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.  
  

Travel Diary: Korea Winter Wonderland (Part 1)

2016 was amazing! (See other reasons why 2016 are amazing, here) I went to Korea twice and the second trip I did was on winter season. I went there with my friend, which it is our first duo trip ever. We used to be in a same room whenever we went for school trips, but never go for a trip together. We randomly planned for this trip earlier in 2016. It was supposed to be a 3 girls trip, but one of my friend couldn’t join us because she already got a job and she couldn’t take a leave. 

Well since we went by ourselves, without our parents, this trip was kinda spendthrift. Sometimes we bought some useless stuff and procrastinate where our money gone and some other girl problem that only girls know. Nevertheless, it was a very exciting and fun trip. Since, I spend 11 days for this trip, I’ll divided the blog post into 5 parts, each part consist of 2 days. This is the same with the travel diary video. You can watch the video here. And you can read my previous story when I went to Korea last April with my mom, here. 

Day 1

Usually I took Garuda Indonesia flight whenever I go to Korea. But this time, I took Singapore Airlines (SQ) because I got a cheaper price. The departure date I chose was extremely expensive with Garuda Indonesia. So, this time I chose another airline. It is my first time using SQ and experiencing transit. It was okay since we stopped at Changi Airport, one of the world’s best airport. We have 3 hours before we took off to Korea. We got some shopping vouchers, SGD 20, for each of us for free from SQ. So, if anyone of you used SQ and have a stopover in Changi, don’t forget to claim a voucher from them. 

Well, on the first day of our trip was mostly spent on airport and aircraft. Eating, watching, and talking are most of our activities. I think we ate like 4 times a day, until we don’t want to eat anymore. By the way, SQ’s in-flight meals are quite nice. I liked all of the meals they gave. The downside is they don’t serve hot bread. Indeed, that is why SQ recognized as one of the best airline.
My uncle picked me up this time, because we arrived quite late and the airport bus has stopped running. From the airport, we went straight to my aunt’s apartment around Dongdaemun area. I really liked living there, even though I’ve never tried living around Gangnam area or other tourist area. 

Flying with SQ!

Pikachu Christmas Tree @ Changi Airport

Day 2

On our first day, we started our day with a nice and sweet Korean strawberry and some our Burger King take-away leftovers. Yeah, our breakfast was kinda lame, but that’s okay because we can have more space to fill-in our tummy. Actually, we want to go to Gwangjang Market to have our brunch there. But, since I never went there and my cousin doesn’t explain it clearly how to go there, I use the direction from the internet. But then, I was lost. By the way, Google Maps doesn’t work in Korea, you should download Korean maps, such as Naver Maps. Then we just went for Cold Noodles or Naengmyeon, because it is what we saw and I’ve ate there before. It is the same cold noodles I ate last April. 

At Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Exit 13

Then, we off to Gangnam area, specifically, Cheongdam-dong a.k.a Korean Beverly Hills Rodeo. It was my first time to that area by subway and walk through the road by foot. The reason we went to the most luxurious area in Korea is we want to have our hair cut. We are going to have a K-makeover at Jenny House Salon. It is a salon of several Korean celebrity such as, Park Shinye, Song Jihyo, etc. But, unfortunately we didn’t saw any celebrity at the time we visited. It was extremely cold and we lost our way again because of Google Maps again. Actually it doesn’t very hard to find the salon, but the intersections were little bit confusing. We were afraid to enter the salon actually. We are a little bit shy and have a bit of burden, because the salon is quite famous and it charge quite high. In the end, we entered. We were assisted by a nice lady, who can speak English and she used to lived in Indonesia! So, she can speak a little Indonesian. At first we ask about the price, the lowest one is 66,000 KRW. But, we paid 77,000 KRW because the hairstylist handled us were charged at that price. Actually, I’m okay with the price, but I’m kinda disappointed that I didn’t feel really changed my hairstyle. I feel like just cutting my hair, not doing a makeover. Next time, I’ll just go to the salon around Ehwa or Hongdae area. I think they have a better price for a standard cutting.

Home to Luxurious Brand, Cheongdam-dong

Infinite Gangnamdol

Getting ready for the makeover

K-makeover on the process

TADA!

excuse our mirror selfie, becos the toilet was awesome

Taking photo infront of Bvlgari Christmas Tree

Pretty Street Lights

Oh! Happy Winter!

On the bright side, we’ve got to try how luxurious Korean Salon is! They gave us robe and they kept our coats and bags in a room. But the downside is they don’t give us free drink. Even in the cheapest salon in Indonesia, give their customer a glass of water. Well, at least I’ve experience it and I will remember how fun it is to have a lot of money, especially in Cheongdam-dong. 

After that makeover, we went for dinner at Sindang Ddeokbokki Town, to eat the ddeokbokki eaten by YongSeo couple. When they shoot WGM, they have visited one ddeokbokki restaurant (watch it here), and that makes my friend wants to try it. She is a fan of Yonghwa, so she wants to eat what Yonghwa have eat with Seohyun on that program. But, after I rechecked, the restaurant we ate was different. I was mistaken by the similar name. The restaurant name I've visited is Maboknim Grandma and the one YongSeo Couple went is Maboknim Grandma Last's Son. But, basically the menu and the food was pretty much the same. The portion was huge! We ordered the 2 pax portion actually, but it came out that big. We barely finished it, but since both of us haven’t ate anything since the brunch time, we finished it all. The food was okay, not really wow like how it looks like maybe, because we didn’t really know how to cook or mix it properly. The server didn’t explained it to us also, so we’re both just mixing it up and then eat it. 

Believe me it's a 2 person portion

Because we thought that it is too early to go back home, we stopped by at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP). We went inside and spotted the design art market shop. Then, we stroll around it, spotted a lot of cute stuff that I wanted to buy. After that, we went back home and we were asked to have chi-maek, or chicken and beer, at home. I said okay, and we both eat again after that spoonful of dinner. HAHA. 

Design Art Market @ DDP

We ate, talk, and watch The Legend of the Blue Sea together (oh yes Lee Minho is such an eye candy!), then we went back to our room. Watching some vlogs in Korea, then we slept. We have a long day ahead tomorrow, since the next day is the coldest day ever.

Thank you for reading it all till this point. Do wait for the next part! See you soon.

Details:

Jenny House

28, Apgujeong-ro 75-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

서울특별시 강남구 압구정로75길 28 (청담동)

How to: Apgujeong Rodeo Station (Seoul Subway Bundang Line), Exit 2. Go straight for 200m and turn left at Louis Quatorze. Continue for 100m. Jenny House Primo will be on the right.

Ojangdong Hamheung Naengmyun

108, Mareunnae-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul
서울특별시 중구 마른내로 108 (오장동)  

Telp: +82-2-2267-9500

Maboknim Grandma Ddeokbokki

5, Dasan-ro 35-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul
서울특별시 중구 다산로35길 5 (신당동)

Telp: +82-2-2232-8930

How to: Sindang Station, exit #8. Then just go straight until you see a gate, Sindang Ddeokbokki Town, and the restaurant will be on your left.

 

LIFE: What I’ve Learned and Thankful for in 2016

I believe all of you agree with the fact that time flies so fast. 2016 is coming to end and I thought it is proper to share you what I’ve learned and thankful for this year. I hope things I’ve learned can help each one of you to be a better person. People said that you didn’t have to experience it to learn it. But sometimes, learning by experiencing is much more striking us, I guess. Since not all experience is a good one, so it is better to learn horrible experience without experiencing it, right? 

1. TIME MANAGEMENT

The first thing and most important thing I’ve learned this year is time management. I was terribly disappointed with my self because of my bad time management. I used to do well on my assignment, but this year I felt that I didn’t do a great job because I didn’t do it properly due to bad time management. I also missed lots of things because of it. I just hate my self for managing time badly this year. Guys, don’t waste your time just because you mismanaged it. Learn to be discipline and have the mindset that time is an important asset in your life and once you lost it, you can’t find it back. 

2. BE A SMART SOCIAL MEDIA USER

Social media is important these days, but sometimes I feel that it is the one who took a lot of my time. HAHA. I should reduce my time in scrolling down those timeline on social media. Also, it distracted me a lot. It affected my relationship with real people and created envy toward others. I’ve learned to use social media platform as a bridge to connect with people I rarely met, develop creative content, give impact and share love, and support my friends. So, as a social media user, be a smart one, use the positive side of social media, and have a positive thinking while using it. 

3. DISAPPOINTMENT IS PART OF LIFE

Other things I’ve learned is it is okay to be disappointed, even with other people or yourself. Life is not always perfect, there are some bumpy side. But after all, you’ve got to face it and move forward. The thing is, you should not let the disappointment overcome you. You’ve got to stand up as soon as possible, let your disappointment become your source of energy to do better. 

4. PRAY AND TRUST GOD IN EVERY CONDITION

It is hard actually to overcome disappointment by yourself. But for me, I find God is the only one who can untangle your disappointment and create it as a good one. Pray is the only answer for your disappointment. I am the type of person who is not really like to share my problem to others, even to the closest ones. So, the only one who knows my problem without asking me is God. That’s the reason I rely God whenever I’m happy or sad. 

Oh!I found this thing on Facebook recently, click here. Maybe it help you to grow to be a better person. 

For the things I’m thankful for this year are the opportunity to travel, my friends achievements on finishing their education and got their first job, able to help in developing my juniors’ skill in guiding, and my family keep on being together. 

Hello there N Seoul Tower!

Trying to look cool along the mural in Ihwa Mural Village, Korea

Me with the flowers inside the Gardens Bay, Singapore

Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

Water Castle, Yogyakarta

With the beautiful girls of mine and amazing scenery in Yogyakarta

Ubud, Bali

The "hits" Nalu Bowls. Bali

Winter Wonderland in Korea

Taking photo in -8 degree on the Rooftop of Style Nanda Myungdong, Korea

This year probably is the most frequent I went for traveling. On April I went to Korea (read my story here) , on June I went to Singapore, on August I went to Yogyakarta, on October I went to Bali, and on December I went to Korea again. I really had the opportunity this year to traveling. I can’t wait to have another adventure next year. 

I was supposed to be finished my university life this year, but due to my double degree program, I couldn’t finish it this year. So, some of my friends finished it first. I was happy for them to finally finishing off their school days. They didn’t have the burden to have exam every 3 months and pay the tuition. Most of them who have been in the job world, they want to go back to university. I know how it feels, but the only thing that I don’t like about going to school is the exam. I like taking classes, but hate to do the exam. I think most of us feel the same, right? Anyway, Congratulations my friends! May you have an enjoyable job and great future ahead! 

Not really the guiding part, but it is one part of my Bali adventure with those kiddos

This year I got another opportunity to help my lecture to teach my junior how to be a tour guide and planning a tour. I went to Bali not only for refreshing, but also to be an examiner. Like what I did 2 years ago in Bali, we had to do our guiding for around 20-30 minutes about a particular topic. I help my lecture to do the scoring and train them how to delivering it. It was one of the best achievements I’ve done this year. Travel diary will be uploaded soon! 

Not the best quality of photo, but at least we are together. They are my cousin from my mom's side and my grandpa

My Korean Family

Lastly, I’m thankful for my family. My mom’s side family is still complete. Well, from my dad’s side, we just lost our grandma last August. But on the bright side, my long-lost cousin is back with us again. He cut-off contact with us. But, since my grandma passed away, he came back and connected with us again. After all, people will go and come, but the most important thing is to stick together with your family no matter what. 

I hope all of you have great days in 2016. If there is something you wanted to share with me, you can always comment it down below! I wish you have a great year ahead and live the life you wanted in 2017. God bless you all! Love ya!