Seoul 2016 - Ihwa Mural Village

Ihwa-Dong Mural Village is featured in numerous korean drama and variety shows such as The Rooftop Prince, We got married and so on. This place is actually a residential area which has turned into a tourist spot after the local public art committee carried out a project called Naksan Project to improve its local environment. Approximately 60 artists participated in this project and contribute their artwork on the wall. We only managed to find a few paintings around because the residents has requested to remove some of the paintings due to the flood of tourists which caused noises and disturbance to the residents. The significant staircases with sunflower and fish paintings are nowhere to be seen, I read the news online and found out that it's actually covered by few residents there because they can't stand the annoyance anymore..opps! According to the map, i think there's only 9 paintings left now. Oh ya, we chanced upon this cafe called Milk Gongbang which is famous of their milk soft serve! The ice cream is so cute and it taste awesome too! Im not a fan of milk ice cream so this is really good if i can finish it hahah! 

Ihwa Mural Village

Ihwa-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Direction: Hyehwa Station (Subway Line 4), Exit 2.

Seoul 2016 - Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market

We started our day 2 in Seoul with Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market, one of the Korea's largest seafood markets which opens 24 hours all year round. You can even see the fish auction in the morning if you visit very very (super) early, lol! We are not really into seafood stuff so we decided just to go there and snap some pictures before we head to Gwangjang Market (read my post here). To get to Noryangjin Fish Market, you will need to take the subway and alight at Noryangjin Station and go out from exit 1, walk across the overhead bridge and you will reach a rooftop carpark, just go down from the stairs and you will see the fish market. It's hard to miss the market as you would immediately get the smell once you alight from the train..hahaha! You will be greeted with rows and rows of seafood stalls once you enter the market, almost every stall owner will try to sell you their seafood with all the languages they know..lol! Most of them know how to speak mandarin so there's no communication barrier at all. Many come to Noryangjin fish market to buy the seafood and have them cooked at the restaurants there. You just need to choose the seafood you want and pay at the counter, the stall owner will usher you to the restaurants they partner with and charge you accordingly depends on the cooking method. We didn't have our lunch there because both of us are not really into seafood stuff and we are saving our stomach for Gwangjang Market but it's quite an experience to see the local fish market with all sorts of live seafood around.

Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market
674 Nodeul-ro, Noryangjin 1(il)-dong,
Dongjak-gu, 서울특별시 South Korea
Directions: Noryangjin Station (Seoul Subway Line 1), Exit 1

Seoul 2016 - Gwangjang Market

Gwangjang Market is a must go traditional street market in Seoul which has about 5000 shops and you can find everything here such as local street food, snacks, bags, shoes, hanbok, kimchi, seafood, pots and so on! As a Runningman fans, I make sure I put this in our itinerary because this is the market they visited in the show! We went there in the morning and the market is already flooded with locals and tourists! There's so many stalls selling all kinds of mouthwatering food such as japchae, bindaetteok, kimbap, kimchi, jokbal, bibimbap and so on. One of the must try items in Gwangjang Market has to be the bindaetteok! Bindaettok is a korean style pancake, made of ground mung beans, green onions, kimchi and pepper. We patronised this stall called Soonheenae Bindaetteok which has a bright orangey red signboard and it's the biggest stall among the rest, apparently it's the most popular one with endless crowd.  The bindaetteok is really huge so we just ordered one piece to share. It was so good we finished it in no time..haha! Remember to dip it with their home-made sauce! Gwangjang market is really a good place to go if you want to experience the local food as well as the authentic korean culture.


Gwangjang Market
88, Changgyeonggung-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Directions: Jongno 5-ga Station (Seoul Subway Line 1), Exit 8

SEOUL 2016 VLOG - Part I

Hey guys, just finished editing our seoul vlog part I! Please watch in HD!! Below are just the brief itinerary, I will do up a proper post with more details and pictures (!!) soon, click on the name of the place to read more! Meanwhile, please enjoy the video hehe :D

DAY ONE 

1. Hongdae- Hongik University Street 弘大商圈
-mrt station: Hongik Univ. Station exit 9

2. Hong Kong Banjum 0410 Plus 香港饭店
-mrt station: Hongik Univ. Station exit 9 
-must try: Jjajangmyeon, Tang Suk Yuk 

3. Kiss The Tiramisu
-along Hongdae street 

DAY TWO 

1. Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market 鹭梁津水产市场
-mrt station: Noryangjin Station (Exit 1) 

2. Gwangjang Market 广藏市场
-mrt station: Jongno 5-ga Station (Seoul Subway Line 1), Exit 8 Euljiro 4-ga Station (Seoul Subway Line 2 & 5), Exit 4 
-must try: Soonheenae Bindaetteok 顺熙家绿豆煎饼 

3. Ihwa-dong Mural Village 梨花洞壁画村
-mrt station: Hyehwa Station exit 4 
-must try: Milk Gongbang 牛奶工房 

4. Mukshidonna Tteokbokki Restaurant 摩休敦纳年糕锅
-mrt station: Hongik Univ. Station exit 9 

5. Cafe A:Re
-along Hongdae street 
-must try: Injeolmi tiramisu cake! 

DAY THREE

1. Nami Island 南怡岛
-mrt station: Yongsan Station or Cheongnyangni Station > take ITX train to Gapyeong Station > take shuttle bus or taxi to ferry terminal > take ferry to Nami Island  

2. Hongdae Myth Jokbal 迷思猪脚小姐
-mrt station: Hongik Univ. Station exit 9