Seoul delicious!

Why do people love Korea so much? Reason varies. But food is definitely one big part of it!
There are plenty of dining options available in Korea, barbeque, Samgyetang (Korean chicken soup), Dubu Jjigae (Army stew) can be easily located along the streets, and there are also many themed cafes around.
Though its my first trip to Korea, I had tried quite a few popular dishes that both tourists as well as locals highly recommend. So here I am, sharing my shortlisted favourites for this trip.

Samgyetang (Ginseng Chicken Soup) at Tosokchon. It is different from the usual herbal chicken soup that I take at home. In this case, most all the ingredients (ginseng, glutinous rice, garlic, jujube date) are stuffed inside the chicken. The glutinous rice fully absorbed the essence of ginseng, therefore the taste of ginseng when chewing the rice can be quite strong. But for people who likes ginseng, you will love it. Drinking this in winter can really keep your body warm and it is good for you overall health in general.

심슨탕 Sim Seun Tang Army Stew at Hongdae. One of the nicer army stew we had in Korea. A lot of famous artists went there too! The cheese, when melted is literally a cheese pot for you to dip your tteokbokki, sausages and pork slices! Yummilicious~

빈대떡 Bindaetteok at Gwangjang Market. My day will be great if I can have this for breakfast, together with kimbap everyday. This is basically mung bean pancake served with a dipping sauce made of soy sauce, green onions and vinegar.

Ajumma that sells live octopus and fresh oysters at Gwangjang market. She is so seasoned to tourists taking photos of her  of. See that octopus in her hands? Yup, that's our pick to prepare the following dish... 

Sannakji (small live octopus)

Yes, its still wriggling and twisting around. Without thinking much (not even twice) I put one piece of it into my mouth and started chewing quickly. Oh my god, in my opinion it actually taste good! Much better than the cooked ones.

Haemul Juk (Seafood Porridge)

I love porridges. Be it Cantonese style congee, Teochew mui or fish porridge, I simply like them all. So I told my friends I definitely need to try Korean's juk too.

Rich in texture, with seaweed, scallion and white sesame, it blended in so well into the freshness of the seafood. *thumbs up*   

Seoul Much fun in winter - Day 4 Busan

Jagalchi Fish Market 자갈치시장

Jagalchi Station, Line 1, Exit 10

Turn right onto Jagalchi 3(sam)- gil street

Walk 5 mins, turn left to arrive.

Largest fish market in Korea

located just beside Nampo port, that means they have the freshest seafood! Most of the stalls are run by elderly women.

There are many small restaurants in Jagalchi market, we just randomly picked one and walked in to order a seafood soup to try.
Pot of sea treasures - Abalone, clam, crab, prawns, squid, octopus, scallop and some funny looking ones which I totally have no idea what it is.

After 5 minutes, dang! Spicy seafood soup is ready to serve. The soup is simply awesome,  with the essence of all the ingredients in the pot. 

Gamcheon Cultural Village 감천문화마을

Toseong Station, Line 1, Exit 6
Turn right once you reach an intersection.
Continue walking till you see bus stop in front of Busan Cancer Center.
Take bus 2 or 2-2.
Alight at last stop.

They call it Korea's Santorini.
This is the main reason why we came to Busan.
For first time visitors like us, we paid for a guide map at the community centre, which you can collect stamps around the village and exchange for postcards at certain stations. By collecting all of it will mean you have all the must-see covered. (Takes about 3 to 4 hours to complete the full course)

Haedong Yonggungsa Temple 해동 용궁사

Haeundae Station, Line 2 Exit 7
Bus stop right outside the exit, take bus no. 181 (20 mins)
Alight at last stop

Haedong Yonggungsa is a Buddhist temple built in 1376 by the teacher known as Naong during the Goryeo Dynasty. It is situated right beside the sea, with a great view.

From the bridge crossing over to the main temple, look down and you will find this wishing pond. Make a wish, toss the coin. And guess who's the lucky one! =)

 Statues of the 12 Chinese zodiac.

Seoul much fun in winter - Day 3 Busan

KTX from Seoul to Busan is 2 hours 40 mins thereabout. We bought our tickets one day earlier from the ticketing machine at Seoul Station.  ₩59,800 for a single trip ticket. 

Airbnb loft for the next 2 nights!  Delighted to find this super clean and cosy apartment located just diagonally opposite Busan Station. The host, Mr Kim is such a kind and helpful guy. He sent us directions with pictures of buildings at intersections that we should look out for when finding his apartment.  

Heated mattress on the second floor. Its soft, comfortable and most importantly, clean! 

After settling down, we headed out to recce for lunch. Just around the corner is Chinatown street filled with Chinese restaurants. We headed in and ordered jajjangmyeon and mandu (boiled dumplings.

As soon as we finish our food, we fast paced to look for the bus stop near Busan Station to go to Taejongdae Park.

Taejongdae Park 태종대

Busan Station, Exit 8 or 10

Cross the road to 'Twosome Place' café, turn right and walk straight till you see bus stop with bus no. 88 or 101.

Alight at the last stop. (Around 40 mins)

You can take the Danubi train ₩2,000 per person to visit the various attractions inside the park.

Danubi Train Course

Platform→ Taejongsa Temple →Observatory →Yeongdo Lighthouse → Gumyeongsa Temple → Taewon Jagal Madang → Platform

Yeongdo Lighthouse

Rocky cliff.

Did not have time to walk down to the edge like those people in this picture. It was 6pm when I reach Yeongdo Lighthouse and the last Danubi train leaves at 7pm. But for those who arrives in the morning or afternoon time, do go and take that Instagram worthy photo !

After we are done with Taejongdae, it was almost 9pm. There's a grocery super store just below our apartment, so we decided to settle dinner the lazy way.

Thank you Mr. Kim for helping us to order Korean fried chicken delivery. Ding! The delivery man appears at the door in half an hour. Seriously, its one of the best fried chicken I have ever eaten! The combo set consist of 3 flavours - original, soy sauce, and spicy sauce. *OMG icon* Its juicy, crispy, tender and soft. We ate it like the Korean locals, with beer! Thumbs up to the maxxxx.

Seoul much fun in winter - Day 2 Nami Island

On the second day of our trip, we went to Nami Island (남이섬 Namiseom 南怡岛)

Get ready your subway map and be prepared to change lines several times if you are intending to take the metro to Nami Island. Travelling time varies, depends on what train you are taking and where are you departing from.

From Myeongdong to Gapyeong Station took us close to 2 hours (transfer at Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station, Line 4 -> Wangshimni Station, Line 2 -> Sangbong Station, Jungang Line -> Gapyeong Station, Gyeongchun Line.

Alternatively, ITX train brings you to Gapyeong as well, its faster than normal metro.

Once you exit Gapyeong Station, walk straight and you will see a bus stop (with long queue) right outside, you can take the shuttle bus (loop) from there. 6,000krw per ticket, it brings you to Nami Island, Petite France and Garden of Morning Calm.

We took a ferry from the Gapyeong wharf to Nami Island (10,000krw), there is also a zipwire for the adventurous ones.

Frozen waters

Traditional way of keeping warm

Nami Island became a famous tourist attraction shortly after Korean drama 'Winter Sonata' was aired and created the oppa craze in Asia. This snow figurines are the significant icon in the show.


Shortly after we arrive, it began to snow! Fluffies! This is a new and interestingly excited moment for someone like me who comes from tropical country as we do not have the chance to experience the different seasons in a year.

Seoul much fun in winter - Day 1

First attraction visited on the day of arrival is...

명둥 Myeongdong 明洞

Having some spicy tteokbokki and odeng with a cup of hot soup in the cold - simply daebak. Slurps.

Did you know? The lights of N Seoul Tower changes its color on different occasions. Most of the time it will be sky blue, which means the air quality is clean, outdoor activities are encouraged. Green for Allure Green Campaign which is held in Namsan, turns red on World Blood Donation Day (June 14). And every last Saturday of March, lights will be off for an hour to reduce carbon emission in support of the International Earth Hour event.    

Seoul city view from Namsan

We were the last few to take the cable car down for the night. Thereafter we proceed to the rooftop of our guesthouse for a drink, enjoying the dreamy lights of N Tower in minus 8 degrees weather.

Accommodation
Namsan Guesthouse 5
http://www.namsanguesthouse.com/way_e.htm