Travel Diary: Korea Winter Wonderland (Part 2)

Hi! I’m back with the second part of my Korea Winter Wonderland trip. Read the first part here. Well now, I’ll continue to day three and four.

Day 3

It was the coldest day in Korea so far. We went to exchange our money at Myungdong. My mom found a good money changer in Myungdong, so I went there as she instruct me to do so. We were supposed to do indoor activities more on that very cold day, but instead we walk around Myungdong, which is a semi-indoor area. It was extremely cold, I couldn’t feel my hand without glove and I didn’t wear a proper warm cloth that day. Nevertheless, it was a fun day. 

When we finished exchange our money, we visited Inissfree Green Café as our first stop. The café is located on the second floor and third floor of the Innisfree biggest shop in Myungdong. It is located to the Lotte Young Plaza side. We warmed ourselves inside the café by ordering a black tea latte and honey lemon tart. It was a very nice warming up snack. The café itself are also nice. I like the ambience and the interior. It felt so warm and homey. I didn’t want to leave.

Green corner everywhere in this Cafe

Christmas Vibes inside

Just acting cute with a nice background

We don't really have much picture together

Honey Lemon Tart & Black Tea Latte

In Korea, mostly we serve ourselves

Not only they sell foods and drinks, they also have a space for watching VR (virtual reality) video. They have 2 scenarios to choose. The most famous one is date with Lee Minho in Jeju Island. Indeed it is very fun! They also have language options; so don’t worry if you don’t understand Korean. I chose English, hoping that Lee Minho speak in English. But, actually it was dubbed, Well, that’s okay since the date is very real and very accelerating. I hope I can see you in the real life, soon. Beside the VR space, they also sell some eco-friendly stuffs, such as notebook, candles, perfume sheets, etc. I bought the perfume sheets, because it smells so good!

On my way seeing Lee Min Ho

After warming up, we are ready to explore Myungdong. We bought some makeup stuffs that we wanted to buy. We visited Etude House, Nature Republic, Olive Young, etc. Fyi, Olive Young is more less the same like Sephora. We bought few interesting stuffs in Olive Young. I’ll make a separate post about my haul. We also visited Style Nanda Pink Hotel and A-Land, my new favorite shop. 

When you have time, you should visit A-Land. I found it fascinating, even though the prices are not on the cheap side. I found about this shop through my friend, who watched Joan Kim’s video. You can check out her video, here. She made a good video, though. By the way, if you go to Myungdong, don't forget to try their street food snacks. I got to try grilled cheese scallop this time. It was quite good, but it's quite expensive though. I don't remember how much it cost, it is around 5,000-8,000 KRW, I think. But the snack or the food matched well with winter season. Yummy!

Trying so hard to use one hand to reply message

The scallopssss! Yummy!

Style Nanda fascinated me because of its interior and its pinkness. HAHA. They sell a good quality products, both makeup and clothing. But the only problem for their clothing line is the size. It is hard for me to buy, because most of them are one-sized. In this branch, they have a rooftop space on the top of the building. As I’ve said before, it was extremely cold, but we still trying to go to their rooftop and sat for a while. Even, we ate triangle kimbab (onigiri) on that rooftop. (it was shown in my travel diary video, watch here). 

Mirror selfie

Laundry Room @ Style Nanda Pink Hotel

Hello Gorgeous!

Matching with my scarf

 

Eating Triangle Kimbab at a rooftop on -9 Degree weather

Then, we off for dinner! We ate at School Food, because it I can find it easily and that is what came to my mind. We ordered my favorite menu, which are, Butter rice bibimbab and Ddeokbokki Carbonara. Then, we head off home! 

Uwa~ 맛이겠다!

Day 4

The next day, I promised my cousin to help her at her church. I was asked to brief the volunteers who will be going to Batam and Singapore on February about Indonesia overall. I thought it was just a 2 people meeting, but it turns out that the whole team was there! Suddenly, I’ve become the center of attention and my Korean suddenly became stuttered,
Anyways, before I met with my cousin, I stopped by at the Seoul Station. We took few photos on that famous spot in Korea and also bought some breads and hot coffee as our breakfast. 

Acting as a "tourist"

Cute Christmas-themed Cup

After the meet-up at my cousin’s church, we headed to Ehwa University. Because, I said to her before, I wanted to walk around the neighborhood. We ate our dinner over there. The restaurant we chose is quite famous for the youngster, because it is located on university area. The restaurant we ate called Bul-bab. They served spicy stew, which you can choose what kind of meat you want inside, such as chicken, octopus, pork, or all of them. The price is pretty reasonable. They have various add-ons, such as, dang-myeon (glass noodles), udon, ramyun, fried dumplings, etc. They sell a package menu, which is the stew, steamed egg, and rice. It is a full course meal and it was very fulfilling dinner. I really liked it. No wonder it is nominated as a mat-jib a.k.a a recommended restaurant. 

My cousin (left), me, my friend, and the food!

After dinner, we stroll around Ehwa area and visited the university. Ehwa University is my dream school since the first time I went there. I wish I can study there in the future! We visited Artbox and bought some random stuffs, such as socks, Christmas and other greetings card, and some magic cleaner stick. 

Ehwa Women University, My Dream School

Taken on my 2012 visit!

The view at night

With my cousin, I look fat.... T_T

A little bit blurry, but that's okaayyy

By the ways, I have a sad story regarding Ehwa University. At the time, I went there, Park Seojun held his fanmeeting at Ehwa University’s hall! My friend and I didn’t realized about it until we saw some girls holding a souvenir from Park Seojun fanmeet! We both were really sad about it because we realized late and we didn’t buy the tickets. T_T 

After the stroll and the bitter fact we got, we went home! But on the way home, we stopped by at Street Churros. It is a quite famous churros shop in Korea. Even though we felt so full, but there's always a space for dessert! Churros is so perfect for winter season, especially when it was still hot (freshly made). After we finished eating our dessert, we really went back home. Oh, by the way I got to see this view and take a photo of it. *feel proud*

Dongdaemun Fashion Complex at Night.

Well, that’s all for now. I’ll post up something new as soon as possible. I’m going to have exams next week. So, be patient, okay? Thank you so much for reading till this part! Love you guyss! Have a nice day! 

P.S: Most of my picture was taken with iPhone 6 and Fujifilm XT10 (Thanks Jesse for taking picture of me with your new camera! love yaaa)

Bonus picture! Taken with an amazing camera *wink*

Details:

Innisfree Green Cafe 
15, Myeongdong-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul
서울특별시 중구 명동길 15 (명동1가)
Phone: +82-2-776-0117
Website: innisfree.co.kr

How to get there: Take Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station (Line 2), Exit 5.
Go to Citi Bank Korea Myeong-dong Branch (40m).
Turn right and continue walking for 225m, after which the store will be seen.

(credit to: visitkorea.or.kr)
or
Take Myungdong Station, Exit 6, then go straight until you see Myungdong Theater, then turn left, then go straight, until you see CGV, Innisfree Green Cafe is on your right side (2nd floor).
  
Style Nanda Pink Hotel
37-8 Myeongdong 8-gil, Chungmuro 2(i)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul
Phone: +82 2-752-4546
Website: stylenanda.com
  
How to get there: Take MRT to Myungdong Station, Exit 6. Around 200m, you can find this pink shop. You need to turn left to an alley from the exit.    

School Food
Address: 83-5 Myeongdong 2(i)-ga, Jung-gu (M Plaza 5th Floor)
Phone: +82 2-727-3377

How to get there: Take MRT to Myungdong Station, Exit 6. Then, find Zara, the door to M Plaza is next to Zara.
 
Bul Bab
Address: 60-51 Daehyeon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Phone: +82 2-362-9833
(To know more about the menu: https://www.trazy.com/spot/320/bulbab-%EB%B6%88%EB%B0%A5-restaurant-cafe)

How to get there: Take MRT to Ewha Women University Station, Exit 3. Then turn a little bit to left side then go straight, then when you saw an alley on your right, turn right. Then if you see a steep street, you are on the right track. The restaurant is on your left side.
 
Street Churos (Wangsimni Branch)
Address: 1-99 Haengdang-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Phone: +82-6010-1414 
Website: streetchurros.com (English)

How to get there: Take to Wangsimni Stn, Exit 6, then go to the right, then turn left, the straight for a couple of minutes.
or 
For Sindang Branch (the one I went), Take to Dongdaemun History & Cultural Park, exit 2, then cross the road, then go straight, it will be on your right.