally met a couple of celebrities when we were passing by an event that just finished.

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After we finished exploring Common Ground (see the story here), we started to make our way to the next cafe we wanted to check out. And this was when an unexpected happy coincidence of meeting a couple of Korean celebrities happened. So we were walking to our next destination when suddenly we saw a bunch of people exiting a storage-like building that we just happened to be passing by. Since there were a lot of young and well-dressed people coming out from the building, we were curious on what’s going on and whether there was some kind of an event that just ended. So, we decided to just stand there and watch the people for a bit.

Soon enough, suddenly there was this woman and a group of people around her who was walking out in quite a rush. At first, we couldn’t make out her face since she’s still a bit far, but by looking at her entourage, we’re pretty sure she’s somebody famous. We just weren’t sure who she was. And then when the group was closer to us, we immediately recognized the woman. Turned out it was Choi Soo Young from Girls’ Generation! My camera hasn’t started recording when she was facing us, so I only caught a glimpse of her back when she turned for the alley. But we’re sure it was her. She’s pretty tall and her face is kinda hard to forget. And then minutes later, Minzy, former member of 2NE1, also walked out with her mom and her entourage. The girls were excited because they didn’t expect to see anybody famous on the street of Seoul, but there we were, just happened to saw two Korean celebrities who we recognized. It was definitely one of the exciting moment from the trip.

After we all came down from the excitement from minutes before, we finally arrived at our next destination, Daelim Changgo (click to read more about the place). The place was a bit busy, but there were still empty chairs to choose from since they have a very spacious seating area. We spent our afternoon there before heading back to Hongdae to get some dinner.

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Mr. Holmes & Common Ground

Kicked off our third day in Seoul by going for breakfast at Mr. Holmes Bakehouse in Garosugil. I actually already know about Mr. Holmes since I was still living in the State, but I never actually went to their original shop in San Francisco. Since it’s just opened in Seoul, thought it’d be fun to go and check the place out. We passed by the first floor of the bakehouse that served as a take-out only counter and went up the stairs to the cafe area. We ordered teas and a couple of different pastries, including their famous cruffin. It was okay, not too bad but I wouldn’t say it’s super good either (but then again, I’m no food critique).

After we finished breakfast, we took the bus and headed to Common Ground (커먼그라운드), a shopping area made out of blue containers. The shops actually located inside these blue containers ranging from clothing brands to cafe and restaurants. I quite like this place because they sell pretty cool design products. So, if you are like me, a person who doesn’t really shop a lot, coming here to just window shop is actually perfect. Some part of the complex was under construction preparing for new tenants to move in, but there was still plenty for us to see. And we, of course, also made the time to took some pictures in front of these photogenic blue containers. There were so many people taking pictures at this spot, especially for their OOTD shots, and we kinda have to wait for our turns (thank God people were pretty orderly and good at taking turns). After we finished, we headed to the second floor for lunch.

We went for Chinese food for lunch and ordered the three things that people usually order when coming to a Chinese restaurant in Korea: Jjajangmyeon, Jjamppong, and Tangsuyuk. We also ordered the Crab Fried Rice to try out an extra dish and they were all pretty good (the Crab Fried Rice was just average though). Grace said she had better Jjajangmyeon prior to this (she lived in Korea at some point in her live) but the rest of the group seemed to be happy with the lunch, including me. The food was good and we were stuffed at the end of the meal.

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Seoul Spring '17 - Ep. 02.2 - Sinchon, DDP & Hongdae

Travel Vlog

After we’re done with the wedding shoe shopping (see part 1 here), we headed to Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) to check out Seoul Fashion Week that was going on (see more pictures and read the story here). We spent a good amount of time people watching before moving on to Dosan Tower, more well known as Doota (두산타워), one of the largest fashion malls at Dongdaemun market because Grace and Marshellia wanted to browse around and maybe do some shopping. By the time they finished browsing, the sun already set and we started to make our way to the subway station to head to our dinner plan.

But of course when the two spotted a street vendor near the subway entrance that sells a variety of street food, they had to make a stop and bought some. I guess the walking around we did the past couple of hours have burned all the food that we ate earlier because they said they were hungry enough to eat that and dinner later on.

Christina joined us again for dinner with Soo Zee and Leigh (see more pictures and read the story here). And after dinner was done, we stopped by the convenient store to buy some water and other things before going back to our Airbnb and calling it a day.

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Seoul Spring '17 - Ep. 02.1 - Sinchon, DDP & Hongdae

Travel Vertical Vlog

First thing that we did for the second day was heading back to Sinchon to get brunch. I took the group to Mapo Mandu (마포 만두), one of my favorite spot in Sinchon that serves delicious galbi mandu (갈비 만두) and cheese ramyeon (치즈 라면) which have became my favorite food to order every time I’m in town. I was hoping that my friends like them as much as I do and turned out, they did. We ordered galbi mandu (갈비 만두), cheese ramyeon (치즈 라면), and odeng (오뎅) to share.

After brunch, the group wanted to get bingsu (빙수) for dessert so we stopped by Sulbing (설빙) and ordered their signature Injeolmi Snowflake Sherbet (인절미설빙) to share.

Today, Christina has an appointment that she has to attend so she split up from the group after we finished our bingsu. Grace, Marshellia and I went to Gangnam to visit this bridal shop that Grace wanted to check out to look for shoes for her upcoming wedding. She tried on some shoes, Marshellia chimed in with her opinions and I took photos and videos while waiting for her to be done placing her order.

To be continued in Part 2.

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Samgyeopsal Dinner with Soo Zee & Leigh

For Dinner, we actually met up with my friends, Soo Zee and Leigh, for some samgyeopsal dinner. Marshellia and Grace actually knew them from the time they came to visit me in Jakarta and we hung out together then. So since Marshellia and Grace were visiting Seoul, they invited us to get dinner together with them. We met up at one of their favorite spot—which has became one of my favorite spot too after the first time they brought me here—and had those delicious thick pork bellies. The sizzling sound of oil meeting the pan the first time the thick chunk of meat were laid down officially kicked off our dinner and then followed by tiny splatters of oil hitting the tables and sometimes our hands causing some of us to flinched every now and then. We were all eager and ready to just eat everything that was in front of us, especially when the smell of the cooked meat started to spread around the table. When the pork belly pieces were ready, everybody took a piece and eat in silence. The meat and fat ratio was perfect, perfectly cut, and perfectly cooked. And my friends gave me their approval of the food after they finished their first piece of samgyeopsal and I was glad they like this place too.

There’s always something about eating good food that made it tastes even better when you’re having it with a good company. It might be your family, or friends, or maybe significant other. At least that’s how I feel. I don’t have a problem eating out alone, but for Korean Barbecue, I think I never eat it alone. Part of it is because I don’t think it’s a common thing to do here in Korea (some restaurant actually don’t let you eat solo in a barbecue joint) and part of it is because I just feel like it’s so much better to have it with other people to share the meal with.

The rest of dinner was pretty normal, filled with half-shouted conversations amongst us because like any other meat joint in Seoul, the place was pretty noisy. Soo Zee cooked for Marshellia and Grace while Leigh was explaining to Christina how to make a proper wrap of samgyeopsal with the lettuce and sauce and everything. We shared conversations and stories until the last piece of the meat disappeared from the pan and everybody was full.

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