Seoul 서울: Apgujeong 압구정, Gangnam 강남, a touch of Hongdae 홍대 & Insadong 인사동

Warning: Today's post will be extra long and picture filled since it will cover my entire weekend of fun!

On Friday after class I went to eat lunch with my roommate Soo Young (수영). We went to a really little restaurant called Our House (우리집) and we shared a giant chicken stew type thing. I forget the name in Korean but it was REALLY good and the portion is HUGE. We shared between the two of us but in reality it's really meant for a group of maybe 4-5 people.

Before & After!

Then I went up to Seoul to meet Irene (my Korean "teacher"). We went to Apgujeong (압구정) to hang out and eat dinner. We went to Rodeo Street to first check out some stores then head to the restaurant. I saw Googims the store! This is a brand I only saw online through Yesstyle but now I see it exists as a store in Korea as well. Rodeo Street is neat, it's a mix of independent boutiques, coffee shops and restaurants. When we were walking around I saw many Japanese style Izakayas or restaurants, plus a few North American chains I didn't think I would find.

The inside of this one J-Pub looked so cool. Since Korea is all about presentation they really tried to make this place authentic. Irene took me to a restaurant called 산봉촤로구이 (sorry I don't know the English name) and we had 쇠고기삼겹살 (beef belly) and 냉면 (cold noodles) which this restaurant is famous for and it was FANTASTIC! This was a super delicious dinner, since it's in the Apgujeong district the price is a bit more expensive. For two of us it costs 39 900 = $39.90 in Canadian. However, it was really good and I wouldn't mind going again.

The food was great, the service was great and it's a nice relaxing atmosphere. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Afterwards we went to hang out in a coffee shop and grab dessert. I wanted to find a Cafe Bene because they are known for their waffles and honey bread, but it's a new chain so we couldn't see one. Instead we went to De Chocolate Cafe. The male servers have these cute little bow ties with their uniforms and they are super polite and happy when taking your order. The Ice Cream waffle here is the same price as home (as is most coffee shop waffles), but it was so delicious!

I was surprised how all the coffee shops have those little electronic trackers for when you have to wait longer for your food. It will light up when your order is ready. Even Dunkin Donuts, which is not high end at all, have them if you have to wait a bit for your order! It's pretty awesome actually.

After spending the night with Irene, the following day I met up with my international student friends and we went to Gangnam (강남) to try Dr. Fish. Last time I heard horror stories, but I decided I wanted to try it this time just to experience it. The name of the place is Book & Spa Cafe. You order a drink and Dr. Fish is just an extra 2 000 won. You get 20 minutes with the fish tanks.

Olliver, Pupae and I shared the Green Tea Patbingsu (팥빙수) and I grabbed a Vanilla Latte to drink. Patbingsu is like a snow cone but with real toppings not syrup. Basically they crush ice down and top it with a sauce, fruit, ice cream, corn flakes and other yummy things. You can get preset menu ones like this or some places will let you choose your toppings.

There are 2 different sizes for Dr. Fish, you get to try both of them out. There are larger fish and these tiny tiny fish. This is my reaction after putting my feet into the tank with giant fish. I am not ticklish anywhere except the bottom of my feet. I really had to hold it in and just try to stay still so the fish could do it's thing. Eventually I was able to just submerge my feet and enjoy. It's a really weird feeling. The big fish actually feel like they are biting you (but it doesn't hurt) and the little fish feel like electric shocks/vibrations.

There were many people just hanging out at the Cafe, not everyone gets Dr. Fish. If you order a drink and Dr. Fish there is also unlimited bread and cookies, plus regular coffee and tea!

From left to right:

1. Cafe atmosphere

2. Alison, Me and Jackie w/ the big fishies

3. Me, Akiko, Jackie and Olliver w/ the baby fishies.

Next we went to walk around Gangnam for a bit. Some went shopping, some of us went to take sticker pictures and some went to a bar.

For dinner Olliver took us to a 닭갈비 place and it was AWESOME. Chicken, rice, cheese filled rice cakes all mixed together to make a super combo of greatness.

This is seriously something you should try if you ever visit Korea!!! So yummy, perfect amount for 5 people.

Me & Mari outside the Chicken place. Yu, Perpetua, Me & Kristen waiting for our food to arrive so we can eat. I actually wasn't very hungry at this point but when our server started cooking our food I became very hungry all of a sudden.

1. Yu sporting a pony tail after seeing Perpetua tie her hair.

2. Cafe Slow (Tiff & Nat this one was for you!!!)

3. Stained glass windows and the Korean flag!

4. Olliver rocking red frames, OH YEAH!

Next we went to HongDae (홍대) to celebrate Danimal's birthday!!! I am so sad I didn't get to walk around since HongDae is one of my FAVOURITE areas in Seoul...I will for sure go back don't you worry.

Ho Bar III for Danimal's birthday.

Finally on Sunday I got to see Melanie! She is my friend from Vancouver and she is in Seoul teaching English. She had orientation and was busy settling down into her new place but she had some free time before her school started to come and hang out!

Emma and I met up with her in Insadong (인사동) and we went to SaDong MyunOk to have the GIANT dumpling soup. It was super delicious and I really only needed two dumplings, the third was very very very hard to finish.

After we strolled through Insadong and waited for our friend Tae to come and meet us. We saw one of the few Starbucks that is written all in Korean. Then we went to a coffee house that I saw on TV, We Got Married.

It's super cute called Byeol Da Bang Mi Seu Lee Coffee (별다방미스이) and it's right when you turn into Insadong from An Guk (안국) station Exit 6. You can write a message with your boyfriend/girlfriend and pin it up on this tree or along the walls. With your drink they also give out snacks as well.

Here is Melanie & Tae, Eun Young and Me, My chrysanthemum tea and Me and Mrs. Lee. I had a great time with them. After we also went to noraebang and it was very fun! Even though I took the express train I still didn't get back to school till about 8:30pm or 9:00pm. At this time I was STARVING since I was travelling on the train I didn't really have time for dinner. So when I got back to my dorm I rushed to Haeoreum (the Chinese dorm right beside us) and grabbed a hot dog from New York Hot Dog & Coffee. It was super delicious and cheap! Many students have told me to try it out and I finally did!!!

My New York Chili Cheese Dog =)