Yoogane @ Bugis Junction

I was at Singapore around 2 weeks ago for the lousiest interview experience ever. Since it was really a bad day, two of my very, very close friends treated me for a nice dinner and they kinda accompanied me just to calm me down.

My friends actually let me choose which restaurant or cafe to go to for dinner and I opted for Yoogane at Bugis Junction. The reason was pretty simple - when I was at Seoul last year, I didn't have the chance to dine there even though I have came across so many Yoogane branches.

I am not so much of a cheese fan due to several reasons so, I usually try to avoid cheese at all cost. That totally explains the reason why I didn't try the ddakgalbi at Yoogane in Seoul.

Anyway, back to Yoogane at Bugis Junction - we opted for ddakgalbi with cheese. I was in a really bad mood so I guess my friends knew food would be the only way to clear my mind.

The set is available at SGD$52.90 or probably a little bit more than that - I don't quite remember. The set is for 2 to 3 persons if you wanna know but honestly, the portion was alright for the 3 of us but I guess we could eat a little bit more. Anyway, if you're a big eater, this portion would be just enough for 2 persons.

They do serve buffet style banchan or better known as side dishes. The banchan ranges from kimchi to marinated bell peppers to coleslaw with weird sauces. I am not that adventurous when it comes to food so, I didn't try out the peppers or coleslaw.

We didn't manage to take a lot of pictures because throughout dinner, we were trying to catch up.

Oh, just like Yoogane in Seoul, you'll be given an apron each to protect your clothes with.

You could clearly see that I was being busy with the apron. LOL!

We didn't manage to finish up the cheese because I guess the 3 of us couldn't take food that is too cheesy. We managed to finish up the ddakgalbi and had second serving of banchan.

After dinner, we managed to take a short walk around Bugis. Then, we decided to head back to the hostel since I was kinda tired.

It will be another while for me to visit Singapore.

Beautiful Seoul - Part 2

We woke up around 8am Korean time the next day - breakfast was some pastries bought at Myeongdong the previous night. After getting ready to head out, we walked our to Namsan Park. The morning walk was brisk - the weather was so good that morning at 12 degrees Celcius.

Once we've reached Namsan Park, we took at lift up the mountain to purchase our cable car tickets.

The tickets were to and fro for 3 people - 25,500 won. Again, not exactly cheap but well, that's what tourists do, right?

As we adjourned up the hill to Namsan Tower, we looked down from the glass cable car and the view was breathtaking!

Autumn is indeed a beautiful season.

I am not sure about other countries but in Seoul, it is beautiful! I wish I could stay in Seoul for a longer time to witness snow in winter.

As soon as we got to foot of Namsan Tower, this was the scenery we saw.

I only managed to take few pictures because you know, your parents don't really know how to deal with cameras or camera phones.

As the matter of fact, I had a wardrobe malfunction that morning.

I didn't realize the temperature of 12 degrees Celcius would be so cold for jeggings. On top of that, my sweater and jacket weren't thick enough to withstand the cold wind on top of the mountain.

I was shivering hence, I had to jump up and down to keep my body warm.

After Namsan Tower, I headed back to the hotel to get changed - it was just too cold!

Lesson learned - it's better to have longer and thicker jacket, sweater, windbreaker and sweater to cover your butt. When the cold wind blow, my butt froze!

Our next stop was Hongdae. By the time we reached Hongdae, we were famished. Thus, we decided to head over to Kyochon, an infamous fried chicken restaurant. Yes, you didn't read wrongly, the entire restaurant serves only fried chicken and more fried chicken. We settled for one whole Red Fried Chicken.

The first bite into the chicken - we were having foodgasm. The meat was so juicy and tender and we got hooked into eating them. I don't particularly remember the price of the meal but it should be around 22000 won for the spicy chicken.

After Kyochon, we walked around Hongdae. If you do not know, Hongdae is famous among university students. The fashion itself suits younger generation. Erm... since I'm hitting middle age crisis, it's a no for me. We proceeded to walk to Trick Eye Museum.

The individual ticket is priced at 18,000 won. The ticket covered Trick Eye Museum and Ice Museum. If you have not been to this kinda museum, it is worth the trip but if you have been to one before, I'd advise you to skip it because the museum isn't big. The visit took us less than one hour and seriously, I came out of the two museums, disappointed.

Here are some pictures though.

I met Kim Soo Hyun, whoever that guy is. Sorry, I am not really in KPOP or KDrama ever since my degree years so, I've been out of the circle.

A picture of me, riding my white horses in the museum.

Then, I got beheaded by this wicked witch!

Seriously, this is quite smart!

I even got crushed by a dinosaur!

But hey, I'm still very much alive!

I could still peep at a guy's dick! LOL! Sorry for the taboo word though!

I was punished to cycle to heaven for being a peeping Tom!

After Trick Eye Museum, we headed to the Ice Museum.

I have to tell you, the temperature inside the Ice Museum was below 0 degree Celcius. It was -6 degrees Celcius and we were freezing even though we wore thick clothes!

We braced ourselves up because we wanted to take nice pictures. Within 10 minutes or so, mum gave up and she headed out of the museum as it was too cold for her body to take.

As for me, I took extra few pictures in the Ice Museum and decided to give up after 2 minutes.

Cold, it was just toooooo freaking cold!

Finally, it was time to leave Hongdae. Our next destination was back to Myeongdong for dinner at the infamous Nolboo Buldae Jjigae.

The restaurant charged us by head count - 7800 won per person.

If you do not know, Buldae Jjigae is also known as army base stew.

This dish was invented after the Korean war (1950-1953) when the American army was stationed in the city of Uijeongbu, near Seoul. They had their own food on the base, things like canned beans, meat, Spam, ham, and sausages. This food was totally new to Koreans. Eventually these ingredients made their way into surrounding area of the base and some creative Koreans made stew from them. They boiled spam, ham, sausages, and baked beans with kimchi, garlic, and hot pepper paste and flakes, creating a Korean-style stew with American ingredients.

Maangchi on Buldae Jjigae

We expected the amount to be ginormous but it was appropriate for the three of us. However, our tummies couldn't take more than what is seen in the picture above, so we didn't order noodles or rice to go with the stew.

After dinner, I did more shopping at Myeongdong.

I know you are probably asking why Myeongdong again? We were staying around Myeongdong and by the time dinner was over, it was already 8.30pm so, we decided not to go too far away.

We headed back to the hotel at around 11pm to call it a night.

The next morning, we woke up around 7.30am and got ready for our trip to Gwangjang Market.

Once we got there, I went straight in and tried to located one of the Bindaetteok stalls that a lot of bloggers recommended. When I finally found it after few minutes, I was over the moon. I told mum and her friend to quickly find a space and sit down while I ordered some Bindaetteok.

Each piece of bindaetteok is priced at 4000 won.

Initially, we ordered 2 pieces and thought it would be enough for 3 of us but then, we got hooked on it and ordered additional 2 more since it was so delicious!

I have a good mind to learn how to make these for Mr. BF but then again, that's whole other story.

I managed to snap a picture of the ahjumma making the bindaetteok.

Well, try to find this ahjumma if you are interested in her bindaetteok. I guarantee you will not be disappointed. We didn't manage to try other food but then again, our main agenda was the bindaetteok.

Bindaetteok, done - next destination, Noryangjin Fish Market.

Remember the stories about how people chomp down on live octopus and such? Well, it takes place at Noryangjin.

I didn't manage to try the live octopus because mum wasn't keen on eating live seafood. To be honest, I was a little disappointed because the whole trip to Noryangjin was about the live octopus. Nevertheless, there will always be next trip.

It took us the entire morning until 4pm for the trip and then, we headed to Seoul Main Station to do some grocery shopping at Lotte Mart. I had to stock up some banana milk for my sister and dad at home. Other than that, we spent a lot on Peppero since they are so cheap in Korea.

After grocery shopping, we stopped by Angel-in-us Cafe again because I wanted to try something that Malaysia doesn't have.

I know I kinda wasted a lot of money on my caffeine fix but hey, it's worth it, okay?

After our caffeine fix, we went back to the hostel to take our shower.

Then, it was time to head back to Myeongdong for the infamous Andong Jjimdak!

Jjimdak is braised chicken with vegetables. Dak (닭) is chicken and jjim (찜) is a cooking term for “braise” or “steam.” It is believed that this dish originates from Andong province in South Korea.

The portion was humongous for the 3 of us. We didn't expect this kinda portion. Mum got so shocked witnessing two ahjummas ordering one plate of this each on top of white rice. The 3 of us did not even managed to finish this plate and we didn't even order rice to go with it.

The braised chicken was so spicy to the point my lips got swollen after the meal but it was really worth it.

Dinner was done in 45 minutes and then, it was more shopping sprees!

Sorry for the messy hair but yeah, my hair was in a mess after shower that night so I kinda pinned up my fringe so it would be less messy.

After shopping, I went to a nearby Starbucks to rekindle my love for Hojicha Latte for one last time. Then, we went back to the hotel, took our second shower and then, fell asleep almost immediately since we were so tired.

We woke up at 5.30am the next day to catch our flight at 9am. Hence, one last OOTD in front of the hotel entrance.

Asking about my shopping sprees? Nah... here you go!

I am not rich. Enough say.

Not everything is mine.

Our flight back to Malaysia was with MAS Airlines.

Again, we were well fed in the airline. I even requested for red wine.

Anyway, I enjoyed my 5 days 4 nights stay in Seoul and I am gonna say this, I will be back again soon just because I love the culture and food there.

I hope this entry may help those who are going to Seoul.

Beautiful Seoul - Part 1

One of the things I have enjoyed doing right after my resignation is traveling. I have seen my fair share of the world these few months and I couldn't be more than just thankful.

Seoul has been one of the places I must visit in my bucket list and 2015 marked the year I visited Seoul for the very first time. It was during autumn and you know what, I've fallen in love with South Korea so badly now. Autumn in Seoul is just so, so beautiful that there is no words I could use to describe it's beauty.

For this trip, I traveled with MAS Airlines at 11.35pm and it was a pleasant 6.5 hours flight from Kuala Lumpur to Seoul. MAS provided it's passengers with a small pillow and blanket just in case you feel cold. On top of that, we were well fed - 3 meals throughout 6.5 hours.

Finally, after 6.5 hours, our flight landed at Incheon International Airport the next morning at around 5am (Malaysian time). Seoul is one hour ahead of us so it was 6am when we got there.

It was a busy morning at Incheon International Airport.

The queues at the immigration counters were so, so freaking long that it took us literally around 20 to 30 minutes to get to the arrival gate.

The first thing on my to-do list when I got to the arrival gate - I need internet!

I headed to the nearest 7-Eleven and purchased EG SIM card for 30000 won and an additional 5000 won for my iPhone nano SIM card. I was a little bit shocked at the price - it was approximately RM120 just for  two-week validity! The data allocated was only 1GB.

Okay, that's another story for another day.

It was raining so heavily in Seoul when we got there so we booked a cab to go to our hotel in Myeongdong. The cab was priced at 65000 won. Erm... honestly, it was quite expensive. Anyway, there wasn't much choice for us - rain, plus, if you are traveling with your parents, using the MRT or bus isn't the best idea.

We reached our hotel an hour later and were not able to check-in because the check-in time was 2pm. We dropped our luggage at the hotel and headed over to the infamous Myeongdong to kill some time since we couldn't go far due to the weather.

We were hungry so our first instinct was to get local street food.

We order ddukbokki and mini kimbaps for 3000 won each. In Korea, you get free drinks to go with every meal you have ordered - that's a plus point for us!

The ddukbokki was really nice!

I got so addicted that I finished up the whole 3000 won share. I was supposed to share it with others but nah, no thanks, not this time!

Then, we walked around Myeongdong since I had a list of stuffs to buy. If you are wondering, you can get brands like Innisfree, IOPE, Aritaum, Clio, Banilo Co, Apieu, The Face Shop, Etude House, Nature Republic and other infamous names in just this area alone. If you are more interested in Watson or Guardian alike stores, there are two Olive Young outlets available.

After we've checked into our room, we took a quick shower before heading to Gyeongbukgung Palace.

We were just in time to witness the guard changing ceremony.

Honestly, I wasn't paying much attention to the ceremony since my attention was focused on the surrounding of the palace.

My mum, on the other hand, had her eyes fixed on the ceremony. She took out her mobile and started taking pictures.

I whipped out my mobile and I took selfies of us!

I do get questions on the weather there and why I was wearing scarves all the times.

It was cold. On the day of our arrival, due to the rain, the temperature went down to 11 degree Celsius. Scarves kept my neck warm.

After the ceremony was over, we walked over to Bukchon Hanok Village because I have heard a lot of good things about the commercialized village.

We managed to check out every single corner of the village before heading back to Gyeongbukgung Palace. By the time we got back to the palace, it was already 5pm and we were dead hungry. Lunch was just simple ddukbokki and kimbaps.

We made our way to Tosokchon, the infamous restaurant that serves the infamous Samgyetang or better known as ginseng chicken.

Just like any Korean restaurants in Kuala Lumpur, we got endless supply of kimchi and radishes. On top of the samgyetang, we ordered grilled chicken too.

The grilled chicken was served with special sauce and cabbage salad.

We did get surprise beneath the grilled chicken!

Tosokchon serves infamous chickens with ginseng so, beneath the chicken, there was blended ginseng. Mum loved the ginseng so much that she ate all of it!

Price of samgyetang is 15000 won and grilled chicken was 22000 won if I am not mistaken. Not exactly cheap but it was totally worth it!

After dinner, we headed back to our hotel in Myeongdong and called it a night since there wasn't much to do on a rainy day too.

It was still raining the next day (12 degree Celcius). We waited a bit for the rain to stop and finally decided to go to Nami Island. Yes, it is the island where Winter Sonata was filmed and no, I did not watch that movie.

We were supposed to book seats with a tour bus but then again, since there was no seat available, we had to go there via MRT. It was a good experience. If we were to go via the tour bus, we would be charged 15000 won but since we traveled there via MRT, the journey cost around 7000 won only. A penny saved is a penny earned!

The good thing about going there on our own - we had the chance to enjoy the beautiful scenery all the way to Nami Island.

I am not joking - autumn in Seoul is indeed beautiful.

The downside of traveling via MRT - it is quite time consuming.

It took us around 2 hours to get to Nami Island and of course, with a lot of walking to do. Our effort wasn't wasted - indeed, everywhere in Seoul was beautiful!

Upon reaching Nami Island, we headed to the counter to purchase our entry via. The fees is as shown in the picture above.

I was quite ecstatic of the whole idea of going to Nami Island but then again, the downside to it, the island is suitable for couples.

I remember, mum was telling me, "You have to come here to take your wedding pictures! Tell Mr. BF about it!"

You guys know what? I think mum is right!

We proceeded to queue up at the jetty to wait for the ferry to ferry us to the island.

In less than 10 minutes, we set our feet on Nami Island.

Immediately, I was head over heels with the scenery.

Indeed, Nami Island is known as the island for couples! On top of being island for couples, you should be able to take a lot of OOTDs on the island! The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful for any kind of pictures!

Even if those pictures were randomly taken.

I told myself, "I will be back here next year!"

Erm... not for wedding pictures but probably for another visit!

We left the island at around 4pm and headed to Mr. Ddakgalbi for our late lunch cum early dinner. There were a lot of grilled chicken restaurants around but Mr. Ddakgalbi is the one that most of the people talk about.

We ordered portion for two since there were three of us.

Each portion was priced at 11000 won.

They also served ddakgalbi with bottomless lettuces and other side dishes. All you have to do is ask for more!

We were quite full with portion for two. We ordered a plate of rice - 6000 won. Initially, we intended to order two plates but three of us were stuffed by the time we finished up three quarter of the ddakgalbi.

To be honest, that plate of rice was quite expensive but what to do? You're in Seoul where food is quite expensive.

Anyway, our next stop was Lotte Mart at Seoul Station. We pretty much spent 4 hours in the supermarket before making a stop at Angel-in-us Cafe.

A lot of people recommended this cafe to us but to be honest, I wasn't wow-ed by their beverages. Erm... I still prefer my Starbucks.

Talking about Starbucks, I found the love of my life in Starbucks, Korea.

I fell in love with Hojicha Latte!

OMG... the latte was so fragrant and smooth and nice! You guys should totally try it out if you are in Korea.

After Lotte Mart, we called it a night.

I will be covering more of our 5 days 4 nights Seoul trip in the next entry.