Seoul 2014, Spring: 15 things to do in Seoul

Seoul, a city that captured my heart that I was determined to head back for another visit soon. Influenced by the Hallyu wave, we reached Seoul to discover the beauty of the city.  A blend of ancient traditions and modern technology, Seoul is a city filled with stark contrasts. There are simply too many activities to do in the vibrant city, so here is my personal take on 15 things to do in Seoul.

1. Biking along Hangang (한강)

 

Instead of a river cruise, we rented a bike and spent a couple of hours cycling along Hangang (Han River). While we had to conquer riding up-slopes along some of the trails, the changing scenery well made up for the exercise. The diversity of the parks offer different scenes, depending on which cycling route you embarked on. There are plenty of bicycle rental shops in the park - so, hop on and ride! 

2. Eat at a pojangmacha (포장마차) and make some friends 

 

Pojangmacha is very much of Korean culture, where locals go for meals and drinks after work. We had our first experience with a bunch of new-found Singaporean and Korean friends. The group of us were just making merry in the pojangmacha, washing down food with bottles and bottles of soju!

3. Day trip to Nami Island 

If you have watched Winter Sonata, you will definitely pay a visit to Nami Island. This place, famous for its beautiful tree lined roads, is the shooting location of the drama. Stroll along the road and reminisce the scenes from the drama. Head for the bench (which has since moved!) where Bae Yong-joon and Choi Jiwoo shared their first kiss.

4. Cosmetic shopping at Myeongdong

   

 Myeongdong is the shopping paradise for cosmetics. Most of the beauty brands - Etude House, Innisfree, The Face Shop - have several shops located in the area. Promoters will stand in front of the shop, hand out free samples to passer-bys (especially girls!) and literally "drag" you inside the shop. Be prepared to part with (a significant amount of) your cash whenever you step into one :)

5. Hanbok (한복) experience

 

A trip to Korea is never complete without putting on Hanbok, the traditional costumes of Korea. Children wear hanbok for their 1st birthday and adults wear it for special occasions. I love the vibrant colours of the costumes, where the fabric is dyed using natural dyes.

6. N Seoul Tower & N-Grill Restaurant

 

N Seoul Tower at Nansam Park marks the highest point in Seoul. Couples flock to the Roof Terrace where they will put a padlock of love on the railings, a symbol of interlocking their fate with each other. Make a stop to N Grill, a french restaurant located at the highest point of the tower, boasting the best view. 

7. Ginseng chicken soup (Samgaetang) 

One of the must-try dishes in Korea, the highly-raved Ginseng Chicken Soup. Stuffed with glutinous rice, this dish is well-liked by young and old. Drink this with a small cup of ginseng wine and feel the heat rush through your body.

8. Stand and eat at a roadside stall

 

I have a special liking towards roadside stalls with their wide variety of snacks that is enough to curb my hunger pangs. My top 2 choices go to tteokbokki and fishcakes. They are my comfort food in the cold weather :) 

9. Korean Folk Village(한국민속촌)

 

Head to the Korean Folk Village for a glimpse of traditional Korean life. There are various traditional houses reminiscent of the late Joseon Dynasty, where visitors are transported back to the olden days. This is also the filming location for various K-drama, such as Moon embracing the Sun, My Love from another Star and Sungkyunkwan Scandal. Be sure to catch some of the events, like traditional folk dances or acrobatics at the performance area.

10. Do a drama-filming-location trail

 

Fans of K-drama will not miss a chance to visit the filming locations of the dramas. These places added a sense of familiarity as I'll recall the scenes from the dramas. This was taken at Petite France, at the spot of the famous flying kiss scene between Do Min Joon & Cheon Song Yi from the drama, My Love from Another Star.

11. Ihwa Mural Village (이화 벽화마을)

 

You can find lots of murals and artworks littered around the whole village. Spend a couple of hours combing the alleys, look for interesting pieces that are worth a shot or two. Visitors are welcome to take as many pictures as possible, but do be mindful to keep your voices down as this is a residential area. Enjoy a cuppa of coffee and chill out at one of the many cafes in the village.

12. DMZ tour

 Venturing into the DMZ zone was one of the to-do list during this trip. We booked ourselves on a half-day DMZ tour and went on an interesting history lesson, courtesy of our tour guide. Stretching over 240km across the Korean Peninsula, the DMZ zone offers visitors an insight on the history and culture of the country.

13. Bukchon Hanok Village (북촌한옥마을)

Home to hundreds of traditional houses dating back to the Joseon Dynasty, this village is best explored on foot. Be sure to wear good walking shoes to scale the steep slopes. Try and see if you can spot the house that was used in the drama "Personal Taste" in this village!

 14. Visit one of the many palaces

 

5 palaces are located within the heart of Seoul, which make it easier to explore. There are guided tours in different languages and timings for tourists, allowing us to learn more about Korean history. With Mount Bugaksan as the backdrop, Gyeongbokgung is the main and largest palace amongst the five palaces. Explore the palace surroundings and head towards the main gate for the guard-changing ceremony.

15. Witness the guard-changing ceremony

The guard changing ceremony is a reenactment of the original ceremony which dates back to ancient times. You can catch the ceremony at either Gyeongbokgung Palace or Gwanghwamun Gate 3 times a day (apart from Tuesday). Take a picture with the guards on duty after the ceremony.

Psst .... detailed posts will be linked once completed, stay tuned!  

On Vacation

It has been a tiring week after sending Grandpa on his final journey. 

Am off to somewhere with the dearest for a 10 day break.

Will be back online in May. 

Have a great Easter everyone :)

Another Goodbye

Grandpa passed away in the comfort of his home last Sunday. 

He joined the stars up above, watching over the loved ones that he left behind.

Goodbye, Grandpa.

Restaurant Week, 2014 edition: Truffle Gourmet

 

Our 2nd stop for restaurant week is Truffle Gourmet, chosen by a dear friend/colleague Stella. Given my special liking for anything with a dosage of truffle, esp truffle fries, I was gamed to try out this new place. Furthermore, Stella is a foodie as well so her choice can't go wrong :) So, we aimed to end work on-time & headed to the restaurant. I love the location, since it was near our workplace and can be reached by walking for less than 15 min. We don't even have to spend time looking for parking lots, lol!

Located at Club Street, opposite where Platters used to be, I almost walked past this restaurant without noticing it. I was half expecting the place to be full, since most of the angmohs were standing outside with several bottles of beer/wine. To my surprise, the place was relatively empty when we walked in apart from 3-4 tables filled with diners. 

 

We were shown to our table near to the kitchen and had the privilege of witnessing the live actions in the kitchen. The chefs all seemed to have chemistry with one another, working silently alongside with the rest of the kitchen crew. 

 

We were served with bread freshly baked from the kitchen. Oh, I love the crispness of the grissini. They were so good that I was tempted to ask for 2nd helpings.
 

We started dinner with Zuppa Toscana, toscana style soup with cabbage staffed with sausage meat, onion, light tomato and light cream. 

 

It was soon followed by Plin Agnolotti, homemade beef ravioli with beef reduction sauce and sprinkled with truffle oil and black truffle cream. I hereby declare this as one of my fave dish! The aroma of the truffle oil reached my nostrils before the dish arrived on the table, making me almost jump with excitement.

  

2nd main course was Tagliata Di Maiale Iberico Pluma, grilled Iberian pork served on a bed of sauteed potatoes, onions, peaks, marsala sauce and black truffle. Coincidentally, we had braised pork cheeks a few days ago at ETNA. Personally, I prefer this dish for the fact that it was grilled (instead of braised pork) and also, the overwhelming truffles used to bring out the taste of the dish. 

 
 We sat for almost 3 hour in the restaurant, enjoying our food and chatting :) So much catching up to do!

We ended the course with Torta Al Cioccolato, Italian chocolate cake with truffled whipping cream. I was sold by truffled whipping cream and it was the perfect companion for chocolate cake (^^) 

Truffle Gourmet
49 Club Street
Singapore 069426
Tel: 62225996

Restaurant Week, 2014 edition: Etna Italian Restaurant

 

Another weekend flew passed so quickly that I'm starting to wonder if there is an invisible hand somewhere that is set to quicken the pace on weekends and slowing down the pace on weekdays :( Too much drama-mama that I think I'm hallucinating as well, haha! A quick entry before I head over to mummy dearest place for the usual Sunday family dinner :) This year, we kick-start Restaurant Week with 3 reservations during priority booking and ended up with almost 5 at the end of the period, heehee!

  

Initially, our 1st stop was at Latteria but I had to cancel our reservation for we brought parents-in-law out for a meal instead. Thus, our first stop was dinner at Etna Italian, a cozy restaurant located at Duxton Hill. Named after Italy's most iconic volcano, the name ETNA is also a clever play on the words "Every Table Needs Attention" which is the focus and pride of this restaurant. 

We arrived shortly after 6.15pm (parking woes!) and were shown to our table immediately. The manager reminded us gently that they needed the  table back by 8.15pm for the 2nd seating - this was fine by us since I predicted that we'll be done by 1.5hrs since we were both feeling quite tired from a long day out.

Pour your own olive oil dip from the bottle that is placed on every table.

       

We started the meal with grilled scallops in champagne sauce. The scallops were presented on a bed of rocket salad, topped with fresh cherry tomatoes. It was an appealing sight. The scallops were succulent and juicy and I couldn't get enough of it even though I had already devour 5 of them. 

 

Even Chef Leecher thought this dish was well-executed. Leecher had double helping of rocket salad since I dislike the slight bitter taste and in exchange, I get one more scallop, yippee!

 
For mains, we had braised pork cheek with truffle potatoes puree. ETNA's restaurant week menu was kind of restricted and patrons did not have any choices to choose from. Perhaps, this helped to keep their standard consistent?

 
Honestly, I wasn't a fan of pork cheeks as it was slightly fatty for my taste buds. 

Dessert came in the form of nougat parfait. Service was indeed attentive at our table - the waitress took time to explain the ingredients & cooking methods for each dish. This little gesture was much appreciated, for it allowed me to gain an insight on the dish. Her explanation added a little colour to my imagination as I pictured the chef working his magic on the dishes.  

ETNA Italian Restaurant

50 Duxton Road, Singapore 089513

Tel: 6220 5513

Opening Hours: 12 noon till 2.30pm, 6pm till 10.30pm (Mon to Sun) 

Wedding Celebrations: Joshua & Yanni

 

Another wedding entry of our dear friends ~ Kaiwei & Yanni. Kaiwei (also known as Joshua, but somehow, both Leecher & I tend to call him Kaiwei instead) and Yanni tied the knot last July. For those who may have noticed, Kaiwei was Leecher's best man when we got married. Wa, the BFFs took turns to be each other's best man, lol. 

 

Being the best man, Leecher headed off to perform his duties early in the morning. I woke up later and headed straight to church for church reception. It was drizzling slightly when I stepped out of the house. I was worried about not being able to grab a cab (we all know how difficult to get a cab whenever it's raining!) but thankfully, one cab stopped in front of me and I hopped on immediately :)

 

Reunited with Leecher, lol! He was performing the best man duties while I took a walk around. We have always drove past this church while heading home but I never had the chance to enter the compound to take a closer look. 

 

The church wedding reception took place at Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the oldest Catholic church for the Teochew community in Serangoon. I sat together with a couple of Kaiwei's friends and one of them actually recognised me from SSL's wedding - small world indeed!

Presenting the lovely couple as they walked down the aisle! Yanni looked absolutely gorgeous in her wedding gown! Instead of the usual princes wedding dress, Yanni opted for the mermaid dress. Her vintage gowns (morning and evening) were hand-stitched by her mum.

A picture with the lovely couple before we adjourned for lunch reception.
 
 Leecher was very on-the-ball that day. We stayed till the end of lunch reception & Leecher ensured that everything was in place before heading back home to change for dinner reception. 

  
Church interior after everyone left. 
 

A change of outfit later, we headed to Mandarin Oriental for dinner. MO is certainly one of my favourite place for wedding for they served really good food :) Leecher said the standard has dropped over the years but it still tasted good in my opinion. 

  
Meet lil Kiera, 2nd precious daughter of HuaiQin and Sheena. I haven seen the little kiddo since her birth and she has grown so big now! I'm always amazed at the rate kids grow up nowadays. 

Lil Kiera was on her best behaviour that night. While she was in her good mood, we played musical chair with her (each one of us took turn to babysit her) so the parents could eat their food. I had to resist myself from pinching her chubby cheeks. 

 
With the lovely Jacq ;)    
 
The couple rock-and-roll their way in for the 2nd march-in, much to everyone's surprise!  
 

Leecher giving his best man's speech. Knowing how lor-sor (long-winded) Leecher can be, I had to remind him countless times the night before to keep his speech short and sweet.  

   

Congrats and happy marriage :)