Korea 2024 - Seoul Old Train Station Part 2

 

As I said, I love old buildings. There is just something very grand about them, so spacious. It like they have seen so much, the secrets that is held in each wall, or each pillar. They always felt so strong, so stable. It's just so cool and comforting to stand inside one. Above, the inside of the old Seoul Station.

The clock, and the beautiful windows that let in the natural lights. I guess train stations sometimes do look a like. This one also reminded me of Bangkok train station.

The beautiful ceiling, so high. Everything looked like marble here. Even if it's just tiles, it felt so solid and cold. And the big metallic ball in the middle, just reflecting everything around it. Just amazing.

You could also see some of the old stained glasses at different part of the buildings.

The upstairs corridors and room. Love the green doors! Love the shinny brown floor. Love the lightings!

And the staircase! So beautiful! 

Here is another one with a unique lighting piece at the ceiling. Such classic look. I wonder if people come here for photoshoots.

I took a lot of photos at the main hall cause it just looked so grand.

I'll end my post here with me in front of an art installation on the 2nd floor. I like this photo for the lack of colours! Lol. 

Korea 2024 - Seoul Breakfast and Old Train Station Part 1

 

After spending too much money in a tea house the day before, I was broke! So we had breakfast in our hotel room the next morning. I had a cup noodle, a boiled egg, and some side dishes we got from the Lotte Mart days before. I love these two side dishes, so my husband bought them for me to try :) We had the morning to ourselves, needing to only meet the group for lunch at around noon time, and coffee after that. So finally, today was the day I could do whatever I want. And I wanted to visit an old train station nearby!

Staying nearby the Seoul Station was great cause we could just walk there without spending money on transport. It was maybe a 15minutes walk? And best of all, it was a free attraction!

Bright blue sky with a very hot sun, even in the early morning!

A beautiful metallic sign on the floor in front of the train station.

Some official information of the old station. The new station is just right next to it.

I like watching exhibit like these. It's like a connection to the past.

And I love the above photo, how they just merged different slices of trains throughout the era into one train. 

I used to love collecting bus tickets, so I love looking at these. 

And since the old station was also a kind of an art exhibit, there were rooms converted in to art display as well. I like this one above, which looked kinda Harry Porter like, with luggages flying all around an old classic looking room.

Another art exhibit at one of the main hall, a 3D black and white artistic train railroad :)

But actually, the star of the old station was the old building itself, which I will share more of in the next post.

Korea 2024 - Seoul Myeongdong Dinner

 

After our lunch and tea, we were once again left to our own devices for the rest of the day. We were rather near Myeondong area, and I wanted very much to visit a Ryan Friend or a Kakao Friend shop, so that was what we did. We walked or bus to the shopping area, and lo and behold! A giant Ryan!

It was a pop-up shop, and so colourful! So snap away I did!

Cute! Kawaii! 

Walking into Myeondong was like walking into Ximending in Taiwan, a madhouse! But for some reason, I find Myeondong a lot more tolerable. Anyway, it's filled with young energy, cuteness overload, and too much shopping for young girls!

For dinner, some of us ended up with fried chicken a beer, something you just have to do when you're in Korea. And seriously, Korean fried chicken is something you should not miss. It's just lovely! However, the fried chicken on this night was just so-so. We went to a better one the very next day! Hahahahaha. 

Before we left and call it a night, we also spend some time at an12-level Daiso there! Even though Daiso is a Japanese store, you shouldn't skip them when you're in Korea either. They do sell a very cool collection of things at a cheap price. For that night, I got a bucket hat, and a wind chime. The wind chime now hangs in my laundry room, and it rings every time I knock on it when I use my towel or hang my laundry. For an almost 2sgd item, the sound of that wind chime is amazingly bright! My best buy in a Korean Daiso!

Korea 2024 - Seoul Lunch and Osulloc Tea at Bukchon

 

Around lunch time, we went back to where we were supposed to meet for lunch. It was hard to miss the place with the giant chicken in front! Hahahaha. We were having traditional korean ginseng soup! Yay! 

So apparently this was a michelin recommended place. It was crowded, but our guide got us a few tables outside. The place was super busy, but I thought they had one of the most awesome service staff. They were all polite even though the customers can be demanding. After that, I found out that they were mostly Chinese staff! Hahahaha. 

Above, our table outside at the garden. I didn't mind sitting outside.

I ordered the famous dish, and happily enjoyed it slowly, finishing everything up.

After that we went nearby to Osulloc Tea house! This was my favourite place in Seoul! And you will see why!

The shop has three storeys! And it was beautiful in every single one inside!

The first storey was the shop, and I love how they displayed their product inside. So very zen!

They sell the tea in box sets too, which got me interested. I usually love eastern style tea, but the box set combination of tea was quite unique in an un-eastern way. So I was pondering the whole afternoon where to get any. But the box was so beautiful! 

They have a display of all the teas and description. You could smell their scent here too.

On the third floor where we ended up sitting, there was actually a bar inside!

The menu was so interesting! I would have love to try these!

And the bar was beautiful too! I love the slight stained glass look of the bar's background. Love the shinny black deco all around too. What a delightful place!

At the 2nd floor is where we place our order and collect our food and drinks. There they have an array of dessert menu for show. To be honest, I wanted to try everything! Above some waffles.

And here is a more traditional snacks to go with your tea, various mochi with various traditional paste to go with it. This set was only available at the branch here. 

There were also matcha cakes and other type of cheesecakes.

So this was what we got. I think the drinks were paid for as a group, and desserts were on our own. I was feeling generous and wanted to try the desserts, so I basically paid for the two desserts here to be shared with the group at our table :)  It goes to show that when I'm happy, I don't really mind spending the money on  others!

The drink I ordered was a hallabong matcha cocktail. It was rather thick, but as the ice melted, it was manageable. Here can I just say that I recently when to Norm Microbrewery in Penang and their Yuzu Matcha drink is the best in the world! I've had it 3 times, and all 3 times was perfect! And recently I've also fallen in love with their dessert. Only problem is, it's kinda expensive to dine there.....

After our tea sets, our teacher also came around with some matcha treat to share with us <3

And before we left, yes I did decided to purchase the tea box set after all! I also got a pack of green tea. This was the present I gave myself for this trip. I kept the tea box for almost half a year before I finally opened it! And the first pack of tea I tried was divine! After drinking so much tea in my daily life, I know a good tea when I drank one! And it was such a smooth tea! Never mind the weird flavour it says it is, it was still calming and enjoyable! No regret! Got to learn to love yourself!

Above, my haul :)

Korea 2024 - Seoul Bukchon Streets and Shops

 

Besides the more quiet residential streets and houses, there were also some charming streets filled with unique shops and eateries. So when we came down from the slopped hill, we ended up in a street filled with shops. 

Some of the small alley were so narrow that no cars can pass. And since this was a tourist area, it was rather nicely decorated. Some had paintings and art around the streets. Looking at this photo now, it reminded me of the hutong area that we stayed in when we visited Beijing. But somehow, this Korean street looked a lot better!

Vibrantly coloured walls with paintings on it at one side, and beautiful green plants on the other side. All leading up to a traditional house with wooden door. How lovely.

I was also amazed at their cafe too. It had such an open concept. I mean, it's like dining at a window! It looked so cute cause people can look in on you as they walked by. Granted that the floor was raised, so I guess you can look down on people as you dine at such a fancy place! Hahahaha. I wish we had time to sit in some of these cafe, but we had only an hour or so before lunch, and we were also going for tea at one of my favourite tea shop!

A beautiful blue retro shop with high stool outside for you to dine on! It's just a blur of inside and outside, and I really love it. I love places with outdoor elements. It gives a free-er feeling whenever you are in it.

This is a scene at the corner of the same shop above. A wall of kimchi pots!

I also saw a kimchi academy, hahahaha. Do they give you a certificate after graduating? I tried making kimchi before, but the vietnamese fish sauce I used was just too strong. I did managed to ate half of it. The other half got mouldy so I had to throw it away :(  I do love kimchi. So maybe I'll try again in future.

A customised scent shop where you can make your own perfume. I always wonder what does that mean...

Some tea shops that have some tea set menu! I would love to try these!

And out of nowhere in someone's garden by the alley, a miniature fishermen fishing in a pond :)