Hot Spots
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This Coffee Shop Is From Joseon Dynasty!(??)
Hanok means a traditional Korean house and they’re designed and built in the 14th century during the Joseon Dynasty. And there’s a coffee shop that is built in Hanok architecture in Seoul and I’d love to visit there very often.
This coffee shop is located in the entrance of Jingwan Temple and it’s in the middle of Eunpyeong Hanok Village. That’s probably why this coffee shop is designed that way. It is such a peaceful and quiet place there. And of course it’ll be a great idea if you bring someone here for your date.
This is what this coffee shop looks like. Looks very Korean-like and beautiful architecture.
Like I state above, this coffee shop is located in the entrance of the temple surrounded by mountains and there’s a Hanok Village nearby so you’re going to feel that the air is much cleaner with a great view provided.
I always had an Americano so I can’t say the most coffee is better than other coffee shops. But my wife said that she loved most of them better.
Below is some more information about this coffee shop.
Address : 10, Jingwan-gil, Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul
Contact Number : 02-356-3631
Operating Hours : 10:00 / 22:00
Homepage : https://www.instagram.com/cafe_volgasim/
< Price>
Americano : KRW 4,900
Latte kinds : KRW 5,000 ~ 6,800
Ice Cream : KRW 5,000
Travel
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Korean Potato Pancake, Gamja-jeon!!
Do you like pancakes? I do love pancakes. But I mean, Korean style pancakes. Especially the one that is made by smashed potato mixed with pancake powder on a frying pan. It’s called Gamja-jeon, the Korean potato pancake and when it’s cooked it turns to golden brown. It’s so crispy and yummy. It’s already making my mouth water.
There should be a lot of different recipes for making a gamja-jeon but I don’t care as long as it’s a gamja-jeon. According to the ingredients and taste, it can be plain gamja-jeon, dried shrimp gamja-jeon, squid gamja-jeon and there are more and more. You’re still going to love the plain one. You know why? Because it’s potato.
Sorry we took a bite already before I took pictures. Sorry I couldn’t help it. This one was the most delicious gamja-jeon that I've recently had.
This one must be the plain kind and it’s still really good. Remember, it should be golden brown.
Doesn’t it seem to be such a good snack for everyone, even for kids? I’d prefer having it with beer.
This kind has squid which can make it so special. You’re going to love its texture and taste. Gees, I’m getting hungry.
Please check the information below if you’re interested in visiting the restaurant that I visited for Gamja-jeon.
Address : 15, Hyeondeungsa-gil, Jojongmyeon, Gapyeong-gun, Kyonggi
Phone Number : 031-585-1219
Operating Hours : 07:00 ~ 20:00
Food
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Your Eyes Can Be Tricked By Art!!
There’s an art which is called Trick Art or Trick Eye in Korea and it’s usually about paintings with skills of deceiving your eyes. It’s not very easy to describe it until you see them with your own eyes so you might want to see the examples below right at once.
This kind of art actually contains AR(Augmented Reality) effect or 3D illusions. There are several galleries or museums in South Korea for this art and one of them is located in Seoul which has been awarded with the 1st place among Seoul Tourist Attraction by an American Travel website in 2014.
I like it already, haha. Spooky!
You can imagine what picture you would take from this. You’re going to be an angel!
This can be such a good decoration for facilities. I like it.
It looks like he’s communicating with the turtle through the glass.
This one looks so real. Is it really a painting on the street? It’s like they’re floating in the air.
How much could this be different when you see it with your own eyes? I know it’s an illusion but it still looks like a real earthquake. Try not to fall down.
Visiting one of these places will give you very impressive and unique experience. This can be quite a good date if you have someone to bring. Simply saying, this technique turns two-dimensional paintings into three-dimensional images through the use of optical illusions. According to them, paintings on museum walls, floors and ceilings come alive. Sounds like it’s really fun there. You want to try?
Here’s some more information about one of these museums in Seoul.
Address : #B2 Seogyo Plaza 20 Hongikro-3gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul
Located : Near exit 9 of Hongik University Station, line 2
Operating Hours : 09:00 ~ 21:00
Inquiries 02-3144-6300
Credit Source and link :
https://trickeye.com/seoul/en
http://www.morphinart.com/
Entertainment
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Underground Shopping Malls at Subway Stations!!
Have you been traveling by subway a lot in Korea? You must have noticed that there are so many shopping malls underground on the way to the subway stations. It is very normal to see them as long as the subway stop is underground and big enough to have many exits. So you can actually stop by if there’s anything interesting to you.
I would say that it’s really convenient to shop at those malls because they’re connected with the subway system. You can buy most of items there at reasonable prices but you better bring some cash because some of them don’t accept credit cards.
You can see a lot of accessory shops and they’re mostly very cheap.
Most of clothing they’re selling is very trendy so you can catch up with the trend in Korea.
You can see the shops literally on the way to the subway station. So sometimes it’s annoying because people can be blocking your way.
Most underground shopping malls are very folksy, friendly and trendy and prices are very reasonable compared to department stores. Some of them are really popular for young people. Gangnam station, Express Bus Terminal station in Seocho-gu, Buypeong station in Incheon, Jungangno station in Daegu, there are many popular underground shopping malls connected to the subway stations.
Below is the information of the Gangnam station underground shopping center for an example.
Address : Underground, 396, Gangnam-daero, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Subway : Gangnam station, line 2
Operating Hours : 10:00 ~ 22:00
Credit Source : http://english.visitkorea.or.kr
Shopping
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Unaksan in Gapyeong
We made reservation just one day before and went to a pension for last weekend which was located in the Gapyeong area. We made no plans but set up everything and just went there. I was hoping that it could remind me of the time when I was on my honeymoon.
The pension we stayed at was in the middle of the mountains but I’m not very much for hiking so I didn’t try to hike there. Besides, it was freezing there. It was just meant to be for refreshing my body and mind and it actually worked. There was a spa bathtub inside, I better not show you the pictures though.
This place was like a town with many of pensions and hotels gathered on the mountain. You can see the sign of ‘Welcome’ and ‘Goodbye’.
The name of the mountain was ‘Unaksan’ and I could see many hikers visiting this place. It was a shame that the weather wasn’t very clear at that time.
There was a terrace in the front and we could see an outdoor Japanese style bathtub. But we didn’t use it because it was really cold and it was so opened out there.
Can you tell what this is? This one was a hut standing separately but privately and it was for Sauna. A sauna is like a small room designed to experience hot steam inside so you get sweaty to feel refreshed. Sadly, it wasn’t operational so we didn’t use it either.
Below is some more information about the place that we stayed.
Address : 55-343, Hyeondeungsan-gil, Jojong-myeon, Gapyeong-gun, Kyonggi
Contact Number : 031-581-1185
Check In/Out : 15:00 / 11:00
Homepage : http://www.vieweye.co.kr/
Travel
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Kimchi + Pork Belly = Duruchigi (?)
Did you know that Kimch and pork are the perfect match for most of the Korean foods in Korea? Yes, they do love eating them mixed and it’s most Korean people’s favorite recipe. Duruchigi could sound like ‘beat up all the way round’ in Korean. But it actually means ‘stir-fried’, the way how it’s cooked and I also love that cooking way for myself because it’s really easy.
This is the way how it looks like when it’s cooked. This can be a spicy dish based on Kimchi you added.
I visited a Korean restaurant when I was abroad. We ordered Kimchi Duruchigi but it tasted nothing like what I knew. Yes, it’s Korean food. It can’t be the same.
This one doesn’t look very spicy and I would prefer this kind.
One of the restaurants served Kimchi Jjigae(which is similar to stew) after the main dish. This one is loved by everyone in Korea.
And below is the one that I recently visited and enjoyed very much for Duruchigi. Why don’t you go for it for yourself? This restaurant is also for Samgyupsal, the pork belly.
Address : 76, Seongan-ro 3-gil, Gangdong-gu, Seoul
Phone Number : 02-470-9032
Operating Hours : 15:00 ~ 24:00
Food
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A K-Pop Concert To Refresh Your Energy!!
Are you into K-Pop already? K-Pop is now globally popular and some are crazy for certain bands or singers. And if you’re in Korea already, you should definitely go to a concert. If you’re considering rather to have more fun in the concert then I have one singer in my mind and I’m not going to tell you until you see the bottom, ha.
Modern K-Pop is now like a culture. It grew into a subculture that amassed huge fandoms of teenagers and young adults in 1990s. With the advent of online social networking services and Korean TV shows, the current spread of K-Pop and Korean entertainment, known as the Korean Wave is seen everywhere in the world, gaining a widespread global audience.
This concert was held in one of the biggest places for a concert, the Olympic Park Stadium. You can see people gathering in a huge place for one singer’s performance.
It became dark and it’s a sign of the beginning of the concert. Look at the wave of flashlights from their phones. It is beautiful.
They also provided a laser beam show so the performance was so fantastic.
Yes, this concert was for the Korean professional singer, known as Psy. He’s been popular globally since his song ‘Gangnam Style’ became a megahit.
You can see the prices based on the seat’s positions. It’s not very cheap, ha.
This is his concert’s poster for this year. You can go visit the link below to buy a ticket if you’re interested.
Everyone says that Psy’s concert is full of performances for fun so everyone loved there. He has a sense of humor and he must be very talented for performing in front of people. He’s always been quite a joyful guy so he’s been loved by so many people for many years. And now he’s one of the most popular singers in the world.
Here’s some more information about his concert.
Address : KSPO Dome, 424, Olympic-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul
Located : Near Olympic Park Station exit 3, line 5 and 9
Dates : December 20th, 21st, 22nd, 24th, 2019 / At 11:42 pm
Inquiries : 070-4264-1555
Credit Source and link :
http://ticket.interpark.com/Ticket/Goods/GoodsInfo.asp?GoodsCode=19016749
Entertainment
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Hi-Mart, The Most Friendly Electronic Mart!!
I don’t know how many of you have visited Hi-Mart in Korea. But I’m pretty sure that you must have seen one somewhere because it’s everywhere in Korea. I tried to look it up and found out that they have 493 branches in Korea. Yes, it’s literally everywhere in Korea. So if you need something related to electronics, even like a power cable, you can go visit one of them.
The parent company of Hi-Mart is Lotte Corporation which is one of the biggest companies in Korea and it’s been spread throughout the country since Lotte took it over from Daewoo Company in 2012. I can recommend you to go to Hi-Mart for most electronics but you better not buy desktops and laptops there because they’re much expensive compared to quality. But we're still lucky to have those electronic shops nearby.
This is my biggest interest all the time. When I visit any electronic shop, I always visit computer display first.
And TVs too. Most of you must be dreaming to have a big screen in your house, right? And look at their bezel. Their technology is so much advanced now.
I haven’t heard of SUUNTO and they look like Galaxy Gears. It was tempting but they’re so expensive.
We can see all kinds of home appliances there. And I would say that air purifiers are the hottest products these days.
They also provide an on-line shopping mall so you can check the prices and get some more discounts. Sadly, they don’t provide other language services so you better get some help.
Here’s more information of Hi-Mart and go visit the link for more info if you want.
Homepage : https://www.himart.co.kr
e-Shopping Mall : http://www.e-himart.co.kr
Shopping
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Legendary Love Story, Ondal Cave!!
I still cherish the memories of visiting Danyang city in the Chungbuk Province because it was quite an impressive experience. You know, the temperatures in caves stay almost the same throughout the whole year so it’s cool in there during summer and it’s warm during winter. Danyang is a very peaceful city with most of its nature well preserved and Ondal Cave is the most popular one.
It is called Ondal Cave because it is under Ondal mountain fortress. It is estimated to have been created almost 450 million years ago and the total length of this cave is 899m. It’s a natural cave formed in the limestone zone. The average temperature of the cave maintains 14 degrees Celsius in summer and 16 degrees Celsius in winter, making it a perfect all year round attraction.
This is the angle of the entrance and it’s like entering a haunted house.
All you need to do is to go along the lane and it’s like moving on in a different world.
It’s always been a mystery to me how they’re created by flowing from the ceiling in a cave.
This is the angle on the way out and it’s like finally we’re getting out. But it was definitely a new experience.
This cave also has over 40 small ponds that are inhabited by a variety of living organisms like fish and insect. The annual Ondal Culture Festival is held every October in memory of the legendary love story between General Ondal and Princess Pyeonggang.
Below is some more information about this place.
Address : Ondal Exhibition, 23, Ondal-ro, Yeongchun-myeon, Danyang-gun, Chungbuk
Contact Number : 043-423-8820
Admission : 5,000 KRW (Adult) / 2,500 (Child)
Operating Hours : 09:00-18:00 (Summer) / 09:00-17:00 (Winter)
Travel