iKONIC Places to Visit in Seoul (A Guide to a DIY iKON Tour in Korea)

Get ready? TRAVEL!

Early this year, I went on a DIY iKON-inspired tour and visited iKONIC places in Seoul with a friend. We had so much fun and made so many memories!

• We visited Cafe Platte, shopped at Colorful Title and met Jinhwan's noona
• We ate at the Song Family Restaurant (twice) and met Yunhyeong's mom
• We randomly saw Bobby's mom at our favorite bakery/cafe in Yeonnmadong
• We saw iKON at a fansign event!

Here's a list of the places we visited and directions on how to get there + photos from the iKON Mexicana fansign event!

Where we stayed in Hongdae / Yeonnamdong

Hongdae Family Guesthouse

The place is affordable, strategically located (the closest station is Hongik University, exit 3), has very clean rooms, provides breakfast, and has friendly staff.

Three places we visited below (Bobby's favorite soondaeguk restaurant, Cafe Platte, and Fave Bakery) are all walking distance from this guest house! I strongly recommend you stay here if you want to experience Yeonnamdong.

Click here to check for available rooms on your travel dates.

Around the area:
Fave Bakery

This was our favorite bakery and went there everyday for coffee, the chocolate-covered Madelines, the biscuits and the Mont Blanc!

More importantly, this is where we ran into Bobby's mom! She was out hanging out with her friends. 

Find this location on Google Maps here.

Must-Visit iKONIC Places and Spots around Seoul!

BobDong’s Soondaeguk Restaurant from iKON TV Episode 2
(aka Tobaki Sundaekuk Kamjatang)

Find this location on Google Maps here.

Directions / How to Get There:

• Get off at Hongik University Station and take Exit 3.
• Walk straight parallel to Yeonnamdong park.
• Turn left on the third corner (you will see Innis Free to your left).
• Walk Straight until you get to the large intersection (you will see a chicken restaurant called The Chicken Specialists to your right).
• Cross the road and turn left on the main road.
• Walk straight, and turn right when you find Olive Young in the corner.
• Walk straight until you see the FNC Academy building to your right (it has an Ediya Coffee at the ground floor).
• You will see the restaurant after you walk past Ediya Coffee (the restaurant will be right next to it).  

Café Platte (Jinhwan's Noona's Cafe)

Find this location on Google Maps here.

Directions / How to Get There:

• Get off at Hongik University Station and take Exit 3.
• Walk straight parallel to Yeonnamdong park (this will be a VERY LONG walk. Brace yourselves).
• When you get to the 2nd intersection (you will see the Apartment Buildings numbered 103 in front of you), turn left. 
• Walk straight (another slightly long walk) until you see Cafe Platte to your right). 

Colorful Title (Jinhwan's Noona's Boutique)

Find this location on Google Maps here.

Directions / How to Get There:

• Get off at Sangsu Station and take Exit 2. As soon as you exit, make a U-turn, then turn right. 
• Walk straight until you get to an intersection with Dongmak-ro 19-gil Street (you will see It's Skin and GS25 on your left). Turn right at the intersection.
• On the second corner, turn left. 
• Walk straight until you find Colorful Title on your left. 

Around the area:
Club Gabbia
Find this location on Google Maps here.

Pinkage (as seen on iKON TV)

Find this location on Google Maps here.

X Academy
Find this location on Google Maps here.

Yunhyeong’s Family Restaurant

Find this location on Google Maps here.

Directions / How to Get There:

• Get off at Jamsil Station and take Exit 8. Walk straight and you will immediately come upon a bus stop. 
• Take Bus Number 30-5. 
• Get off at the 12th bus station (counting Jamsil Station Exit 8 Bus Stop as your first). As an alternative (or if you lose count of how many bus stops you have passed), after you stop at Olympic Park station, get off at the 4th station, counting Olympic Park Station as the first. The bus station is called "Baedari Seohanam Nadeulmok".
• Keep on the lookout to the left side of the road to try and spot the restaurant so you know when to get off the bus if you lose count of the stops.
• Once you're off the bus at Baedari Seohanam Nadeulmok station, cross the wide pedestrian lane and you will reach the restaurant. 

Finally, some photos from the Mexicana fansign event!

SMTOWN at COEX Artium Virtual Tour, Part 1: Celebrity Shop, Official Goods and Merchandise

SMTOWN at COEX Artium
58, Teheran-ro 87-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul

Directions / How to get there:
Take Seoul Subway Line 2 (Green Line), get off at Samseong Station, Exit 6. COEX is directly connected to the subway station.

My friend and I got to check out the SMTOWN complex at the Coex Artium during our recent trip to Seoul for the new year holiday. It will only officially open on January 13 so we didn't get the whole experience, but there was already plenty to see when we went.

The complex is made up of 6 floors:

1F - Welcome Stage
2F - SUM: Celebrity Shop, Artist Goods, Artist Picks, Gifts)
3F -  SMTOWN Studio: Music Video, Photo, Recording, Hair & Make up, Vocal, Dance
4F - SMTOWN Liverary (lol): Cafe, Music, Media, Books, Special Goods
5F - SMTOWN Theatre: Hologram Theatre, Community Hall, Interactive Amusement
6F - SMTOWN Theatre: 3D Printing

I took a whole lot of pictures so I'm cutting this virtual tour up into two parts. On this post I'll be sharing pictures of the celebrity shop and the official goods they sold. Enjoy!

Saying Goodbye to EXO's Boy Who Cried Wolf Concept Shop, Part 2

Check out Part 1 here, or check out the Principal's Office, the Classroom, and the Dorm Room below!

Saying Goodbye to EXO's Boy Who Cried Wolf Concept Shop, Part 1

After six months, SM Entertainment has finally announced that EXO's Boy Who Cried Wolf concept shop in Gangnam will officially close its doors in February. I got to visit the store on my recent trip to Seoul, right before they changed the decorations for the holidays, and I thought I'd share the boatload of photos I took of the place.

Kpop boyband of the moment EXO (or more like SM Entertainment's Creative Directors and Marketing Managers, I suppose - what I wouldn't give to get their jobs!) collaborated with popular Korean street brands like Liful and Peace, Love and Understanding to create Boy Who Cried Wolf, a concept store that sells clothing and merchandise in line with EXO's album, XOXO. In keeping with the album's "school" concept, the shop is setup as such, with a gym, a cafeteria, a library, a classroom, a principal's office, and a dormitory area. The clothes and accessories sold in the store reflect EXO's street style (and expensive taste - the stuff at Boy Who Cried Wolf do not come cheap).

I loved the whole idea of Boy Who Cried Wolf and how well it tied together with the concept behind EXO's promotions last year. SM Entertainment seems to have some pretty brilliant individuals working with them to have come up with such solid concepts for their groups in 2013. You can check out an interesting interview with Min Heejin, SM Entertainment's Visual and Art Director here, but I'm quoting what she said about EXO's winning concept last year below because I think it explains the context around Boy Who Cried Wolf better:

How is EXO’s recent comeback’s ‘Growl’ concept? 
Street is the primary part of the concept. The moment I heard the song, I was sure it had to unwind with a school uniform. School uniforms and street looks probably don’t match, but the way they fit sentimentally made me pay attention to it. First of all, the first official album concept was unraveled largely at a school. And so, the hakwon (private educational institute) reference was drawn out with notebooks and graduation photos for the first album, and extended it to the streets for the next song. Like linking young boys’ daily lives going from school to after school in one album. I wanted to show this group EXO’s image in a friendly, yet individualistic, way through this threaded drawing. 

Anyway, enough about the marketing geekery. The other main reason why I was dying to go to Boy Who Cried Wolf was obviously because of the fangirling! Take a virtual tour of Boy Who Cried Wolf with the photos below!

The Sights and Sounds of Hongdae, Part 2: The Hongdae Free Market

 

I absolutely love the youthful and creative vibe of Hongdae, and could probably spend an entire trip to Seoul just cafe hopping and people watching. While we had a pretty hectic itinerary on our trip to Korea last year, we did manage to squeeze in some time to visit the Hongdae Free Market on a pretty autumn Saturday afternoon. On Saturdays between March and November, the park right in front of Hongik University becomes Hongdae Free Market,where artists set up booths to sell their items - from cute headbands, hand-dyed stockings, stationery to portraits and other works of art. Think Etsy come to life. The place was packed when we went, with many locals and tourists looking through the artists' wares, and a performance happening in one part of the park. It was in the Hongdae Free Market that I chanced upon Qqoogo, the artist I featured in an earlier post.

More pictures (and some songs, as usual) under the cut! If you ever visit the Hongdae Free Market, what kind of items would you shop for?

The Sights and Sounds of Hongdae, Part 1: An Afternoon Stroll

I'm sending good vibes your way with this post!

I had my first encounter with Hongdae in 2010 and immediately fell in love with the place then. Hongdae is vibrant, creative, unpolished and a little bit rebellious - in other words, it is everything that is crazy/beautiful about youth. I guess it helps that there is a large student population in the area because of Hongik University.

When I get really busy and ultimately very stressed about one thing or another, or if I want to feel inspired, there is nothing more I would want than some quiet time in a quaint coffee shop, enjoying a plate of waffles with ice cream, maybe some hot chocolate on the side while I write, just to take a break from everything. If that's not feasible, I daydream about places like Hongdae and look through my old photos of the place to help me remember.

If you ever find yourself in Seoul and are looking to be inspired, take the train to Hongik University station and spend an afternoon taking a leisurely stroll around the area, camera at the ready. You'll chance upon one-of-a-kind boutiques, quirky cafes and some pretty cool street art. It's exactly what my friends and I did - on the last day of our trip, we took one last walk around the neighborhood we called home for our five days in Seoul. You'll find some of the pictures I took below, plus a lovely little song to get you in a pleasant mood. (Incidentally, the band Busker Busker is an indie group from Hongdae who recently gained mainstream success.)

Blog Makeover + Korea Craze

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

After much thought, I have finally decided to commit to redesigning this blog. It’s going to take a while, so some links might be broken and there might be an element or two that’s out of place while I tidy up the layout. This will also probably be my last post until the blog is fully-functional again. I’ve just come back from a trip with friends to Seoul, and prior to that, we watched the EPIC Big Bang concert in Manila, so I’ve been Korea-crazy these past few weeks. Some pictures below! 

Watch out for Filipina in Flip Flops, reloaded, coming soon! 

Pictures, top to bottom: Nami Island, Super Yummy Korean Food, Ris & Mabs at Bukchon, Big Bang in Manila, TOP, G-Dragon and his badass jacket

Snapshots: It's Not Easy, Being A KPop Star, Singapore

...you get hoisted meters and meters above a stadium amidst girls screaming in a myriad of languages. I guess it's kind of badass too. Good for you, SHINee! (I can't believe I didn't fly out for MGMT but I flew out for you! Haha.)

A Little Bit of Seoul in Manila: Subspace Coffee House, Ortigas Center, Philippines

I live in Ortigas Center, an urban jungle in all its grey and concrete glory: cold, emotionless office buildings, snooty high-rise condos, and a Starbucks in just about every corner. So I was immensely thankful when my Korean drama-loving friends Mabs, Ris, and Ica tipped me off about a one-of-a-kind, cozy and cute coffee shop just a few streets away from where I lived that served good food AND played KPop (a guilty pleasure of mine, and we are all allowed one, so you mustn't judge!).

So now Subspace Coffee House is a favorite hang-out. They had movie nights in February and will have them again in April. They also offer a free upgrade on your drink every Monday (that's today!) so head on over there to try their drinks - my favorite is the Dark Chocolate Mint, but they have some other unique blends too like the Purple Potato Latte and the Peanut Butter Latte.

Pictures, pictures, and more pictures! Plus a KPop video to close this out by KPop royalty Big Bang - Gawker says it's the perfect pop song, so they must be doing something right! (Is Gawker often sarcastic though? I don't know, but whatever - it's a really addicting song, I've had it on repeat on my iPod for weeks.)

Salmon & Egg Turnover + Dark Chocolate Mint

Subspace Coffee House
Unit 103, GF Grand Emerald Tower
F. Ortigas Jr. Road, Ortigas Center
1606 Pasig, Philippines

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