South Korea 2013: Day 1 (Gwanghwamun Square, Cheonggye Stream, Hangang Park and Hello Kitty Cafe)

September 2, 2013

Annyeong Haseyo!

It's a lovely day! So thankful that the weather is nice, the sun is up but there's a cool breeze of air. It is indeed a perfect time to explore SEOUL!

Gwanghwamun Square
How to get here:
Take subway line#5 to Gwanghwamun Square, then take exit 2 & 3.

Gwanghwamun Square is located in front of Gyeongbukgong Palace, we take the subway to Gyeongbukgong Palace Station and walk to Gwanghwamun Square.

front of Gyeongbukgong Palace

view from Gwanghwamun Square

Statue of King Sejong The Great

Me w/ my dongsaeng Tina

Statue of Admiral Lee Soon Shin

If you love watching Korean Dramas, you probably seen this was place a lot. One of Korean Dramas that was filmed here is "City Hunter", oh my LEE MINHO :)

Lee MinHo (City Hunter)

Queen In Hyun's Man

IRIS

There's ongoing filming at Gwanghwamun Square when we visit, but I have no idea if they are shooting a drama or commercial.

Sejong Center of Performing Arts

Beautiful SEOUL :)

CHEONGGYE STREAM 

The famous stream located in the center of Seoul. My second time in this place, I appreciate being here again because the last time I've been here is winter season, and now the weather is so good that I enjoyed much of the view.

cuties

GYEONGBUKGONG PALACE

We head back to Gyeongbukgung Palace, luckily we witness the changing of guards. We did not enter the Palace, we went here last November, we just took some photos of the guards and outside the palace.

There is free hanbok wearing in Gyeongbukgung Palace.

I love SEOUL :)

After sight seeing the beauty of Gwanghwamun Square, Cheonggye Stream and Gyeongbukgong Palace, we went to Express Bus Terminal Station. This place is famous for the latest Korean Fashion!

YEOUIDO HANGANG PARK

Finally I was able to visit the famous Han River that mostly featured in Korean Dramas. I always include to visit Hangang Park in my itinerary, but failed to visit during my first and second visit. I'm so happy that now I'm here enjoying this beautiful place! FINALLY! ^_^

What to do here:

This place is awesome, with the beautiful weather everybody will enjoy here. I've seen some biking here, dipping their feet on the water while enjoying the view. Most of the locals already set their tent they will probably spent  overnight here. 

mobile restroom

Sunset at Yeouido Hangang Park

HELLO KITTY CAFE

Time for some coffee break! Welcome to Hello Kitty Cafe!

Located to one of the busiest place in Seoul "Hongdae", this is our second time here, pretty much familiar to this cafe, nothing changed here. The cutest ever Hello Kitty Cafe, if you're a big fan of Hello Kitty, don't forget to put this on your list.

How to get here: 

Directions to Hello Kitty Cafe

PINK OVERLOAD!!!

Hello Kitty Restroom

Opening Hours: 11am to 12midnight

Our last stop for the day is Myeongdong. If you are looking for clothes, accessories, cosmetics, food, kpop merchandise, souvenirs, well you're in the right place. Myeongdong is LOVE for me, I also love Korean Cosmetics and you'll be surprised to see those stores like Skinfood, Etude House, Nature Republic, Tony Moly, Missha, Laneige, Holika Holika, The Face Shop, The Saem, Innisfree. 

South Korea Again Day 2 - Lotte World

Annyeong Haseyo!!!

We are both excited to explore South Korea!  Our first destination is LOTTE WORLD. Yeah,  this is not my first time here, last time we only explore this theme park for about 2 hours (I guess) , we didn't have a chance to go at Magic Island, so my urge to come back here is really high.

Directions:
JAMSIL station, exit 4

LOTTE WORLD is an indoor and outdoor theme park, admission fee is 25,000won (no rides). Some Korean Dramas were shot here including the famous "Stairway to Heaven", remember the carousel and the painting.

Enough of the dramas ^^, time to explore the whole theme park. 

Magic Island

Another freaking cold weather outside, it's so hard to explore this theme park with this kind of weather.

cute Korean kids enjoying at Lotte World

they are holding their hands so they won't get lost ^^ *cute*

We can't take the weather outside, so we head back inside Lotte World.

We enjoyed taking pics to these 3D Paintings

There's a show at Lotte World before the parade starts, then a man made snow pours down, yay!

Lotte World Parade

Another snow after the parade!

Since we don't want to ride and just enjoy the view in the park, we leave Lotte World Theme Park after the parade and head to our next destination "STAR AVENUE"

STAR AVENUE

This is located inside Lotte World, if you're into HALLYU you might consider visiting this place and snap some photos, just like we did ^^

Super Junior CHOI SIWON ^^

I'm so happy that SUPER JUNIOR have their spot already at STAR AVENUE!  Okay enough again of the fan girling, we were supposed to have our lunch in Lotte World but unfortunately we can't find Mc Donalds, so we ended up going to our third destination "HONGDAE" (Hongkik Univ Station), and had our late lunch at Burger King.

HONGDAE

Our next destination is COFFEE PRINCE SHOP, which is located in HONGDAE. I still remember how to go there and when we reach the place..............

ta-dannn ... it says "ON REPAIR INSIDE" 

I guess it's good that it has been closed, the shop really needs a renovation. For Korean Drama addicts, if you still want to visit this place, well too bad that you can only view this place on the outside. 

After that, we just roamed around Hongdae area and found Hello Kitty Cafe, but opted not go 'coz it was scheduled some other day ^^

So we head back to Myeongdong and stroll a bit :)

My LEE MIN HO <3

Watta day! Exhausted but HAEPPY! ^^ Still the weather might be another challenge tomorrow or the next day.  Loving South Korea everyday! AJA!!!! FIGHTING!!! :)