doodledee.doodledum: Travel Diary : South Korea Part 3

Gyeongbukgong Palace, Seoul, South Korea

Hello and selamat malam from my cozy bed in Malaysia. Ladies and gentlemen and fellow travel junkies, here it is! the FINAL PART OF MY 3-PART TRAVEL DIARY to South Korea :D

Thank you to those who have been following my blog! and for those who just stumbled across my blog, I welcome you with a virtual high 5! and if you're wondering where you can read up on the first 2 parts, you can read it here by clicking on the links : part 1 and part 2

First of all, I'd like to apologise for the delay. I sent in my laptop for repair cause the speakers are messed up and I wanted to listen to crystal clear sound :P

*current music obsession : Tycho;*

5.2.2015 || Day 11 : Jeonju to Seoul

After having the famous bibimbap at Hanok Village in Jeonju, Amal and I took the 6.50 pm bus to Seoul.

The bus was the executive bus with lots of leg room and was really comfortable. It was similar to the 1st bus we took while we were on our way to Daejeon.

Eventually, Amal and I arrived at the Express Bus Terminal in Seoul at about 9.30 pm.

After retrieving our bags (with the ever so helpful bus driver), Amal and I took the subway to Hongdae where we booked a hostel recommended to me by a friend. The hostel is called Dustin's Place and it is located literally about 2 minutes away from the subway entrance and was really easy to find. We booked for 3 days 2 nights through Hostel world.com on my iphone. The passbook app on the iPhone is really helpful in organising my bookings and I'm pretty impressed with it. (noob)

So anyway, we got to book our hotel for about RM 183.40 for 2 beds 2 nights. Dustin's place has your basic facilities, beds (in our dorm there wasn't any curtain for the beds), 2 shared bathroom, hot water (really hot and it doesn't run out hahaha), pantry, complimentary breakfast (jam and toast), common room & common computer and even a rooftop area. The staff, Sabrina, a singaporean whom migrated to Korea, was very friendly and inviting :D

The place is a lot smaller compared to Inno and it is located on the 4th floor so...be prepared for stairs and stairs and stairs. The floors are heated and you don't have to worry about being cold.

After getting settled in, Amal and I crashed and slept the whole night.

6.2.2014 || Day 12 : Hongdae & Myeongdong

Our agenda for the last week in Korea compromised of shopping, shopping and more shopping :P hahaha we didn't do much site seeing (or is it sight seeing?)

We went about Hongdae and eventually we decided to go to Myeongdong where I shopped and shopped and shopped!

I got a few items :

1) Lush cosmetics (cause there is no lush in Malaysia boohoo)

Golden wonder bath bomb (it was an xmas special and I guess they were just trying to finish it up)

Cupcake fresh face mask

Titsy Tosty bath bomb.

2) The K-pop group named boyfriend for my little sister. I got the autographed one. aren't I nice?

3) various cosmetics from Etude House, Face Shop, Nature Republic

4) Socks. LOTS AND LOTS OF SOCKS :P

7.2.2014 || Day 13 : Ewha Women's University & Myeondong

Walked around Ewha and did some shopping there. I even had coffee at a cat cafe in the area and it is much cheaper than in Myeongdong.

We also checked out of our hostel in Hongdae and went back to Inno Hostel in Hapjeong where we had booked for the remaining days left in Korea.

I had to buy a new winter coat cause some idiot barfed on my wool jacket as I was on my way back from Myeongdong. It was really cheap for a winter coat but it kept me warm and that was important.

it looks like this ;D

8.2.2014 || Day 14 : Dinner with Ryu & his sister

On day 14 of our trip, Amal and I were really running out of ideas on what to do. We had visited almost all the tourist spots and even walked around to the outskirts of the city.

So that day I just enjoyed some quality me time in our hostel and drank hot milo out on the balcony embracing the coldness of winter.

At about 4pm, Amal & I met Ryu & his sister at Seoul Station. The 4 of us then went on to a different part of Seoul that I've never been to.

I don't remember the name of the place but it was a nice suburban area with a lot of theatres and art performances. We went up to the Naksan Village to check out another mural village just like in Jeonju only this was higher and it was the coldest temperature yet. It was difficult for me to walk as I was carrying a heavy bag and was climbing up the steps in a pair of sneaker wedges.

Lesson learnt : DONT WEAR SNEAKER WEDGES. unless you know EXACTLY where you're going.

While walking up the torturous hill in my awesome sneaker wedges, we came across an old lady with a monster she calls a Husky. Seriously, he was so huge he ate a whole bun in one bite.

After walking around the village area, we decided to hike up Naksan Park. *in my sneaker wedges...

The view was spectacular and you can see the mountains. However it was the coldest day we've ever experienced in Korea.

After that, we walked around to find a place to eat and we eventually decided to have fried chicken

Then we went to a shopping mall to look for bingsu but we ended up goofing off in Åland

It was our last night with Ryu & his sister, so we were very happy we got to spend time with them.

9.2.2015 || Day 15 : Hongdae & Myeondong

It finally snowed on the 2nd last day of our trip. Amal and I decided to finish up our shopping spree in Hongdae and at night we would go to Myeondong again.