A Day to be Ladylike

A trip to Ewha Women's University/Edae area was planned on the second day of our trip. I'm, One word: Envious, extremely envious of the girls there as they have SO MUCH SHOPPING and cafe establishments right at their doorstep. But then again according to my good friend Vans' instagram, there's apparently quite decent dining establishments hidden around Pulau NTU so I shall not complain too much.

The idea of an all-women's university is very interesting and homely to me. Studying in an all-girls school was the best period of my life. All girls there, you can change in class behind the projector, shout at your classmate and ask for a sanitary pad, all the disturbing things we do, e.t.c. Though there are many bitches and cat fights happening all the time (not everyday of course), but I find that it is easier to forge stronger bonds in an all-girls school with the absence of the guys around causing lots of draaaamaa and discord and whatever rubbish they bring. However, imagine if a Korean girl has been in an all-girls kindergarten/elementary school/junior high/senior high/college ALL HER LIFE, how big a shock would she get when she finally enters the working world when the first time she interacts with men is like, at the workplace. I rather interact with boys in school when they are not all that scheming and corrupted-by-the-real-world yet.

Feminist and sexist comments aside, I am so in love with the European architecture of Ewha Women's University's campus. They have a beautiful little garden for the girls to walk through as they have campuses on the other side of the school. Everything is so european-boarding-school-like..... hmmmmmmmm should I aim to get into this college for exchange?

Edae is literally a feminine town. Hong Kong has its 女人街 but Seoul has Edae, which comprises not only one street but a whole area! Guys will feel (kind of) awkward here as most shops are catered to the female population, but if you are here to check out the pretty Korean girls, you have came to the right place.

It was Mother's Day weekend that week, and the entire Edae main street had mini roadside stalls selling potted flowers. Wanted to send one pot back to Singapore for my dearest Empress Dowager Soh but I have no idea how to do that so I didn't get any in the end :/

 

Princess Diary Cafe

Ewha Women's University Station Exit 3

Walk straight upon exiting the station and turn right at the second alley.

It is right opposite Chef's Guksu (if you have seen my previous post), on the third level.

Click here for map ----> x

(It is kind of useless giving you the address in English as Korean addresses are one of the most confusing addresses in the entire world. We have met Koreans who still have no idea where the place is when given the address.)

Princess Diary Cafe is one of the reasons why we decided to visit Edae. It was definitely one of the trip highlights for girly girl Min as she really wanted to get married to her KangMH oppa but Kang oppa was in SG so sobz, she went without him but anyway, the dresses here are ranged from 10,000 to 40,000 won. The nicer ones are within the 25,000 to 35,000 won range. Regardless of whether you are super skinny or super fluffy, no worries, they have lots of ways to make you fit into the beautiful gowns. 

Min picked a typical puffy wedding dress, I chose my favourite toga wedding gown, and Ying looked absolutely adorable in a short wedding dress. It is compulsory to buy a drink at the cafe (Drink menu price range is from 5,000 to 8,000 won) and all three of us chose the cheapest Yuzu tea hehehe. We chose to have our drinks served after we had enough fun in our wedding dresses. 

Please do note that there are no professional photographers there to take your photos for you, however the counter girl is always happy to take pictures for you and your sistahs. Remember to redeem a coupon from trazy.com for a free Polaroid picture, here.

Apart from westernized wedding gowns, they also do have traditional Korean Hanboks, headdresses and fancy headbands for you to camwhore with. I would not recommend you to visit this place if you are on a tight budget, but if you do have excess in your wallet and love to play dress-up, then this place would be really ideal for you!

We bought so many things till we couldn't even carry and ended our shopping trip prematurely at 4p.m. after spending some time at Cafe Noriter (there's a review on it in the previous post!). Do check out the famous 10,000 won bag shop at Edae. There are quite a few 10,000 won bag shops but we chose to return to this lovely couple's shop twice as their service standards were so good. I told the ajussi that his shop was famous on the internet and you should see the way he beamed so happily. The three of us bought so many bags from him!

The 10,000 won bag shop is on the right along the same stretch of road as Cafe Noriter.

I'll be back to try you in June.

The three of our shopping loots combined, mine took up the entire top and extreme right side of the bed (excluding the white bag) YES THAT CONCLUDES OUR EDAE DAY.

I need to give myself a pat on the bag for sitting down at Starbucks, fighting against the disgusting internet and pain from cramps to type this post out. Off to rest now bai.

x,
Ming.

Domestic Goddesses (Life in a small apartment)

In a previous post, I mentioned that we actually booked our accommodation for this trip via Airbnb. Prior to departure I've actually heard many good reviews about Airbnb and its houses, like there wasn't any apartment-from-hell or anything. My Seoul apartment looked so nice from the webpage and according to what the host said, it is 1. Near to the train station 2. Housed in a pretty new apartment with 0 shadyness. I mean like, travelling alone or with a group of all females, you won't want any shady businesses or characters near you within the circumference of 34930249203943km. 

I was so glad the apartment looked exactly like what the webpage told me (no the webpage did not speak to me) and our host was a really pretty Korean lady named Jessica. The view outside our window is SUPERB, on good weather days (which was everyday) you could see Bukhansan!

And so..... that marked the beginning of 16 days of apartment living. 

Living in an apartment has its pros and cons. Pros would be: 1. There is a washing machine for you to wash your clothes, so you do not have to bring too much clothes and underwear. 2. You can display your fine culinary skills to your friends. 3. It is much cheaper and affordable than living in a hotel. 4. You can try traditional Korean breakfast or eat anything else for breakfast instead of spoiling yourself with hotel buffet which sometimes is really crappy tasting rubbish :/

Cons would be: 1. No one clears the rubbish for you. 2. No one does the laundry for you. 3. No one cleans your room for you. 4. If you are hungry, there is no breakfast waiting for you downstairs. 5. No wakeup call service.

BUT STILL I AM A STRONG ADVOCATE OF APARTMENT LIVING don't be lazy friends just do it!

These 16 days has changed all three of us into domestic goddesses, I mean like look JUST LOOK at what we do after a day of touring and having fun, 

Too bad I only have photos of us cooking and ironing clothes, there ain't any of us hanging up the wet clothes and doing laundry. And well here are the other things we do in our apartment...

Take our #ootds

Be a burrito (thats me)

Planking on beds

I really hope that this post would make you want to stay in an apartment when you go overseas and give up on posh hotel living as somehow, I found this apartment more posh than hotels..... Hmm. But yes, especially to teenagers and uni kids going on holidays now, GO STAY IN APARTMENTS, apartment living is awesome!

Stay hipsterrrific,

Ming

Seoul - Cafe Noriter (카페 노리터)

"stahp sleeping kid, you've slept for 10 years."

If I told Min and Ying few years down the road, "I'll meet you guys at the same cafe at Edae, same booth.." I'm pretty sure we will all gather back at the same place. Cafe Noriter is definitely the best place to hang out with your friends at around the Edae area be it after school, after work, or after a long day of shopping.

Twice I went back, I had their Ice Lemon Peach tea which was a good refresher and thirst quencher on a sunny day, especially when you have went too long without water. Other than that, please do not order any Lattes when you go to Korea as THEY TASTE HORRIBLE. Like no matter where you go, the lattes are horrible. Even though the Goguma Latte (sweet potato) at Cafe Noriter goes really well with oreo biscuits, still it tastes horrible on its own.

I mean, if you still want to try their lattes, you can go ahead..... I guess? :X

What made me fall in love with Cafe Noriter was not the cute barista at the counter, but the adorable little booths separated by a block of wood. They have different designs for each booth, and there's even one where it is housed in a treehouse setting. Super cute.

Please note that it would be good if you visited Cafe Noriter with shoes that are easy to take off as they do not allow shoes in the fully carpeted booths. For girls who are wearing short skirts or dresses, no worries, they have fur towels(?)/rugs(?) for you to lay over your skirt when you sit down.

I honestly wished there were cafes of such concepts in Singapore though.... sigh. I'll be back to try some of their desserts and this shall be my top hangout place in Seoul from now on. :)

Cafe Noriter

Ewha Women's University Exit 1

Walk straight down and turn right on the first turning when you see a huge MISSHA store.

Keep walking straight down and Cafe Noriter will be on your left. (it is on the second level)