astrid I always end up travelling to places that aren’t on my checklist but I ultimately have no regrets. So I spent 9 days in Seoul, South Korea to accompany my little sister for her month-long stay in the country.
She decided to stay in Hongdae area which is where Hong-ik University is located. It’s a very vibrant neighbourhood filled with young people, university students, coffeeshops, restaurants, and a shopping area. Let me take you on a short trip to our neighbourhood:
Hongdae
Located just near Hong-ik Station’s exit 3- this place has two coffeeshops. Cafe Bonjur and Comma Cafe. Cafe Bonjur has really good cheesecake! Upstairs- Comma Cafe is a little artsy nook that features books and artworks from locals.
Just in front of our main hostel, Trick Art Guesthouse – is the pastry shop Cookie Monster Patisserie. Their best seller is their snow cheesecake, and it’s really actually, yes- soooo good.
My only regret is not trying out the newly opened Japanese restaurant beside our first guesthouse. But we did go up the gelato place.
Our guesthouse is only a few blocks away from the station. It’s always a nice walk too. There are many convenience stores and we often end up going home at 1 am and stopping by a GS25 to buy banana milk and ramen.
There is a vendor who sells this eggbun and hoddok. My sister buys hoddok everyday, I prefer these eggbuns. So good! We always miss our hostel’s breakfast so we end up grabbing these on the way to the train station.
So, as we’ve observed- Seoul is such a couple place. There are so many couples everywhere and often they wear matching stuff too. Nakakaloka- maghihiwalay din kayo.
Ehwa
Ehwa is another area that’s very much like Hongdae. Ehwa Women’s University is located here and there are lots of shops that sell bags, shoes, and clothes. My little sister bought her white sneakers here while I bought two of my bags from here. I am so happy- they were exactly what I was looking for.
Of course because I skipped lunch I ended up eating every street food in sight- and I’m not exaggerating.
This is just a quick introduction. I can’t begin to tell you about the wonders of their streetfood or their fashion shops. Basically, I spent my days going around different neighbourhoods.
When I said I’d live like a local- I guess I somehow did because we’d wake up at noon and just hang around and eat.
I’ll come back next time to do more touristy stuff like Nami Island or Namsan Tower but one of the reasons why I didn’t go there was because uhm those places are basically for couples lol.
Things I want to do when I go back:
- Get drunk on soju
- Eat at one of their outside tents
- Go Karaoke- Korean style
- Go clubbing
- Visit the beach/countryside
- Wear a hanbok
- attend Busan Film Festival
- Watch a Kpop Concert
- Meet So Ji-Sub and Joo Jin Mo
- Marry So Ji-Sub
- as per my mom: visit a buddhist temple
- and may i add: Marry So Ji-Sub in a Buddhist Ceremony
- Also, attend Film School in Korea
