Gyeonggi-do - Hometown Kitchen (Filming Site for Korean Drama "Heirs")

As we began preparations for our Korea trip during the period when everyone was going craycray about the K-drama, "Heirs", we planned to have a "Heirs" trail on the third day when in Korea. I found this blog and realized most of the filming locations were concentrated in Gyeonggi-do, which required a 45 mins to 1 hour train ride out of Seoul. Plus some of the locations are next to the sea, ulu, yadda yadda so using my cmi stalking/research skills I managed to track down the locations of two of these locations, Hometown Kitchen (which was used as the scene for the cafeteria) and Mambo Noodle House (which was the location where Choi Young-do broke up with Cha Eun Sang).

Thank God the place was not difficult to find and soon after arrival we were ushered into this lovely buffet restaurant selling Shabu Shabu (with a side of buffet). FREE FLOW DESSERTS YAY!

Please do note that they have no English menu available (as this place is not exactly frequented by tourists) and they only serve beef or seafood shabu shabu. There is no chicken or pork. Prices range from 14,000 to 20,000 won per person. Each person has to order a portion of beef/seafood, and thereafter you get to enjoy the buffet! 

We were pretty pleased with the quality of beef even if it was average quality as it did not turn out rubbery after cooking it in the soup. The soup bases were also pretty decent and I especially loved the seafood soup base. You could actually taste the freshness of the seafood used to make the soup as it was sweet. Oh and look out for the vegetable dumplings that look really adorable, like little pillows. The buffet was so-so but who cares it is supposed to be Shabu Shabu with a side of buffet, not the other way round. Min was also very pleased that they served Bingsoo as one of their dessert options.

I would rate it a 4/5 yums.

We were supposed to head to Ilsan Lake Park for some floral festival after a heavy lunch but all three of us got very distracted by Daiso and ended up buying too many things to go anywhere else, let alone walk around a park.

Oh and while shopping I discovered this absurd-looking baby spoon...

#onlyinkorea #sothatshowtheyfeedstubbornkoreanbabies

Maybe if the lady in this video used this spoon, she won't have to go the distance to cook up a story to make the baby open his mouth. 

How to get to Hometown Kitchen:

1. Get on the Gyeonggui line from Seoul Station and take the train towards Tanhyeon Station. (Tanhyeon Station is near Ilsan, which is out of Seoul city)

2. Exit the station by Exit 2, you will see this ahead of you once you pass the overhead bridge.

3. Go down the escalator, turn left and make sure you are on the same level as the road. You should see the station behind you.

4. Ahead of you should be the steps going down. Go down the stairs according to the arrow in the picture.




5. Keep walking straight down and keep to the right. Hometown Kitchen would be all the way to the end.

And tadah you are there!

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