Common Ground (커먼그라운드)

This is the new hot place for the youth in Korea located in the area of Konkuk University (subway line 2). Opened on April 20th, they just celebrated their 100th day of opening a few days ago. Built from over 200 containers, this area consisted of various clothes stores, accessories shops, cosmetics, cafes, restaurants. Common Ground is gaining popularity as people flock here to take nice pictures with the cool blue containers and also it recently appeared in Sistar’s Shake it music video.

Although it’s harder to take pictures when it’s dark, Common Ground look the best when the sun’s down and all the lights are lit up.

Here’s what inside these blue containers:

Restaurants are located on the highest floor with terrace,there are many options to choose like Japanese, Italian, Thai, American…

The food truck selling burgers

If you dont feel like eating here, the Konkuk Food Road right near Konkuk University station is not a bad choice. Since this is university area they have everything there. We found a very small, cute and quite restaurants a little bit further from the crowded main roads.

The shop only sell 2 main dishes: Meat Noodels and Bibim Noodles at reasonable price (6000 won each) The portion are no joke, the bowl are so huge, 2 can actually share one. It is amazingly delicious, especially the meat. I really recommend you try this place if u have the chance, the owner is super nice too.

/조씨네 고기국수 (Jossine Gogi Gugksu)/ 서울특별시 광진구 화양동 12-52 (open hours: 11:50am- 9pm, break time: 3-5pm)

Common Ground has one cafe Dore Dore which is famous for its cakes

The price range from 6500- 10000 for one piece. Their Earl Grey Milk Tea is superb!

How to get here: Konkuk University Station exit 6

IKEA in South Korea- IKEA Gwangmyeong (이케아 광명)

The famous Sweden’s furniture retailer IKEA opened their outlet in Gwangmyeong- a suburb an hour drive from Seoul. I’ve read somewhere that this is their biggest stores in the world.

IKEA restaurant is on the second floor which offer a variety of food with cheap prices.

Not just furniture, you also shop for your meal with these carts right here. Pick the food you want on the shelves

The famous Sweden meatballs. 

After stuffed ourselves with these delicious food, we started our tour. Basically we didnt have any plan to buy anything since we’re just student with no house but it was fun just looking at all the stuff being displayed. And you can get pretty nice pictures too, i was trying hard to be a little artsy xD

Showroom and restaurants are on 1st and 2nd floor. Their basement is where you can find their storage and all self- assembly furniture.

They also have food down here, hotdog, cinnamon rolls, soft cream. REALLY CHEAP PRICE.

People are also here for Sweden food. You can buy the frozen meat balls, sauces, cheese, jams and all kinds of sweets, cookies, chocolates…

If you have a house in Korea and want to check out some furniture or decorations, come here. Or if you have nothing to do like me, just wandering around looking at stuff and eat, it’s not a bad choice. And there’s also Lotte Outlet Premium and Costco right next to IKEA.

How to get here: Gwangmyeong station (광명역), subway line 1. Going straight from exit 1 you can reach Costco, and IKEA will be a little bit on the left across the street.

Yang Jae Dong Flower Market

The weather is getting hotter in Korea right now so I thought I would make a post on a flower market when spring finally ends and welcome summer.

Yang Jae Dong Flower Market is located near the Gangnam area. The market is opened for individual customers as well as owners of flower shops. They opened really early in the morning (2am or so) so that the newly fresh flowers got shipped to various flower shops in the city.

Flowers and plants are placed both outside and inside. It is absolutely pretty and colorful.

Yeomnidong Salt Street (염리동 소금길)

Yeomnidong used to be an area habitated by salt merchants (Yeomni actually means Salt Way in Chinese) and this area was signed for redevelopment project by the city government few years ago. A lot of people left, and the village was left with shabby houses, dark and small alleys, and also an increase in crime rate. A project called Crime Prevention through Environmental Design was born and Yeomnidong was their first try. Because the whole area is filled with narrow, tricky alley and very uphill, it is hard for the police officer to locate the position of the victim. The Salt Way is a walking trail about 1.8km long, on which various locations that are likely to be a crime scence are numbered from 1 to 68. They painted each pole in very bright yellow (quite like neon yellow) and it can be seen easily even in the dark. Citizens can tell the officers that they are near Pole Number Something and help will be right on their way.

There are 2 course: course A (yellow line) and course B (blue line)

Tongin Market (통인 시장)

Are you around the area near Gyeongbukgung and don’t know where to eat for lunch? Are you looking for a place to eat that is cheap but also guarantees a full stomach? Or you just simply want to have a quick adventure right in the middle of Seoul? Tong-in Market is the place for you.

This wonderful gem is hidden just a little bit further to the left of the famous travel attractions Gyeongbokgung- Gwanghwamun. The market was first opened for the Japanese back in the 90s , Tongin Market is considered one of the most traditional markets in Seoul now. What makes the market more special and attracts many visitors is its unique Dosirak Cafe.

Dosirak is ‘lunch box’ in Korean. Back in the old time Koreans usually bring their yellow lunch boxes to school. The Dosirak Cafe offers you an interesting experience of lunchbox buffet.

Step 1: Get your trays and coins.

Go to the Customer Center in the middle of the market. This is where you pay for your black plastic tray and a chain of 10 coins. All cost for 5000 won, each of the coins worth 500 won.

Sometimes if it’s too crowded, they will sell these at the gate of the market, so pay attention to a line of people outside the market!

JeonJu (전주) Trip- Day 2

I’m back to share the second day of my trip to Jeonju (see what I did on the first day here)

In my previous post, I said that after we had dinner with Ddokgalbi we went to a Korean Sauna to rest for the night. That was the first time ever me and my friend Monica went to Jjimjilbang in Korea.

6. Jjimjilbang:

Usually people only go to Jeonju for one day, come early in the morning and leave Jeonju right after dinner. Those who decide to spend their night in the city mostly stay in guesthouses right in the Hanok Village. There are many guest houses in Jeonju that provide travellers an experience of living inside Korean traditional houses. The rooms are fully equipped with TV, air con, wifi, heater… Depend on different guest houses, there are rooms that can hold from 2 people to even a whole house for a group over 20 people. Regularly, price for a room for 2 starts from 60000 won per night. You can visit the website of Jeonju Travel for a list of guest houses. There are also motels and hotels too.

Me and my friend decided to go to a Korean Sauna as we both had never been to one even though we’ve lived in Korea for over a year and also it was the cheapest options haha.

We went to a place called SpaLaqua.

Jeonju (전주) Trip- Day 1

This was my first trip outside Seoul and I chose Jeonju city as the destination. Jeonju used to be the capital of Hubaekjae (Later Baekjae- one of the later Three Kingdom) It is famous for its historical attractions as well as the Jeonju bibimbap. We went for 2 days 1 night, and this were what we did on the first day:

1. Transportation:

To get to Jeonju, you have many options:

+ KTX train: 2hrs travel, most expensive, very comfortable

+ Express bus: 2hrs45 mins, resonable price, 10 mins interval

+ Free shuttle bus: offered only on Fri, Sat, Sun.You can reserve online here. But the seats are fully booked really quick.

We took the express bus from Seoul Express Bus Terminal (서울 고속버스 터미널) The ticket costs 18700 won each.

The seats were really comfortable and there was a 15-min stop at a rest stop so you can go to the rest room and buy something to eat.

When arriving at Jeonju Express Bus Terminal (전주고속버스 터미널) we took a local bus ( 1200 won for cash, 1100 for t-money card) to get to Jeonju Hanok Village (전주) where most of the activities would take place. It will take about 7 mins to go by taxi.There’s an information box outside the terminal where you can ask for direction and get yourself a copy of the city map.

Wolmido Island (월미도)

This is a small island locates right off coast of Incheon- a place you really should pay a visit while you’re around Incheon area. Wolmido was named after its shape of a tail of a half moon. Since it got connected to the mainland of Incheon by highway, I guess it’s not an island anymore haha but it’s so much easier to get to Wolmido now.

Air Cafe (비행기 카페)

A really cute travel themed cafe in Hongdae that you should check out!!

Ihwa Mural Village (이화벽화마을)

Ihwa Mural Village is located in Jongno-gu ( 종로구 ) which is a few bus stops away from Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung. Thanks to Naksan Project since 2006, visitors to the village can now appreciate many beautiful drawings on the walls and unique artworks scattered around the village.

You’ll have to go to all kinds of small alleys, going up and down staircases as you’ll never know what kind of artwork is waiting to be discovered, just like going on a treasure hunt.

Cute sign showing way to village

‘Go up stair and turn right’