Day 11 / 12 : Last days in Seoul

Day 11 was when my stomach failed me. I woke up to a nice sunny winter's day but my gut had a mind of its own this time and decided to relieve all the contents for the next 24 hours. Therefore I stayed in bed and only replenished myself with sport liquids. forever cursing the doughnut I had from Paris Baguette.

Obviously I had no photos, so here is a cartoon which represented the day (with some censoring).

The next day, or our final day in Seoul was more promising. Thankfully I didn't miss out on walking through the streets of the Ehwa Shopping district. This is a must-go place for young shoppers, with its affordable and stylish clothing boutiques, accessories, hair salons and small cafes to chill out (which I did in a 2 storey cafe surrounded by clothing boutiques (view captured below)).

I won't bore you with the shopping details, but one place that I've been meaning to visit was an animal cafe. They're pretty popular in Asian countries, and after some research I found a couple of dog cafes, cat cafes, and even one sheep cafe. I went for the dog one and chose Bau House which could be reached on foot from Hongdae. Due to the many positive reviews online, I couldn't wait to visit it as my last tourist destination in Seoul. Location wise, the cafe is very convenient since it's close to Hapjeong station. At Exit 3, we had to backtrack a bit to find the sign to the cafe leading to the back of a high rise building. Fortunately I recognized the picture of the dog silhouette representing the cafe.

Because the cafe is not directly visible it can be hard to find, particularly since the entrance is at the back. After coming down the small alleyway, the clear window panels revealing the warm interior can be seen with the business name printed at the bottom of the door.

 

Upon entering the cafe, we were greeted at the front reception and asked whether we wanted to be with the small dogs (front room) or big dogs (back room). Below is the front part of the cafe.

 

We chose to be with the big dogs in the back half of the cafe, and sat ourselves down as we ordered our drinks. At first I though the place would be smelling slightly of dog excrement, but instead the air was smelling of disinfectant. The reason for it was self explanatory as the workers clean the floors with a mop constantly, and heavily disinfect and clean the areas where the dogs have relieved themselves. So no not all dogs seemed to be potty trained but at least there were plenty of workers ready to clean their mess up. 

The price of the tea may seem higher than usual (and it wasn't super special tea either), but part of the money goes towards the upkeep of the animals. 

 

 Being a weekday, I was surprised at how many people visited the cafe still. It was a popular place for foreigners too, and many including myself couldn't help but purchase some dog snacks and treats from the counter so that the dogs can pay attention to us lol. Oh yeh, these dogs are spoilt rotten with many visitors every day, so they're pretty immune to all the attention given to them. If you want a group of dogs coming your way, just hold out some snacks in your hand, otherwise they won't give you the time of day!

Below is Bau, the beautiful dog who seems to be the leader of the pack and belongs to the owner. The cafe provides the list of dogs and their photos and names residing in the cafe so you can call them by their name (not that they respond so much unless you have food).

 Most of the dogs there were gentle and approachable, although it's always a good idea to not force yourself on them if they don't feel comfortable. They're allowed to freely roam around the entire area, jump on seats and onto the side ledges as if the building is their own.

 Time spent at the cafe is unlimited, but by lunchtime we needed to eat so we popped out and had pasta at Han's Deli. I found their pasta sauces to be quite light with less of the tomato pungent taste.

 By late afternoon, we headed back to our hotel to pack our luggage and took the taxi to the Best Western Airport Hotel so that we can catch the early morning flight to Taiwan the next day. Compared to all the accommodations we stayed at, the queen size beds and the enormous rooms were the most extravagant, and the price didn't lie either! However since it was our last night we just had to call room service for dinner, something I don't normally do so it was a little bit exciting.

 

Bimbimbap set and creamy mushroom soup.

Day 10 : Busan tour

I woke up to a sunny clear day in Busan as the start of the new year 2015. The view outside the hotel pretty much represents the city as a litter of buildings surrounded by high mountains and the sea. Today we were going to continue exploring Busan before returning to Seoul.

 

For breakfast we ventured out to the streets where virtually no store was opened besides restaurants and some cafes. In comparison to the busy atmosphere in the afternoon and evenings, mornings before 11am turned the streets into a ghost town. 

We came across this famous chain restaurant known for their chicken ginseng soup so we decided to try it out. Their standard ones for 14 000W are a huge stone pot of ginseng soup with chicken stuffed with ginseng and rice. Unfortunately the flavor was pretty bland compared to their Seoul counterparts.

The first destination we visited was Igidae Park, where we can take a picturesque view of Busan and its famous Gwangsan or Diamond Bridge. I followed the directions from this website where it outlines the trail from the train station in Namcheon to Igidae Park (http://cityawesome.com/busan1/2011/10/a-walk-through-igidae/). It was pretty easy to follow, but it did get a bit confusing once we reached the intersection after MegaMart. Below is a photo of where we stood and looking back after heading straight past the intersection and under the Gwangandaegyo bridge above us. We then crossed the lower bridge and up on the pink wooden boardwalk on the left hand side facing the coast.

As we continued walking, we slowly left the city behind us.

Gwangandaegyo bridge towards Haeundae

Off in the distance was a trapezoid looking glass building on top of the cliff, which was where we're heading.

Once we scaled past the coastline, we had to walk up the hill to get to the viewing area at the edge of the small cliff that overlooks the northern side of Busan. In the photo below, that's below the glass building (which was called 'The View'). In terms of the weather, it looked nice and sunny but the real chill came from the wind >.< 

Below is the view that we came for at Dongsaengmal Observatory. On the left is the Diamond Bridge, and on the far right is Haeundae Beach. The entire journey took us 30 minutes.

Although we didn't walk the entire course, we strolled across the boardwalk that's built on the edge of the coast.

By the time we turned back, I was very keen to take the taxi after all that walking to our next destination: Gamcheon Culture Village. If not taxi, there are other ways to get there such as either 1) training to Toseng station and taking the bus (Bus 2 or 2-2) in front of the hospital or 2) taxi after arriving at Toseng station.

The village is known to be the artistic and crafty side of Busan, where their cute colorful houses stacked on the mountainside facing the sea is iconic to the area. It was constructed by refugees during the Korean War, and later locals and artists decorated the town as a conservation art project.
Because it was a popular tourist area for locals and foreigners, a trail map was provided for us as a guideline to explore what the town has to offer. At the very start of the trail, we came across these thin toffee candy. Initially the owner makes them in a circle and a shape is pressed in the center. What's fun about this is that customers will use pins (shown on the left) to try and pry out the shape without breaking it. It's actually harder than it sounds, and it depends on the shape. Usually the owners will give them away for free if the customer can avoid breaking it (sadly we broke ours, but the result was still nice and sweet).

Another snack we came across were red bean cakes in the shape of cute turtles. Below is the photo of the owner quickly squeezing bags of red bean filling onto the cake batter before snapping shut the cooking plate to heat them.

I really wanted to take more shots of this statue, but there were people waiting behind us so I only took this one shot of the little prince, based on the French novel "The Little Prince" overlooking the village.

As we ventured our way further up the village, we came across the observation tower, which serves as the perfect point to soak in the sight of the entire town and its charm.

Walking down the stairs can be super scary since it's a very steep way down.

Since we had to take the KTX back to Seoul at 5pm from Busan station, the tour around Gamcheon was cut short in order to head back to our hotel and grab our luggage. Once again, we bought bread from the bakeries at Busan station for lunch. It's really not hard to miss a chain bakery in Korea. 

Back at Seoul, it was already dark and we were tired from our train ride. The taxi brought us to our new lodgings at Gyengbokgung where we stayed at a traditional style house (https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/1734950). This house was located in a small alleyway but its wooden traditional style doors luckily gave it away.

 

The entrance taken in the morning

In terms of the room, even though it's made for 3 people, personally I think it should fit 2 because it can easily become very cramped. The bedding was surprisingly heavy, so setting it up on the floor whilst we were tired and sleepy was a 'challenge'.

The living room was very nice, fitted with dozens of the owner's books, a laptop for guests to use, TV, electric kettle, water, tea, coffee and cups. Each room has its own bathroom, and the house fits about 4 families.

Although despite it all, tragedy struck. I was food poisoned by a doughnut that I bought at Paris Baguette so for the next 24 hours, my experience in this part of Korea was halted and became a nightmare. GARGHHHHHHH!!!

Day 9 : Seafood and Spa Land in Busan

It was time to leave Seoul again and head south-east down to Busan, the second largest metropolitan city after Seoul. We woke up super early to take the taxi so that we could avoid peak traffic towards Seoul Station. At the station we had our breakfast (I had donuts from Dunkin' Donuts...not traditional but I really wanted to try it for the first time so why not?) before boarding our train at 9.30. There were plenty of cafes and bread stores so it's a good idea to grab a bite there if you're heading off early.

 

The interior of the train was very snug and clean, with nice cushioned seats for the long ride. There was also a place to store our luggage near the doors. All the seats are assigned, with fold down tables, a foot rest and coat hangers next to the windows.

And unlike Melbourne trains, the KTX leaves at 9.30 on the dot.

 Along the trip, a food cart would wheel through with drinks and snacks (chips, sausages, dried food, etc). Although we didn't purchase any, we had our famous flavoured drinks on hand. Below are the strawberry, banana and melon flavored milk. Banana is still my favorite =)

It took 2.5 hours to reach Busan, and during that time there were lovely views of the countryside covered with snow (although most of the time I spent dozing off to catch up on sleep). There were many passengers on the train, with a mixture of families, army boys and workers heading across the countryside.

Upon arrival at Busan station (below was the entrance we came out of), we rented the lockers on the side so that we could leave our big luggage inside. Our original plan was to leave them at Seoul station, but since they were all taken so quickly we had hoped to see some in Busan.

 

Each locker costs 3000W to open, then once the bags are stored it's 3000W to close. The key is kept on hand until we return.

 

The photo only shows one corner of the station, the actual interior was huge. We had to walk across the station in order to exit from the right side where the main road and taxis were. So if you came out from the side where it looks quiet and bare, that's the 'wrong' side.

 

Coming out of Busan station was a large courtyard, and to the left were a group of silver taxis waiting.

The hotel we booked - Aventree - was relatively new and located smack bang in the middle of a busy shopping district. The hotel actually shares the building with a shopping center, but the entrance was off to the side.

The room was pretty spacious for us 3, and clean with the typical bathroom facilities, bottled water, tea/coffee and kettle.

Behold our window view! Afar was the Lotte Mall. Off to the left where I didn't take a photo of was the Busan tower on a hill. It didn't seem much as first but tonight on New Years Eve, a fireworks display will be held next to the tower...so luckily we had the view!

After a short settle in, we decided to head off to the famous Jagalchi Fish Market, the largest fish market in Korea. Luckily it was close by so we walked through the city towards the harbor. Google Maps helped a lot here =)

Down at Jagalchi station, it wasn't hard to follow the signs and exit towards the market.

 

Also down at the station we came across some delicious snacks. Below are barley walnut cookies that were soft and warm to bite into with a rich walnut filling center.

Outside the exit, we were greeted with tents of Korea street snacks. The smell, the color, the warmth, the aroma...it was all there.

Before entering the indoor market, the whole harbor was lined with numerous seafood stores displaying their fresh produces. The pathway was busy with tourists and locals, and the air smelled very strongly of fresh seafood mingled with the voices of the owners announcing their prices. Many of the store owners were middle-aged/married women, or so-called "Jagalchi Ajjumas".

Another snack we grabbed was this sausage wrapped with seaweed and deep-fried fish patter. SO GOOD.

Finally we made it inside the indoor fish market, where you get to see live produces in tanks, ready to be sold.

 

Upstairs was the restaurant area, where each restaurant were lined up down the entire floor. I think the menus were all pretty similar, or the prices might be different, but either way you'll get owners trying to lure you into sitting on their table. I recommend sitting by the window where you can enjoy scenery of Busan's coast. We however didn't because the lady speaking Chinese to us was very very insistent that their store was the best lol. It was also closest to the stairs entrance, so easy targets.

Many side dishes were given to us, including garlic, kelp, peppers, cabbage with hot sauce, carrots, peas, sweet potato, raddish, spinach and of course, kimchi.

And voila, this was what we ordered. We dared to have 2 dishes of raw seafood and 1 combo hotpot.

 

Ahh the raw octapus in sesame oil. Most of the tentacles were still moving =p I didn't want it to become stuck in my mouth so my method was to quickly chew and swallow!

Also randomly picked up the eye

The second raw dish, and the most expensive one, was the raw abalone, sea cucumber and sea squirt. Apparently it's a common dish for locals and very good for their overall health. Personally it wasn't really my favorite, the feeling was just squishy and...raw...I'd rather stick with the raw octopus.

The best dish though was the seafood hot pot. The combination of mussels, prawns, clams, radish and probably other crustaceans made the soup extra extra aromatic. It's a top favourite for any seafood fan.

From Jagalchi, we trained our way to Haeundae beach, the most famous beach in S Korea. Because it was New Year Eve, locals flocked there to watch the sunset. Fortunately the skies were clear so the scenery was beautiful.

For the rest of the evening we headed over to Centum City to do only one thing: Relax in Spa Land. This is a huge center that contains a large traditional spa and various saunas.

 

Prices vary according to age and time of entry and day, but since it was weekday and before 8pm we paid the full price of 13000W. After paying, we went up the escalators and the system starts there. First we went to the shoe rack area to deposit our shoes in our assigned locker and kept the key. This key was used to enter through the gates and into the facility. Later on we can use this key to pay for any foods, drinks or other extra services. 

At a counter they gave us thick red cotton t-shirt and brown shorts to change into, along with 2 hand towels. Then we moved to the change rooms where we could change and store our belongings in our numbered lockers.

One thing that was quite an eye opener was that in the change rooms, everyone seems to be un-fazed about each other's nakeness. I on the other hand reacted the complete opposite, so I marched my way to the toilets to change and avoided going into the spa area where you can't wear anything but your own birthday suit. 

Obviously only the spa area was separated by gender, so the saunas and relaxation area were mixed with men and women in the same red-brown cotton attire.  The place was surprisingly huge, and had a nice ambiance that makes your whole body relax once you step into the building. 

The relaxation room was pretty much a wide warm tiled floor area for visitors to relax after coming out from the sauna. Here we can also order food nearby and eat and chat on the floor. There are also other relaxation areas where they have large recliner chairs with individual TV screens, newspapers and magazine available.

In the relaxation room we ordered a bowl of red bean shaved ice and boiled eggs

There are 13 themed sauna or Jjimijibang rooms, each uniquely styled and at different temperatures. Below is the Roman Room.

And yep there are those that go up to 63.4C...

I have to confess, it was really hard to leave the place since we got so comfortable. When we did and changed back into our attire, all I wanted to do was to crawl into bed and sleep. Because we were still full from those eggs and shaved ice, we only bought some street snacks on our way back to the hotel. The chicken skewers are worth a try, and even in this type of weather, the tall soft cones too!

The streets were full of Christmas lights, and everyone was out to enjoy a stroll and later on the fireworks. Sadly I didn't get a good shot of fireworks, but watching them from our hotel room, it was a marvelous sight and feeling as the year 2015 rolled in.