• PP Seoul

    During one of my Korea trips last year, I went to this rooftop cafe/bar that opened into the wee hours of the night: PP Seoul. It gives off the vibes that reminds me of PS Cafe.

    Let’s start off with the interior. They wrote PP Seoul in traditional Chinese. So cute! And look at the window decal on why they have the letters PP in their cafe name.

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    This is their indoor counter and bar.

    Their outdoor view is amazing. I would recommend going earlier to grab the outdoor seat for a stunning view of the city.




    My ordered drink.

    Even the menu and marble table top are pretty.

    I went in the night during the hottest time of the year, August. Yet the howling wind made me wish I had a cardigan to layer on my tank top. Now, I’m wondering if I should make a trip in the day again, and risk being fried under the scorching sun for my upcoming trip.

    PP Seoul
    3 Sowol-ro 44-gil, Yongsan District, Seoul
    서울 용산구 소월로44가길 3
    Operating Hours:
    Weekday 2pm – 12am
    Weekend 1pm – 12am
    Tel: +82 02-749-9195

  • BBQ Charcoal Grilled Eel

    I am deeply missing the streets of Korea and the cold crisp air in April. A time where any day is a good day to have barbecue. The weather is always ready for some intensive grilling and it just depends on what you chooses to put on the grill in front of you.

    Throwback to April some years ago, I visited the store below for barbecue eel opened by father of CNBlue’s drummer Minhyuk. Minhyuk stars as Jo Haneul in the Korean drama Entertainer. This drama is now showing on SBS every Wednesday and Thursday, 10pm (KST).

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    There are sticky notes and pens available for you to leave messages. DSCF9723 DSCF9724
    Charcoal grilled food is my favourite.DSCF9725 DSCF9727
    The steamed egg is good and should not be missed.DSCF9729
    When I visited, it was the period where CNBlue was holding concerts over the weekend. A Japanese female lady visited the restaurant with her male friend. Minhyuk’s dad was so excited that he changed into the concert merchandise t-shirt to showcase in front of the delighted female fan. Thereafter, the fan left and Minhyuk’s dad changed back to his working clothes.

    When I requested to take a photo with the father, he suggested for us to take the photo with the background below. So thoughtful of him. As my friend was counting down to take the photo, Minhyuk’s dad paused everything and turned to me, asking how his hair looked. I laughed and said he looked handsome. Satisfied, he turned to face the camera and did a V pose. Just thinking about how cute he is brings smiles to my face ^^DSCF97311

  • Throwback to Hong Kong

    Some time back, 2 years ago to be exact, I made an impromptu trip to Hong Kong. To the extent that I only bought air tickets 2 days before I travelled. There was a Super Show concert to be held in Hong Kong and my friends were travelling there, so I thought why not join in the fun. It was a trip to recharge myself before I start on my new employment.

    Though I couldn’t secure a concert ticket at the original price in the end, and I gave up on the concert. The trip still went well with many meet ups planned with old friends. Lots of good food, gossips and laughter sums it up to a wonderful healing trip.

    As I put up at my Hong Kong friend’s house, it was the perfect chance to taste true blue delicacies that locals eat. My friend brought me to this breakfast store near her house.
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    The photo simply doesn’t do the curry fishball justice.
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    Ice lemon tea with lots of lemon slices.
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    The best siew mai I have ever eaten! Fish siew mai is soft and tender compared to the pork and chicken ones I usually have.
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    Of course, the highlight of the trip is Disneyland! I have heard so much about this place from friends who went. They told me rides were not exciting, which I agree. They said the place can be combed in one day, which I did too. I still enjoyed this theme park nonetheless and want to make another trip there!
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    And to my delight, my favourite disney character welcoming me: Tinkerbell.
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    Is this the castle from Alice in Wonderland?
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    We were trying so hard to take photos with all the disney princesses and the queues were simply too long.  This reason is enough to warrant another trip to Disneyland! Collect all photos with disney princesses.
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    The parade commentary was carried out in Cantonese and it amused me so much.
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    There you go, real life Tinkerbell with wings and all ♡
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    What is a trip to Hong Kong without dim sum. And so we queued up for hours on our empty stomachs for good dim sum.
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    The lovely friends who waited so long with me in order to satisfy the cravings of a foreigner.
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    Finally we got our table and food came, emptied into our stomachs in no time. We were so satisfied with the meal that my friend paid using her credit card and we left the restaurant without signing the receipt. Got a shock when the bank called. Luckily the restaurant contacted the bank who in turn contacted us. Three brains and none of us were in the right state of mind. (Coughs)
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    Another place that couldn’t be missed – authentic Mak’s Noodle. The bowl somehow looks small when it arrived in front of me, but I assure you this portion filled me to the brim!
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    I wanted to buy roast duck back to Singapore on the last night of my trip. But I ran out of cash and the restaurant doesn’t take credit card for orders below two roast duck. And so, I left empty handed.
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    We took a boat ride back to Tsim Sha Tsui! It is so refreshing to know boat rides can be part of one’s everyday transport.
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    A fruitless shopping trip on one of those days. A friend whom is now happily in love and I am so glad for her.
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    Christmas was around the corner when I visited and christmas lights were lit up everywhere.
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    Ending the post with the awesome girl who put me up at her house and spent so much time bringing me around, even cooking instant noodles for me in the middle of the night. I definitely miss the night before I flew off, when we dozed off on the sofa in front of the big ass television catching Super Show concert on DVD.
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  • It has been a while, Taiwan!

    I went Taipei to attend a wedding last November. Re-visiting Taiwan wasn’t on my travel plan last year, but since it’s a close friend’s wedding, I just had to tweak my plan a little. I took the chance to meet up some old friends whom I haven’t seen in years. A couple I’ve known has opened a cafe and retail store. The place wasn’t hard to find at all.

    Doesn’t the sitting area looks cozy and feels like you can sit back and relax in it all day? I love natural sunlight in a cafe. While we were there the whole time, they didn’t switch on any lights at all. This is how brightly lit up the whole place was.DSCF14551 The corner where my friend sat for hours and poured his heart and sweat to make shoes. The shoes can be customised at a very affordable price!DSCF14521DSCF14541 A cafe and retail store in one. The kitchen was open concept.  DSCF14511
    Some of the items from other designers that were featured in their retail store.DSCF14501 DSCF14491 DSCF14481 DSCF14471 DSCF14461Nothing fanciful from the menu, which is why you don’t need to worry about oil or noise from their open concept kitchen. I was very at ease the whole time I was there. DSCF14611The lighting was too awesome that I had to take photos.

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    Since my last visit in November, my friends had since closed down this place to move on to a larger space. They are now newly opened in Shinlin! Do drop by for a visit if you have an afternoon to escape from the bustling city in Taiwan.

    【takumi】職人專門所
    Address: 台北市士林區福德路48巷12號一樓(Shilin Subway Station Exit 2)

  • Returning to Childhood in Seoul

    Back to my Korea trip in July! 4 months has passed since my trip and boy, I am missing Korea so badly.

    Everyone of us woke up to an empty and growling stomach. Butterfinger Pancakes to save the morning! When I said I haven’t tried Butterfinger Pancakes before, I received gasps from my friends who couldn’t believe me missing out on the goodness.

    Please do not belittle the quantity. As much as the 5 of us wanted to stuff these delicious plates of food into our stomach, we simply couldn’t anymore. I felt like if I had continue stuffing, I’d need to loosen the button on my shorts.20150714_1159261If you haven’t tried (gasp at you) and is interested to try it out, the outlet we visited is in Gangnam.

    Butterfingers Pancake
    Address: 1317 Seocho-gu, Seocho 4-dong, Shinhung Building Level 1, Seoul, South Korea
    서울 서초구 서초4동 1317 신흥빌딩1층
    Operating Hours: 7am – 3am

    How to get to Butterfingers Pancake

    Board subway line 2 to Gangnam Subway Station (강남역) and take exit 9. Walk straight and follow my red arrows.01002003At the zebra corssing below, turn right.004005006007Turn right again.008009After turning, look to your right. Butterfinger Pancakes is right there.10While we were full and satisfied, making our way to the subway station, the big SALE word outside Accessorize shop stopped us in our tracks. A selca while waiting for my friends who were combing through the store. 20150714_1312401
    We finally arrived at Lotte World. My first trip to this indoor amusement park! If you ask me, the rides are not as exciting as the Everland. After all, there’s T-Express at Everland, that can beat all the amusement rides in Lotte World. Of course, we still had fun!20150714_1537461The outdoor portion of the amusement park. We queued and waited for the rides, but the wait was simply too long and too humid for us waiting under the sun. We settled for less exciting rides in the end because they had shorter queues. I’ve been to Korea in June before and I must say, the sun in July is much more glaring compared to June. I shudder at the thought of August…20150714_1721061Dinner was at 달으로家. This is the same place where Super Junior members have been eating since trainee days. This restaurant was also featured in the Super Junior M Guesthouse variety show.20150714_2032201 달으로家
    Address: 662-6 Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
    서울특별시 강남구 신사동 662-6
    Telephone: 02-518-9936

    How to get to 달으로家

    Get to Apgujeongrodeo Subway Station (압구정로데오역) and take exit 5. Turn back and follow my red arrows.01 Walk straight and turn left when you arrive at this zebra crossing.02Walk straight.03Turn left at this junction below.04Walk straight and turn right at this junction below.05Walk straight.0607Keep walking straight and you’re almost there.08There you are! Arrived at the destination!09How the shop front looks like.10Ending this post with our selca. 5 of us from Singapore, Vietnam, Boston, Texas and Indonesia finally meeting in Korea, brought together by a concert (smiles).14413784276531

  • Running Man EP262: Taxi Drivers’ Restaurant Race [02]

    I am back with Part 2 of the Taxi Drivers’ Restaurant Race broadcast on 30 August 2015! This post has taken longer than expected because I went overseas for a short trip and busy with work. Yeah, all the excuses. It’s plainly because I was lazy.

    A whole lot of pictures in this post, so less words. Yay for you! Hope you are full when reading this post though. Or you’ll end up like me, always taking a break from the post to fill my tummy with meat.

    Are you ready? Let’s go!

    Gary, Haha and Nam Bora were first brought to eat Kimchi Stew (김치찌개) at a restaurant near Hongdae.

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    In case you don’t find the dish too appetizing while watching Running Man, I found more high definition photo of the dish! Did I just hear you gulp?

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    This is how the restaurant looks like on the exterior.

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    The dish Running Man ordered is Kimchi Stew priced at 13,000won (1 portion for 2 pax).

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    동촌 왕갈비김치찌게생선구이
    Address: 149-1 Donggyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
    서울특별시 마포구 동교동 149-1(동교로30길 1)
    Nearest Subway Station: Hongdae Subway Station (홍대입구역) Exit 3

    Using their wits, Gary, Haha and Nam Bora next arrived at their final stop for famous Tonkatsu in Namsan.

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    King Tonkatsu (왕돈까스) is priced at 8,000won.

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    남산돈까스
    Address: 49-24 Namsandong 2(i)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea
    서울특별시 중구 남산동2가 49-24(소파로 101)
    Operating Hours: 10am – 10pm
    Tel: 02-777-7929
    Nearest Subway Station: Myeongdong Subway Station (명동역) Exit 2, 3

    Song Jihyo, Kang Sungjin and Park Gunhyung arrived to eat Samgyeopsal (삼겹살) in broad daylight, when Koreans usually only eat this dish in the evening. I must say the meat looks very juicy and yummy.

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    화로구이
    Address: 673 Deungchon 3(sam)-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
    서울특별시 강서구 등촌동 673(강서로 374)
    Tel: 02-3663-3292
    Operating Hours: 24hours
    Nearest Subway Station: Balsan Subway Station (발산역) Exit 3

    At the second attempt, the team managed to eat the dish they wanted: Pork Bulgogi (돼지불백). The item the team ordered, 돼지불백 is priced at 6,000won per pax.

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    일출기사식당
    Address: 648-10 Banghwa 2(i)-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
    서울특별시 강서구 방화2동 648-10(초원로 8)
    Tel: 02-2665-2289
    Nearest Subway Station: Gaehwasan Subway Station (개화산역) Exit 1

    Yoo Jaesuk, Ji Sukjin and Kim Mingyo had their first dish Pork Bulgogi (돼지불백).

    빛고을기사식당
    Address: 228-1 Sinwol-dong, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, South Korea
    서울특별시 양천구 신월동 228-1(곰달래로 46)
    Tel: 02-2699-6953
    Operating Hours: 24hours
    Nearest Subway Station: Kkachisan Subway Station (까치산역) Exit 3

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    Final mission is held at Itaewon where all 150 Running Man staff came to eat together. After playing the roulette, Kim Jongwoon paid the bill.

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    세종가든
    Address: 737-7 Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea
    서울특별시 용산구 한남동 737-7(이태원로45길 7)
    Tel: 02-796-4100
    Operating Hours: 9am – 10pm
    Nearest Subway Station: Itaewon Subway Station (이태원역) Exit 2

  • Running Man EP262: Taxi Drivers’ Restaurant Race [01]

    It took me some time to come up with this post because I usually write at night when it’s all peaceful and quiet to pen my thoughts, but having to look at all these food photos are apparently too much for my mental state to fight the hunger pangs.  The same reason why I don’t follow foodie accounts on Instagram.

    Episode 262 of Running Man is a race where members board a random taxi and have the driver recommend a dish. If the dish coincides with the team’s previously chosen dish, the team wins. Else, the team will have to eat whatever dish the driver recommended, before boarding the next taxi. This cycle continues until the team eats their own dish, and move off to the final restaurant where the rest of running man team is having their gathering. The last team that arrives at the venue have to pay for all the expenses of the gathering. According to Song Jihyo, there were around 200 people attending that gathering, so you can imagine how much the bill will accumulate to.

    Capture

    In this post, we will follow Lee Kwangsoo, Kim Jongkook and Kim Suro on their restaurants track. Thanks to Kwangsoo’s random choice of food, sabotaging his own team, their strong team visited sufficient restaurants to make up one blog entry.

    The first restaurant they arrived at for Spicy Stir-fried Pork with Rice (제육볶음). This dish is very affordable at the price of 7,000won!

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    최가네기사식당
    Address: 602-1 Sinwol-dong, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, South Korea
    서울특별시 양천구 신월동 602-1
    Tel: 02-2607-7843

    How to get to 최가네기사식당

    Board subway line 2 to Sinjeongnegori Subway Station (신정네거리역) and take exit 2. Walk straight and follow my red arrows.

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    You’ll pass by KB Kookmin Bank.

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    Here, you have to walk up the slope.

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    And down the slope you go.

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    Up the slope again.

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    And down the slope. We are almost there.

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    It’s a straight straight route to the restaurant.

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    On the left, you’ll arrive at the restaurant.

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    A closer look at the restaurant logo.

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    Naver map says it will only take you 12min to walk to the restaurant. Up to you if you want to trust Naver map.

    The team were next brought to eat Grilled Squid (오징어 불고기) by another taxi driver. This is the place where the restaurant staff were debating if Kim Jongkook is a singer. Kim Jongkook sang a little of his own solo hit song but the ahjumma haven’t heard of it before.

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    동원기사식당
    Address: 210-7 Sinjeong 7(chil)-dong, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, South Korea
    서울특별시 양천구 신정동 210-7
    Tel: 02-2606-1856

    How to get to 동원기사식당

    Hop on subway line 2 to Yangcheon-gu Office Subway Station (양천구청역) and take exit 1. Follow my red arrows. There are two staircases out from exit 1. You should walk in the same direction as the cars.

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    At this place, turn right and board the horrible flight of stairs.

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    When you come to the end, there is once again two flight of stairs. Take anyone and walk in the same direction as the cars on the road.

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    Continue walking straight.

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    Stick to your right and keep a look out for traffic on the road. Make sure you’re walking on pedestrian road.

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    Cross the road in the direction of my red arrow.

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    After crossing the road, turn right.

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    Keep walking straight.

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    On your left, you’ll arrive at the restaurant! According to Naver map, walking distance is estimated to be 10min.

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    The team continues on their food trail for Ginseng Chicken (삼계탕). Kim Suro was laughing so hard at their plight outside this restaurant that I wasn’t sure if it was true laughter, or laughter to mask his anger.

    Anyway, the team had to eat by the roadside as the restaurant was too packed. Ginseng Chicken here is priced at 13,000won.

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    호수삼계탕
    Address: 300-325 Singil 5(o)-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
    서울특별시 영등포구 신길5동 300-325
    Operating Hours: 11am – 9pm
    Tel: 02-833-8948

    How to get to 호수삼계탕

    Take subway line 7 to Sinpung Subway Station (신풍역) and take exit 4. You will probably have to take the elevator up to ground level. Follow my red arrows and walk straight.

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    After this building, you will continue to walk straight, around the curve.

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    Just follow where the road leads you.

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    Walk straight.

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    You’re almost there after passing this car park.

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    This is how the restaurant looks like from the front. Naver map estimated the walking distance to be 10min.

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    The restaurant where Kwangsoo finally got to eat the Ox Bone Soup (설렁탕) he wanted so badly, bad enough to sabotaged his team mates for. This is probably a good place for supper, since this place operates 24 hours. Ox Bone Soup is sold at 7,000won.

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    양고바우설렁탕
    Address: 400-5 Singil-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
    서울특별시 영등포구 신길동 400-5
    Operating Hours: 24hours
    Tel: 02-832-1735

    How to get to 양고바우설렁탕

    It is just beside the Ginseng Chicken shop above! See the building on the left side of the picture below.

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    A close up of the store front.

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    I’ll be sharing where the rest of the teams visited in my next post. Do let me know if there’s a particular restaurant you want to see, or I will probably skip some restaurants.

  • Seoul Chillax

    After the hectic concert days, it was finally down to our own itinerary for the rest of the trip. I got to meet a new Japanese friend with my travel mate and we hanged out together the entire day.

    We started off the day with an early lunch at 별다방미스리 (Miss Lee Cafe) in Myeongdong.

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    Does the restaurant name ring a bell to you? This is the restaurant where YongSeo couple (Yonghwa from CNBlue and Seohyun from Girls Generation) visited in We Got Married Season 2. They visited the store in Insadong, but this outlet in Myeongdong is more convenient in my opinion.

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    We had the entire second floor to ourselves. I recalled the morning had just rained and it was a little windy out in the open on a Monday morning. The cozy second floor was a good refuge for us to sit back and drink hot soup.

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    The interior is delicately decorated. A tall tree stands in the middle of the restaurant with handwritten messages hanging from the branches. There are pens and papers available for you to write yours too. I spent my time peeping at what other people wrote, while waiting for my food to be prepared.

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    Our buzzer vibrates and it’s time to collect our lunch box with hot seaweed soup. I am so loving seaweed with rice. It’s like the best combination ever. If you stare hard enough, you might see the egg underneath the pile of seaweed.

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    After taking pictures, close the lid back. Shake it like how Seohyun does in the animated GIF below. Shake it hard so your rice and dishes will mix well together.

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    I opened mine and tadahh! It’s time to dig in! I couldn’t finish mine as much as I wanted to, I just couldn’t stuff anymore into my tummy. My friends managed to finish theirs though.

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    We wandered around Myeongdong for a little, did some heavy shopping (coughs) and felt like it’s time to rest our heavy bottoms again. This time, we entered O´Sulloc Tea House. Never a big fan of Matcha flavoured products but the Fresh Citron Hot Green Tea I ordered was refreshing. Three of us couldn’t finish the Green Tea Bingsu on top of our drinks. It’s like having to drink 4 big cups for 3 of us. We were too greedy Teehee~

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    Another day, I met up with my Korean friend near her house. With her moving near Konkuk University subway station, we can finally meet more often. It’s more legitimate to meet there since it’s now her neighbourhood and Yesung’s cafe Mouse Rabbit is situated there. I got to visit the new shopping mall Common Ground.

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    This is also the place where Korean girl group SISTAR filmed their MV “Shake It”, a very addictive song. It’s after all summer when I visited, and war time between all the girl groups. My observation for this trip – amongst the girl groups’ comeback songs, “Shake It” is most popular and most played song for retail shops.

    Why is summer the war time for girl groups? It’s the hottest time of the year where it’s valid for girl groups to wear less for performance, showing more skin to appeal to males. A comeback during this period would also allow sufficient time for the girl groups to promote their albums and songs til the year end awards where sales of the year is concluded. If this comeback schedule during summer time went well, the girl group might even slot in another comeback period before year end to boost their popularity. Hence, summer time every year is the comeback war amongst girl groups. This year alone, there are major groups comeback such as Girls Generation, SISTAR, APink, Girl’s Day, AoA… etc.

    Back to Common Ground, it’s shopping mall within pop-up containers. Don’t worry, it’s air-conditioned. Spend an hour or two there but didn’t bring anything home with me. The prices there are too high-end. I guess I am more suited for cheap and good shopping at Express Bus Terminal Subway Station.

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    My friend and I settled ourselves at a cafe called Dore Dore and ordered Oreo cake and fruit juices. Superman Returns Hwijae dad brought his twins Seo Eon and Seo Jun to this cafe before! Look at the adorable twins devouring their cakes.

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    Our Oreo cake is so adorbs! Taste is not to our liking though, for both cake and drinks. I guess their dessert and drinks are Instagram worthy and stops at that.

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    I wanted to write more, but it seems like my words quota has reached for this post. I am splitting my trip into so many posts that I’m starting to run out of puns for the world “Seoul” as title. I need ideas!

  • Super Show 6 Encore

    The second day started off with sundae soup at 마포소문난족발순대국, near our guesthouse. I’d lose my voice if I consume spicy food in the morning, so I ordered a non-spicy one. Surprisingly, the non-spicy sundae soup also tasted awesome! I guess we came to the right store.

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    This place seems famous with the pictures of broadcasting stations hanging on the wall.

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    The photo below isn’t blur, by the way. The steam from the pipping hot sundae soup blurs out the ingredients. The sliced meat pieces were soft and chewy. The glutinous rice steamed to perfection. I couldn’t get enough of the tasty soup.

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    With our bellies filled to the brim, we headed out to SM TOWN at Coex Artium.  Every level has different purpose. For example, one level is celebrity shop where we can buy all sorts of artists merchandise, another level is a theatre for audiences to enjoy holographic and live performances.

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    It’s funny how beside every photo/poster/banner of Siwon, there’s his signature right beside. He’s the only one who has signed against all his faces that appeared in the building. LOL~

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    We decided to rest our feet at the cafe. Ordered a blue lemonade that was contained in a Mamacita bottle. You can bring this bottle home with you! It’s a good souvenir for myself, I’d say. The Super Show 6 badge as seen below was given out with every encore concert ticket shown.

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    And this is how my tickets looked like. Both days standing in mosh pit. Who am I trying to prove that I’m still going strong at my age. The Mosh D pit on second day was beyond squeezy. I shudder at the thought of it… ….

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    Finally the planned highlight of my trip – Super Show 6 Encore concert. The first stage where Kim Jongwoon returns as Yesung, singing on his home ground. You can’t imagine my anticipation and excitement for this.

    SM Entertainment finally decided to change the base of the lightstick so I had to get another one. The previous version was so fragile that I have never used it before. Friends who used the previous version all broke the handle part before the concert could come to an end.

    When attending Super Junior concerts in Korea, and you’re only planning to purchase the lightstick and nothing else, there is a separate queue at the merchandise counter. More efficient and everyone gets to wave the right lightstick during the concert.

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    Day 02 of the concert was raining heavily. Luckily, the guesthouse lent out umbrellas! Even the rain couldn’t dampen my high spirit for the concert.

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    After concert ended, we finally sat down for the second meal of the day: Bossam (보쌈). Wrapping the pork slices in vegetables, along with kimchi is heavenly, especially after hours of enduring hunger.

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    During the concert, I was enjoying myself and grinning like a fool whenever I see Yesung on stage. Photos were only taken using my handphone at the end of the concert.

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    I’m glad I made the right decision to attend this concert. When would the next Super Show be held? I hope it isn’t going to be a long wait.

  • Continuing… July is Seoul Wonderful

    The first day in Korea was indeed a busy day. Meeting with different people to pick up and exchange tickets for our Super Junior 6 Encore Concert.

    We headed on to Chocolat BonBon, opened by Super Junior member Eunhyuk. A small and cozy cafe. Eunhyuk’s mum was there as a cashier when I visited. Glad to see customers other than fangirls visiting the cafe. It’s a sign that cafe is well accepted by public, isn’t it?

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    We stayed for a while before hopping on a cab to the MOM House, a guesthouse in Myeongdong, opened by another Super Junior member Kyuhyun. The cab ride was so comfortable that I fell asleep beside the driver. It was a long long ride. Hooray to cheap cab fare in Korea! MOM guesthouse level 1 lobby was filled with fans when we arrived. Saw Kyuhyun’s dad making his round the guesthouse grinning at all the fans who met his eyes, and Kyuhyun’s mum mingling with fans she was familiar with. Occasionally hitting those familiar fans with her fist, and boy it hurts. That’s her way of showing her affection ^^

    Kyuhyun’s mom walked over with a foreign fan and asked one of my friends to help her translate the letter. It was a fan letter to Kyuhyun. The foreign fan’s face was flushing red when the letter was translated to the mom. When letter was fully translated, Kyuhyun’s mom hugged the fan and said “I got it all now. I’ll pass this letter on to him. I fully understand now.” Haha~ So cute!

    Made our way to the top level where there’s a sky garden. There’s even a BBQ pit. I wanted to take a photo of the beautiful place, but Kyuhyun’s dad saw us first and waved affectionately til we turned to leave. We were just giggling embarrassingly all the way until we stepped into the lift. I only managed to capture this post box below where fans can leave your letters in here and you can be sure the letters will reach the artist’s hands.

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    As you can see, there are ways to pass your letters and gifts to the artists, as long as artists has family owned cafes, restaurants or shops. And going via this route, you can be sure the letters and gifts will definitely reach the artists. Alternatively, you can always pass the letters and gifts to the artists’ companies.

    BEAST is coming to Singapore for fan meet next month. The fan site in Singapore is organising a donation drive for fans to contribute to fan projects. As long as money contributed is between $10 – $19, they will give you a Thank You card and help deliver your letter to BEAST. Putting the Thank You card aside, because we all really ought to be thanked for, as even the minimal contribution of $10 can buy us so many meals. There is a small hashtag indicated on the notice that states they will try their best to convey your heartfelt messages to the boys. In another words, there is no guarantee that your letters will even reach the members. If you are planning to make a trip to Korea yourself, I will suggest passing the letters yourself. At least you can be sure the letter you painstakingly wrote, is not going to end up in a rubbish bin in Singapore. Of course, if you are going to contribute to the fan projects regardless of the gifts, do go ahead. I’m just stating the obvious for those who are pinning high hopes along with the $10 – $19 they are putting in.

    Back to my first day in Korea! A Korean friend brought us to dinner at 차들박힌 쭈꾸미, where we had spicy octopus. There was this long wait that it was probably an hour before 4 of us get seated. The meat and spicy octopus is good, but I still prefer the one I ate in Guri though (will post about this when I go again). The octopus is so spicy that towards the end, I couldn’t take another bite without cheese to neutralise the spiciness. It was a satisfying meal to end the night.

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    A very fulfilling and tiring day, I’d say. After 24hours of nearly no sleep, I sinked into my bed and slept well. Next post: Concert day, a day I looked forward to so badly. Stay tuned folks!