Hongdae: Days 6 - 10

Here's part 2 of my 10 days in Hongdae adventure! Shall add pictures to this post later!

Day 6: JUNO Hair & Dongdaemun

• Abiko Curry: brunch at this place again! Can't get enough of it. Had 7,500won (?) vegetable curry noodles.
  
• JUNO Hair: my friend (M) wanted a hair cut in Korea so we visited JUNO Hair. There's actually quite a lot of JUNO Hair salons in Korea. The one we went to was in Hongdae, pretty much next door to Pizza Hut on the main road. A majority of the staff members didn't know English, only one knew basic English. Luckily M knew enough Korean to compensate.
  While M was getting hair hair cut, me and Louise sat at the sides watching a bit of TV (a music show was on), and snacking on the free nibbles and drinks they offered. The drinks were very diluted, not exactly pleasant, but hey it's free so it's kind of expected. There was a choice of hot and cold drinks, and a tiny snacks section that consisted of 2 or 3 items - one of them was toast. All we did was ask for drinks, but they gave us a couple of packaged cookies to nibble on. This is what I call service!
  Later on during the week we came back, Louise got her hair cut, M had hair dyed, whereas I just went in for a fringe/bangs trim for 8,000won.
  
• Dongdaemun shopping malls: Late night shopping! I was terribly tired and jetlagged that night so I didn't enjoy the pleasure of it all. Yes I was still jetlagged despite having been in Korea for almost a week.
  Malls claiming to be open till 4 or 5 in the morning would normally get me all fired up, it's like a dream come true for me after spending 20 years on a rock where everything pretty much closes at 5pm. But alas no. I trudged my way through the mall glancing at cute little Asia-exclusive-only items that I would normally beam at.

Day 7: Dunkin Donuts, Cat Cafe & Arirang Studios...

• Dunkin Donuts: brunch at Myeongdong. Got myself a blueberry and cream cheese donut, as well as a mojito cooler that day. Can't remember the price, but it was definitely cheaper than the usual British meal prices. Please note that we don't have Dunkin Donuts in the UK.
  The real highlight during my visit was the Canto father and son sat on a table near us. The father was teaching/helping his son do his math homework, algebra in particular. Math homework on holiday (come on, they were in a different country), on a sunny afternoon, in Dunkin Donuts. What a combo. Felt sorry for the kid because he just didn't quite understand half of it and his father had to point out so many mistakes. From the language the father was using, and in such a loud voice, me and Louise concluded that his job was probably a teacher. He really had a teacher voice. The kid was adorable when his father said it was time to take a break and asked what food he would like, he just kept saying "I would like- I would like-" in Canto. Bless.
  
• Cat Cafe: Cats Living. It's basically a bit up the hill where the Hello Kitty cafe is. Once you enter you must remove your shoes and wear the slippers provided - slippers that had a chock full of cat hair on the bottom, then pay 8,000won which was pretty much the entree fee that also included a 'free' drink.
  Most of the cats here weren't exactly social with the customers. Then again it's kind of expected. A majority of them were just sleeping or lazying about in a space away from the customers. There were a couple of cats though that came over to interact with us. One in particular hated its warm water bowl and went for our drinks cups lined with cool condensation! It just wouldn't stop licking mines! To be honest, the place was a bit stuffy and humid. I think the AC was kind of broken.
  
• Mister Donut: post music show snack in Hongdae. Before we set off on our way to the Arirang studio for the Simply Kpop recording (we managed to get picked for seats), we decided it was best to eat beforehand. We had no idea when the recording would finish so we might as well have an early 'dinner' just in case. Donuts here were really cheap, perhaps around 1,000won each. Got myself a cinnamon roll and mocha donut. Despite the place's decor claiming that it sold the world's best donut, I found the food to be quite mediocore. My food was alright, but I didn't love it. Definitely not 'world's best donut' material.
  
• Arirang Studio: Simply Kpop recording. You have no idea how hyped up I was for this. So damn hyped. No, I wasn't exactly a fan of any of the groups performing. Our little group was hoping to get into the earlier recording when Kris from EXO was MC-ing, but alas we were picked for the 2nd recording. Nevertheless, I was hyped purely because I wanted to experience what it was like to be in a recording studio, as well as part of the audience. This was my media student side kicking in.
  The journey there wasn't easy. We kind of left the travelling-to-the-studio plan to M which turned out to be a disaster because she read the wrong set of travelling directions online. Meaning we travelled a bit more to the North of Seoul to find the SBS building rather than the said Arirang studio. So M asked a taxi guy where Arirang was, even the taxi guy had no idea. In the end he rang up HQ to ask where Arirang studio was, found it on his sat nav and offered to take us there. Oh boy that was a long stuffy ride. Because it was 4pm there was traffic everywhere so it took us pretty much an hour to arrive. For the first half of the journey we were all just panicking purely because we were driving on the big roads and motorways for ages. Thought we were being taken to somewhere sketchy and the taxi driver was going to butcher us all! But no, turns out Arirang studio was near the Gangnam district (South of Seoul) hence the long stuffy 20,000won ride.
  Once we arrived we signed ourselves in at the desk, the guy was confused as to why we were a group of 4 when M was listed down as 1 seat, but he let it pass anyway and said it was alright. Because we arrived kind of early we sat outside on the scorching stairs for a while with loads of other fans around us, trying to keep hydrated and the nausea from the taxi ride down. When people were getting ready to go in, one of the staff members came out to form a line for foreigners. This is where the problems kicked in. M went up to the staff member to state that our group was here, but then the staff member told her that there was only a seat for 1 person and that she can't let more than one in - there was 20 seats in total. We truly believed that Arirang picked M's online entry which requested 5 seats in total (1 other friend couldn't make it, so there was us 4), so why was 1 seat available only? Didn't Arirang see that we had requested for 5? Why pick the entry requesting for 5 seats when you could only afford to give out 1? In the end we left the Arirang studios fuming whilst trying to find a subway station to go to Myeongdong for food. We got lost for a bit.
  // The next day my friend double checked everything and realised that she had sent in a request for 1 seat a day before she started requesting for 5. Meaning that Arirang had picked that first request rather than the other. So this was half Arirang's fault. Why half? Because in the ticket/seat confirmation email to M they only mentioned that she was accepted for the part 2 recording. They didn't mention how many seats or what entry they picked, which is what had led to all the confusion. If only they had been more clear.
  
• Korean restaurant at Myeongdong: sorry didn't note down the name of the place! Feeling absolutely sweaty and knackered from walking around the Gangnam district lost, we went on a hunt for a place to eat in Myeongdong. Why Myeongdong? Because we frequented there so much that we will be less likely to get lost while looking for food.
  We stumbled upon this underground Korean restaurant that was on the same street at SPAO and Everysing, with walls vandalised from previous customers - this was also a feature at Dunkin Donuts. The food here was cheap and great value. I got myself a seolleongtang (ox bone soup) for 6,000 or 7,000won, it was divine. You could definitely tell that the broth had been cooking for hours/over a day because the beef flavour was so heavy and concentrated. The meat was soft and fell apart so easily. The free bowl of rice that came with it was a nice addition to the meal. Needless to say, I cleaned up both bowls with no problem and left my mark on the wall.

Day 8: COEX Aquarium

• COEX Aquarium: great place to kill time at if you don't mind dishing out almost 20,000won. To be honest I was a little disappointed with this place, but maybe it's because I've been to 2 zoo's with aquariums already during the Summer. It's just like your average aquarium. The only thing special about it was the unique fish tanks room where fishes swam in a computer screen, phone box, harp and so forth.
  I did enjoy the seals very much though when they were swimming energetically in their huge tanks. They basically swum up to the glass towards you then flip onto their backs, it was beautiful.
  
• Lotte Department store: within walking distance to the aquarium. This place is basically for the rich and the tourists. Here you could find typical Korean goods that would make great souvenirs for family members back home, such as ginseng and tteokbokki covered in chocolate. That's right. Tteokbokki pieces covered in a thick layer of chocolate. It's very expensive for a box though.
  
• Bonmal: again! Just couldn't get enough of this place, so we came back! This time I ordered a Cassis Frappe, lovely stuff. Did I mention that they also give you a small bowl of nibbles, such as mini pretzels, to snack on? ^^

Day 9: Dog Cafe, BWCW, Pajeon, Cocktails & Karaoke!

• Bau House Dog Cafe: I LOVE THIS PLACE. Located close to Hapjeong station, this place opens around noon time, so when me and my friends arrived at 11am we had to kill time at a nearby coffee shop.
  When the store is about to open you can hear the dogs from behind the glass walls barking excitedly at the scent of customers! Once you step in they will basically run towards the gates that you have to walk through in order to get to the sitting area.
  Unlike the cat cafe, here you don't have to pay 8,000won but you do have to pay for a drink that can be cheaper than 8,000won. If I can recall correctly, I ordered a green tea milkshake for around 6,000won. Pricer than the average Korean beverage, but expected since it kind of includes the entry fee.
  
• BWCW: Yup we came back. This time I had self control and just bought myself a 6,000won Chen [set] at the food area - cos I was hungry. Decently priced and good value if you ask me. The sandwich was pretty good with actual cheddar slices, classy real ham - none of that mass produced artificial looking crap that you would normally see in sandwiches, sandwiched between savoury bread!
  One of the staff members in the 'library' section of the building - where the pop-up store items were at, came up to me to ask which member specific bag I was looking for (I was looking for a Chen bag amongst a sea of others), in which I replied Chen and he said they ran out of stock. He then asked if it was my first time in the store in English, in which I said no, and then he said he recognised me when I first came in because of my hair (my hair has like 5 different colours on it right now hahaha). We chatted for a bit and I found out that he actually lived in London for a year before, hence why he could speak English.
  
• Pajeon & Cocktails: again I forgot to take note of the store's name;; It's located in Hongdae near a Gongcha I believe. Here the pajeon was lovely and delicious, priced at around 10,000won each for a huge pan. We got seafood and kimchi. Also ordered a strawberry cocktail pitcher to share between 4 of us.
  
  
• Karaoke: walking along the really long market streets of Hongdae in search of a karaoke place, we found one that was at the end of the street that charged 20,000won(?) per hour past a certain time at night. To be honest I thought these establishments, from the outside, looked like some garish love hotels. The other one on the street near Etude House looked even more suspicious because it had psycadellic neon lights flashing, and one time I saw a couple go in.
  Anyway, we had to take our shoes off inside and walk around shoeless, because I was wearing sandals I ended up walking around barefooted... They led us through a cute little garden and back inside again towards a dim room down the stairs past a tumble dryer - I don't know what that's doing there either.
  When we entered the staff member asked a few things in Korean that M understood and then just left us to fend for ourselves with the Korean/hangul karaoke system. Oh boy. The huge remote control was labeled entirely in Korean as well as the song book - save for the English titled tracks. So we spent ages just looking for a song as well as firguring out how to use the remote. That took us a good 10 minutes or so.
  Halfway through the 1 hour session that we booked, we found out that the system has preset playlists that you could select so it saves us time in choosing what song to queue up next - not that we knew how to do that anyway. So we went through a couple of those for time's sake.

Day 10: BWCW & City Hall

•  BWCW: here again because we were told that the store restocked every Friday. We arrived disappointed to find that nothing was restocked... Left empty handed - my wallet rejoices.
  
• City Hall: came here because M and our other friend (A) said they wanted to visit the Kyobo department store to do a bit of shopping. Spent ages walking under the blazing sun looking for the place, in the end we had to ask the red NPC-looking information people in the red cowboy hats that had a white "i" on it.
  We eventually found Kyobo and done a bit of shopping and browsing at Hot Tracks and Artbox. I was looking for Korean Hip Hop albums in Hot Tracks but it was hard since it was mixed in with the K-pop albums... Looking for Korean indie albums was a pain too. I was looking for Smells' but no luck. I bought a cute bunny backpack (25,000won) and a Hello Kitty mouse pad (3,000won) at Artbox though, was very tempted to buy a purple Hello Kitty umbrella (19,000won).
  When we were done and on our way back to the subway station there appeared to be a protest going on in the area since there were long lines of police coaches, seas of police men, and a lot of angry looking ajusshi's responding to this one ajusshi who shouted from across the huge intersection with a very loud mic. Strange experience.