Transportation
We worried that it will be busy with the bus so we went early Friday during the day to pick up tickets for Saturday AM departure. The bus ride was uneventful, the bus wasn't even full. People are definitely not traveling in droves to Seoul. But there were a lot of buses when we got to the terminal. It was so busy that the bus driver let us off while it was lining up to get into the terminal. On the way home to Gwangju, there were only 4 people on the bus, us and two older men. This is a 28-seat bus. It was great because we moved to the back and took all four seats in the back row. Transportation is definitely NOT a problem during this time.
Accommodation
We went back to Fortune Hostel because we liked the area (Jongno) and it was easy to get to. A straight line from the Bus Terminal and only one change to get to the Green line. It was also very well priced ($50ish a night). The staff spoke English very well. There's continental breakfast provided but we never get up on time.
Trickeye/Ice/Love Museum and Hanbok photos
We went to the Trickeye Museum/Love Museum/Ice Museum since we're in the Hongdae area. It was great! The Trickeye Museum was smaller than the one on Jeju Island, but it has all the other attractions (Ice and Love) so it was good. The Ice Museum was really cool. Very small and cold but very interesting. Everything was made of ice and there's a slide you can go down on. The Love Museum was fun, it's like the trickeye where you get to interact with the paintings. I also took the opportunity to take some photos in a hanbok (crossed off my bucket list!). It was 20,000 won for the clothes and hair. Would be an extra 20,000 if I wanted makeup and professional pictures. I chose not to do it and get Neil to take pictures for me in their studio instead. It was fun!
Cool/Themed Cafes in Seoul
One of our goals in Seoul this time around was to visit as many cool/themed cafes as we can. Since we were in Hongdae, we decided to check out the Hello Kitty Cafe and Get&Show Cafe (lego-themed). It took a bit of navigating to find these places, we did. The Hello Kitty Cafe was up a set of stairs and it was huge! It's two stories and quite a tourist hot spot. It was soooo pink. I'm not a big fan but I can see the appeal. We sat on the first floor and had a mocha, sweet potato latte and two cakes. They were good but I think people really come for the atmosphere. We took some pictures and headed to the lego-themed cafe. At this cafe, you can pay 4,000 won to borrow a set of lego to build. You have 30-min to build and afterwards you'll get charged extra. It's a bit of a challenge for people. We saw mainly couples there building their lego sets. It is a great idea and we really enjoyed building our puzzles! Word of advice, time goes by really quick, we ended up pay 7,000 for the lego-building experience.
During this trip, we also went to the Bau House Dog Cafe, Thanks Nature (sheep) and Blind Alley (raccoon). The dog cafe was also in the Hongdae area (closer to Hapjeong Stn). There were puppies and big dogs there. It was very quiet there and only three sets of customers. The puppies and big dogs were separated, which is a good idea. We decided to feed some treats to the big dogs and I got a little scared because they SURROUNDED me. The dogs were generally very friendly and just want attention from us. It was sweet and little sad. The sheep cafe is a very nice cafe. They have a resident hipster grandpa artist who is also the caretaker of the two sheep in the courtyard. You can order your drinks in the cafe, commission hipster grandpa to draw your portrait and then go outside and pet the fluffy sheep. All in that order. The raccoon cafe was near Sookmyoung Women's University and a 15 minute walk from the subway. The area is very nice with lots of shops. Definitely reflects the young demographics. The cafe itself was super busy. There was only one raccoon and it was in a separate room inside the cafe. When we sat down, we were handed instructions on what to do/not do. We had to empty our pockets and bring no food in the raccoon room. My many years in Vancouver has taught me to be afraid of raccoon and that fear lingered the entire time, despite how friendly it was. Neil let it crawl around him. It's definitely a strange experience!
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