Lunar New Year - Seoul Getaway

For Lunar New Year we got five days off and decided to head to Seoul. We booked our hostel in the Jong-no area called Fortune Hostel. It was great! Very convenient and close to the subway station. Only one train from the bus station.

We kept hearing about how it would be really busy to travel on this day but our trip was really smooth. We got there in 3.5 hours and no big traffic jams. After getting to the hostel, we decided to head out the Itaewon to grab dinner. We originally wanted to eat at a Thai restaurant but changed our minds and headed to Boiling Crab instead. BEST decision! It was delicious! 

After dinner we went to Tony's Bar for their stand-up comedy night. It was also very good. We'll definitely go back there the next time we're in Seoul. 

The next day (Thursday) we went to Gyeonbokgung Palace. It was a 20-minute walk from our hostel. Being as it's LNY, we got free entrance to the palace and there was also a festival going on as well. Too bad, the tour wasn't going on so that's another place I want to read up on or go again. I bought some treats at the various food tents. Next we went to find the dim sum restaurant Mong Jung Heon. It was nice and super fancy. The dishes were very expensive. The shrimp dumplings were delicious but the pork dumplings did not taste homemade at all. It looked and tasted like the ones I could buy at T&T in Vancouver.

Afterwards we headed to Seoul Grand Park Children's Zoo. It has been a long time since I was at a zoo and this one was pretty cool. During this holiday, it seems half of Seoul was empty and it's been remarked on by some comedians the night before. It was great because that meant we could sit down on the subway and the lines were not long to all the attractions, including the zoo. The zoo was huge! In fact, the whole park was huge! We spent at least two to three hours and there was a whole avian area we skipped (due to the avian flu warnings). We went back to the hostel to rest a bit before heading out for dinner.  We were going for Thai food (again, tried) but it was closed so we ended up across the street at an Irish Bar. Neil had some bangers and mash and I had fish and chips. It was okay.

On Friday, we visited the Seodaemun Prison and learned quite a bit about the Korean/Japan war/colonization. It reminded me a bit of the Alcatraz but less scary. It was definitely more educational. Next we went to the Coex Aquarium in the Coex Mall. Before the aquarium, we had some pho in the mall. The mall was beautiful! There's so much to see and it's just very pretty. The last time we were there, the renovations wasn't complete so we didn't see how beautiful it was. The ticket for the aquarium was pricey but we went anyways. It was interesting. There was a section where there were fish tanks in every day items like a fridge and a washing machine.

After the aquarium, we saw another Chinese restaurant so we went there to try their dim sum. It seems like this was another fancy restaurant too. The pork dumplings were much much better but the spring rolls were super tiny and meh. 

On Saturday, we had booked a DMZ-tour and the guide came to pick us up at our hotel at 7am. There were five other people in the tour with us. I really liked the tour, the guide was very thorough and gave a lot of explanation and history. She really took care of us. We took a van ride to a city near the DMZ (de-militarized zone) called Paju to meet up with other tourists with their own tour guides (mostly Chinese and western) to travel on a bus to the Third Tunnel. As this is not a UN tour, we couldn't go into the actual DMZ. That tour needs to be booked months in advance and cost slightly more. We did enter the DMZ through the third tunnel which went under this area. We gained a lot insightful information about South and North Korea. This tour was worth it and I would go on the UN tour to see more of the DMZ. 

After getting dropped off in Hongdae (after a gingseng store tour...) we went to find this sushi place my co-worker Rami told us about. The thing about Seoul is that there are tons of little and side streets that don't have names so it's a real challenge finidng anything! We walked around the area for at least 20 minutes before we finally found it! At one point I was going to give up but it was definitely worth it. We finally had salmon sashimi and it was sooooo good! We also got some "service" (=free) items such as a shrimp sashimi (I ate both and they were so sweet!) and a seared salmon.

That night after resting at our hostel, we headed to Itaewon again to do a bit of foreign grocery shopping. We also finally had some Thai food. It was a super pretty place (all purple!). The food was good but it wasn't excellent. It's too bad. We also dropped by a place called Ben's Cookies and bought half a dozen. We had them for dessert back at our hostel. It was delicious! One cookie was really filling.

By Sunday, we decided to do a little bit of shopping and then head home. However, we didn't find anything we wanted and just took the bus home. It was a very productive trip and there's only a few things we still have to do (i.e. rainbow bridge, fish market, etc.) Until next time Seoul!

Second Apartment Tour (no video)

We moved into our second apartment in September. We had every intention to do a video tour but unfortunately we got too busy and never had the chance before we were told we're moving. So here's a post about our second apartment with pictures and the floor plan. 

This is a 3-bedroom apartment on the 19th floor in a very residential area. We are 15 minutes walk away from the subway station and 2 stops from our school. It takes us about 30 minutes each day to travel to work.

This is an older apartment and we had keys instead of the electronic locks. Once you go in, you're in the entrance/foyer area. It's an open plan and you can see the living room on your immediate left. On the right hand side is a door for one of the bedrooms. We changed it into a dining room because the dining table took up too much space in the living room. We hardly use this room and it's super drafty because of the enclosed balcony. We use the big closet in this room to store our winter coats, suitcases, and miscellaneous things. We put the desk in the enclosed balcony because it's where it fits. 

Further down from the living room and to the right is the kitchen area. We originally had a mini fridge so we bought a second full-size fridge instead. this cost us about 100,000 won ($100) and included delivery! This place came equipped with a microwave, a rice cooker, a blender and a french press! There were also lots of utensils and kitchen stuff left over from previous owners. So we didn't have to spend anything on that. The only things I spent money on were our pots and pans, which I prefer to get my own.  The sink is quite large and there's even a sanitizer/dryer above the sink! We only used it at the beginning because of its novelty. Most of our dishes were left in the drying rack instead. The stove only had two elements and it's detachable. 

The sliding doors lead out to another enclosed balcony space. This is where the washing machine is and the broken mini fridge. We also store our cleaning supplies, recyclables and garbage. 

There is a large bookcase that we used as our pantry for our canned/packaged/dry goods, teas and our toaster. In the bottom cupboards are my baking ingredients and supplies. On the right side of the shelves is second bedroom: the guest room. There is a big closet in there that we use to store our extra blankets and linens. We inherited three single mattress pads which we've stacked. When we have guests, we'll take them apart and it just barely fits (can't fully open the door). There's also some night stands in there for extra storage. The walls had Disney Princess decos that we've covered with a map. 

On the left side of the shelf is a door that leads to the toilet. Unlike many Korean apartments, we were blessed with an actual tub! It's great for baths and because of this, the room tend not to be too wet. 

Next to the toilet is the master bedroom. It is considerably larger than the other two bedrooms. It comfortably accommodates a double bed, a set of drawers, a large closet, and a vanity table and area. Korean beds are known to be hard but luckily the previous resident sold us their foam mattress which made the bed a million times better! (Thank you Carly!) I was super happy to have an area where I can set up my make up and get ready. This room has large windows that open out to another enclosed balcony.

The entrance to this balcony space is through the living room. It is a very good size which we use to hang our laundry because there is no dryer.

This apartment is very nice and roomy so that Neil and I don't have to bump into each other all the time. We've had many good times here watching netflix and hosting wii dance parties!

First Apartment Tour

For the first month of our stay in Gwangju we are temporarily staying in an apartment that's 5 minutes from the school. It is a studio apartment near Sangmu subway station. There's lots of restaurants and shops nearby and we've spent most days walking around th neighbourhood.

We've created a video blog for the apartment tour. Below are some pictures and a a floor plan our first apartment.

If the video doesn't load use this link: http://youtu.be/hiWVZfV6D3Q