Today morning on day 8 we will be travelling by train to Seoul. Seoul will be our last destination before we fly back to Malaysia. Mr Lee who is our friendly Buykyungdang Hanok Guesthouse host has booked a taxi for us the previous day. The taxi arrived on time and soon we find ourself at Jeonju Station waiting for our train. Gotta say the taxi took a long detour as this time the ride cost us 6,400 won. Previously when we went to Jeonju Station to buy our train tickets, the taxi ride only cost us 5,400 won & 6,000 won. Anyway, we choose to go to Seoul by train because we’ve tried buses before and because we wanted to experience the KTX.
KTX train from Jeonju to Yongsan Station, Seoul arrived at Jeonju Station on time at 8.49am.
What it looks like inside KTX train. The train looks kind empty right? But as we go nearer to our destination, more and more people come on board.
This is Yongsan Station in Seoul. We arrived a little late at 11.10am as opposed to the promised time of 10.51am. From Yongsan Station you can actually take subway to anywhere you want but because we’re taking our luggage we opt for taxi. The taxi fee cost 8,400 won (RM 25.20) to Stay In GAM, our Seoul accommodation.
This is our accommodation for the next 7 nights in Seoul, Stay In GAM. I had very good impression on them based on the photos I saw prior to coming here.
Our triple room is located at the ground floor. Can you see the window with grill in front of the white car? Yup that’s our room. We wanted room on floors above but were told they were full.
Our room… a single bed for my mom. The cabinet on the right is where you keep your shoes. There’s a long mirror too.
Double decker beds. There’s a table with lamp and hair dryer.
The best part for this triple room is the kitchen, fridge and washing machine+dryer.
Toilet and shower area. It’s quite spotless save for one particular object.
And it’s this SUPER DIRTY toilet slipper. ACKKKK!!!! There are so many dirts stuck on it. YUCKK.
Now what you see so far is not bad right except for the gross slipper? Well, truth to be told we were really disappointed the moment we arrived in our room. The bed sheets are dirty, there are so many marking and dust on the bed itself. The floor is dirty too – our feet are all black. In all our stay in South Korea from Jeju, Busan, Jeonju and Seoul, this has to be the worst one.
Triple room per night is 90,000 won (RM270.00). And you know what’s worst than all I mentioned above? There’s no TV in the room!!! I went to Jeju, Busan and Jeonju all have TV in the room but not in Seoul. How funny is that? Luckily there’s wifi but still can you imagine no TV for 7 nights? I really don’t know to laugh or cry man. We’re not really fond of the manager there too. He’s quite proud and act-sy. Overall, Stay In GAM is my least favorite place to stay. Not coming back here definitely. I think the only saving grace is that it’s fairly near to attractions such as Jongmyo, Changeokgung, Insadong (10 mins), Bukchon Hanok Village and Unhyeongung.
This is our breakfast for 7 days – ham, eggs, bread, cornflakes, coffee and orange juice. Always the same. While it could be worst at least it fills my stomach. Haha
After resting a fair bit, we walk out to find food for lunch. Asking the manager of the hostel serve no purpose as he couldn’t tell us any good place. Just a vague “There’s many restaurant near here.”. Eventually we check out Insadong and the first restaurant we saw tempted us with dosirak. Read about Miss Lee Cafe here.
After lunch, we took the subway to Hongik.
The fame Hongik University. But of course we’re not here for education. We’re here for shopping at Hongdae. The area surrounding Hongik University is called Hongdae. Hongik University is called 홍익대학교 Hongik Daehakgyo. Hongdae is an abbreviation of Hongik Daehakgyo.
Hongdae Free Market.
It’s a craft market where students and street artists gather. I find this market very interesting. It’s so lively. Unfortunately it’s not good for my pocket. Items were rather pricey. Of course since they are exclusive.
A Hello Kitty Cafe in Hongdae. I’m not a Hello Kitty fan and it doesn’t hurt to go look see look see.
Hello Kitty mini cake. 11,000 won… pengsan!!!
Ohh cute!
We spent about 2 hours in streets like this in Hongdae for shopping.
Next we took the subway to Sinchon and from there walk plus shopping to Ewha Womans University.
This is Ewha Womans University, another famous university in Seoul and is very near to Hongik University.
The university is huge and beautiful. My picture didn’t do the justice unfortunately.
This artistic building in Ewha Womans University is so awesome. Don’t you think so?
Initially I thought it’s just 2 walls. BUT…
There are actually classes and offices in there. So cool!
We soon find ourself at Idae for shopping. Like how Hongdae gets its name. Idae is an abbreviation of Ewha Womans University 이화여자대학교 Ihwa yeoja daehakgyo. As you may guess it, area surrounding Ewha Womans University is called Idae.
To be honest I didn’t buy that many stuff at Hongdae and Idae. The clothes here although cheap are quite low in quality. They are more suitable for students budget. Still it was a good experience. We had Japanese dinner at Idae called Kanemaya (udon shop – delicious too) before going back to hostel since I was kinda bored of Korean food already. Yup, can you imagined me a Korean food lover saying that? LOL Anyway no picture as we were so tired and taking pictures is the last thing we want.
Our nightly habit is after arriving at our final subway destination, we will stop by at the subway’s convenient store to try out the drinks there.
That’s it for day 8. Stay tuned for day 9 in Seoul!
Here’s South Korea journey so far…
Incheon + Jeju-do Self Drive Day 1: MAS, Car Rental & Jeju Cherry Blossom Festival
Jeju-do Self Drive Day 2: Yeongsil Trail at Hallasan National Park (Part 1)
Jeju-do Self Drive Day 2: Jusangjeolli Cliff, Yongmeori Coast & Cheonjiyeon Falls (Part 2)
Jeju-do Self Drive Day 3: Yilin Pension & Seongsan Ilchulbong (Part 1)
Jeju-do Self Drive Day 3: Seopjikoji & Seongeup Folk Village (Part 2)
Jeju-do + Busan Day 4: Bye Jeju, Dynamic Guesthouse, Cherry Blossom at Dalmaji Road, Haeundae Beach & Gwangalli Beach
Busan + Jinhae Day 5: Cherry Blossom at Yeojwa Stream & Gyeonghwa Station (Part 1)
Busan Day 5: Jagalchi Market, Gukje Market & Dinner at Lotteria (Part 2)
Busan + Jeonju Day 6: Bukyungdang Hanok Guesthouse, Jeonju Hanok Village Scenic Walk & Omokdae
Jeonju Day 7: Jeondong Catholic Cathedral, Pungnamun & Nambu Market
Photos from Nikon D80 and Panasonic TZ-7.
13 Comments
Hostel with no TV? I will die man…
Hi Benny, hahaha thankfully I survived!!!
Wow…they can fit so many stuff in the hotel room? Amazing!
Hi Tekkaus, LOL ya amazing.
The hello kitty mini cafe looks really adorable. Huge people won’t be able to fit in though.
No la. It’s just an illusion. There’s a stair beside… so anyone can go in including huge person.
Yucs…you didn’t complain to the snob of the manager? I would and at least have them to clean up the room…gives me goose bumps!
The Ewha Women’s Uni is really cool with the two “walls”. Is is steps on the opposite of the picture? Looks like there are ppl sitting on the steps.
Hi Dawn, ohh I complained to the manager about the dirty room. They did cleaned it but the sheets were still dirty. Yuck!
Yup those are steps and people are sitting there.
Yucky toilet slipper!! No way I am going to slip into that thing! LOL!
I didn’t realized about it initially and I wore it several times. Ewwww!
Wah! The Ewha Womans University looks amazing!
I like the hello kitty restaurant.
Hi Keeyit, yeah it’s cute hor.