5th Korea trip stories part 7 *final*

Hi everyone! Finally last part of my Korea trip stories -series is here! To be honest I'm really busy with school, I have 4 courses and lots of things to do but I took a break to write this post~
I have been a bit stressed lately since I changed my plans for studying and I'm trying to graduate a bit earlier than planned. But things are getting more clearer in next couple weeks so all is good and without further ado let's jump into Korea trip stories~

Day 11

Insadong

First in the morning we grabbed breakfast from cafe near our hostel and then we were ready for a new day :D Me and Sirja decided to visit Insadong in the morning because we wanted to hunt some souvenirs. Insadong is basically a street for tourists because there are so many shops that sell every kind of items related to korea like for example souvenirs, potteries, art etc.
 What we didn't know is that the day was some kind of national day so as soon as we got into subway we met lots of koreans with korean flags and different kind of accessories with korean flags. Luckily, it wasn't that crowded in Insadong but lots of people were wearing hanboks!

Anyway, we walked through Insadong and I visited one shop which sold a lot of bags, I bought one for my mom (she asked me to bring her a nice bag) and bought one for myself also. After walking around for like an hour we decided to head back to Sinchon to drop our stuff and eat lunch.

We found this great restaurant that was located in basement level opposite of cube mall complex in main street. I got a spicy noodle soup while Sirja got bibimpab.

Apgujeong

 

Later on that day we took a subway to Apgujeong where we met with Laura. I wanted to see the famous K-Star road which I hadn't visited before but felt like everyone else had (even though I had visited Korea so many times). You can access there by taking subway to Apgujeong rodeo station, exit 2. It's basically located in the main street of Apgujeong. It's funny because around it the area is very luxurious and full of luxury brand stores.
We had to walk for 10-minutes before we got into start of the k-star road. At the start of it was a small store selling mini figurines of the k-star road figures but they didn't have any group figurines left that I would have liked to buy. So after a quick look of the store we continued our way to k-star road.

We browsed through the area, it's famous also because many big entertainment agencies like SM, JYP and Cube are located in there. We actually went past SM (which was under construction) and JYP and saw Cube from further away. There was a lot of fans in front of JYP with cameras, I guess some of the artist were inside or coming soon to the agency since the group of fans was quite big. The area itself is surprisingly narrow so there wasn't that much space in that road so we decided not to stay in there even though there were couple cafes and we were craving coffee.

At one point it started raining and we walked a while in the rain before spotting a cafe where we went to warm up and eat delicious honey bread dessert.

If you visit korea, try their honey bread toast, it's sooo good (the calories are worth it lol)

Next we braved the rain and walked through the streets when suddenly we remembered that Moomin cafe is quite close to our location. So we headed up to Moomin cafe :D It's funny that in these couple years Moomin craze has fallen also to South-Korea. When I visited Korea in 2012 and 2013 nobody knew about Moomins and now about everybody knows them. Moomin cafe in apgujeong is quite easy to find, it's near the main street and near Uniqlo.

The first floor is Moomin store where you can buy different kind of Moomin stuff, lots of it is made in korea and looks like a "copy" of moomins but there are also stuff from Muurla and Finlayson (although those are reeeeeally expensive compared to Finland's prices). Top floor is Moomin cafe, you should come there in the morning since in the evening they hardly have any pastries and stuff left. Basement floor is kind of playground, you can take photos with sceneries from Moomin tv series. It was quite fun actually, playing there :D

We spend like an hour in there before going out and wondering what to do next. We decided to go to Dongdaemun, you can access there through Dongdaemun History & Culture park subway station, exit 1. There we first just wandered through Design plaza but it was starting to rain really hard so we went inside Doota mall. We were starting to get hungry so we went to the food court in there. It was really full but we were so hungry that we just hunted free tables for ourselves and ordered food. We ate really good pasta and were really full after that. And it looked like a gourmet meal but cost about 12000won so about 10€ so it was actually really affordable!

After eating we said goodbye to Laura and headed to Sinchon to get a goodnight sleep after a long day. We had only couple days left and we were starting to feel sad that days went past so fast.

Day 12

Myeongdong

 

Because it was our second last full day we decided to go to Myeongdong for the last time to do last minute shopping. We walked in Myeongdong about four hours and also went to eat at one place where they cook your food in front of you in a big pan. It was in one of the Myeongdong's side streets and we encountered aggressive restaurant workers and we just wanted to get out of that street. But then when we were almost off of the street we noticed this restaurant and it just looked interesting so we went in. They had very good food and it was very filling also.

Sinchon

We spent the day leisurely and in the evening we met with my friend Hyojoo in Sinchon who was in the same volunteer program as I was when I was doing my volunteer work period in 2012. We went to eat to one place offering samgyeopsal and some other great dishes. Had a really great dinner and Hyojoo offered to pay it for us, it was so nice of her. So when we went to a cafe after dinner coffees were on me. By the way in Korea, this kind of thing is common especially between friends that somebody is paying the whole thing one time and then next time the other is paying the whole thing. Koreans do not expect this from foreigners but I think it's nice cultural thing.

Day 13

Sports complex + Coex

 

Day 13 was a fail to be honest. We were going to Sports complex area because Infinite had a concert in there that day and Sirja is a huge Infinite fan. We didn't get tickets through online because it showed sold out but we were told by online ticketing agency interpark, that they may be selling them at the venue. So we went there and this was second frustrating and maddening thing that ever happened to me with concerts. So, we were lingering around ticketing booth (where people got their physical tickets after showing confirmation slip). I heard one korean fan who didn't have ticket asking from staff that if it was possible to still buy tickets. The staff member then answered that if you wait long enough you may get a chance to buy those tickets that are not picked up before concert so come back later. Almost immediately after this korean girl had asked the staff, came a foreigner who asked in english the exact same thing and I was shocked how drastically the replies were different from another. Because the staff member answered like "no, you can't buy tickets anymore". It wasn't even like "come back later and check" but like straight no... talk about discriminating. I was so angry and mad about that attitude that I wanted to leave. Sirja wanted to be around the area for longer and I was just pissed off. Sirja wanted to ask those illegal sellers that in what price would they sell tickets and I was saying to her that just ask them but she was like she doesn't have the courage.. but she still wanted to stay and linger around those sellers.. so I was getting more pissed off and just went to ask myself. When the price was too high to Sirja, I asked Sirja what kind of price she will pay and then I said the price offer to the seller I got cursed and the seller left us angrily. Imagine how I felt around this point. I was also hungry so I said without even considering Sirja anymore that I'm going to eat so Sirja just followed me. We went to Coex where we got our lunch.

Sirja still wanted to go back to venue area while I didn't want to but I didn't want to go our seperate ways in case we couldn't contact each other again for a long time. So I went but we were there for nothing and finally Sirja also gave up. I was seriously angry and pissed off at that point that we wasted our last day in korea to just hanging out in an area where we couldn't even do anything useful.

Ewha

 

We went to Ewha and messaged to Su if she was available to join us and pretty soon we met her at a cafe in Ewha. I was calming down a little bit but still annoyed. We just talked for a while and then decided to walk through Ewha's streets and do some shopping also. Little by little I got into a better mood and found some stuff I didn't found in Myeongdong or other places.

In the evening we went to eat to this good chicken place I have mentioned earlier in my previous Korean travel posts. There used to be Baskin and Robbins opposite of it but now it had disappeared, anyway this chicken restaurant was in the same place. They offer really good snacks and chicken meals, really recommending it still, it's on the basement level. After eating and browsing the streets a little more we said Su goodbyes and decided to go back to Sinchon since we still had to pack and wake up early.

Day 14

We headed back home. Woke up really early like 5am, went to subway and transferred in Hongdae to airport subway line. We were at the airport around 7 and they opened check-in pretty soon so we just dropped our stuff off and went through security check. All this went by really quickly actually and before we knew we were boarding to the plane. I had fun experience this time also even if the last day wasn't that good.


Next I will start posting about my Japan travels. Also can't wait to get back to Korea again next year~

5th Korea trip stories part 6

Hello everyone! A lot has been happening, my 1st period in school is finally over and 2nd period starting soon~ Guess what, I got accepted for student exchange to South-Korea! To Seoul of course :D Can't wait to start planning my exchange~ But anyway, let's get started with my korea trip series :)

Day 9

 

Daejeon and Gongju

 

Sirja had one korean friend in Daejeon and she and her sister invited me over also so we decided to visit, I personally like to meet new people even though I get shy sometimes. But anyway, I was excited!

First thing in the morning we took subway to seoul express bus terminal station where bus terminal was located. We took tickets for about 11am departure (can't remember the exact time) and bought some snacks for breakfast while waiting the bus to arrive to platform. It took about 2 hours from Seoul to Daejeon (Daejeon express bus terminal).

We waited couple minutes in Daejeon terminal before Sirja's friend and her sister came to pick us up. We were hungry so we went straight to eat to this budaejjigae (부대찌개) place, I happen to love budaejjigae (army stew) so I was happy :D Budaejjigae is kind of hotpot in which you can find noodles, meat, vegetables and so on.

Sirja's friend said Daejeon is not a tourist city so there's less to see but they decided to take us to Gongju. I had visited Gongju before but Sirja hadn't. But I hadn't visited the place they took us to so it was really nice for me too~ Gongju is about 20 minutes away from Daejeon. Sirja's friend and her sister took us to a mountain where the scenery was so beautiful and peaceful. We went to one cafe and enjoyed the view and chatted about everything, I really enjoyed my time there.

We walked around a bit after enjoying coffee but soon we had to head back to Daejeon because it was getting late and we still had to travel 2 hours back to Seoul. We took a local bus to Yuseong bus terminal from where we took bus to Dong Seoul terminal. Near Yuseong bus terminal we went to Paris Baguette cafe to chat some more while we were waiting our bus to leave. I had fun day and our hosts were so friendly! Even though I didn't know them before they treated me like a friend and I could comfortably talk with them. Because sometimes it can happen that when you meet your friend's friend they talk alot to catch up and you just end up sitting there and listening so I was so thankful they were so open and friendly.

I took a photo from the bus on our way back to Seoul

Day 10

 

Incheon

 

Next day it was my turn to take Sirja to meet my friend. My friend is finnish and lives in Incheon with her family, I was doing my volunteer work period in Korea the same time with her but in different places. Anyway, we woke up early because we took subway to Incheon and it takes about 2 hours to where my friend lives from Sinchon station.

Our route from Sinchon to Incheon

If you're ever in Incheon area by the way, I recommend to stop at Bupyeong. I believe they have the largest underground shopping area in Korea (correct me anyone if I'm wrong). It's even bigger than Express bus terminal area in Seoul.

Anyway, we arrived on time, went to eat first in local restaurant before going over to my friend's house. It was funny in the restaurant when we went in and the ajumma (waitress) was shocked to see foreigners but she was very friendly. In that area you normally don't see foreigners (at least often).

We ate delicious mandusoup and mandus

After eating ourselves full, we went to finally meet my friend. I remembered how to walk there from station and even remembered the building (it was like two years when I last visited) but I was a bit confused with the apartment number but ended up finding it anyway. We got safely into my friend's place and were greeted by her over excited welsh corgi (it's sooooo cute) and we got to meet my friend's cute baby (squishy cute I can't even, he was so adorable). My friend also owns a cat and it's just a fluffy ball, it's nice but doesn't really care about anyone lol, it's sometimes needy for petting xD

who could really resist this attention needy corgi

As I have said before, I will not post photos about my friends or their families in case they don't want to be on my blog posts so that's why I won't post photos about my friend's baby even though I'm tempted to because he was so adorable I want to show him! (but he's my friend's baby so..)

After catching up a while, we decided to visit one mall near my friend's home. Not really sure if it was Sinsaegae or not but anyway, it was big. Went there by local bus and it took about 20 minutes to get there. We went to a cafe and did a little browsing tour in the stores but didn't really end up buying anything. We were there about 2 hours and then decided to leave because we had 2 hour trip back to Seoul city center and my friend's baby was getting quite restless. But I had a nice day catching up with my friend and Sirja apparently had nice time too because I asked if she felt left out and did I take her into consideration enough.

We headed back to Seoul by bus and got off at Hapjeong (which is almost next to Sinchon). We were really hungry and first we planned to eat in Sinchon but we came across to one korean restaurant which looked inviting so instead of going straight away to Sinchon we ate in Hapjeong.

I got kimchijjigae (kimchisoup) and Sirja got bokkeumbap (fried rice)

Next post is the last in my series and then I've finally finished with my 5th travel posts about Korea! This has been looooooong overdue but I explained last year why. And especially with school it has been very busy so usually when I have assignments I don't have any strenght to write more. But I'll try taking time on weekends. Until next time~

Happy new year! Korean restaurant & cafe culture post

Hello and happy new year everyone! I hope 2017 will be amazing year for you guys :)

I have been so busy during this week. I have been meeting friends, going christmas sale shopping and of course, spending new year's eve yesterday. And I can't believe how time flies, I'll be going to Korea next month! Can't wait!! And before it, I have two things to be excited about; 24K concert next week (a korean kpop group is coming to Helsinki to perform) and then Matkamessut aka Nordic travel fair in the end of January. I'm a travel blogger in travel fair so if you recognize me come and say hi ^^ My speciality is South-Korea (obviously) so if you have anything to ask about travelling to Korea, I'm there to help :D

Sooo... I promised a post about korean cafe culture and restaurants and here it is. There's some things that I mentioned in previous post but I wanted to dive a little deeper to explain things to you guys, I hope it will be helpful to those of you who have absolutely no idea about eating/cafe culture in Korea~

Restaurants

Important to know: in very, very few restaurants you'll pay in advance. If cashier is right beside door it usually means you pay after you have eaten so you can just go inside restaurant and go to table. More affordable restaurants have just a little note rather than actual menu the waiter will give you and it's usually in korean. From there you are supposed to choose what you want to eat but if you can't speak korean there's a higher chance these restaurants have photos of their foods on walls so just point what looks good to you or point other customer's food what looks delicious to you. More pricier restaurants have romanized menus.

If you have travel guide there might be a short introduction of most common korean foods so look that up or then google the most common foods because in streets there's usually romanized signs about popular foods restaurants offer so you can choose what you want to eat based on that. For example restaurant might have sign which says "비빔밥 - Bibimbap" and when you go inside there's only korean menu. But at least you will know it's bibimpab restaurant and if you have looked what kind of food it is there should be no problem.

Anyway, again I will say this; it's useful to be able to read korean alphabet even if you don't understand the language. But it makes your life more easier in restaurants and cafes.


Table setting is usually small cup, chopsticks and a spoon but if you find it hard to eat with chopsticks restaurants have forks, just ask and they'll give you. Even if otherwise waiter don't speak english, they understand when you say fork. In some restaurants you will have to go get your water yourself from water purifier machine so follow what other people do if you're unsure what waterpurifier looks like or where to get your water.

Almost forgot to mention, beside your food you will get various type of side dishes and they don't cost any extra for you. It's kind of tradition in korea that with every meal you should have rice and kimchi besides your main dish so in 99% cases you will have at least these side dishes. Other side dishes vary depending on restaurants and food you order. 

After you have eaten you actually go to pay to cashier rather than asking the bill. More high end restaurants might bring a bill to you but in other restaurants you will have to pay at cashier. If you are with friends, count your sum before leaving your table and put the money together. In Korea, there's usually always only one person who pays all food so if you don't want that and want separate your bill then count it before you pay. If you say to cashier that you want pay separately it might get difficult. Of course most restaurants especially in Seoul area understands if you want to pay separately because you're foreigner but basically it's more easier for you and them that you just separate and count your bill yourselves and only one goes to pay.
IMPORTANT: Do not tip!! It's not in korean culture to tip waiters and they might even get offended if you leave a tip.

By the way Korea is very family and friends oriented so like 90% of restaurants meal portions are for two people. Some chains offer meals for one person only but those are only couple chains like "김밥천국" (means kimpab heaven) which is a chain offering affordable everyday korean foods (you recognize this chain from it's bright orange sign).


I have some food photos from pretty common foods (I'm getting hungry when I'm looking these lol).

This is called Budaejjigae (부대찌개) which is a soup where you have basically everything you can imagine you can put into a soup. Ham, eggs, noodles, vegetables etc.

This is called Omurice (오므라이스) which originates from Japan but is popular in Korea. It's a rice dish wrapped in egg. The rice contains vegetables but sometimes there can be various things like meat inside also.

Samgyeopsal (삼겹살) is one of the most popular korean dishes. It's basically a barbeque feast :D You have meat you grill in center of your table and then you have various other dishes and side dishes. After finishing whole samgyeopsal meal, koreans like to eat cold noodles (냉면) to top it.

These are various popular street foods in korea. The red snack is ddokbokki (떡볶이) which is spicy rice cakes (they really are very spicy!), beside it is mini kimpab (김밥) which is usually bigger and it is seaweed roll (so good!!) and next to it is mandu (만두) which is a dumpling filled usually with either meat or kimchi.

This is padak (파닭) which is a very popular chicken dish in korea. It's basically fried chicken with onion or vegetable topping and O.M.G it's so good!! I have never eaten so awesome fried chicken in anywhere. This is usually eaten at evening or night. (It's our equivalent of pizza which you order at evening to parties etc).

Here's Manduguk (만두국) which is dumpling soup, this is very delicious and you will get full from this only. Beside it is right sized kimpab (김밥) roll. Kimbap's can by the way be filled with various things like meat, vegetables and cheese for example. And never say kimpab is sushi! It's offending to koreans!

This is kalbitang (갈비탕) it's made of beef short ribs and noodles. It's mild and doesn't have almost any spices so if you are not a friend of spicy food definetly try this.

This is one of the most popular and known dishes ever; kimchijjigae (김치 찌개) which is kimchi stew. It contains kimchi, meat and sometimes tofu. It's very spicy but soooo good!

Cafe culture

Cafe culture is big in Korea and you can find cafes almost in every street corner. There's various chains and unique cafes, most known are for example Dunkin donuts, Coffee gurunaru, Paris baguette, Caffe bene and Tous les jours... major of coffee chains have french name for some reason lol. In coffee shops you order and pay first, then wait your order to be ready. Most cafe's have this device to give you and it alarms when your order is ready.

One funny detail; some koreans drink hot coffee with a straw so don't wonder why in some coffee shops you will get a straw automaticly with your hot drink. 
But actually koreans have useful inventions with take out cups; the lid's small hole you drink through can be closed and opened, when it's opened there's a small hole in the lid you can just put the small part. Sorry, I'm reeeeally not good explaining this in english (in finnish it would be challenging too actually lol).

Koreans favorite drink to order is americano but latte is popular too so you can find those two almost in every place and with different flavors. Matcha latte (green tea latte) is popular too but it's mainly going by the name nogchalatte (녹차) which is basically meaning green tea in korean.

In cafes there's many cakes and sweets to choose with your drink and omg koreans are so inventive with their stuff. They have cute cakes which are really affordable so I'm always getting extra kilos when I go to Korea lol. I just can't resist tasting those!
And besides just coffee, korean cafes offer lemonades, teas and other drinks so definetly try those out. This year popular trend drink was Ade which is basically lemonade drink with different flavors.
My favorite tea chain is Osulloc and they have "coffee shop" where you can get various teas and matcha lattes. Sooooo good, I definetly recommend them!

Here are some photos of coffees and desserts (you really have to be careful in Korea with these or you _will_ get more extra weight after your holiday in Korea is over xD ).

Some photos of Bingsus which I have talked about before. They're traditional korean dessert made of shaved ice, ice cream and some toppings. You usually mix milk to shaved ice to make it tastier.

Oreobingsu

Mangobingsu

Green tea bingsu

Traditional red bean bingsu

Some cake desserts:

Some waffle desserts:

Other sweets which happened to be cartoon themed:

Different drinks (tea and ade):

Here's all this time~ I hope this was helpful at least in some ways.
See you in some time, maybe closer to travel fair date or then after it^^