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May 17, 20165 min read

#FELinSEOUL Day 5: Hongdae, Hello Kitty Cafe, Pasaek Samgyeopsal


#1: Breakfast of toast (under the egg), sunny side-up, ham and vegetable sausages.

Headed off to Hongdae after breakfast. Hongdae is a region in Seoul that is known for its urban arts, trendy cafes and nightlife. The name ‘Hongdae’ is an abbreviation from Hongik Daehakgyo (Hongik University), which is one of the nation’s top fine arts colleges in South Korea. In the 1990s, students of Hongik Univeristy began to decorate the streets, walls and road around the college. The approach was soon joined by many other artists from all over the world and the first Street Art Exhibition was held in 1993. Every year, students of Hongik University and neighbouring artists would join to produce a diversity of visual arts on the streets of Hongdae like graffiti wall painting, installation arts and performances.

Just like Garosu-gil, Hongdae is another trendy area where youths like to hang out at. If you are lucky enough, you can find merchandises of popular Korean drama, Descendants of the Sun, here. About half the stores in Hongdae was playing Descendants of the Sun tracks! You can also get lots of affordable fashion apparels here. I got fashion socks (the Koreans call them Happy Socks) at KRW1,000 per pair and some envelope bags at KRW10,000 each.

HONGDAE

Opening hrs: 1100hrs to 2200hrs.

Address: Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea.

Subway: Hongik University Station (line 2).

#2: Hongdae.

#3: Hongdae.

The first cafe that I went to in Hongdae was Hello Kitty Cafe. The whole place is so pretty and cute! Though I am not a fan of pink, and definitely not a fan of Hello Kitty, but this place is definitely worth visiting! Do not expect too much on the food. They are pretty to look at but the taste is really just so-so.

There are two stories of seating, with a gift store at the corner of the first floor. Every corner of the cafe seems to be a nice place to take photo with. On the second floor, there is a Hello Kitty room which features a single bed, an armchair and a simple vanity table. This room is definitely every little girl's dream room!

HELLO KITTY CAFE

Opening hrs: 0930hrs to 2230hrs.

Address: 364-14 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea.

Subway: Hongik University Station (line 2 exit 9), Hapjeong Station (line 2 exit 3).

#4: Hello Kitty Cafe.

#5: Hello Kitty Cafe.

#6: Hello Kitty Cafe.

#7: Hello Kitty neoprint machines!

#8: Super cute and pretty business cards.

#9: Hello Kitty Latte and Hello Kitty Tiramisu, which tasted so-so.

#10: Giant Hello Kitty spotted at the gift store..

#11: ..selling at KRW360,000 instead of original price of KRW480,000. What's so special about this Special Doll? Freaking expensive!

#12: More seating upstairs.

#13: Hello Kitty Room - every little girl's dream room!

#14: Grey seats for the guys and less girly girls.

#15: Pink seats.

#16: More seating upstairs.

Next, I went to cafe bar, The Bridge Cafe, located at another corner of Hongdae. The Bridge Café occupies the second and the third storey of a building that offers multiple cozy sitting spaces and private areas, with different unique settings – some with proper dining tables and chairs, and some with mats and cushions; probably about 20 of these private corners. The coffee here is pretty good as well. I would say the second best coffee I have had thus far, lining behind C.Through Cafe.

THE BRIDGE CAFE

Opening hrs: 1000hrs to 0100hrs (Sun-Thu), 1000hrs to 0200hrs (Fri, Sat).

Address: 347-17 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea.

Subway: Hongik University Station (line 2 exit 9).

#17: The Bridge Cafe.

#18: Take the stairs up to Level 2.

#19: The Bridge Cafe.

#20: The Bridge Cafe.

#21: One of the private areas. One bad thing about these private spaces is that the entrance to these spaces is pretty narrow and most of them have a relatively low ceiling. So if you are super tall or super fat, it is advisable for you to take a seat at the common area instead.

#22: Iced Latte.

Next, I head down to Ewha Fashion Street. Ewha Fashion Street is one of the top shopping streets in Seoul, located at the area around Ewha Women’s University. This area offers fashion items like clothing, shoes and accessories suitable for young women and teens. In the recent years, several shopping malls have taken over some of the stores along the alleys such as Yes! Apm.

There wasn't much clothing that suits me as they were all too cute and girly. For me, I prefer street-style clothing. Wanted to go over to Yes! Apm that is located right beside Ewha Fashion Street but the whole building has closed down! Why do stores in Korea keep closing down? I suay or what?

Bought a cup of orange juice from one of the street vendors and the stall owner is really friendly and chatty! He tried to strike a conversation with me but I wasn't able to understand what he says. He asked where I was from and started speaking to me in Malay, thinking that Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia are all the same. I tried to explain to him that our first language is English and our second language depends on our race. Since I'm Chinese, I learn Mandarin Chinese. Not sure if he really got what I said but he was translating to his stall partner, so I guess he got it. Settled down to have my lunch along with the freshly squeezed orange juice. Didn't like the fact that they added syrup into the drink, which makes it taste un-natural.

EWHA FASHION STREET

Opening hrs: 1100hrs to 2200hrs.

Address: Ewhayeodae-gil, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, South Korea.

Subway: Ewha Woman’s University Station (line 2 exit 1 or 3).

#23: Ewha University right in front.

#24: Ewha Fashion Street.

#25: Ewha Fashion Street.

#26: Orange Juice (it is not from 7-eleven).

#27: Yes! Apm that has closed down.

#28: Lunch of Ham Omelette Cream Cheese Sandwich.

Took a walk around the area and lastly, went over to Palsaek Samgyeopsal for dinner. It's about a 15mins walk (about 1km) from Ewha Fashion Street. Palsaek Samgyepsal is famous for serving fresh pork belly that is marinated in eight kinds of marinating sauce – ginseng, wine, pine leaves, garlic, herbs, curry, miso and chili. The restaurant has only 35 outlets across the country and outlets in Japan, Malaysia, America, Australia and China. I ordered the 8 kinds of pork belly, half portion (400g), that is good for two, and it comes serve with a choice of soup, bean paste, fresh onions, garlic, green chili, a mix of fresh vegetables (to wrap the meat), kimchi, salad, king oyster mushroom and enoki mushroom. I liked the wine flavour the most, it tastes pretty similar to Chinese dish, Red Glutinous Rice Wine Chicken (红糟鸡), followed by chili and herb. The rest taste kind of normal.. I didn't like the pine leaves flavour!

PALSAEK SAMGYEOPSAL

Opening hrs: 1100hrs to 2300hrs.

Address: 107-111 Nogosan-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea.

Subway: Ewha Woman’s University Station (line 2 exit 6).

#29: Palsaek Samgyeopsal.

#30: Ginseng, wine, pine leaves and garlic pork belly (50g each).

#31: Herb, curry, miso and chilli pork belly (50g each).

#32: Lots of food with a long tray of fresh vegetables on the left.

Expenses of the Day

Fashion Socks - KRW1,000 (x10) = KRW10,000

Envelope Bags - KRW10,000 (x2) = KRW20,000

Hello Kitty Cafe - Latte KRW4,500; Tiramisu KRW5,500

The Bridge Cafe - Iced Latte KRW6,000

Ewha Fashion Street - Orange Juice KRW2,000

Palsaek Samgyeopsal - KRW27,000

Daiso (at Ewha University Staion) - KRW3,000

Sub-total: KRW78,000 = SGD92.75

Expenses from previous: SGD1,556.15

Current total: SGD1,648.90

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