Hot Spots
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Very Special Korean Noodle for Summer Time, Mak-guksu!!
Mak-guksu means buckwheat noodle which is a Korean noodle dish served in a chilled broth and sometimes with sugar, mustard, sesame oil or vinegar. It is a local specialty of the Gangwon province of South Korea, and its capital city, Chuncheon. Makguksu is closely related to naengmyeon, another Korean cold noodle dish. The restaurant that we visited is located in the Gangwon area, and we had makguksu plus memil jeonbyeong (buckwheat dumplings).
It is difficult to generalize regarding makguksu's accompanying ingredients. Ingredients are traditionally determined by the customer rather than the restaurant owner, and many restaurants also carry their own unique flavoring recipes. Various types of kimchi can be added as well. In the Chuncheon area, the dish is frequently accompanied by boiled beef or pork and it may be served with bindaetteok (Korean bean pancakes) or gamjajeon (potato pancakes).
It’s located in Sokcho City, Gangwon Province and it’s also very close from the ocean. We headed to the beach after that.
We could see that they’ve been introduced to the TV show. It must be very popular.
Luckily, when we got there, it was past 3 so the restaurant wasn’t very busy. We could see only a few customers.
I would say that this one was such a good choice when we had makgusu. The combination made us enjoy the foods.
Does it look delicious to you? Trust me. It is very delicious and it’s definitely the delicacy of the season.
Besides, they’re not very expensive so when you want to go to the ocean to get fresh air, you might want to drop by here and try those foods.
Please check the information below if you’re interested in visiting the same restaurant that we visited for Mak-guksu and the buckwheat dumplings.
Address : 229, Tteokbatjae-ro, Sokcho-si, Gangwon-do
Subway : N/A
Phone Number : 033-638-0088
Operating Hours : 11:00 ~ 20:00
[Menu and Price]
Mak-guksu (Buckwheat Noodle) : KRW 8,000
Pyeon-yuk (Steamed Pork) : KRW 23,000
Gamja-jeon (Potato Pancake) : KRW 10,000
Memil Jeonbyeong (Buckwheat Dumpling) : KRW 7,000
* More..
Food
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2D Drawings in the Real World, Greem Café!!
YouTube Credit Source : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djV11Xbc914
You must know this first. This cafe may not be the one for you. That’s not because you may not like the coffee there. Instead, this cafe which is also known as the ‘Drawing(Greem) Cafe’ may get you dizzy with the strange feeling like you just enter a cartoon world. The name of the café is Yeonnam-dong 223-14 Café and it’s named after its street number. This cafe is open daily from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm and the line to enter is often quite lengthy with crowds.
Everything in white with pencil-like black outlining from the chairs and tables to the flattened shirts on the laundry line outside, the small cafe gives visitors the distinct impression of being pressed into a comic book. The cafe was designed to be as Instagrammable(?) as possible, according to the owner, JS Lee. To be honest, this café definitely reminds me of an old pop MV in the 80’s. You can watch that music video from the link above and if you understand what I’m saying then it means you’re old enough too, ha.
It looks like just a normal coffee shop from outside and its prices are not even very nice.
Can you notice that they’re all real? Not sketches or drawings? In the photo, they look like pretty 2D sketches.
No wonder there are so many young girls lining up for their photo shots. I get it now.
Now you can see that they’re real with real people in the photo. I heard that it’s also very popular for those foreign visitors.
Once again, you might feel dizzy if you keep wandering and taking shots in the café because your eyes and your brain would notice that they’re all unusual visions.
Even on the roof, they set up some 2D laundries and 2D-like seat tables. They’re all very white under the sunlight.
Below is some more information about this café if you’re interested in visiting there.
Address : 161-10, Seongmisan-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul
Contact Number : 010-5870-8633
Available Time : 11:00 – 21:00 (Last order 20:30))
Homepage : http://www.instagram.com/greem_cafe
Travel
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One of the Best Places for Tourists in Seoul, N Seoul Tower!!
One of the best places in Seoul to take in a view of the beautiful city, N Seoul Tower offers a great view of the city. You can access by either cable car or by hiking the mountain, N Tower has a number of attractions such as restaurants, stores, and museums. A highlight for any visitor is likely to be the Locks of Love, where romantics hang padlocks to symbolize their devotion to one another and it’s a fun photo opportunity.
The N Seoul Tower officially the YTN Seoul Tower and commonly known as the Namsan Tower or Seoul Tower, is a communication and observation tower located on Namsan Mountain in central Seoul. At 236 meters, it makes the second highest point in Seoul. Many visitors ride the Namsan cable car up the Namsan Mountain, to walk to the tower. It attracts thousands of tourists and locals every year, especially during the night time when the tower lights up.
The tower should be very familiar to most of the Korean people because it’s been there for such a long time. During the daytime, it looks like a typical tower in a city.
You’ll see that the tower becomes something very beautiful and shiny at night. It is absolutely something at night.
You’re going to love this photo zone if you bring someone special next to you. It’s so pretty at night.
I strongly suggest that you should go visit their website below. You can get more information and recommendations about visiting this place.
At the top of the tower, you can also see the Lotte Tower which is quite far from the area.
In 2012, surveys conducted by Seoul City revealed foreign tourists ranked the N Seoul Tower as the number one tourist attraction. The N Seoul Tower is now also a symbol of Seoul. You can get some more information below about this place if you’re interested in visiting here.
Address : 105, Namsangongwon-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul
Inquiries : ysheo97@ytn.co.kr
Admission (for Observatory) : KRW 11,000 (Adults) / KRW 9,000 (Juniors)
Operating Hours : 24 Hours open
Homepage (English) : https://www.seoultower.co.kr/en/
Entertainment
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Do You Want to Shop for Korean Antiques? Tong-In Store!!
Tong-In Store is a shopping mall dedicated to traditional crafts, clothing, and books. Located on Insa-dong Street, the mall has some of the finest craft and antiques shops in South Korea. You can also shop for authentic Korean clothes – prices are usually lower than most shops in the city. Antique crafts, folk paintings, and valuable books are available here, but you can only purchase them through auctions.
Tong-in Shop has been spreading our culture and art to both Koreans and foreigners since 1924. The 1st floor is the Handcraft Shop, 2nd floor is the traditional workshop, 3rd floor is the traditional art exhibition hall, and the 4th floor is the modern art exhibition hall. The basement is used as a gallery for external work. It is like home to over 100 shops that sell ancient and contemporary traditional crafts, as well as galleries that display craft collections.
This is the entrance and it’s a 6 story building with different shops and exhibitions each floor.
You can see the antique displays at the shop. Most of them look unfamiliar to me as well.
I like those Korean traditional potteries. They look beautiful especially the colors. You can go visit and get some for souvenirs for yourself.
They have so many different kinds but I would say most of them are just for decoration.
You can also see the backyard with trees and Korean crocks and it looks like the very old times in Korea.
Here’s some more information about this place if you’re interested in visiting here.
Address : 32, Insadong-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Location : Near the Exit 5 of Jongno-samga Station, line 5
Operating Hours : 10:00 ~ 19:00
Contact Number : 02-733-4867
Homepage : www.tonginstore.com (Korean only)
Shopping
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When You Fall In Love With the Korean Broth, Sagol Kalguksu!!
Kal-guksu is a Korean noodle dish consisting of handmade, knife-cut wheat flour noodles served in a large bowl with broth and other ingredients. ‘Kal’ refers to knife and ‘guksu’ refers to noodle. There are so many different kinds of Kalguksu but the most popular one is Haemul Kalguksu and it refers to Seafood Kalguksu. Haemul Kalguksu is one of most loved and most common foods in Korea.
As every other Korean people do, I’ve always been eating Haemul Kalguksu most of the time but I recently found this restaurant and it changed my mind. It has also become my favorite food now and my wife has become obsessed with this Kalguksu. They serve Sagol Kalguksu. Sagol means beef leg bone and it’s often boiled to make a broth and there are many Korean traditional foods cooked with sagol, such as gomguk, galbitang, seolongtang, etc.
It’s located somewhere in Gapyeong near mountains. And I was told that this Kalguksu restaurant is very popular as a must-go restaurant in the area.
We actually went there around 3 pm which was way to past lunch hours so the whole restaurant was empty.
We sat right next to the windows but the view wasn’t very impressive. I could see only the traffic since it was Saturday.
Do you see the sign on my stomach? ‘I’m hungry.’ Haha. You have no idea how tasty it is. You’ll love it once you taste it.
They also serve the pork cutlet. It doesn’t seem to make sense for a Kalguksu restaurant but it’s funny that their cutlet is also very good. My wife ordered the pork cutlet and we shared some for each other.
This is the shot for the whole. I would say the prices are also very reasonable. It was actually the second time already that we visited there.
Please check the information below if you’re interested in visiting the same restaurant that we visited for Kalguksu and the port cutlet.
Address : 221-12, Gyeongchun-ro, Cheongpyeong-myeon, Gapyeong-gun, Kyeonggi
Subway : N/A
Phone Number : 031-584-3688
Operating Hours : 10:30 ~ 21:00
[Menu and Price]
Sagol Kalguksu : KRW 8,000
Handmade Pork Cutlet : KRW 8,000
Sagol Manduguk : KRW 8,000
Wang Mandu (King Dumpling) : KRW 6,000
Food
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A Chilling Monument To Korean Patriots, Seodaemun Prison History Hall!
An anachronistic brick wall stands out amongst a rare park in one of Seoul’s quiet neighborhoods. It was originally a prison built by under the Japanese administration to hold captive of independence movement activists. It first opened on October 21, 1908 under the name Gyeongseong Prison, and when the prison was full, the prison expanded and changed its name to Seodaemun Prison on September 3, 1912. The prison turned into Seodaemun Independence Park on August 15, 1992 to commemorate the Korean patriots who were tortured and sacrificed in prison.
In 1998, the park underwent another transformation into today's Seodaemun Prison History Hall to educate the public on the importance of Korea's independence and the sacrifices of those who fought to achieve it. We must not forget that many patriots died in custody, were tortured to death, or were executed within the prison’s walls. When you visit here, you’ll see some of the torture chambers have frighteningly realistic mannequins of famous Korean patriots who died within the prison.
This is called ‘Prison History Room’. It exhibits records and videos of introductions of the whole history of the prison.
This room is used in memory of more than 4,000 political offenders imprisoned in the prison.
Those are the prison buildings and there are a few more. Seodaemun Prison was an organization under the control of the Governor-General of Imperial Japan.
Just look at the hallway and try to imagine how terrifying it would be if you’re imprisoned here. Gees, I can’t even imagine. But this was real in the history.
Do you have any idea what they are for? The first one was Execution Building for carrying out executions. And they dumped dead bodies through that tunnel, the second picture and that was called Corpse Removal Exit.
Those tortures have been actually done at that time. How’s that even possible to torture and interrogate those independence activists like that? It makes me so angry.
This is too much. Can you guess what this is? This is another torture tool and they put them in the box with those nails inside and shake it to torture the prisoners. I can’t even believe that.
This museum is operated as a place that offers lessons of history, and remembering and commemorating the faith of independence movement activists and pro-democracy activists toward freedom and peace. I strongly suggest that you should visit there to witness how cruel and inhumane they were. Below is some more information about this place.
Address : 251, Tongil-ro, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul
Contact Number : 02-360-8590
Available Time : 09:30 – 18:00 (Every Monday Off)
Admission : Adults KRW 3,000 / Students KRW 1,500 / Children KRW 1,000 / Seniors Free
Homepage (English) : https://sphh.sscmc.or.kr/_eng/
Travel
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Such A Beautiful Glass Artwork, Glass Castle in Jeju Island!!
Jeju Glass Castle is Korea’s first registered museum exclusively for glass and it’s established in 2008. They say “The museum reflects the gift of nature and clean environment of Jeju in the transparent and clean glass works.” You’ll see that it’s true since everything is made from shaped glass. You’ll experience more than whatever you can imagine. You can also experience ‘glass blowing’ which is a very traditional technique for making glass and it’s only available in Jeju.
The delicate collection is divided into indoor and outdoor sections, each with their own variety of delicate glasswork. The indoor sights include a towering green glass beanstalk in the center of the exhibition hall, a room full of mirrors where visitors can get lost in their infinite reflections, and even a glass bookshelf with glass books. The exterior garden features amazingly naturalistic figures such as a glass waterfall, glass flowerbeds, and a lake made of mirrors with fish.
You’ll get lost in the Magic Mirror Room. You can also see the Jack & the Beanstalk in the center of the hall.
Oh, these are Stone Harubangs, the famous Jeju guardian figures. And they’re made from glass, too. I like it.
They’re small Glass Town and Sea Story. Can you believe that they’re all made from glass? They’re very pretty and colorful.
Now you can see the Glass Gate with a huge wine glass. You can also see the beautiful Jewelry Falls with the huge wedding ring. This can be such a great spot for wedding proposal.
They’re called Glass Lake and Gold Glass Toad.
You can see many glass flowers and glass trees in the garden. There is also Magic Forest.
The Jeju Glass Castle Theme Park is such an attraction for the whole family. You can get some more information below about this place if you’re interested in visiting here.
Address : 462, Nokchabunchae-ro, Hangyeong-myeon, Jeju City, Jeju-do
Inquiries : 064-772-7777
Admission : KRW 11,000 (Adults) / KRW 9,000 (Students) / KRW 8,000 (Children)
Operating Hours : 09:00-19:00
Homepage (English) : http://en.jejuglasscastle.com/
Entertainment
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The Biggest, Oldest Market in Korea, Namdaemun Market!!
Namdaemun Market is a large traditional market selling everything and it’s one of the oldest continually running markets in Korea. The streets where the market is located were built in a time when cars were not even running. You can find quality leather goods, clothing, crafts, imported goods, utensils, electronics, and traditional oriental medicines at really affordable rates. Once you get there, you’ll get lost in a maze diving yourself into shopping.
Seoul City announced plans to renovate the market in 2007 and reconstruction and renovations are still being continued. Most of the clothes here cost between 10,000 to 20,000 KRW. Many retailers buy their items, particularly clothing, at wholesale prices, to resell in their own stores in other sites. During the day, you can see locals shopping for groceries and household items. At night, Namdaemun becomes a night market from 11pm until 4am every day.
Namdaemun is also called Sungnyemun and it’s one of the Korean typical castles. When you get to the market, you can get a guideline brochure at the information booth.
You can see so many people in the alley. And it’s not hard to find foreigners among them.
There’s an exchange booth here. No wonder we have so many foreign visitors here.
You can’t even imagine how many different kinds of street snacks you’ll be able to see there. I didn’t even know them either. They look so appetizing.
You can also see so many restaurants that have been introduced on TV. I would say this is the place where people are living their real lives.
I got this information from their homepage. They have more than 10,000 stores and 300,000 visitors each day. Wow, that’s a lot.
Here’s some more information about this place if you’re interested in visiting here.
Address : 21, Namdaemunsijang-4gil, Jung-gu, Seoul
Location : Near the Exit 5 and 6 of Hoehyeon Station, line 4
Operating Hours : 00:00 ~ 23:00 (Shops close at their close time.)
Contact Number : 02-753-2805
Homepage (English) : http://namdaemunmarket.co.kr/index.php
Shopping
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Cheap and Delicious Makchang Restaurant! Samggi Makchang!!
I already introduced ‘Gopchang’ before and as you know now, it refers to beef small intestines and it’s quite expensive in Korea. I always thought ‘Makchang’ was almost the same as Gopchang but it’s not. Besides, I just found out ‘Makchang’ is not beef but it’s pork. It was actually shocking to me because I believed that it was beef for my whole life. Anyways, we recently visited this Makchang restaurant and it’s so strongly recommended. That’s the purposed of posting this blog.
We accidently found this place when we were taking a stroll in our neighborhood and saw so many people waiting in line. It was impressive and it was located only 3 minutes away from our home on foot. I didn’t know until we tried there that this place was one of the must-go restaurants in the Cheonho Station area. I can tell you only 2 words for this place. Cheap and delicious. No wonder they always have so many people waiting in line. And we are lucky to have this restaurant near our house.
This is the sign of the restaurant. As you can see, they always have many people.
When they serve for our table, we were so happy to see it. They look so appetizing
It was grilled already by them so it didn’t take that long before we could eat them. Yes, we cheered to ourselves.
We ordered some side menu. They were Bokkeumbap (fried rice) and Ramen. They were cooked by their recipe and they were so good too.
This is the menu for this place. Makchang usually costs much more expensive than this. You should know that.
Please check the information below if you’re interested in visiting the same restaurant that we visited for grilled Makchang.
Address : 10, Olympic-ro 77-gil, Gangdong-gu, Seoul
Location : Near exit 2 of Cheonho Station, Line 5 & 8
Phone Number : 02-470-2572
Operating Hours : 16:00 ~ 01:00
[Menu and Price]
Makchang Gui : KRW 10,000
Yangnyeom Makchang : KRW 11,000
Cheese Makchang : KRW 14,000
Spicy Ramyeon : KRW 3,000
Boggeumbab (Fried Rice) : KRW 2,000
and more..
Food