{#seekingseoul2014} We crossed the river to school.

Our second day started at 10AM when we finally pulled ourselves out of the comfortable bed of the hotel room. After repacking our luggage and checking out from the hotel, we went out for breakfast at the same Kimbab Cheonkook (Kimbab Heaven) right across the street. The morning air was great, a bit chilly (23c), which is just perfect. I was told that the climate will be very humid during our stay in Seoul, but we are 2 days in, and it hasn't rained just yet. The sky was so blue, with white cotton candy clouds. Everything was just so perfect for a day out in the Capital of South Korea.

We had 2 Kimbabs (Cheese and Tonkatsu)
and a Bibimbab for Breakfast
@ Kimbab Cheon-kook

 After our breakfast, we took the cab to Hongdae because the accommodation was cheaper and there are more food during the night. Hongdae is a great place if you were planning to stay longer than three days in Seoul, it has a variety of guesthouses and all the food there are incredibly delicious. Hongdae is an area surrounding the Hong-ik University and is located in the Mapo District. It would be cheaper to go by the subway because the station is right in front of the hotel, but we had two big luggage and carrying it into the subway and out wouldn't be nice. Also, most of the landscape in Seoul were hills, and dragging our bags up and down steep hills are not what we are here for. We don't want anymore bicep muscles, thank you very much.

Departing Gangnam on a cab.

During our Taxi ride, we had another conversation with the Cabbie in broken Korean. He explained to us that Seoul is divided into two parts by the Hangang River, the Gangnam (Meaning South of the Hangang river) and the Gang-bok (the North). He also told us that the subway ride crossing the river at night is a must-see thing when people comes to Seoul, and we put that down on our list of things we had to do in the capital of S.Korea.
The drive was about one hour, due to traffic, and we passed a lot of attractions. One of them being the Hangang River, the other one was the 63 Building.
The building was the tallest building in Seoul from 1985 to 2003 when another building surpassed its height. It was built for the Summer olympic 1988 with the height of 249 metres. This gold and glittering building is located near the river, standing tall and strong.

63 Building, Seoul, South Korea.

When we reached Hongdae, we checked into the Guesthouse we've booked. The place is called '88 Hostel' and it's the most comfortable place to stay during a long vacation in Seoul. The place is located very close to the subway station (Hongdae exit 8) and the way from the station to the Hostel is filled with restaurants and shops that operate until very late at night. The host, Violet, was one of the best people we've met in Seoul city. She was very kind and helpful all throughout. The place is nice and clean with all the things you need. I would definitely recommend this place to everyone who is going to Seoul and haven't decided on a place to stay because I was super-super impressed with everything about this place. 88 Hostel made our trip a ton easier.

Here lays the information about the Hostel (with some Pictures):

- Facebook Page 

- Website 

- Agoda

- Bookings

Inside our room.
A bit small, but very cozy.

Me, and the front of the place.

After we dumped our bags in the room, we went out for a walk. Violet, the host, provided us a map of the whole district with notes on places we have to visit. The first place we went to was the stylist 'Stylenanda' Flagship store (☁︎), which was right beside the place. Very convenient for a shopaholic like me, indeed.
When we reached the place, a woman approved me, asking if she could take my picture for her fashion magazine. I was quite surprised because I wouldn't consider myself as someone who does fashion at all. I didn't put this outfit together, Yves did. She was my personal stylist during our trip in Seoul.

StyleNanda, Hongdae, Mapo-gu.

I have a confession to make:
I spent 95,300 Won, and this was just for one time going into this store. I went there for a couple of times during our stay in Hongdae. We went there nearly every day, to be quite exact, and this was just for the first day. If you are wondering how much is 95,300 won, then here you go: ฿2,990 / £56.5 / $93.5.
After an hour shopping in Stylenanda and taking photos, we got out and walk uphill, over to the Hong-ik University. It was quite a sunny day and the temperature increases to about 30c, but it wasn't as hot as walking in Thailand. I know because if we were in Thailand, I would definitely go for the cab even if it is way more expensive. It's like 7th degree of hell on the streets in Bangkok because we barely have trees.
I was quite hungry when we reached the main gate of the University. So, we went into this cute little cafe, Paris Baguette, so we can sit and watch the amazing architectural design of the famous Hong-ik University.

The main entrance of
Hong-ik University, Mapo-gu, Seoul.

Let's talk about what we ate. It was a bread cafe, and the bread was nice. I tried a lot of new things, but I don't think it was my type of food. I love breads, don't get me wrong, but all the red beans were definitely not my style. The milk-bun (Milk bread with cheese on the inside) was superb, but the red bead rice-ball was ... strange. I love Macarons, but if you had a chance to visit this cafe (they have branches all over South Korea) please don't go for their Macarons. It's way toooooooo sweet and way too expensive. The strawberry milk was great, I can taste the richness of strawberries in the milk.

Paris Baguette, Hong-ik Branch (☁︎)

We took some photos from the Stylenanda Photo Booth,
tried some of the products,
and brought a whole bunch of things
including these cute accessories. 

After our stomach was filled with bread and carbohydrates, we set off again to the Trick Eye Museum. There are branches of these in Thailand as well, one in Pattaya and one in HuaHin, I think. But we wanted to see the original place of the whole thing. It wasn't that hard to find and the entrance fee wasn't that expensive. There's also a traditional Korean set for us to take pictures wearing the Korean traditional dresses. We weren't quite sure if we wanted to wear them or not, but we ended up doing it because why not, right? We are in Korea, after all.

When Rata goes traditional.

After our little photo-shoot, we pursue into the actual museum. It was great fun, taking pictures with all the 3D paintings and stuff. There are more things to do than the ones here, but the concept of the place is the same. Some pictures are even interactive, so we had a lot of fun trying to figure out how to make it look realistic. Here are some pictures inside the Trick-eye museum.

We took a lot of pictures, but these are major ones I thought there are worth posting, and blogging about :)
Outside the entrance, there is also an Ice Museum where everything was made out of ice. I couldn't take the coldness. It was too cold for me, so I stayed there for, like, 5 minutes and took all the footage I need for the video before running out of the place. Yves, on the other hand, enjoyed it so much she didn't want to leave. I only have one picture of the place, if you want to see more of it, then please wait for the video. Thank you :)

We were hungry, again, after coming up from the museum. The nearest place we could spot was the Hello Kitty Cafe (☁︎). It was cute, yes. However, please do not let the exterior fool you. I swear to god I will not enter any Hello Kitty Cafe in Seoul ever again. Never. I really want to say how bad it was, the food the hygiene and everything, but I cannot really know any word that is harsher than the word horrendous. I can only conclude it to 'too expensive than its quality, and not worth any of your money.'

The food looks nice on camera,
but the waffle was hard as stone
and the strawberry smote tasted like rain water 

After an unimpressed meal, we decided to go back to the hostel because it was quite late. The streets were filled with people walking and performing. What I really love about Hongdae is that, every evening, there would be groups of people setting up their performances on the space provided, and those shows were not just some ordinary busking, but a well-prepared show with great productions. I've seen magic shows, DJ-ing, singing, dancing, etc. It was an atmosphere I wanted to see in Thailand. This is one of the reason that Hongdae is a great place for teenagers to stay, it's a place that was made for teenagers. Most performers students from Hong-ik University, showing what they've got after school.
I didn't take pictures of the performance, but Yves took some footage which I will put it into the video for day 02/Hongdae.

When we reached our room, we asked Violet to call for a Jajangmyeon delivery, which is a popular Korean black bean noodles. The colouring wasn't that appetising, but the taste was amazing. Yves didn't share the same opinion, she said the dish was too salty. The yellow thingy is called 'Damuji (단무지)' which are these pickled reddish, and which I do not eat. They put these in the Kimbab as well, and I had to take them out before every time I ordered Kimbab.

I love Jajangmyeon!!! 

Aaaaaaaaand that's it, guys. That's it for day two.  The video will be out either next weekend or the weekend after. I was going to do a fun video featuring my collection of bracelets this week, but I didn't have my camera with me.
Anyway, have a great week, and I'll be blogging again next weekend!

Love,
- Rata.