Namdaemun

Gyongbokgung to Namdaemun market via bus

Our next stop is Namdaemun, one of the shopping districts of Seoul. We were looking for a money changer but decided to eat first…tummy first.hehe. Alas! When we came back, they were all closed.

Namdaemun is a place to haggle and buy pasalubong (I saw teas and different types of biscuits here). Unfortunately, some of us don’t have enough money (and it’s already Saturday… no banks), so we didn’t shop. Besides, our shopping day was the following day. There were several interesting items here.

First, the siopao(bun + filling) stand where many lined up for the buns they’re selling (meat, veggies and mongo).

Next is one type of manju, a waffle-like bread with an egg inside. Lastly, the huge pancake with seafood, spring onions???, and other stuff mixed with it. This was similar to what we’ve eaten in China. We bought siopao and the manju. We looked for the pancake-like street food elsewhere but unable to find it…too bad.

We also indulged ourselves in these japanesecake like pancakes accross the siopao store.

Coffee Prince

Hoehyeon station to Hongik University station (exit 7)
Wausan-ro 29ga-gil

This was the only Korean drama included in our itinerary; and was very difficult to find. The directions we found in the web were very difficult to navigate. It took us probably an hour before we finally found the coffee shop.

Inside and out, it looked exactly like Coffee Prince. For those who would like to visit, get off at Hongik University station exit 7 and look for the street Wausan-ro 29ga-gil. It’s located near the end of the street.

We were excited to find it that we immediately took pictures. However, the cafe attendant asked us to buy coffee first before taking pictures. And yes, this was the real set of the Coffee Prince… the veranda, the garage, the counter, the blackboard, and the infamous mural were all authentic… almost… they replaced the mural with a similar sticker.

What to expect with this coffee shop? –Coffee art and a very expensive coffee. Except for the coffee art, there’s nothing special with the coffee… it tasted like any other brewed coffee.

You can get these cute mugs with authentic coffee prince art for 10,000 won (400php). We actually forgot to buy one, due to our schedule.

Before leaving, I had a small argument with the waitress but I couldn’t remember what exactly we talked about…it had something to do with a wrong change.

For those who don’t know coffee prince, here’s a link of its parody (by Big Bang)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEifrbLK9cE

Olympic Park

Hongik University to Mongchontoseong
Next stop was Olympic Park. This was the venue of the 1988 summer Olympics. The park was huge so we opted to get off at Mongchontoseong were the torch and the World Peace park is located. Inside the station were the pictures of the next winter Olympics and the world-known skater, Kim Yu Na.

Mongchontoseong to Hyehwa
And that’s the end of our day.

More pictures on our album