A Visit to the Hallyu City (Part II)

I'm back with more travel goodness on Seoul! For those of you who may have missed out the previous post, check out A Visit to the Hallyu City (Part I). One of the reasons, I'm splitting up my trip into several posts is that it may be too much to put all of it in a single post. (Definitely too tiring to keep strolling too ツ )

This post features on :-

♥ Namsan Tower ♥ Itaewon  ♥  Hongdae ♥ Han River  ♥

Namsan Tower

Namsan Tower, also known as N Seoul Tower, is well known for it's couple locks. There has been quite a few variety shows that are filmed at this location, like the We got Married series, Running Man and etc.It’s really amazing to see the amount of locks that couples have placed at this location. They believe that if a couple secures their lock on the rails and throw away the key, they will be together forever.  It’s a good place to come with your other half.  ♥♥♥ 

Couple locks filling up every nooks and crannies of the railings.

Love messages written on the locks.

More unique locks.

The smartphone era : Hmm, I guess some of them wrote a pretty long love letter and they
just can't fit it all on the lock. 

A design dedicated to the famous couple locks location. This little monument did not
escape the latches of the locks.

If you didn’t bring your own lock, you can purchase one there but of course, they will definitely charge you more than what you could have gotten it for elsewhere.  From here, you will also be able to have a great panoramic view of the whole city of Seoul. There are also cafes where you can sit down and enjoy the weather. My recommendation is to go up the tower in the evening when the sun is still up and stay there till sunset. Then, you will be able to view the city in two different manner. It’s beautiful in daytime as well as during the night. The whole Seoul will be lighted up when the dark falls.

Not long till sunset...

Seoul in the day.

Enjoying ice cream with churros in this cold weather. 

Fried chicken with beer (chi-maek). Note: Chi-maek became extremely popular after the
drama "You Who Came From the Stars". 

The city comes to life at night.

The trees look as though they have golden branches.

How to get there?

Take a cable car from the Namsan cable car from the base of Namsan Mountain. There is a free shuttle bus that runs from opposite the Myeongdong subway station (exit 3) to the Namsan cable car location. 

After the cable car ride, you will arrive at base of the tower. Here you can do some sightseeing or sit down and relax. If you enter the tower, there are restaurants, observatory and some other shops. Below is a breakdown of the tower. 

Namsan Tower from the cable car station (Arrival)

A close up on N Seoul Tower. Lighted up when the dark falls.

A beautiful resting area at the base of Namsan Tower.

Itaewon

It is the most international part of Seoul where foreigners gather and reside in this area.  You can find restaurants serving a large variety of international food here. The price is also a little steeper compared to restaurants serving Korean food. There is even one with a Michelin 3 star chef but of course, it’s quite pricey. The area also has a different vibe to it as there are many foreigners around and the streets have a different outlook compared to the other parts of Seoul. 

The streets of Itaewon.

A mental note to visitors. Koreans generally have a higher tolerance of spicyness, so if your endurance for spicy food is mediocre or low, make sure you tell them to make the dish less spicy for you. The pork ribs and stir fried octopus we ordered were really spicy but they were so yummy. 

A fantastic dinner in a restaurant specializing in BBQ pork ribs and stir fried octopus.
One the menu: BBQ ribs, stir-fried octopus, bean paste stew (Doenjang jjigae 된장찌개) 
& steamed egg soup (ttukbaegi gyeranchim 뚝배기 계란찜). 

Hongdae

There is a Saturday Free Market in Hongdae. However, it was quite disappointing as it only occupies one street and there was nothing much to see. Other than that, Hongdae is a place centered around Hongik University besides being surrounded by a large number of restaurants. You’ll find a huge variety of restaurants. My recommendation is to try out the fried chicken there. It’s one of the local favorites and I definitely had the best fried chicken ever! It goes well with beer too. If you are a fan of Running Man, there is a restaurant called Pal Ja Mak Chang which is opened by Haha-ssi, one of the members. Just keep a lookout for this building called Sang Sang Madang, and it’s somewhere around the corner. It’s a restaurant that serves BBQ and other Korean traditional dishes. There is also a Hello Kitty restaurant somewhere around Hongdae. I didn't manage to find it though.

Sang Sang Madang. Haha's shop is
 just around the corner.

Pal Ja Mak Chang!! You can easily spot Haha's little caricature on the signboards.
A little Jamaican style in the restaurant. It has a nice ambience. 

Hello Kitty Cafe. Hello Kitty Fans will find a hard time getting away from this place.
All of its products are shaped in Hello Kitty ranging from food to furniture. 

Han River

Han River (Hangang) is a major river in South Korea and is listed as one of the popular tourist destinations. There are many bridges along the Han River. Some of them features viewing cafes where visitors can enjoy spectacular views of the Han River. The one I visited was Banpo Bridge which was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s longest bridge fountain with its Moonlight Rainbow Fountain. Do ensure that you check the schedule before planning to visit this bridge as the fountain do not operate on a daily basis. In my case, I actually thought that it turns on every night and ended up not being able to see it as it wasn’t scheduled to operate at the time I was there. It would have been a terrific view. There are other activities that you can do along the Han River, like taking a ferry cruise where you can enjoy Han River’s beautiful scenery as well as many other famous tourist spots. There is also a cycling trail along the river where you can enjoy the view of Hangang on a bike. There are nearby shops where you can rent bicycles for a certain fee.

Banpo Bridge (Hangang)

Presenting Banpo Bridge's Moonlight Rainbow Fountain. Wished I could have seen this.

That's all for now! Stay tune for Part III! 
Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ

Sequel:
A Visit to the Hallyu City (Part III)

Bonus Posts:
Seoul, A Food Paradise
Simple Korean Survival Phrases! (Sufficient to get around Korea)
Pronouncing it the Right Way ~ Sequel to Simple Korean Survival Phrases