For my South Korea journey, I want to share as much with you as possible because I had a great time and did quite alot of things, thanks to my friends who were there 🙂

Hope this will serve as a guide for all of you when you visit Seoul as a tourist, don’t want you to be hoodwink into just going to touristy locations!

So, our first non-tourist destination thanks to Jamie Liew  , a Malaysian friend who’s currently studying there is HONGDAE! How do you get there exactly?

Easiest way: Take the subway to the Hongik University stop, exit Station 9! Try not to take the cabs especially during peak hours because most of the cabs we got into couldn’t understand english, and some even tried to cheat us by taking us a lonnng way!

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Once you exit the subway, exit 9, ask for Hongdae, you can basically see people walking towards a certain direction because it is a very busy and happening area for the “young”. A snapshot of Hongdae behind us, at the start of the street.

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Jamie brought us to a hole in the wall place that served a local dish called “Bosam” ! Most famous stall in that area for this dish.

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Had extremely tiny tables, but I definitely felt at home.. love local places like these instead of those tourists spots that rip you off..

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Ta-da, simple dish of steam pork, wrapped in lettuce, and kimchi! Most Koreans eat it just like that without rice, but I definitely needed the rice to keep me full. However, I can understand why many eat it without rice because it is extremely filling after a few bites.. Very tender pork and there’s no porky taste…melts in your mouth..

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One thing Koreans really like – hanging out at COFFEE SHOPS!

You will get to see cute coffee shops of different designs, such as made to look like  book store, boutique, pretty palace, etc along Hongdae but Jamie chose to take us to a famous coffee shop that filmed Boa’s Music Video..

It seems like a converted warehouse..

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Al-fresco sitting area

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Our yummy dirnks.. the famous drink there is green tea latte. Most of their coffee’s aren’t as good as places like Espresso Lab, or Mukha BUT it’s the ambience that appeals to everyone..

Day 2 : Hongdae AGAIN!

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Yeap, it’s that good that we came back to try something different…Korean bbq chicken at a place called Han Pan.

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Huge platter of two different types of chicken, one with bbq saucem the other fried! Both had extremely flavourful taste

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Packed to the brim, it was more of a bar as well because they only served chicken and beer!

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Our last stop, a no rae bang which is a Karaoke! Their karaoke’s are different, where they decorate each room in a unique way, like a princess room, disco room, closet, and anything you can think of.

They charge per hour per room… we went at 10pm and the charge was about 25 USD per hour, but if you go before 6pm, it’s only 10 USD per hour.

Add in extra 1 USD per person and you get unlimited popcorn, drinks and ice cream! awesssoommeeee…

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Our huge room for three people!!!!! Sung to our hearts content!

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That’s the end of our journey at Hongdae for two nights but it was an amazing experience with the shopping, no rae bang, coffee shop, and food in one location! Thank you Jamie for taking us there 🙂

Remember guys, if you take a cab after 12pm over there, there’s no such thing as extra charge, ask them to follow the meter and don’t be conned!

Stay tune for more Seoul and Jeju updates…

xoxo

Mei Sze