Hongdae, Pintunya Seoul

Gue heran kenapa orang Indonesia kalo wisata belanja taunya cuma Myeongdong, Dongdaemun sama Namdaemun. Kalo nongkrong yang atas dikit, baru kesebut Gangnam. Terus kalo makan, yang mau makan halal suka pada ke Itaewon. Yak, padahal ada kompleks yang semua ada di Hongdae.

Hongdae sebenernya adalah area universitas yang terkenal dengan fakultas seninya. Yuhuu, area disekitarnya jadi kerasa hip hip anak muda gitu. Dikalangan lokal, Hongdae terkenal buat nongkrong dan street performancenya. Dikalangan turis? Nah, ga banyak yang tau. Padahal best banget.

Hongdae adalah pintu pertama lo masuk ke Seoul. Dari Incheon, lo tinggal naik Airport Express dan turun di stasiun Hongik University. Gamau naik kereta karena capek jalan naik turun? Ada kok bis dari airport langsung ke Hongdae. Barang bawaan banyak? Jangan khawatir. Lo bisa titipin di loker yang ada di stasiun Hongdae. Atau kalo udah ditengah kota pun, Hongdae ini bisa diakses dari 3 line kereta, termasuk Line 2 yang paling gaul karena banyak tempat wisata. Nah pertanyaannya, setelah sampe stasiunnya, kemana dong?

Pintu menuju hipnya Hongdae

Exit 9! Ini legendaris buat janjian dengan siapapun ditengah keramaian Hongdae. Eits, jangan pikir karena KFCnya! Soalnya kalo belok ke kiri dari exit 9 langsung ke pusat Hongdae. Kalo lurus terus ke kiri, juga bisa ke keramaian yang lain. Tapi kalo punya banyak barang dan males banget naik tangga, silahkan ke Exit 8 yang ada eskalatornya.

Explore bisa langsung dimulai. Baru nyampe pasti laper kan? Gue rekomen buat cobain jajanan Korea langsung. Kalo datengnya sore, disekitar exit 9 banyak yang jual gorengan (twigim). Kalo datengnya siang, tetep jangan tergoda KFC! Cobain restoran-restoran yang ada di sekitar. Hongdae emang gak popular-popular amat dikalangan turis Asia Tenggara. Tapi pilihan makanan tersedia dalam Bahasa Inggris dan yang halal juga banyak kok. Atau kalo mau familiar taste, bisa mampir ke toko ayam goreng ala Korea.

Shopping!

Buat cewe-cewe yang diet atau males makan, bisa langsung mulai shopping. Di Hongdae ini best banget buat beli pakaian model terkini dengan harga miring. Patokannya di sebelah Bershka ada gang. Nah ga perlu nawar, karena harganya langsung dibandrol. Kalo gue sih ga pernah beli yang diatas 20 ribu. Toh banyak yang 6000, 10000 atau 15000an. Ga suka dengan gaya Korea? Masuk H&M, Forever21 atau Bershka aja! Harga tetep lebih murah dari Indonesia.

Area terbuka di Hongdae

Gimana kabarnya dengan mas-mas, adek-adek, bapak-bapak yang gamau shopping? Jangan khawatir. Asalkan cuaca bagus, bisa nunggu sambil melihat suasana hidup anak muda Seoul di open space yang banyak tersedia di Hongdae. Sore ke malem, banyak street performers disini. Ga cuma nyanyi tapi juga ngedance dan sebagainya. Ga kalah lah sama kualitas Kpop. Kalo ujan? Bisa ngafe dong.

Cozynya Information Center

Jauh-jauh ke Korea, ngafe? Eh, ngafe di berbagai kafe cute di Hongdae ini beda. Ada banyak tema aneh-aneh disini. Yang gue denger ada kafe kambing?! Cuma jangan ekstrim-ekstrim amat lah. Kafe kucing, anjing atau sekedar coffee shop biasa berjamuran disini. Berikutnya kalo bingung mau kemana, gak perlu pusing! Ada dua tourism center di Hongdae. Yang pertama punyanya Seoul dan yang kedua punya Mapo-gu. Gue udah coba ke Information Centernya Mapo-gu dan mbaknya fluent Bahasa Inggris kok. Tempatnya juga luas dan nyaman, dilengkapi dengan free wifi kenceng. Boleh bangeeeet numpang wifian sambil tanya-tanya destinasi berikutnya.

Mapo Tourist Center juga bisa rekomendasiin tempat-tempat yang mungkin lo ga kepikiran. Bisa juga beli Discover Seoul Pass disini, akses serbaguna ke berbagai tempat menarik di Seoul. Harganya worth banget sama benefitnya. Kalo udah gini, Hongdae bukan cuma tempat transit atau pintu masuknya Seoul, tapi juga bisa lo masukin sebagai destinasi utama yang must-visit!

Tunggu apalagi, jangan lupa stop di Hongdae sebelum mulai perjalanan lo di Seoul!

Toilet dan Perempuan

Gue suka heran menemukan sign 'women-friendly'. Maksudnya, emang dulu infrastruktur disini separah apa sih? Kenapa women-friendly begitu diagungkan?

Gue nemuin sign ini di toilet. Judulnya dramatis. Seoul yang menyenangkan buat wanita. Intinya, toilet ini women-friendly. Jumlah toiletnya (jadi) lebih banyak, maka semua bisa merasa nyaman. Yes, gue boleh paham kalo ini temporary campaign, tapi kalo permanen?

Berikutnya adalah spanduk raksasa di toilet laki-laki. Gue ga inget kenapa gue iseng banget sampe moto ginian.

Kalo kepo silahkan dizoom. 

Intinya lagi ada petugas wanita yang bersihin, silahkan tunggu sebentar. Nah kalo sign ini gue suka banget, penuh respek. Kadang gue suka kaget ngeliat mas-mas bersihin kamar mandi cewe. Bukan rasis bukan apa, cuma gak kebiasa aja. Kalo toiletnya kosong sih terserah, lah kalo lagi full operation?

Sesunggunya masih banyak hal-hal aneh yang gue temukan di toilet. Nanti gue update lagi muahaha.

Forbidden Items: Yakin Lu?

Gue nemuin sign ini di toilet Universitas Sejong. Awalnya ga ada yang salah, sampe akhirnya... Forbidden items? Oke kalo dia tulis garbage, gue paham.

Tapi siapa juga yang mau ngeflush HP atau kartu kredit ke toilet? Seriusan?

Percayalah. Bukan kali ini aja sign di Korea suka aneh-aneh.

The Wonders of Mangwon Market 망원시장

I am not a fan of a traditional market but I am always dying to go back to *several* market in Korea, one of them is Mangwon Market. It is located in Mapo, near the Mangwon Station (line 6), Seoul. It was very near to Ewha, where I lived for a year. But now that I live in Anam, I have to think multiple times before going there.

What is so special about this market?

Well, nothing huge, nothing fancy. But I loooove the food. I am not talking about a specialized food, it is just simply my favorite: the 2500won Kalguksu. I can't even get a proper lunch box with 2500 around my school so this is a real deal.

The canteen is a modest 고향집 with seating for about 30 people inside. They also expanded the area a bit in the outside. Their customers are mostly elderly and everyone seems to be a returning customer.

Gohyangjib Menu

You gotta order and pay in front up cash. Yes, it is very rare for a Korean store not to accept card but it does not decrease the charm of this place. The most expensive menu is only 5000won.

A huge hot bowl of this wonderful noodle would definitely satisfy your craving. I also love how they provide spicy sauce and fresh kimchi, along with pepper and salt. This is not the norm in Korea.

I also tried their Sujebi or handmade-dough that looks like ravioli. Not bad but I prefer the original Kalguksu better. You can add 1000won for more noodle or upgrade to perilla kalguksu too. Their other menu is bibimbap, the mixed veggie rice, and cold noodle.

Although I guarantee that you will be full after a bowl of this wonderful Kalguksu, you must not miss the multi flavor chicken! They have the normal sweet and spicy, 깐풍 (hot pepper), cheese, white cream and the most mindblowing taste: fruit. Yes, chicken with fruit sauce.

I am actually quite used to orange chicken. But they put it as 'fruit' taste. I am not sure which fruit do they mean. Apple chicken? Banana chicken? What?

small cup or maybe, two chicken?

The chicken is served in many different sizes, ranging from ultra slim cup for 3000 won till two-ekor-chickens for less than 20000. The 4000won cup is ideal for one and even the one-chicken-size is not that big for two. Well, buy according to your need. My best piece of advice is: make sure you get the right taste.

I tried the spicy, white cream and fruit chicken. Maybe I am not that adventurous with taste as the spicy one was clearly the best. The white cream taste gets old and weird after a few bites and the fruit chicken just does not do well. I am not that sensitive with fruits, I bet this must be some kind of berry.

Chicken Ass

I am no longer surprised with what comes next: the ass. Chicken ass. I've seen it in Suwon and I am not gonna try it. In case you missed it, here is the ass(es) that was served on my plate last year.

So if you find yourself around Mapo and feel like eating something good for extremely cheap price, head to Mangwon Market! Highly recommended!

Hong Kong: Cukup Sekali

Beberapa bulan lalu, gue dapet tiket murah ke Hong Kong dari salah satu maskapai budgetnya. Well, technically Seoul-HK emang gak kerasa jauh, tapi ternyata jaraknya ya Jakarta-Bangkok juga. Penerbangan hampir 4 jam. Gue gatau kenapa gue beli tiket itu. Mainly cuma karena murah (150ribu won atau 1.8 juta rupiah PP) dan gue belom pernah. Kebetulan, temen gue juga ada yang lagi exchange kesana so sekalian aja kan.

Menjelang keberangkatan, gue bingung dan pusing sendiri jadi berangkat atau gak... Setelah galau berhari-hari, akhirnya gue bilang nyokap dihari H. Nyokap udah ga bisa kaget, karena gue keseringan jalan-jalan. Nanyanya cuma, "Emang libur?"

"Ngga, tapi kan jumat emang gak ada kelas"

"Ga ngurangin kuota diluar Korea tuh?"

"Iya sih tapi kan cuma 3 hari"

"3 hari juga bisa pulang" *yak nyokap gue emang orangnya gini*

"Emang bingung mau berangkat apa gak. Gak usah aja apa?"

"Ya terserah aja deh."

Akhirnya tetep berangkat. Gue impressed dengan airlinesnya dan bisa berdamai dengan Bahasa Kantonnya. Tapi gue gak bisa santai sama orangnya. Semua galak.

Gue sampe HK jam 1 pagi. Gue udah master tidur di airport sambil nunggu kereta atau bis pertama. Tapi di HK Airport gak ada tempat tidur yang menyenangkan seperti di Taoyuan, Taipei dan orang HK galaknya bukan main. Gue duduk di McD sambil nunduk aja didatengin tante-tantenya dan dimarahin. Well, fair enough mungkin karena spacenya limited dan itu tempat makan bukan tempat tidur.

Tapi mereka hell strict dengan definisi 'tempat makan'. To the point gue diusir saat minum pelan-pelan setelah makanan gue habis di salah satu kedai lokal ngetop, Lan Fong Yuen. Padahal saat itu keadaannya kosong dan ga ada antrian. Sialan. 

Kedai Galak

Ga sampe disitu, orang-orang pun generally ga friendly dan ga pengen membantu. Hostel mahal dan gue baru pertama kali ngerasain triple bunk bed alias tempat tidur tumpuk tiga... Gila. Yang paling bawah mepet lantai, yang paling atas mepet langit-langit. Yang tengah kesandwich dan duduk pun gak bisa. Kalo kata temen gue, tinggal di HK itu semacem tinggal di kotak sepatu aka shoebox. Hidup lo sepengap dan seterkotak itu. 

Anehnya lagi, gue ke HK disaat musim konstruksi. Dimana-mana lagi dibangun sampe-sampe susah kemana-mana. Avenue of Stars tutup, Old Central harus muter dsb.

Akhirnya gue ke museum aja. Tidak mengecewakan, apalagi Museum of History. Tapi gak sebagus museum-museum yang di Taipei. Museum of Heritage juga keren, apalagi kafenya cozy banget. Masuknya gratis, so lumayan nih ditengah HK yang serba kecil dan komersial.

Selain museum, yang paling ok dari HK mungkin lanskapnya dan mengamati betapa susahnya berbagi space. Lo pasti notice lah begitu sampe HK, semua gedung tinggi dan apartemen tua-tua. Mereka hidup berebut space. Buat gue sih, HK itu versi lebih besarnya Singapore. Nothing more. 

Ga ada yang memorable dari HK selain... Night Viewnya! Nah kalo ini beneran bagus.

Victoria Peak night view

Seperti yang semua orang tahu, Victoria Peak adalah tempat terbaik liat night view. Gue sempet gamau karena gue males banyak orang. Tapi ternyata worth juga ngantri lama ke atas dan menikmati suasana malam sambil berdempet-dempetan dengan ratusan orang lainnya.

View dari Tamar Park

Gue diajak ke Tamar Park sama temen-temen gue yang tinggal di HK dan ini seru banget. Soalnya sama sekali ga ada orang dan di daerah bisnis. Jatohnya jadi kaya Yeouido atau SCBD tapi tanpa manusia.

Bianglalanya HK

Menuju ke Tamar Park, kita ngelewatin bianglala raksasa. Sepi banget. Bisa foto-foto tapi sayang skill foto gue jelek dan cuma bermodal HP. Untung ada temen yang lumayan talented yay.

Setelah itu... Udah. Gue ditunjukkin sisi shopping HK tapi gue gak terlalu berminat. Ya karena gak punya uang sih jadi gak bisa beli juga :p

Memantau Bandara

Sebelum balik, gue sempet nunggu di private residence yang sebelahan sama Ngo Ping Cable Car dengan view bandara. Ini baru cantik. Tapi lagi-lagi, kereta gantungnya lagi diperbaiki sampe bulan Juni. Sebenernya gue salah apa, kenapa semua lagi konstruksi?

Anyway, gue gak menyesali pergi ke HK 3 hari. Gue definitely belajar dan mendapatkan sesuatu, tapi cukup sekali.

Sattbar: Vegan Friendly in Apgujeong

I wasn't quite sure when my friends asked me to go to a "salad bar" in Apgujeong. I am a vegetarian-food-obsessed girl who does not eat green, if that makes sense. I appreciate potato, hummus and love my mushroom-based deli but not green. Not leaf.

But I came anyway and I was surprised. This Sattbar looks like Vege Creek in Taipei with the huge sharing table. The vegan vibe strikes right away.

Forgive me, I was too lazy to stand up and take pictures from the other side. We were the last customer of the night and the guy literally stayed and reminded us that we must leave. Quite weird, given the written hours was 21.30 and we came there before 20.30. He seemed to close the shop an hour earlier that day.

Sattbar Menu

They have quite an extensive menu. We had a hard time choosing and ended up asking the most recommended items. They have English version of everything and the guy speaks excellent English. Price-wise, I have nothing to complain about. Vegan is never cheap.

I almost think that this place is 100% vegan, given the menu wording but I checked Seoul Veggie Club and some says although they do not use dairy, they still use honey in their hummus. Make sense as the hummus was significantly sweeter than the usual hummus dishes that we have in Indonesia.

Overall, I would still name this place as my new vegan heaven. I like their concept of no caffeine and obvioulsy, no meat.

The first dish that we ordered was the burger!

Promising visual, I love the simplicity. It tasted good, but the patty was dry, compared to the other veg burgers that I have tried. Like the other normal burger, this is not a light meal.

I am trying to recall my senses but nothing special from the smell or textures.

The next dish is the red hummus. Wow I am impressed by the visual. It looked very fresh and appetizing.

Like I said, the hummus was sweeter than the other hummus that I tried and it was better that way. There were toooo many greens around the hummus but everything is served fresh so I have nothing to complain about.

There are also few meatball-like balls on the plate and I LOVED it! Everything seemed to complement each other. Mind you, this green bowl is way heavier than my burger. We struggled to finish it.

I am very happy with Sattbar and I would definitely come back again.

Wonderful Tongyeong, Korea's Napoli #1

I had been dying to go to Tongyeong for months after my boss showed me her vacation pictures. She did not plan to go there and just drove there by chance (yes, accidentally) all the way from Seoul. She kept saying how this city has a lot to offer and three days won't be enough. But none of my friends ever heard about this city. Everyone rejected my idea of going there.

I finally managed to drag two of my friends after going through a very difficult and stressful time. I was dying to have a refreshing vacation. I said to a friend, "I will pay for our hotel, please just freakin say yes!"

We went there on the first weekend of April. We were there for two days. We took the latest bus from Seoul and arrive there at around 4 AM. I always believe that taking the latest bus and sleep on the bus is a brilliant idea. But the problem is... We had no idea that Tongyeong is not a metropolitan city. Nothing was open for 24 hours, even McDonald's open at 7 AM. So we had to wait for about 2 hours at a convenience store across the terminal before taking the bus to the city center.

Tongyeong at 6.30 AMish

We went to the Cultural Plaza or 'Gangguan Port'. I was really excited and I could easily get it why they call Tongyeong as 'The Napoli of the East' (I don't really like the word 'orient').

I couldn't resist posing with my friend's umbrella

Tongyeong is quite rich with history, especially for the fact that Geobukson Ship is sort of the icon of the city. We also passed by a complex of patriotic relics but I am not really sure why they are there.

On the way to our hostel, we walked through to the Undersea Tunnel, which was amazing. We thought it would be transparent, but no no. As soon as we got out of the tunnel, we could already enjoy the beautiful view of blooming cherry blossoms.

Yes!

Our next destination is the cable car! I had no idea where it would lead us to. I just knew that it is one of the longest cable car in Korea and for sure, the view would be amazing. Our kind host, Jeroen, drove us to the station. Man, he is amazing.

Turned out the cable car leads to Mireuk Mt. None of us is a fan of hiking but we were already up there, it would not be funny if we backed out and just went straight home. So we slowly climbed our way up.

View from the top

We managed to reach the top! With blouse and skirt! Yeah, we were not prepared at all haha. There were quite many people at the top and we also spotted other foreigners. We thought we would be the only ones in such a small city like Tongyeong.

We stayed for quite a while to enjoy the scenery and of course to make worth of the hardship to climb up. Then we headed back to the cable car station and went for lunch. It started to rain really hard after lunch so we could not go straight to Dongpirang Mural Village.

Dongpirang was so much fun, compared to Gamcheon in Busan. I liked the charm of the murals in its small alleys and the overall vibe. Gamcheon has become too commercialized and overrated, of course.

Our last destination was to catch the sunset at Dara Park. Dara Park is realllly remote and hard to reach. We took a taxi and sadly, we were not able to see the sunset as the weather was really bad that day.

It was supposed to be beautiful but...

Still, it was a nice decision to come to Dara Park. I was fascinated by the foggy view of the islands around Tongyeong. The atmosphere of the park itself was very charming and unique.

Next: Tongyeong Day 2
Also check #alirajalanjalan Tongyeong on Youtube.