Gwangjang Market

Welcome to Gwangjang market!!!! 

This is the best place to be especially if you are looking for a good place where the local Koreans go and dine. Name it and Gwangjang market has it.  Gwangjang Market is one of Korea’s oldest traditional markets with over 100 years of history. Locals come here for quality silk goods, bedding, fabric, hanbok and clothing shopping. From 6pm onwards, the shops close but the food market starts to become lively.

** Lots of food stalls everywhere.  Look to the left and right. They all have them here. 

 ** A kind of Korean pancake  I guess ^ ^

 There's more here. Exotic foods ranging from pig's feet, intestines,  boiled rice with pig's blood and way more than  the mind can imagine.

 ** Usually, the normal Ajumma ( Korean word for mother) is the one serving you their local foods. Quite an experience absolutely. 

 ** This is my ultimate favorite. They call this sushi bomb. People eat this all like a bomb, like eating it in 1 go. Another interesting experience. 

TIPS and IMPORTANT information

Gwangjang Market

Getting Here:

Jongno 5-ga station (subway line 1), exit 8

Eujiro 5-ga station (subway line 2,4), exit 4

Operating Hours: 10am to 6pm except Sunday (shops), 6pm till late daily (food stalls)

The 1998 Olympic Park Seoul

September 29, 2015

Olympic Park(올림픽공원 in Korean) in south-eastern part of Seoul is just huge. I do not know what else I can say about its size and composition. The park was built to commemorate the 1998 Seoul Olympics. 
The park is so big, that it’s been divided into 4 areas. The Cultural Art Park, Leisure Sports Park, Environmental Eco-Park and the History Experience Park.

Today's agenda was to to have a picnic here in their park. Good thing Jason and Suri brought along some mat for us to sit comfortably and relax. 

**The famous alone tree ^ ^

The Leisure Sports Park has a sports square, which is used by many locals for exercising. The Leisure Sports Park also the Peace Square, which has a variety of activities and sports lessons.

The park is open throughout the year, and does not have an admission. Operating hours are 5 am to 10 pm, though the plaza is open until midnight.

How to get to Olympic Park

Address

1. 424 Olympic-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul 
2. 
   

http://www.olympicpark.co.kr/jsp/english/index.jsp

1. Transportation
   The Nearest subway stations are Mongchontoseong on line #8(→exit #1) and Olympic Park on line # 5(→exit #3).

MORE INFO : 

http://www.olympicpark.co.kr/jsp/english/index.jsp ( Available in Korean and English language)

My personal thoughts

I highly recommend going to this place and experience the serenity of nature. This place is a perfect venue for reunion with friends,  having a picnic and have some quiet time to relieve the busy life of the city. . The best season to go there is during the autumn season. Too bad we didn't experience that. If you happen to be in Seoul, visit the place and I'm pretty sure you're going to love it.

Bonjour Restaurant & Cafe

September 29, 2015

Bonjour Restaurant & Cafe, pronounced as "bong-joo-roo" in Korean (봉주르), is made of multiple buildings. You have more than enough options to choose where you want to hangout with friends and loved ones. There are designated locations for eating, drinking and firing up your marshmallows! It is  located outside of Seoul in Namyang-ju with a beautiful outdoor area, that provides you a beautiful exterior

experience. Sometimes, it’s not the food but the atmosphere that leaves an impression. 

Snapshots of the beautiful bridge leading to the restaurant. This place serves also as a bike trail. Before crossing the street, look to the left and right then go.

 ** Belle and John  under the heat of the sun.. Ahhhh

 ** 2 couples  together after years of not seeing each other. Say cheese




The view of the bridge is so magical. Clean. Relaxing. Beautiful

MORE SNAPSHOTS 

 *** BULGOGI + BIBIMBAP + SIDE DISHES + SOUP + MORE FOODS = HEARTY LUNCH

HOW TO GET THERE

Bongjureu is not located in Seoul, you can get there by car or bus. It is located near Paldang 팔당 dam. It’s a little too far for a Taxi.

To get there by bus:

• Take bus 272 from Samseong-dong Jumin Center
• Get off at Seoul Seongsim Hospital
• Take bus 167 from there
• Get off Wonreuong Maul
• Walk a little straight in the direction the bus was headed and you will see the sign in Korea, with a path for cars leading up to it. 봉주르

The address is 경기도 남양주시 조안면 능내리 산 68-3

Chinese restaurant with a Korean twist

September 28, 2015

We spent our whole day looking around for things especially cosmetics related and  souvenirs in Myeongdong. ^ ^ The place was filled with people enjoying the community and killing time. The mood was actually festive. Even though it was crowded,  it truly gave me this impression that Korean people really know how to have fun, shop like there's no tomorrow at the same time work harder too.  Quite a good combination right there. Nice lesson learned here. Anyhow, we went to this Chinese restaurant for dinner. It looked like a really cramped space. But oh boy, I was wrong. Never be deceived by the first impressions of the place. The foods and the quick service changed my mind totally. The foods were really good and reasonable.  Sadly I didn't get to ask what the name of the place was.

Here are the snapshots of our dinner experience.

 ***  Jajangmyeon (자장면; 짜장면; jjajangmyeon), a Korean Chinese cuisine, is anoodle dish topped with a thick sauce made of chunjang (a salty black soybean paste when unheated), diced pork and vegetables, and sometimes alsoseafood. Jajang (alternately spelled jjajang), the name of the sauce when heated, is the Korean pronunciation of the Chinese characters 炸醬, which literally means "fried sauce." Myeon (also spelled myun) means "noodle", which is represented by the Chinese character 麵. 

 *** This is a combination of black noodles + mandu ( Korean version of dumplings and fried squid with salt and pepper

** No diet allowed here.

Shabu-shabu the Korean way

September 28, 2015

** Started our day by having brunch together. The best part of the game is having a Korean version of Shabu-shabu.  I must say the place was jam-packed with Korean families Actually we were the only foreigners in the place. Felt weird at first but nah, we came there for the foods.

Snapshots of our experience here

ROUND 1 : The shabu shabu experience

ROUND 2 After we finished eating the meat and vegetables, the staff converted the remaining soup and put rice and egg making it into a rice porridge. Amazing. a complete meal in itself.

** CREDITS to the owner of this pic. Gotten from the internet.

ROUND 3 : Cold noodles

*** The cold noodles here tasted yummy. Love the fresh peach here place on top of the noodles

HOME PLUS in KOREA

TRIVIA 
***Homeplus (Hangul: 홈플러스) is a Korean discount store retail chain wholly owned by Tesco with 113 branches throughout South Korea.^[2] Homeplus is the second largest retailer in South Korea, just behind Shinsegae Group.
Click on this link for detailed description of this place.
---> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeplus

How to go to this place?
Here's how.  --->
https://english.visitkorea.or.kr:1001/enu/SH/SH_EN_7_2.jsp?cid=681586&nearBy=tran&

RANDOM PICS WHILE EXPLORING THIS PLACE

 *** Arrays of vegetables displayed neatly for the buyers to choose.

 ** Random food stall that caught my eyes

 *** Dukkbukki , Korean fish cake ^ ^

 ***Korean noodles, weeee--- Yum yum

 SOJU all the way especially the famous grape fruit  flavor

** A random aquarium that was really impressive. It truly looked like the one in Ocean Park. A-mazing indeed

Dongdaemun Night Market

Shopping for all this evening owls right?! Raise your hands. Well, then this is the best place to visit when you come to Seoul. You can find literally everything ranging from  antiques, souvenirs, cultural products, pieces of jewelry, accessories luxury brands and fashion related items. From high-end to the reasonably priced goods, name it then they have it here.

Dongdaemun is famous mostly for fashion. Expect to finds some pieces here if you dig fashion.
**The best part: There are a variety of shops and stalls that offer major discounts for products that are often already cheaper than those found in other shopping locations.

TIP
Generally, Dongdaemun establishments are open from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily. Some shops are open from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. There are regular stores and stalls that are open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Others tend to open a bit earlier, around 8 a.m. or 9 a.m., while others tend to close a bit later, around 9 p.m. or 10 p.m.

How to get to the place? Click this link for detailed information.
--->http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SH/whereToShop/whereToShop.jsp?action=shopTalk&cid=997044


BITS AND PIECES OF THIS PLACE