Seoul Fun: Day 2 (Itaewon, Coex Mall & 63 City)

Phew, day 2 finally.

The reason why we went to Itaewon was because, both my travel mates happen to be PR of Brunei *cough*visa issue*cough*. Since we’re flying Cebu Pacific, we’ll be going in and out, in and out of the Philippines, and they need multiple entry visa instead of single. And, the personnel of embassy told us that for first-time visitors, multiple entry visa won’t be granted and the solution would be, 2 transit visa. One from Brunei, one from South Korea.

*mafan-ness caused by karit-ness*

So cut the story short, we went to Itaewon because that’s where the embassy of Philippines in Seoul located and, soon-pien jalan-jalan also lah.

 
One great use of iPad when there’s no mirror in the room.
(There’s a mirror in the bathroom but I was too lazy + it’s occupied)


We loved playing this game called “Guess the dialogue” … and came up with nonsense and laughed at our own jokes like idiots. #syoksendiri

 

Now, let’s take a look at the guesthouse we stayed. Throughout the 6 nights / 5 days we stayed in Namsan Guesthouse, the rooms were always fully booked and from the accents, I could tell that they’re mostly from Taiwan, Hongkong and Singapore/Malaysia. The receptionists are mostly youngsters at their early 20s and trendy.

The tiny pantry, serving hot and cold water, bread with peanut butter and jams and coffee.

The notice board. I never check the board out and didn’t leave any message also.
Heheheehe. Case if-i-got-time-i-also-use-it-to-sleep-and-shop lah.

The public chilling / smoking area


On to the next building.

I’m quite happy with this place (apart from the size of the room but again, beggars can’t be choosers). It’s just 5 minutes walk from Myeong Dong MRT station, just cross the road (as in walked down exit 3, and get out from another exit) and it’s SHOPPING HEAVEN!!!!

 

While waiting for MRT.

Itaewon, exit 4

We had no idea where this Philippines embassy is (based on the address), we decided to take a cab instead. For short distance, taking a cab (and divide by 3) is cheaper than bus/MRT.

All taxi has GPS in it and you can pay the taxi fare by T-Money.
Convenient kan.

Embassy of Kuwait.. I think?

The houses in Itaewon are all built on slopes and hills! Seriously, wear no heels if you plan to walk around the neighbourhood! It looks something like this…

Oh, for muslims.. I think Itaewon will be a great area for you folks as there’s halal restaurant and also mosque around. It’s an expat area. Click here to read more.

After everything was done, we headed back to Itaewon’s shopping street to grab a bite.

while waiting for our bus. That’s how we know taking taxi for that short trip was cheaper than bus. Just a dollar difference pulang (for each person)~

I see no Toyota~


Inside the bus

Then we’re back at Itaewon street and ching-chai hantam picked a restaurant makan…
(bad bad bad luck)

Picked this random restaurant on the street

Kimchi, raddish and onion!

Note: Kimchi tastes different in every restaurant. I guess it’s like how curry/sambal/kolomee sauce tastes different from every shop here too.

And, THOSE ONIONS WERE AWESOME!!!

I know most of you probably will “eww” me when I said I eat raw onion. But this onion totally rocks my socks! It was juicy, sweet and just a bit of spiciness. When I chewed, I thought I was eating apple until the spiciness came out. Why so nice one their fruits and vegetables?!

My noodles, flooded with onions! But nyaman la, the bouncy noodles were just underneath the thick blob of onion and unknown dark sauce. Okay la, not unknown la, think it’s ja jang sauce.

SL’s one more kick!!!!

And, now you can see how big the portion is! It’s like, Seria kolomee x 4! 

 

Vai’s something something thick soup noodles.

Vai told the waitress that she didn’t want any meat in the noodle, only vegetables. She’s a vegetarian. Sekali, got cuttlefish and mussels inside! HHAHAHA.

Okay, laugh pi ah.. in the end, SL and I had to eat that for her, after our kolomee x 4 size noodles!

Then, Vai ordered something else again, this time confirm confirm confirm no meat and seafood.

But…..

SIBEH hard-eat! As in not nice. Sorry ah, direct translation from Chinese.
Probably the worst noodle ever!

It’s very… very.. too… very… healthy though.

Cold soy bean noodle soup!

Don’t ever order that ah! Don’t say I never tell you.
It’s not what you think it is ah, it’s not creamy like carbonara or mushroom sauce, nothing like canned soya bean too.
 
It’s just watery, milky liquid still got “zha” (puree soya bean, sandy sandy, aiyah! I dunno how to explain ah. just trust me, cannot order this!), no salt, no sugar, no flavor at all, with ice and noodles.

Oh, just googled it. It’s called kongguksu.

Totally not my bowl of noodles. (I will never ever trust when they said “refreshing”.. though this noodle is only available during summer.. kira limited edition la)

 

After this super filling brunch… we walked back to the MRT station and on our way, got side-route a bit la. Bought sikit-sikit souvenirs.

Red pepper chocolate, kimchi chocolate and ginseng chocolate!
Sorry ah, I no guts (and stomach) to eat these stuffs.

This station name very funny lah. Why got station called “Medicinal liquid” one?

On our way to Coex Mall

Strawberry milk. Still, banana milk is the BEST!

Random salesman selling socks in the train.
(but no one layan-ed)


I want bigger eyes, sharper nose and shapier jaw line!
(People actually joked if I did anything when I was in Seoul and I replied, “Haih.. where got time wor? Next time I go there 2 weeks ah, one week to shop, one week to do construction work” Hehehehe)

 

Oh ya, the plan/itinerary was, go to the farthest place first!
(Hence I scheduled Coex Mall and 63 City on the same day. Just going there takes 30 mins on MRT!)


Please ah, this is a must-visit ah people, shop till you drop!

  
I love Artbox! Can someone bring this to Brunei?

Opera singing.. 不会欣赏。。

Feels like home when I saw people with tudungs


Cute!

 
Sanrio shop~

Long queue, neh.. we didn’t eat there

Saw this. Hehhehee. Chicken nasigoreng~ Looks nothing like nasi goreng pun~



Picked a cosy little Korean restaurant.

SL’s beef something. Onion-overload.
(Macam Taiwan is cabbage-overload)

Vai’s rice

My gimbap.

Then at around 4+pm, we went to 63 City. Another 30 mins on MRT.

Reached Daebang Station and took a bus.

Wooo, MBC~

The golden building is the 63 City lo~

 

Woohoo~ excited.

We queued there for a minute sekali, there’s a ticket machine one. *doink*

We bought the package, 32,000 won for Sea World, observatory and a show (theatre). What show? Later I tell you ar. Quite worth it kan.

Visited the Sea world first.

 

 

Very funny lor this sea lion. Very uncle-ish and the tank is really too small for him.. Maybe it’s a her la, I don’t know. Here’s a short clip…. and you can hear my voice too.

Spot the fake and real one.
Hehehehe, I was a bit excited because it was my first time seeing penguins. Next, PANDA and DINOSAURS. Hhahahahahaa

 

Uncle or not you see his face. Sorry I couldn’t resist and went back and snapped his picture.
(Macam confirm it’s a he like that)

This is scary!

Xray of marine animals.

 

Baru know this odd looking fish is called “King of Herrings”, 皇带鱼.

 
Unicorn is cute, but this unicorn fish looks creepy. Pinocchio syndrome?

 
350 million years ago!

 

Beautiful corals! Unlike those bleached/dead one I saw in KK. Sorry, this photo just doesn’t do any justice.

Wuuuu, piranhas~

Seals performing. They’re playing the see-saw. How cute kan?

And pushing the wooden pony. Though the trainer took like forever to guide the seals.

Pelican

Albino frogs

No, I didn’t rotate this wrongly. they’re upside down jelly fishes.
(inda pening kah)

 

Blue jelly fishes

He just posed like this and didn’t move at all! Born performer eh~

 
Vai doing free fish spa

The PKK (First letter from our surnames), abbreviation for… ermm… Party Kuli Kang whatever. Cant think of a better name.

  
Korean kids (very different from the adult Koreans we watch in the tv kan)

Give you a kiss and please be my prince charming driver~
But cannot clap hands while driving ah

PKK and the statue.

SL asked me to snap this pic for him and right after I did that, I said nonchalantly..
”Eyyyyy.. brokeback mountain…”

 

Selling umbrellas, raincoats and boots only.

 

Next, after Sea World…

SKY ART~

 

Such a well-planned city kan~

Why no one agrees with me when I said this woman looks like Carina Lau? Without makeup perhaps.

Pressed pennies time~

Katz’s son, Vincent.
I was fascinated by the eyelashes… Looked like mine on a bad falsies day.

This is cool.

Special seat to see sun set

 

Dusk

Transparent floor, scary you know. Though I’m not afraid of heights but this one scares me a little.

Legend!

Quote from Shely, When God gives you time, you camwhore.

 

How convenient

My pressed penny. Cute or not.

 
Jobless tourist

I tell you, Koreans are obsessed with this kind of greetings wall! Every where I went ah, sure got something like that.

 

 

Went to the food court to grab a quick bite before the 8pm show starts.

Lotteria

Wonder if Ayamku, Ideal or A.Ayam will become like this one day or not. Oh, all the calories of the food clearly stated in the menu one. Hahahaha.

 

Ordered B pack and half 1604kcal with SL. Hehehhehee

This cheese stick is super nyaman!

Vai’s vegetarian spaghetti. (She was having a hard time communicating with the waitress, she even wrote the useful phrases on the paper and tried to speak in Korean.. then… the waitress spoke in Chinese. HAHAHHHAA. This happened most of the time and hence we confirmed that, most staffs working in a restaurant can speak Chinese, so no need to keh-kiang)

Shrimp burger, my first time eating that and it was so so so good!

Grilled chicken, or I don’t know what chicken burger.

Inside the shrimp burger. Got whole shrimps inside the shrimp patty can. Genius! Bah, all the burger vendors in Brunei, can you please make this?

Oh, the fries was really good too, sour cream shaker fries. Hehehhee.
(unlike here, macam limited edition like that the shaker fries)

 

 

 

 

The package we bought from 63 includes 3 attractions, so we picked sea world, sky art and this performance, instead of wax museum. Because we thought there’s nothing much in wax musuem, macam sohai there posing with fake ming-sings. Better see real people performing kan~

Marionette, by Expressions.

From Wiki

Marionette is a 90-minutes non-verbal breakdancing performance, created and performed by a South Korean breakdancing group Expression. The name Marionette comes from the French word marionette, a type of puppet moved by using strings. Like the name suggest, the show Marionette features the performers imitating and dancing as a puppeteer and his puppets.

Little did we know, it’s actually an international success and we sibeh kalok got to catch this show unexpectedly. They have a world tour performing one don’t play play.

Expressions: Marionette

Please watch the cool part at 8.30 onwards! Transformer yo~

I was really high throughout the show because those dancers were so awesome! And… swooning over some guy dancer’s washboard abs. What? If men can dream of huge papayas, why women cannot faint over the hot bods of CK brief models?

Photo oppurtunity

I seriously don’t know how ladies in Seoul do this. But most of the time, they usually don’t zip/ wear their shoes properly one la.

The dancers of Expressions. Oh, and the dragonball hair guy’s hair is real one ah. They are so good in posing, imagine the numbers of people who wanted to take photos with them and yet they came up with different poses/styles in every frame!

Sibeh limbeh satisfying! I mean the 1.5hrs show. Heheeheheh

Was out the whole day and only reached Myeong Dong at about 10.30pm.

SL buying his supper

One of my best buy of the day… Pucca’s set from thefaceshop. Only $7 or $8 like that!

(It’s freaking cheap to get make up/skin care in S.Korea, just that the price selling in Brunei and divide by 2! Yes, macam everything is 50% off for me when I saw the prices. How not to buy I ask you?)

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry SL, I can’t resist…

 

(I make the image very very small liao…)

I was busy sorting out my stuffs and when I turned my head around, I saw SL trying out the mask he bought and the funny thing was… he was still wearing his spec! BWAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!!