Day 1 in Seoul: Hongdae

This post is in continuation to my summary post on my graduation trip to Seoul, South Korea HERE with my itinerary in full detail! I was in South Korea for a total of 9 days, inclusive of a 2D1N tour to Jeju Island. I'm also glad to update everyone that now my results are out and I have successfully graduated from university! Yay.

Day 1: Hongdae/Hongik University Station 홍대/홍대입구역

Summary of Day 1's Activities

• Arrived at Incheon International Airport at about 4pm
• Checked in at our cosy, little guesthouse located in Hongdae around 5pm
• Explored the Hongdae area and had an incredible 삼겹살 (samgyeopsal) dinner washed down with 소주 (soju)!
• Chilled out until late at one of the Hongdae branches of Paris Baguette Cafe!

***

We were really excited to be flying a direct Singapore Airlines flight to Seoul. Since a Singapore Airlines flight means jetting off from Terminal 3, we aimed to explore the terminal as much as we could (turns out we didn't have much time to walk around the departure area). So on to the Butterfly Garden!

The Butterfly Garden

Located at the Changi Airport's Departure Transit Lounge between Terminal 2 and 3, it is said to be home to over a thousand butterflies and the place where you can observe the life cycle of a butterfly.

Exposed, rotting pineapple slices for the butterflies. Did you know that butterflies mostly feed on nectar, but can also eat tree sap, pollen, dung or rotting fruit? 

I'm not sure if there's really "over a thousand butterflies" since we only saw about fifteen or so, but I sure wouldn't want to be trapped in such a small space with a thousand of them! (At this point, I'm reminded of a friend who has an acute fear of moths and butterflies and runs at the very sight of them haha) I'm not someone who's afraid of butterflies, but as I entered the enclosure and many of them started buzzing about (probably sensing movement), I personally felt some small degree of that butterfly-fear too and couldn't wait to get out HAHA. 

Our Flight

The last time I took an SIA flight was really a long time back, perhaps when I was 10 or so... and I remember the airplane food looked pretty with very sturdy-looking plates and cutlery. So I was a bit thrown when I saw my tray, since these containers the food were stored in were quite flimsy. With that said, the food was great despite a really hard piece of bun. I've never disliked airplane food (I don't know but it seems like most people do?), so I'm a biased consumer haha.

Airport Railroad (also known as AREX)

To get to central Seoul, you can take the Airport Railroad from Incheon International Airport or Gimpo International Airport towards Seoul station. Do note that there is an all-stop train and a non-stop train that takes you directly to Seoul. Since we resided near Hongik University Station (which is a stop on the Airport Railroad), we took the all-stop train there which takes about 45 mins. Buy a T-money card at any convenience store (I recommend GS25, which is next to the Airport Railroad escalator)! The T-money card functions like Singapore's ez-link transportation card.

 

Too psyched to rest on the AREX!

BoA Guesthouse

Address: 510-14 Changcheon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-836, South Korea

Comfy beds, cosy room size, awesome service, walking distance from essentials (convenience stores, cafes, market, small supermarket, subway station), definitely will return to stay here again! J didn't like the size too much and found it a bit cramped, but I loved it. I'm not a big fan of large rooms so I think different people will like/dislike this guesthouse. 

Small cups of cold coffee we spotted in the small supermarket nearby. I really liked these, they taste like the real thing you get from cafes and are really cheap (about ~S$1.80). Volume also isn't as much as a bottle so you don't have to worry about being unable to finish it and having to lug a bottle of drink around.

Dinner

Possibly my favourite part of the whole trip! A really adventurous step into a samgyeopsal restaurant without a clue about anything. All the patrons were Koreans and none were tourists (tell-tale sign). None of the staff members can speak English, the menu is fully in Korean, and both of us weren't sure of how to eat samgyeopsal when presented with so many plates of side dishes and food... So we googled (and giggled like crazy), watched a how-to-eat-samgyeopsal video on the spot, and proceeded to cook our meat and feed ourselves leaf-wrapped meat/kimchi etc. Ordered the food in Korean and faced some difficulty in confirming our orders, so I don't recommend a non-Korean-speaker to visit this restaurant (one of the cheapest in the area for samgyeopsal) unless you've got a Korean speaker or a native Korean friend with you! 

Here's soju, the national beverage of Korea. Its alcohol content varies from 16% up to 45%. 

Cheers!

Two super-cute dogs that started playing together outside the restaurant when we exited the restaurant. One observation of Seoul is that their dogs are really well-trained and docile, most of them are not leashed but will not even approach you to sniff you/growl at you, which makes them super adorable!

Window-Shopping

J and I really love the downtown areas of Seoul because everyone dresses really well and puts in plenty of effort into each detail of the outfit! Almost every thing appeals to J's metrosexual/UK style, so he especially enjoyed the clothes-shopping there. 

Paris Baguette Cafe

Really pretty cakes in a three-storey Paris Baguette Cafe (with a winding staircase)!

Beverages come in cute and unique packaging. Part of me really enjoyed browsing store shelves because of all the interesting types of packaging and designs used. 

This is 팥빙수 (patbingsoo), a Korean shaved ice dessert made with red bean paste, condensed milk, chopped fruit and fruit syrup! Definitely a must-try for the sake of trying, haha. It is quite similar to Singapore's ice kacang, so if you're not a fan of ice kacang, you won't really like the watery icy taste of patbingsoo.

Awesome plush chairs. Why don't we have such elaborate set-ups in Singapore's Paris Baguette Cafes? Effort level 1000 in Seoul, always. Extreme details in storefront designs, super elaborate set-ups and interior design, efficient use of space, angling and colour... Ah. A marketer/visual merchandiser's paradise! 

Moving on... We spotted this hilarious vandalism of Super Junior M's Tony Moly ad. Poor Ryeowook got his entire face sprayed on so he's completely unrecognisable, while Henry's got something vulgar in his hands HAHAHA.

LOL. Can't. Stop. Laughing.

Well, that sums up Day 1 of my Seoul trip. I hope you enjoyed the photos and this post as much as I enjoyed putting them together! Browsing the photos makes me miss Seoul and the great weather over there. Ah, ending off the post with a beautiful photo of one of Hongdae's road intersections. 

More posts on Seoul coming up!