Last post on Seoul and I'm done sharing on my trip to Seoul.

Hongdae - one of the must visit places when you're in Seoul. 

That's also where I stayed for this trip. 

This district is pretty popular among travelers because there are malls around and it's really easy to travel around from Hongdae Subway Station. 

Shopping

Shopping at Hongdae was alright for me, definitely not as awesome as Express Bus Terminal and Ewha Womans University because these places had better offerings and prices. However, you can find international brands like H&M and F21 there and the prices are slightly cheaper than Singapore's. 

Oh, and there's Daiso! Instead of retailing everything at $2 (~ ₩2,000), the prices range from $1 to $3 (₩1,000 - ₩3,000). Food items were actually cheaper at Daiso instead of Seoul's well known supermarket, Lotte Mart. If you come across any Daiso in Seoul, just walk in and have a look, you'll be surprised at the offerings and prices. I went to 3 Daiso outlets and never fail to walk out of the shop with a huge shopping bag :3

Not forgetting, the popular Korea homegrown fashion brand - Stylenanda! 

I'll be covering Express Bus Terminal, Gangnam Station and Han River together in this post as they are located near each other and you can visit these places in 1 day.

Shopping

Apart from Ewha Womans University that offers shoppers with good deals, check out Express Bus Terminal and Gangnam Station underground shopping malls that are just located at the train station! 

The concept of these underground shopping malls are pretty much similar to Bugis Street.

You can find apparels, bags, shoes, accessories, cosmetics and even household items there! 

It's really a huge shopping area. 

Express Bus Terminal

Address

19-4 Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul

Directions

Express Bus Terminal Station (Seoul Subway Line 3, 7, 9) 

Take Exit 8

Gangnan Underground Shopping Arcade

Address

Yeoksam 1-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

Directions

Gangnam Station (Seoul Subway Line 2)

Take Exit 10 or 11

Who says Gangnam is only for the rich?

Gangnam Underground Shopping Arcade is pretty much like Express Bus Terminal. You can find like $10 - $15 apparels there. However, I would prefer the former as it offer much more stuffs. 

On the other side of the train station, there is another mall that sells more expensive items.

Dining

There isn't much choices at Express Bus Terminal, so we decided to settle our meals at Gangnam.

Lotteria

Address

1317-5, Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul

Directions

Gangnam Station (Seoul Subway Line 2)

Located near Gangnam Train Station

Beef Bulgogi Burger and ordered almost all the sides from the menu.

Don't try the calamari rings and cheese stick cause it doesn't taste good. But the rest are alright.

Fast food is actually pretty pricey at Korea. This meal cost about SGD$15.

Definitely doesn't look appetising like that.

Adding all the ingredients that includes, sausages, spam, ham, instant noodies, tofu, dumpling, mushrooms, cheese-filled rice cakes and plain rice cakes. 

All cooked and ready to eat!

This meal for 2 is definitely more than enough. 

I honestly can't remember the taste now but it tasted different from kimchi stew that you get in Singapore.

I don't remember how much this meal cost but it's definitely more than ₩25,000.

Sight-Seeing

Banpo Bridge Rainbow Fountain

Address

Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul-si

서울 서초구 반포동

Directions

That's Nansam Tower (N-Seoul Tower)!

We were at the Express Bus Terminal Station earlier so it was a 30 minutes walk along the Han River and we have to brave the chilly weather. 

We saw a colourful building and a huge screen where couples are seated there to catch the broadcasting of baseball match. 

And we're approaching the Banpo Bridge! 

And we are here! 

It was so much prettier in real life.

Since we spent some time walking there, we decided to stay there longer to catch the different timing of the fountain.

Here's the schedule for the fountain:

April-June, September-October

Weekdays: 12:00, 20:00, 20:30, 21:00 

Weekends: 12:00, 19:30, 20:00, 20:30, 21:00 

July-August 

Weekdays: 12:00, 19:30, 20:00, 20:30, 21:00 

Weekends: 12:00, 19:30, 20:00, 20:30, 21:00, 21:30

Hope this helps! 

Last post on Seoul coming up soon!

One place not to be missed in Seoul,

Myeongdong

Address

Bonjuk 

본죽

Address

This is a pretty short guide for Dongdaemun.