Ad Astra Abyssosque: Journey to the Stars and Abyss 💫
22 October 2022
A Taste From Home
Yong Lin, Ya Yun, Sue Wei and Megane finally find a restaurant selling authentic dishes from back home
23 October 2022
Ikseong-dong: The trendiest café district in South Korea
The girls on an adventure to Ikseon-dong
24 October 2022
Megane Monday
Megane went solo traveling around South Korea
26 October 2022
LOTTE WORLD ADVENTURE!!!
The Korea Edition Gang spend the day at the famous amusement park Lotte World
27 October 2022
Gachon University Invasion
Meeting up with the other kiddos in Gachon University and paying their school a visit
22 October 2022
Sue Wei and Ya Yun found a bistro that sold authentic Malaysian dishes and jioed Yong Lin and I to come with them. We gladly accepted and went to The Makan (Name of the bistro) with them.
And without a doubt, the food tasted exactly just like it does back home, and maybe even better. Delicious Nasi Lemak and Hor Fan paired together with Teh Tarik and Ice Milo to welp to wash it all down. We all could feel the sense of home and nostalgia as we ate. We even spoke to the chef and apparently they are all from Malaysia. Everything was awesome but the price was 😵💫. The Nasi Lemak was like $17 and the Teh Tarik was $5. Well desperate homesick times call for desperate measures.
Afterwards, we just walked around Lotte World Mall & Tower which was near by. And at the time, there was this Rubber duck project going on so we decided to go pay our respects to our lord and all mighty ruler, the giant rubber duck. 🙏
23 October 2022
The girls invited Yong Lin and I to go with them to Ikseon-dong, the hidden trendiest café district in South Korea. Ikseon-dong is a hidden district that isn’t even shown on Kakao Map or Naver. Once you have set foot into this district, it feels as though you have been spirited away to another dimension. All the cafes here are super gorgeous and it is a mix of the new and the old as many of these cafes are in old traditional houses that were turned to cafes.
Not only that, many famous K-dramas have been shot here such as Hotel Del Luna and Strong Girl Bong-soon. We had lunch in the very café that IU sat in for Hotel Del Luna. Afterwards we headed to the famous café : Cafe Highwaist to try their renowned scones. By the end of it, we were super full and decided to head to Myeong-dong which was nearby for dinner and more shopping.
To end off our wonderful day, we went to an amazing bingsu chain called Sul-bing. Just saying, korean bingsu hits different, the ice doesn’t melt and is soft to the touch.
24 October 2022
ITS MEGANE MONDAY!!! 😸
Today, I decided to take a solo trip around South Korea. I went to many places but decided to kick things off at Insa-dong. The streets of Insa-dong is a truly eccentric place, filled with many old folks selling chinaware and lots of the famous snack called Dragon’s Beard. I personally recommend the almond flavor and it is my favorite, also all the vendors speak perfect English.
Along the way, I finally came across where I was looking for. Ssamziegil, the one stop place for independent creators and artists. This place is a creation hub that allows creators to rent stores and use it as a base of operations as well as a place to sell their works. On top of the place, there is a poop themed café called DDong and it sells everything poop related ahhahahah.
After completing my exploration in Insa-dong, I headed to Sinchon which was really underwhelming and decided to walk to Hongdae which was right next door as I had arrange to meet Yong Lin for dinner. Yong Lin found this really cool KBBQ which gave you unlimited meat for just $14. WHAT A STEAL! And that concludes Megane Monday.
26 October 2022
After getting up all early at 8am, the Korea Edition Gang made our way to the famous Lotte World Adventure park in South Korea. It was only 9am ish when we got there and the queue to go in was crazy long. 🤯
Most Lotte World goers are students, couples and lots of tourists. Luckily for us, we managed to get our tickets at good deals on Klook.
I HIGHLY suggest you get the Magic Pass otherwise you will not be riding almost any rides. Jonas and I got the Magic Pass 5 while the other 3 got the Magic Pass 1.
The queues for each ride were insane, mind you we came on a Wednesday. The queue time for each ride was 2-3hrs long. Hence, to not suffer, please get the magic pass.
Also while your there, do be sure to get their animal headbands and maybe even rent school uniforms, its all part of the Korean amusement park experience.
Overall it is super fun and rides that I would recommend are Atlantis, Gryo Swing, Gyro Drop and the French Revolution. With that, enjoy your time there!
27 October 2022
Yong Lin and Samuel arranged a dinner meet up for us Dankook kiddos to meet the other Gachon Kiddos. Sadly only two of them came though, we had a delicious mala dinner with Samuel and Xiao Tong. Then they took us on a tour around Gachon. At last it would finally be our turn to invade their University instead, since Samuel always comes to invade Dankook.
Closing Thoughts
What an eventful week it has been, I can see that we have really started to settle down and have gotten really accustomed to living in Korea. Independence feels amazing and the ability to solo travel, really puts you out there. Now, I see going to Hongdae or Gangnam as just me going to Plaza Singapura back home, just a little further. Also now am an expert at passing time on the bus, thanks to the unlimited data package that Sam got for us. So to make my 60k won($65 ish SGD) worth, been watching YouTube, Netflix or playing Genshin Impact on the bus or trains. I am also glad to see and know that we have made really good friends here. I look forward to see what the second half of the trip here has to offer.
Signing of,
Megane
(NYP -> DKU) Exchange Program 