That’s a wrap on Korea from us! Have our posts been helpful? Funny? Made you really REALLY want to go to Seoul?? We sure hope so!
Will we go back to S.Korea again? HELL YES!
There’s still so much left to see and do… ahh 3 weeks is seriously not enough!! :)
Well, it’s the start of summer and we cannot wait to start posting some summertime lovin’ entries since it’s our favourite season to dress up! We’ve been a bit mellow since winter, but this heat will give us the energy to show you guys some fun and exciting posts (fingers crossed)!
For us, summer’s style bible is all bright colours and fun prints to reflect the season so expect some vivid eye candy for the weeks to come :D
So what did our final days in Korea look like?
During the last couple of days it snowed making everything white! Siree finally kicked her blue, black and grey colour scheme habit as well and wore her new clothes out :)Seafood galore!Messing around with the friend’s iPad :P Koreans have a great sense of humour har har har…Walking through a small park at night. It snowed so heavily that night but it made the walk so worth it! We were on a mission to do something horribly illegal – setting off fireworks!! Wooo!! What rebels we are!
Finally, we would just like to mention something that really makes going to Korea stand out from a lot of the other countries we’ve been to, and that really is the people. Koreans are some of the most beautifully friendly people we have met, they are so funny, so outgoing, know how to have a fantastic time and will do anything in their power to help you out and show you the best time possible!
First of all, a big thank you to all the randoms who took the time to help us out when we were lost or confused – sometimes even without us having to ask! A big thank you to those we got to know in our area – Mandu man for telling us how much he loved us “Russians” haha and the ladies who owned the kimbap shop where we got out breakfast almost every morning. A big thank you to all those we met clubbing for taking us to different clubs, buying us food, getting us free alcohol and showing us probably the best night out of our lives!! Finally, a big thank you to our two close friends in Korea, who practically took us out every other day, showed us around and helped us out so much in general. Your efforts are much appreciated and will never be forgotten!
WE LOVE YOU KOREA!!!
So, what’s your game plan for summer? Beach parties? Workout regime? A new hairstyle? Let us know!
If you’re a traveler like me who is fascinated and loves to absorb themselves into another country’s culture, then this is a post for you! Believe it or not some of my friends hate sightseeing and think its boring! Why go to another country then!!??!
Anyways, in Korea a great way to have fun and learn about the culture is at the Korean Folk Village (KFV)! This time was my second time going to the KFV and after the enriching experience I had the first time round, I knew I had to take Siree this time!
The KFV is made up of the actual folk village itself, two museums and an amusement park. I’ve only been to the Folk Village and the museums, as the theme park ticket costs extra. At the KFV you can experience over 260 traditional houses from different parts of Korea, revived from the Joseon Dynasty, a traditional Bazaar with souvenir shops stocking traditional art products as well as traditional Korean foods cooked the authentic Korean way, and engage in traditional performances and activities. The Korean Folk Museum offers in depth knowledge into Korean folk culture and the World Folk Museum offers a glimpse into the folk culture of many countries – though I’m not sure how accurate it is considering what they said about Australia was completely wrong! haha.
The entrance of the Folk Village ~ Looks so traditionalTraditional HousingNice traditional Korean style architecture. Look how detailed the roof painting is!Soo pretty!! This would look so beautiful in Autumn. I can imagine a backdrop of red/purple/orange leaves.Kimchi Pots!! These were everywhere in the village!! I wonder if they had any kimchi in them. Kimchi pots are the traditional way Koreans stored and fermented their kimchi!Cute figurines and more kimchi pots!Buddhist Temple – I love this photo!Buddhist Temple – We could actually here monks chanting from inside these traditional temple buildings.Buddhist Temple – These huge statues were at the front of the Buddhist temple gates. They must be some kind of gods or something…but I never thought Buddhists believed in gods…hmmTraditional Performances – Farmer’s music and DanceTraditional Performances – Equestrian Feats. They do pretty amazing tricks with those horses!Traditional Performances – Acrobatics on a Tightrope! The guy who does it is no joke like 80 years old or something!! I worry every time he jumps and lands on the tightrope that he will collapse and fall!The image on the right is actually thousands of paper wishes tied up into the string. The picture of the left shows how bloody cold it was!! Even flowing water has frozen!!!Wish and messages wall!~Traditional Korean methods of tortureKoreans joining in with torture methods haha!The guy on the right is making traditional Korean MasksLOL I love this Konglish!!World Folk Museum – Apparently this is Australian Cuisine!? I have never had or seen this dish in Australia in my entire life!? Sayyy whaaa??Siree and I couldn’t handle the cold anymore so we went into a traditional tea house to warm up. We indulged in traditional teas, although mine was a little sweet! Still the tea cups and saucers were so pretty!
Map:
Folk Village Map
Transportation
From anywhere in Seoul, you can either catch a train to Gangnam Station (line 2) or to Suwon Station (Line 1)
From Gangnam, you want to catch bus 5001 – 1 from the main bus bay area. It can be little tricky to find the correct bus stand, so if any problems, ask someone. DO NOT trust the transportation directions on the Visit Korea site!!! They have the wrong bus number!! Half our day was gone trying to find bus 5000 – 1 which does not exist!!! (I believe the bus number has since been corrected.)
From Suwon catch bus 37 or 10-5.
Opening Times
Winter: 9AM – 5PM
Summer: 9AM – 6:30PM
Cost
Ticket entry: 15,000 won includes the Folk Village and the museums. That’s less than $15. Entry to the amusement park costs extra.
Performances
Farmer’s Music and Dance: 11AM and 3PM (MAR – OCT) 2:30PM (NOV – FEB)
t seems that everywhere in South Korea is famous for something.
If you love Korean bibimbap (a kind of fried rice with mixed toppings) Jeonju is the place to be!
It’s so famous that even when you tell a local Korean you’ve been to Jeonju, the first thing they do is: one, be surprised that you’ve actually gone to Jeonju and two, ask if you ate Jeonju Bibimbap.
But there’s more to share about Jeonju than just some good eating. Here we’ll explore all there is to eat, see and do in this culinary rich town – all in 48 hours!
Where to Eat The best Jeonju Bibimbap
efinitely a recommended eating spot for Jeonju Bibimbap is at a place called Gajok Hwegwan (가족 회관), one of the first bibimbap restaurants to open!
As advertised on their giant billboard sign, just looking at their house bibimbap was a feast for the eyes!
It not only looked amazing garnished generously and prepared with a rainbow of
toppings, but you can really taste the freshness of the vegetables used in each bite.
For us, however, the real surprise came with the gorgeously prepared spread of banchan (side dishes) that accompanied the meal. It came in waves, one after another, until it filled the entire table with the smell of good home cooking. Needless to say, we were very satisfied hungry travelers and at around $12 per person, it was well worth seeking this place out!
What to see and do in Jeonju
eonju is still a modern small town, but as a town built on such a rich history, it’s worth checking out the more historical sights around town.
The good thing is because of its small size, all the touristy things are a hop, skip and a jump from each other – very convenient.
1. START AT JEONDONG CATHOLIC CHURCH
eonju has a bit of a dark religious history of Catholic and Confusion beliefs. The Jeondong Catholic Church was constructed in tribute to Roman Catholic martyrs during the Joseon Dynasty.
If you are keen to learn more about it you can also visit the Confucian school as well as Martyr Mountain where they began burying the martyrs on the site, but I just enjoyed quietly admiring the church’s stained glass windows and architecture.
2. The Royals at Gyeonggijeon Shrine
f you enjoy history the Gyeonggijeon Shrine acts as a historical exhibition about King Tae-jo, the founder of the Joseon Dynasty, and is also a museum about the royal life during the era.
Although it was a little scarce of people due to the winter season, the site was very
pleasant to just wander around as it has a few nature paths amongst the trees and through the bamboo grove. Make sure you take some time to admire the traditional shrine architecture and paintings!
3. Jeonju Hanok Village
uite possibly its most famous attraction, Jeonju’s Hanok Village is located near the heart of the city. It’s pretty huge with around 800 traditional hanok style buildings and despite the fact it began to rain a bit, it was very peaceful to just walk through the cobblestone streets, looking at the houses.
Although Hanok style houses are generally private guesthouses, some are open to public access where you can play traditional games such as ring toss or experience a
small slice of the past in the inner courtyard.
Within the village, you can find many activity centres like traditional tea houses, museums, restaurants, and general shops all with unique exteriors. The highlights for us were learning the process of making Soju at the Wine Museum, seeing the amazement of paper at the Jeonju Traditional Hanji Center, and looking at cure oddities in The Oriental Medicine Culture Center.
Two sets of games in a Hanok courtyard. And it ALWAYS involves precision hand-eye coordination! I suck at these games!
Me failing at the arrow toss game
Talyssa playing the ring toss game. These metal rings are really heavy!
The art of soju making at the Wine Museum.
Multicoloured jars of herb at The Oriental Medicine Culture Center
4. A VIEW FROM THE TOP AT OMOKDAE
great way to finish off exploring the Hanok Village is a walk to the Omokdae pavilion. It’s a small hike but definitely refreshing and the reward is a complete view of the Hanok Village and business district of Jeonju.
Omokdae is where Lee Seong-gye and his men celebrated winning against the Japanese invaders who dominated Mount Hwangsan in the Namwon Unbong area and marked the founding of the Joseon dynasty.
JEONJU’s Instaworthy cafes
lthough the Jeonju Hanok Village is established to showcase the best of traditional Korean life and culture, we weren’t expecting the good quality and stylish cafes also present in the area!
Some cafes are actually quite contemporary with large glass windows and concrete floors but somehow they just fit in with the rest of the scenery. If you happen to
come across these little gems definitely give them a visit and step out of the past for a little bit to enjoy a short coffee break in the present day.
The two that stood out for us was the European inspired Blue Pekoe and the art meets coffee space, THE ORCHARD.
Blue Pekoe
his cafe was definitely one of our favourites during our visit. It’s called Blue Pekoe and has a French Provincial theme inside and out!
It was incredibly charming to sit inside and enjoy the traditional view
outside. In addition, all their tea is served using real bone china tea sets like Wedgewood and Royal Alfred. The drinking experience was a real treat as these cups can cost $80 and up!
THE ORCHARD
HE ORCHARD cafe was another great cafe we discovered in town.
More modern in style, it was both an art space and a cafe all inside a minimalistic brick warehouse where you can stop and enjoy a break
as the owner’s Chow Chow walks around freely inside the cafe. Too adorable for words!
Getting to Jeonju
ARRIVING BY Train
From Seoul, take the train bound for Yongsan Station at City Hall Station. At Yongsan Station, you can take a train to Jeonju Station. The whole trip will take roughly 1 hour and 40 minutes.
ARRIVING BY BUS
From Seoul, you will need to take an express bus at the Central City Terminal. There are two options:
OPTION 1
Price: ₩16,000 – ₩17,000
Duration: 2HR 30MIN
The first express bus is called “센트럴-정안 고속버스(우등)” and will take you to Jeongan Service Area (To Suncheon) Express Bus Transfer Center.
At Jeongan Service Area (To Suncheon) Express Bus Transfer Center you will need to transfer to another express bus “정안-전주 고속버스(우등)” to Jeonju Express Bus Terminal.
OPTION 2
Price: around ₩26,100
Duration: 2HR 40MIN
This is the direct express bus called “센트럴-전주 고속버스(우등) ” and will head straight to Jeonju Express Bus Terminal.
ARRIVING BY Bus Shuttle
We were lucky enough to use the special Free Bus Shuttle promotion to travel to Jeonju during the Korea Grand Sale held every January. Check out the Korea Grand Sale website to see if there are any free shuttle bus tours available.
fter being unsuccessful in securing a traditional hanok for accommodation, we decided to stay at the Jeonju Tourist Hotel as it was conveniently located in the city area and easy to walk to the major tourist site seeing places.
If you want to experience sleeping the traditional way using an ondol (underfloor heating) they also have Korean-style guestrooms available but we opted for a western bedroom. The staff are super helpful and speak English as well should you have any questions.
The lowlights of our trip
lthough the sights that greeted us when walking through Jeonju’s picturesque Hanok Village were wonderful, there were also some unfortunate experiences during our trip:
At the time of our visit, The Hanok Village was newly built and still under construction with many shop doors still shut and not opened for business. This is something to consider.
Finding a person who can help guide you through the maze of buildings was very limited to just the souvenir stores. It’s very much a go-alone experience. The tourist centres were too far and not always opened.
The advertised cultural activities were disappointing because we weren’t able to do ANY of them! They either didn’t exist anymore or were not available on the particular day we visited, even though websites online claimed otherwise.
Even bigger places such as The Jeonju Korean Traditional Wine Museum didn’t have their advertised soju making program on the day we visited. No website reservations available only through the phone (Korean only – making things difficult!).
We initially wanted to stay in a traditional hanok inside the village however we found it really hard to make a booking. This is something you definitely want to plan quite a bit in advance. It was also extremely difficult as for booking anything in Jeonju, there were no website reservations available only through the phone (Korean only).
The handicraft workshop Kkotsugee Gongbang (숙이공방) where we heard you can make Korean paper dolls was no longer there and when we asked people where we could do Hanji making, the places they told us were Hanji souvenir shops that weren’t for classes.
The Korean Lunar New Year was coming up which limited our exploration as many places were closed days leading up to the holiday.
Jeonju might have changed since the last time we’ve been or maybe it was because of the winter season, but we think if you want to have a more touristy experience book through a travel agency to be safe.
Jeonju Travel Tips
A single day will suffice if you don’t plan on participating in any cultural activities (hanji making etc) or if they aren’t available.
Make sure you write everything in Korean or have the address in Korean. As Jeonju is not a major city like Seoul you will find that the locals (especially taxi drivers) will not understand English/ English written Korean Hangul. Maps in both English and Korean will help you navigate around.
If you think that Google Maps will help you find your way around South Korea as a non-speaker think again! It also uses full Korean Hangul so even though you type in your address in English Hangul, the street names will still be in full Hangul.
When you are ready to go back to Seoul there are two bus terminals in Jeonju and only one of them goes to Seoul. Make sure you tell the taxi driver you want to go to Seoul so you aren’t in the wrong place.
elcome to Korea’s largest theme park! If there’s anything South Korea does well, it’s theme parks and I would estimate there’s at least 10 major theme parks in South Korea alone. This is particularly amazing when you compare that to Australia, which only has about 6 theme parks and is a whopping 78 times bigger than Korea! As Korea’s largest themepark, Everland is also one of the 4 major theme parks in the world.
Everland’s sole aim is to make people happy, and it does. But is Everland always magical every day of the year? Let’s find out.
For those that don’t know, Everland has annual festivals much like Disneyland, where the park’s decorations, shows and parades all change to suit the new theme.
If you’re traveling in winter, there are two festivals in Everland:
Nov – Dec: Winter Wonderland (formerly known as “Christmas Fantasy”)
Jan – Feb: Snow Festival (previously known as “Winter Wonderland”)
As someone who went to both Winter Festivals, one greatly outshone the other. Let’s compare both experiences:
Everland’s Winter Wonderland Festival: Nov – Dec
hen I went to Everland the first time I went on December 17th during the Christmas Fantasy Festival (now called Winter Wonderland) and it was absolutely beautiful. I had never seen so many Christmas lights. Judging by the images online, the newly named ‘Winter Wonderland’ looks very much the same, just with a different name.
What you can expect during this festival is the entire park to be immaculately covered in lights, with a Christmas theme.
How it differs from the Snow Festival (Jan – Feb):
Everland Attractions Nov & Dec
FOUR SEASONS GARDEN
Millions of flowers welcome you in a magic garden all year round. Enjoy the fascinating themes of seasonal flowers, including the tulips and roses of spring, the lilies of summer, the chrysanthemums of autumn and the snowflakes of winter.
MAGIC IN THE SKY
Magic in the Sky is a winter night performance that includes lasers, searchlights and a snow machine. It’s an impressive winter night experience!
MOONLIGHT PARADE
A brilliant parade lights up the night of Everland.
LIGHTING Ceremony
The lighting ceremony takes the day garden and lights it up in spectacular fashion to welcome the night. In winter you can expect a winter wonderland of fairylights, decorated pine trees, and the central highlight – a giant Christmas Tree!
T EXPRESS
The steepest wooden roller coaster in the world presents sudden drops and sharp rises at 104 km per hour!
Welcome to Everland’s most thrilling experience. During the Winter Wonderland festival, the T Express is operational unless there is severe weather.
SNOW BUSTER Sledding
Sledding fun for the whole family!
The Christmas Decorations during the Winter Wonderland Festival (Nov – Dec) are absolutely stunning!
A few shots of the ‘Four Seasons Garden’ lit up in winter, as well as the stage for the ‘Magic in the Sky’ and ‘Lighting Ceremony’
Everland’s Snow Festival: Jan – Feb
oving Everland the first time, I decided to take Siree there when we traveled to Korea about two years later. We visited during Everland’s then “Winter Wonderland Festival”, now known as the Snow Festival. Unfortunately, it is probably the worst season to visit Everland. This is due to a couple of reasons:
Many rides and food stalls were closed because of the cold – this included things like T Express andSafari Adventures – Both MAJOR park attractions.
The park closed early and was not open at night.
Due to point two, there is a lack of parades and shows, particularly those at night – The ‘Moonlight Parade,’ ‘Lighting Ceremony’ and ‘Magic in the Sky’ weren’t on during this festival. They were so magical the first time I went.
The entire back section of the park was closed off. During other festivals, this section is completely decorated and lovely to walk through.
On the plus side, there are significantly less people during this time of year, so lines for rides are not as long.
Snapshot of a parade during Jan – Feb at Everland
Everland Attractions: Jan & Feb
Yes that’s right, there’s only TWO outdoor events. But in some cases, there may even be only one outdoor event available – when we visited the four seasons garden was closed off. The only way to see what will be open during your visit, is to check the Everland Schedule. Unfortunately it only shows the schedule for the current week, so you’ll only be able to check it within a week of your visit.
FOUR SEASONS GARDEN
Millions of flowers welcome you in a magic garden all year round. Enjoy the fascinating themes of seasonal flowers, including the tulips and roses of spring, the lilies of summer, the chrysanthemums of autumn and the snowflakes of winter. This attraction is closed in February.
SNOW BUSTER Sledding
Sledding fun for the whole family! During the Snow Festival the Snow Buster sledding is only available in February. It is closed in January.
Everland entrance gates
The T Express
The Verdict: Should you visit Everland in Nov & Dec OR Jan & Feb?
When it comes down to it, visiting Everland is always going to be fun no matter what season you visit, however you definitely get more value for money when you visit during March – December than you do in the months of January and February. The reason for this is that while the entrance fees stay the same price through out the year, the park during January and February is a little lack lustre. As mentioned in this blog post, during this time a lot of the major attractions are closed like the T Express & Safari Adventures, food stalls are deserted, the park closes early so you don’t get the opportunity to see the night shows and so on. Overall, if you’re visiting Everland in winter, plan to visit in November or December.
Everland General Information
Entrance Fees
Day Ticket: Adult: 56,000 won | Child: 44,000 won
Night Ticket (after 5PM): Adult: 46,000 won | Child: 37,000 won
Two Day Pass: Adult: 87,000 won | Child: 69,000 won
Foreigners also get a special discount coupon: click here!! View more coupons here.
Winter: 10am – 9pm and 10am-8pm (sometimes it’s even earlier, check the opening hours.)
Transportation:
This really depends on where you are travelling from, but if you are staying Seoul based, you want to catch a train to Gangnam Station (Line 2) then catch bus #5002 from Gangnam.
Map
Click on the map above to download the larger version from the official Everland website.
Lunar New Year (LNY for short here) was in the month of February this year. So we decided to do something touristy and take a well rested break from shopping! Mind you, it took a great feat of effort to take photos in the cold since my fingers were being frozen inside my gloves. :(
Since usually three days leading up to LNY most things are closed, we were a bit worried when planning that we probably won’t be able to do anything since all the preparations will be for spending time with family and eating lots of yummy food.
What a typical LNY feast looks like. Delicious!
What will we doooo?! But lucky for us, there are some traditional places in Seoul that are opened all year round (even for free!) and during special times like this, all the folk cultural activities were being held. Fantastic! We spent our day visiting Namsangol Hanok Village and Korea House, both located conveniently close to each other.
Namsangol Hanok VillageJust making it on time for the performances at Namsangol Hanok Village, the performances included traditional fan dancing as well as drumming.The main courtyard of the Hanok Village had the most activities where visitors can play traditional games, giant Jenga and do arts and craft workshops.For a small fee, the arts and craft activities let’s you make traditional themed projects with an instructor. We made these paper outfit cards.
Namsangol also has a small art museum filled with beautiful Korean folk art which I appreciated since I really enjoy asian art. But NOTHING excited me more than when I saw this:
I don’t know why this was so special to me when I saw it!! I see this all the time in dramas where the couple makes a wish on a piece of paper and ties it to a tree. Even in some high school dramas/animes they have these scenes where they write something significant on paper that they wish will come true. And now I get to do it! 8 years of waiting!! LOL But I won’t tell you what it was! teehee ;)
Talyssa’s turn to tie her wish.Namsangol also has a very large pond in the middle of the grounds. It’ll look great sitting under the pagoda patio in the spring/summer time!Just outside Namsangol you can find some food stalls that sell street food and taiyaki!! (I’m not sure what it’s called in Korean ><)Nearly time to go to Korean House. But before that we went out to eat meat! Our efforts not to smell like we just came out of Korean BBQ failed when we found out the dish we ordered came with a gas stove. EepKorea HouseThe traditional performances at Korea House were such a treat! When we went inside the performance hall it was such a beautifully decorated theater with live percussion and string orchestra pits on the sides it felt so intimate, like a private session!Cudos to the art director! CONFESSION. I can be superficial when it comes to the looks of things. Glasses, engagement rings, book covers… but the performance visuals were just LOVE LOVE LOVE!! I loved it!! Each performance had it’s own stage effect like fog machine, lighting arrangement, BG change and props.
How to get to:
Namsangol Hanok Village
Take the train to Chungmuro Station on Line 3 or 4. From Exit 4 walk along Hanongmaeul-gil st. for 5 minutes.
Operating days
Apr-Oct: 09:00-21:00
Nov-Mar: 09:00-20:00
Closed every Tuesday (except if the Tuesday is a holiday, it is closed the next day)
Korea House
Take the train to Chungmuro Station on Line 3 or 4. From Exit 3 it’s very close from the exit.
Open all year round.
Traditional performances:
18:30-19:30 (first show) / 20:30-21:30 (second show)
There are other cultural programs to do besides the performances which you can book online.
Talyssa checking in – beware people, this post is gonna be a long one!!
Becauuuuuuuuuuuuuuse it’s about Hongdae!! I. absolutely. love. Hongdae. It’s so refreshing to be in a Hipster-esque place style wise, fashion wise and people wise, minus the arrogant, overly pretentious, clique-ish, self-entitled hipster attitude that unfortunately accompanies much of the hipster crowd in Sydney. Seriously. Sooo nice and refreshing.
I really wish Sydney had a similar place to Hongdae so I could at least describe to some extent how awesome Hongdae is…I guess Newtown might be the closest, but seriously, it doesn’t even compare. Actually scrap that. Newtown is nothing like Hongdae. Period.
We set out on our first venture to Hongdae to visit the Trick Eye Museum. Online there was absolutely no information on the Trick Eye Museum – nothing about how to get there or where it was located…so basically we took a giant stab.
Our giant stab lead us instead to a tourist information center (pink dotted path on map below). I really recommend coming here if you don’t know where to go or what to do. The customer service is amazing – they are extremely helpful and super friendly.
Not knowing where the Trick Eye Museum was, the staff provided us with maps and hand drew directions on them for us. On top of this, they gave us info on specials and Grand Korea sale cards so we could get as many discounts as possible during our trip!! How nice right!?!
Even with our amazing directions, the Trick Eye Museum wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to find…I’ll let you guess why:
It’s like completely hidden right?!?!!?!?!!? I was expecting like some separate building which was quite large with considerable signage since it is a tourist spot!!! We walked passed it once or twice – it was hard to see!!!
You do need to set aside a fair bit of time for the Trick Eye Museum – the museum itself is broken up into sections (we almost missed one section). On top of this, there are three galleries and a cat museum. We just did the museum and it took us approx 3-4hours?
You definitely want to come here at a time where people are usually at school or work…seriously…otherwise there are huge lines and a stack of couples left, right and center. If you don’t know it now, you will definitely find out when you go to Korea that Korean couple culture is INTENSE. There has never been a time in my life where I wanted to be more in love. I was like damn…I want a Korean man right now, they appear to treat their girlfriends so well!! *Filled with envy*
— End of sidetracked tangent —
So what exactly is the Trick Eye Museum? Basically it is an interactive museum revolving around a new concept that stimulates your creativity and imagination through the Trompe-l’oeil (eye tricking) technique through vision. To achieve this, the museum features a mixture of artworks and 3D installations you can interact with and take photos of, so you end up looking like a part of the picture.
A bonus – according to the brochure:
“…The trickeye artwork helps you learn aesthetic senses of form and also stimulates your creativity, which leads to the activation of your brain. Your logic and thinking abilities will enhance!”
LOL! Woahh okay I’m sure these paintings aren’t that miraculous! None the less, they are still awesome. Now onto the photos!
One of the different kinds of optical illusions at the museum. These were paintings on the floor which when looked at from a certain angle, looked 3D
Nothing better than a warm drink on a frosty Korean winter day..Siree’s part time job.This illusion was awesome!! Jokes, Siree is just a midget and I’m a giant.Love struck. My expression is good no? That’s what I call dedication.It’s not everyday you get to be up close and personal with a RhinoI love my sushi!!She was like this the whole trip. What a junkie!Nicki Minaj right there.Siree’s tactic for stealing the Museum’s food.Being posers in typical Korean style LOLSiree’s typical ‘pretending to be on the phone but really I’m just a poser’s’ pose
These are only some of the AMAZING interactive artworks – there are many many more cool ones as well. All in all, The Trick Eye Museum is a great experience, a lot of fun, good laughs and results in some pretty awesome photos that friends and family were highly amused by.
For more info on the Trick Eye Museum such as transportation and pricing, check out the bottom section of this post.
The rest of Hongdae is pretty amazing. It’s just a really nice place to go to just chillax with friends. There are super cute and relatively cheap fashion boutiques (the pinkage wig store is also here, but we were slightly disappointed with it!!), really cute cafes, awesome street food, epic clubs for amazingly great clubbing adventures, and just an overall really nice youth atmosphere – really safe, REALLY nice people, and no drunkard idiots – you can actually make real friendships.
The Hongdae Charm
Hongdae by day. I don’t know why, but I really like the look of streets like this…maybe because it looks quite foreign from what we’d find in Sydney.This is along one of the back streets of Hongdae where most of the clubs are. This street also connects to Hongik Uni. The shopfront you see in the picture named “Mama” is actually a club. This is what most of the clubs in Hongdae look like – they usually have a small black-painted entrance with the club’s name on it in large white text. Inside you usually go down a set of stairs to the clubbing area.Very naice. LOL. Opposite Condomania is NB1, where we had our awesome clubbing experience!!This believe it or not is a restaurant. How nice is it?!!? This is what I mean about Hongdae, its style is sooooo nice!!Pizza restaurant up close…completely diggin’ this styleAnother restaurant. Pretty~Cute, I love Hongdae!!I don’t know why, but Korea tends to have a thing for owning a shop pet (usually dogs). Cafe’s have them as well, we found it was fairly common. This one belonged to a cute accessory store in Hongdae.HOW NICE ARE THE CAFES!?!?! Seriously Sydney!! Get your act together!!hehehe Master Roshi!!Yup! Love Korean couple culture. So freaking cute.Hongdae at night. Look at these cute shops!! I wish we had something like this in Sydney. I love Korea’s concept of using really visual store fonts/windows, and the clothes are just too cute!Hongdae at night. I really love Hongdae at night – it comes alive!Hahahaha this photo says it all!! “Why am I here?!” “I hate my job”
Food
Look at that preparation. Look at that skill. As soon as we saw it, we had to try it.BEST. CHICKEN. EVARRRRR!That block right there is butter. Yup. Buttery Goodness.Although I’m not a huge fan of sweets, this was delicious – buttery, sweet and savoury all at once. YUMMMMOur dinner. This was delish!! Spicy seafood hot pot. We also ordered a kimchi pancake…but unfortunately that was not so good…FREE ICECREAM AT KARAOKE!! Seriously Korea’s service is AMAZING!!!! You never get that kind of treatment in Sydney. It is seriously all these small things that make Korea really stand out and your holiday much more enjoyable!
I LOVE HONGDAE!!!!!!!!! Soooo good!!
Map
Map of Hongdae
Transportation:
For the general area: Take subway Line #2 to Hongik University Station, exit #5.
For Tourist Centre: Take Exit #5 out of Hongik University Station and follow the pink dotted line on the map.
Trick Eye Museum: Take exit #9 out of Hongik University Station and follow the blue dotted line on the map.
Address: B2 Seogyo Plaza, Seogyodong 357-1, Mapogu, Seoul.
Pricing: 13,000won Adults, 11,000won Students.
Opening Hours: 10:00AM – 9:00PM
Website: www.trickeye.com
How long should I spend there?
There are sooooo many things to do in Hongdae that Siree and I came here on many different occassions. You definitely need a day to look around, but you will find you need to come back here to dedicate time for shopping, checking out some of the awesome places to eat and to visit places such as the Cat Cafe and Trick Eye Museum. This is also a great place to hang out with friends, so if you have Korean friends, you will find yourself hanging out here with them often, as Siree and I did.
When to come to Hongdae:
You should experience Hongdae both at day and at night. There is always something going on in Hongdae, expecially at night, so it is definitely worth checking out. For example one night we went to Hongdae, there was a HUGE outdoor silent disco going on. FREAKING. AMAZING.
Run by two travel and lifestyle bloggers, The Hidden Thimble focus’ on creating truthful and in-depth travel guides, food & beauty reviews. Enjoy drool-worthy photography from around the world!
