After a good night rest at PJ Hotel, we ventured out our second day in Seoul. It was a relatively easy day as we will just be combing Myeondong and visiting the Seoul Tower.
First breakfast at Seoul is not any fanciful cafe or restaurant. I did some research and found a breakfast counter - Issac Toast & Coffee. They will only prepare the food when we ordered and thus, hot pipping sandwich toasts were what we had. There is a very small eating area besides the shop and luck was on us, we managed to 'squeeze' ourselves in it to finish our toast.
Ordering in Seoul was not that smooth as they do not really speak English but pointing to the menu was easy. We jut have to pay attention to the simple English reply they had for us to complete the order.
A simple sandwich toast that attracted long queue - not too bad to start off the day. The sandwiches are worth a try and I guess hot pipping food warmed us up for the walking next.
Direction: Myeongdong Station (Line 4) exit 5, walk straight for 50m and should see the Big Red icon of Issac
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| Isaac Toast & Coffee @ Myeondong |
Myeondong street is really lovely - I like. When in Rome, do what the Romans do. So we decided to put on hanok costumes to act like the Koreans. There is this free trying of the Hanok at M-Plaza,
Just visit the center and make a reservations at the door. We reached there slightly after 10am and there were already a group in front of us. We lazed around the center where there are brochures on Seoul and of course, free wi-fi.
**Details:
M-Plaza, Myeongdong, Jung-gu, Seoul
Phone +82-789-7961
Date(s) Ongoing
Time(s) 10:30 ~ 12:00 / 14:00~18:00
※approx. 5~10 min per group**
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| Myeondong Streets |
After the hanbok shoots, we took some time to hop from shops to shops for some shopping time. Myeondong is really a shopping paradise and you never get sick of it. Only hunger makes you want to stop and take a rest.
Off we went to Myeongdong Kyoja (명동교자) for some comfort food. There was a long queue and we were queuing outside the shop for a short while. But it was not too long that we were directed to a table. We ordered the Kalguksu (hand-rolled noodle soup), Bibim guksu (noodles with vegetables and red hot pepper paste) and Mandu (dumplings). And of course, kimchi is always served on the table, for free!
Personally, I preferred the noodle soup to the dry spicy noodles. It was too dry to my liking. The soup base was great and that goes for the dumplings as well. Do give it a try if you are in Seoul.
Address / Direction:
Main Branch
Myeongdong Station (Seoul Subway Line 4), Exit 8.
Upon exiting the station, turn left onto Myeongdong 10-gil Road. Go straight and the restaurant is on the right.
Myeongdong Kyoja Branch No. 1
From Myeongdong Station (Exit 8), turn left onto Myeongdong 10-gil Road. Go straight and the restaurant is on the left.
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| Mandu , Kalguksu, kimchi and Bibim guksu |
After lunch was time for some cultural experience. We visited the Namsangol Hanok Village. It wasn't really in the planned itinerary, but we just made our way after getting lost while trying to get to N Seoul tower.
Not a bad experience as we managed to see the olden days of how the Koreans lived, the buildings they stayed, the games they played. An interactive village which I thought would be nice for family with kids to visit.
Free entry, by the way.
Address:
28, Toegye-ro 34-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul
Directions:
Subway - Chungmuro Station (Seoul Subway Line 3 & 4), Exit 4.
Walk along Hanongmaeul-gil st. for 5 minutes.
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| Namsangol Hanok Village |
Highlight of the day would be N Seoul Tower. We were pretty early for the evening view and thus, we took a walk up. We just stumbled upon the route up and thus, 'm not able to provide the directions. But the walk was very nice and peaceful. There wasn't many people doing the route and it seems like we 'owned' the place.
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| Nansam Trail |
N Seoul Tower is at the highest point in Seoul and well, a should-visit destination for those hoping to get a panoramic view of Seoul. An iconic symbol of Seoul, this place has now become a popular date spot for couples as they have the love padlocks area outside the tower.
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| Before ending the tower |
Well, for 9,000 won, visit the observatory to get a view of Seoul. There is also a post office at the top where we could grab a postcard, a stamp and sent it back to our loved ones back home. To let them know that they are missed!
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| Inside the tower |
Back to city via the Nansam Cable car and then the Namsan Oreumi. The Namsan Cable Car is a 3-minute cable car ride that runs from the base of Namsan Mountain to N Seoul Tower, offering a splendid view. Then onto the Namsan Oreumi which is a free outdoor elevator that runs between the plaza in front of the Namsan Tunnel #3 Commemorative Plaza and the Namsan Cable Car.
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| After the visit to the tower |
Dinner time at Yoogane. Read that this place is a definite must-try when in Seoul. So we found our way there (p.s. there is a branch now in Singapore after we are back but I have yet to try it). Pretty much a good eating place but the service crew does not really speak English. W have to point and do some charades to get our order done. But after which, the specific service crew will serve us throughout the whole meal .
We ordered the stir-fried chicken and seafood combo. The ingredients was marinated and diced prior to cooking, and was stir-fried with gochujang (chilli pepper paste), assorted vegetables, onions, and rice cakes. We ordered additional rice so that they will fry it after the meat and seafood was cooked. And there it is... Korean fried rice with chicken and seafood. The food was pan-grilled on the spot by the service crew and to prevent splattering, an aluminum sheet circling the pan was in place.
Not too bad a dinner to end off the day.
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| Dinner at Yoogane |
Direction:
Myeong-dong Station. Exit 6. Turn right after Uniqlo and Yoogane is on your left (Near REDEYE).
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