Hot Spots
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Such a Unique Theme Park, Poopoo Land!!
Do you like poops? I mean, would it be funny to you if you have a chance to play with poops? Of course they’re not real, ha. If they’re real then it must be disgusting so don’t get me wrong. There is a small theme park in Insadong, Seoul that features a theme of poops and farts. Doesn’t it sound funny already? Here are ‘Ssari’ your friend and ‘Mari’ the pet toilet paper at this theme park. You and your friends can pose on matching toilets or see a display of many different kinds of toilet paper.
Regardless of their nationalities, age or gender, visitors will be sure to enjoy themselves taking selfies at ‘Poo Photo Zone’. This theme park offers, as you might have guessed, a photo zone with funny tricky eyes paintings and this could be the perfect place to have a fun experience and your phone is going to be full of funny and crazy shots. They also have a coffee shop and restaurant so you can enjoy delicious drinks in toilet shaped plates.
When you have a waiting line, you have to pick up your waiting ticket.
Funny already, haha. Hope that it’s not disturbing your feeling. Let’s take it as a joke.
This big dung guy must be Ssari. What is that small piece of sh.., never mind. Maybe it’s Ssari’s baby or whatever, ha.
Have you relieved your constipation? Happy poop’s day to you!
This can be such a perfect photo zone for your pooping.
You can make your wish in this tree of poops.
Here is some more information about this place if you’re interested in visiting here.
Address : B1, Hana Bld., 41, Insadong 5-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Inquiries : 02-2034-0606
Admission : 9,000 KRW / 21,000 KRW (Package)
Operating Hours : 10:00 ~ 20:00
Homepage (English) : https://playpoop.com/eng
Entertainment
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This Is Your Urban Shopping Center! Starfield COEX Mall!!
There is a huge mall in Gangnam, Seoul which is called Starfield COEX Mall and it’s like a landmark in this area. I’ve been there only a few times and whenever I visited here, I was overwhelmed by its huge size. You’ll see countless places to visit when you get there and here I'm posting up only a few of them that are very interesting such as Aquarium, Piero Showping and Byeolmadang Library. And of course they have much more than that.
COEX Mall has over 300 brands, ranging from fashion and beauty to electronics and entertainment. In that unique library, they have over 50,000 reading materials arranged in 13 meter high book shelves. In their aquarium, they have over 650 species of marine animals. This mall is connected to Samseong station, line 2 so it is very convenient to visit without driving here. Once you get here, you’ll realize that you don’t have enough time to see everything in one day.
You can get through Samseong station first to get to COEX Mall. It is connected underground to the mall.
This is the way to the entrance of COEX Aquarium. I would say that it’s more likely for young kids but it was still fun. .
Oops, the scary Jaws is waiting for us at the gate. Did you really have to show us your gums?
There wasn’t anything very special about this aquarium but I would say that it must be very educational when you bring your kids. We don’t have one yet though.
Wow, look at the size of those bookshelves. How are they going to take out the books on the top?
Piero Showping! This is the name. You’ll see extraordinary things in this shopping mall. I better post up a blog specializing this at another time.
They’re all my favorites. Play Station and Marvel collections, who would pass without looking inside?
Here’s some more information about this place if you’re interested in visiting here.
Address : 524, Bongeunsa-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Location : Near the Exit 5 of Samseong Station, line 2
Phone Number : 02-6002-5300
Operating Hours : 11:00 ~ 21:00
Aquarium Admission : KRW 28,000 (Adults) / KRW 24,000 (Children)
Homepage (Korean) : https://www.starfield.co.kr/coexmall/main.do
Shopping
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Fantastic Sushi Buffet Restaurant! Qoo Qoo!!
I’ve always loved Sushi and all kinds of raw fish. We had a chance to celebrate something (I don’t remember what it was about, ha.) and found this restaurant near our home. It is called ‘Qoo Qoo’ and I was told that it’s been a popular Sushi Roll & Salad Bar already so there are many Qoo Qoo branches in different cities, even in Jejudo. They serve mainly Sushi and various kinds of raw fish but they have many other types of dishes as well like chicken and pizza.
Considering that it’s a buffet restaurant, I would say that it’s affordable but it’s still expensive if you go there often. This restaurant is a typical salad bar and most dishes are very fresh. As you know, Sushi is expensive in Korea so if you’re a big fan of Sushi and raw fish then this restaurant could be a great suggestion because you can eat Sushi as much as you like. Also the price for the lunch hours during the weekdays is the lowest so you can take advantage of it if you have time.
Those cute sushi dolls were welcoming us.
When you get here before 5 pm for your lunch on weekdays, you can use it at the lowest price. Oh, I almost forgot. They have a time limit, 90 minutes. That’s not cool though.
They must be the main chefs and seem like they’re really busy now.
They’re serving various sushi and other seafood on each plate and I can choose as I want.
I know it’s a sushi restaurant but who could skip the pizza if they serve it?
This was my first round. It should be the sushi and raw fish. I could only tell a few of them, ha.
These were my second and third rounds. I love salmon. I always love salmon no matter what.
But it wasn’t easy to ignore those fried foods. If you ignore them, you’re being rude.
And then we had a desert. It was ice cream and waffles. So sweet.
Below is some more information about this restaurant. If you’re a fan of sushi and seafood then go for it! It can be strongly recommended.
Address : 18, Cheonhodae-ro 157-gil, Gangdong-gu, Seoul
Location : Near the exit 5 of Cheonho station, line 5 and 8
Phone Number : 02-477-6274
Operating Hours : 11:00 ~ 22:00
Homepage (Korean) : http://www.qooqoo.co.kr/
[Price]
Weekday Lunch : KRW 15,900
Weekday Dinner : KRW 19,900
Weekends, Holidays : KRW 19,900
Children : KRW 12,900
Preschool Kids : KRW 8,000
Food
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For Your Healing and Happiness, Pocheon Art Valley!!
I’ve always preferred going to the mountains rather than going to the beaches. It is much cooler and more like nature-friendly in mountains or valleys. That’s what I think. There is a place for that which is called ‘Pocheon Art Valley’. And this place must be really nice for healing and refreshing your mind. It’s located in the middle of mountains and I was told that it was a closed quarry but Pocheon City decided to give it rebirth in 2003.
Since it was remodeled in 2009, this place became very popular for its beautiful nature of cliffs and the lake. This place has been attracting more than 300,000 visitors annually and the total area of Pocheon Art Valley is approximately 50,000 pyeong (150,000㎡). They also have several exhibition centers and they’re all very nice for education and fun. Stone Culture Promotional Center, Astronomical Science Center and Educational Exhibition Center.
When you get to the entrance and park your car, you can see a kiosk to buy the ticket. It costs only 5,000 won for each.
You can also see a map. You’ll know that this place is totally surrounded by mountains.
Look at the beauty of nature. The water is so blue and I can see some artifacts on it. This lake is called Cheonjoho.
We could see that many Korean movies and dramas have been filmed here. No wonder it is so beautiful.
It looks so peaceful in this view. He(?) must be taking a nap lying down there, ha.
There is also a running monorail service so you can buy a ticket for this to move to the opposite way. It costs 4,500 won for round-trip and 3,500 for one-way.
You can also visit a coffee shop when you get to the top. It was very cozy and warm inside.
Here’s some more information about this place if you’re interested in visiting here sometime soon.
Address : 234, Artvalley-ro, Sinbuk-myeon, Pocheon-si, Kyeonggi-do
For Inquiries : 031-538-3483
Admission : KRW 5,000 (Adults) / KRW 3,000 (Junior) / KRW 1,500 (Children)
Operating Hours : 09:00 ~ 22:00 / 09:00 ~ 21:00 (During Winter)
Homepage (English) : http://artvalley.pocheon.go.kr/art_eng/index.html
Travel
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Abandoned Theme Park, Yongma Land!!
When I was younger, I was able to visit many small amusement parks. They were not very popular but I had memories of those since I really enjoyed them when my parents brought me there. Now many of them are gone and only those big and huge ones could survive such as Ever Land or Lotte World. But there is an abandoned theme park that still attracts visitors in the Jungnang-gu area, Seoul. This one invites the people to share its creaks. I was surprised to see that so many people wanted to do it so.
Yongma Land was built in 1980s and it had been running for many years but they had several remodeling constructions and had financial problems so they eventually had to shut it down. Now in the hands of a local businessman, the old Yongma Land is open again. Now it’s for photography and many of them visit here to take photos in this deserted but charming place. I was told that this place is popular even for a wedding studio. It must be very unique. This site has also been used in many Korean horror movies and filming music videos.
This is what it says, ‘Yongma Land’, the main gate.
As you can see, the whole place is deserted with all the facilities abandoned.
They all look like junks to me and it appears that delinquent teenagers painted the walls.
Look at that ghostly abandoned merry-go-round. But you know what? You can turn the lights on after 8 pm when you pay them 30,000 won. Look! It is beautiful.
Looks like the chopper has crashed down! Of course it’s not a real one.
I have no idea how to call this. Disco Round maybe? Look at those old paintings. I can recognize Michael Jackson and Madonna, ha.
It’s sad that the whole place is abandoned. But at least it's still living in the people’s memories and hope that it lasts for a long time.
Here is some more information about this place if you’re interested in visiting here.
Address : 118, Mangwu-ro 70-gil, Jungnang-gu, Seoul
Inquiries : 02-436-5800
Admission : 10,000 KRW (Adults) / 5,000 KRW (Juniors)
Operating Hours : 09:30 ~ 18:00
Homepage (Korean) : https://cafe.naver.com/yongmaland/
Entertainment
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Shop your Fantasy of Electronics! Yongsan Electronics Market!!
I used to enjoy visiting this market to buy game software and purchase computer parts but not anymore since I’m getting older and busy to make a living. One of my hobbies is making my own high-end gaming desktop. Whenever I had a chance to get to this place, I was always excited to get those electronics. I would say that most guys have this kind of fantasy about electronic items, right?
Yongsan Electronics Market is a wholesale mall with over 5,000 electronic stores. You can find all kinds of electronic merchandises here. Console hardware and software, PC gaming hardware and software, all parts of a PC, digital cameras, mobile phones, home appliances like DVDs and TVs and so on, you can get anything you need as long as they’re electronics. Prices are also about 15~30% cheaper than most of other shops in Seoul.
This building is one of the oldest malls in this market which is called Sunin Sanga. You can still find a lot of items here. Most of them are parts or small pc items.
Some of shops are displaying laptops and you can buy a second-hand product at such a low price. I would rather buy a new one though.
This shop is for ASUS hardware. Look at those beautiful ASUS laptops. They provide high performance to play high-end games.
This mall is one of the most recent buildings in this place and it’s called ET Land. Most shops here have home appliances and finished products.
These are what you’re going to need when you build your own desktop. There could be a few more but these are fundamental parts to operate your computer when it’s completed.
I got some images of pretty desktops so you can customize your own fashionable desktop in your own way.
This is my own customized one. I built it myself but it’s the older one. I actually have a newer and better one now, ha. I just couldn’t find the pictures.
Here’s some more information about this place if you’re interested in visiting here to chace after your fantasies.
Address : 15-2, Hangang-ro 2(Yi)-ga, Yongsan-gu, Seoul
Location : Near the Exit 8 of Gwanghwamun Station, line 5
Phone Number : 02-707-4700
Operating Hours : 10:00 ~ 19:30 (Mon-Fri) / 10:00 ~ 20:00 (Sat-Sun)
Shopping
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The Most Common Street Food in Korea! Gimbap!!
I’ve seen many foreigners that already know about gimbap even if it’s their first visit to Korea. I guess Korean gimbap must be globally known to the world. Gimbap is a Korean dish made from cooked rice and other ingredients that are rolled in gim (dried laver). My mom used to pack me gimbap lunchbox whenever I had a picnic at the school. Gimbap is such a common and popular dish in Korea so it is very easy to find a gimbap place here in Korea.
There are so many kinds of gimbap based on the main ingredients. There should be rice rolled in gim sheet and I would say there are basic components that must be included such as yellow pickled radish, carrots, ham, spinach and egg strips. Those are for the normal kind of gimbap but if you have extra important ingredients and then it’s called based on the name of extra one. If it has canned tuna then it’s tuna gimbap, bulgoigi then bulgogi gimabap, cheese then cheese gimbap and it keeps going that way.
This one must be the normal one that everyone would enjoy. It’s the cheapest but still it’s very tasty.
Can you guess what this is? It is the tuna gimbap. They put canned tuna mixed with mayonnaise inside the gimbap. It’s usually more expensive than the normal one.
Do you know bulgogi? It is a Korean dish made of beef or pork in a Korean recipe. And if you have bulgoigi inside the gimbap then it’s bulgogi gimbap. Yes, it’s more expensive than other kinds for sure.
This kind of gimbap is not my type but many other Koreans like it. It’s called cheese gimbap and they put some slices of cheese inside. Do you think you would like it? Then you can try.
These kinds are from a convenient store. Samgyupsal gimbap? Really? So now they have samgyupsal inside the gimbap? I guess they could possibly put all kinds of food inside the gimbap.
There are so many gimbap places and many of them are also franchise gimbap restaurants. I found out a very popular one near my place. This gimbap restaurant has been introduced on a TV show once already so it’s very popular now. They’re very popular for their special kinds of gimbap. Look at the menu list below.
Address : 1005, Cheonhodae-ro, Gangdong-gu, Seoul
Location : Near the exit 4 of Cheonho station, line 5 and 8
Phone Number : N/A
Operating Hours : N/A
[Menu and Price]
Fried-fish Gimbap : KRW 5,500
Sea Squirt Gimbap : KRW 5,500
Raw Fish Gimbap : KRW 5,500
Octopus Gimbap : KRW 5,500
Food
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Enjoy the Ocean Breeze! Sorae Port in Incheon!!
There is a harbor in Incheon that is called Sorae Port and it is probably one of the closest beaches from Seoul. It is quite a popular tourist attraction and also one of the best places to enjoy ‘Hoe’ (sliced raw fish) in Korea. There is a huge fish market in here so many people visit and buy fresh fish and crabs for seasonal seafood. As it’s getting warmer, Sorae Port can be a great option to enjoy the cool ocean breeze.
When you get to Sorae Port, you can see the bridge built on the sea, not on the land. It is called Sorae Railway Bridge so you can take a stroll on it with the feeling of crossing the ocean. The sands of Sorae can be seen at low tide and you can see a nice view of the many ships coming into Sorae Port when it’s high tide. You can also visit the Sorae history museum and learn about the history. They have a sad story and you might want to find that out yourself.
This is the Sorae Railway Bridge. It wasn’t a bridge when it was built in the beginning. When Korea was prosecuted by Japan, Japanese made this railway to take away salt and other goods to Japan. And Korea has covered it by building a bridge on it.
You can take a walk on the bridge. It was a bit cold but when it gets hot, it’ll be really cool with ocean breeze.
Do you see the railway under the bridge? Yes, they must have wanted to cover it behind the history.
There are many malls and restaurants for seafood. Their service is very good.
Do you want to enjoy this king crab and raw fish with plenty of side dishes? It is such a generous serving. My mouth is watering again.
You can also order the Maeuntang (spicy fish stew) as a dessert. I’m pretty sure that you’re going to need Soju for this, haha.
This is when the tide is low. You can see the sand exposed but it looks very slippery on it.
What a huge crab!! This is the statue of a blue crab and it’s like a symbol of this area.
Here’s some more information about this place if you’re interested in visiting here sometime soon.
Address : 111-200, Nonhyeon-dong, Namdong-gu, Incheon
For Inquiries : 070-7011-2140
Admission : Free
Operating Hours : 08:00 ~ 21:00 / 07:00 ~ 22:00 (on weekends)
Homepage : http://www.soraepogu.net/
Travel
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Asia’s First Jurassic World Exhibition in Gimpo!!
I’ve always been into dinosaurs since I was very young and I used to memorize all the species of dinosaurs. I still do love them and I watched all series of Jurassic Park/World films and I have collected all of them. I used to dream about visiting a real Jurassic Park one day but I don’t know if I could live until that actually happens since I’m getting older, haha. But I could at least have a chance to visit the theme park with dinosaur exhibition that looks quite real.
This exhibition has been held at Lotte Mall Gimpo Airport Branch and it’ll be on display for a year in Korea and I was told that it’s been already held in many cities around the world but still it’s Asia’s first exhibition. There are seven large robot dinosaurs featuring technology to make it seem as if they’re actually moving. It’s probably meant to be for children but considering its quality and size of the models, it can be also recommend to adults like me, I guess.
You can see a huge lego raptor in front of the main gate.
The main gate looks pretty cool reminding me of those movies. You’re supposed to board the ship but don’t get me wrong. It’s not a real ship, ha.
Finally you get to the island of Jurassic World. They have a patrol to watch the island.
Look at that size of them. You can see the Triceratops and its baby. And that must be the Brachiosaurus, the biggest one.
You should be ready for the dangerous appearance. It’s T-Rex!!
When you get into the lab, you’ll see hatching eggs and some baby dinosaurs. You can also see some fossil samples and skulls.
Many scientists say that this one is the most beautiful dinosaur in the history. It is the Stegosaurus. And I totally agree with them.
Be careful. They’re very fast and the most dangerous species. It is the Velociraptor.
Are you into dinosaurs too? Here’s some more information about this place. Just go for it!!
Address : 1st Floor, Lotte Deparment Store, 38, Haneul-gil, Gangseo-gu, Seoul
Location : Near exit 3 of Gimpo Airport Station, line 5 and 9
Inquiries : 02-6116-3777
Admission : 25,000 KRW (Adults) / 23,000 KRW (Juniors) / 21,000 KRW (Kids under 12)
Operating Hours : 10:30 ~ 20:00 (Mon –Thu) / 10:30 ~ 20:30 (Fri – Sun)
Homepage (English) : http://www.jurassicworldexhibition.kr/index.html
Entertainment