One of the main reasons of our trip was to not spend Christmas in Brunei, so I was thrilled to be spending it in Seoul. The Koreans love Christmas, which is evident from the abundant Christmas decoration and trees everywhere.
Our apartment was really near the Dongdaemun Design Plaza so we went strolling around the area in the morning. The DDP is a modern and iconic landmark in Korea serving as a key venue for design-related shows and conferences, exhibitions and other events and gatherings.It was designed by the late Zara Hadid and is really beautiful.
It looks like a giant spaceship!
My BF and I threw on our "ugly" Christmas sweaters :D
We found a yellow piano outside!
After our morning stroll, we took the subway to Myeongdong. Again. As my posts continue, you will see that we frequented to Myeongdong a lot because it was our go-to place whenever we had free time. Myeongdong was the best place to walk around and shop for stuff!
We went there to have lunch at the famous Myeongdong Kyoja. We walked pass the other day but the queue was so long, but it was also really full on Christmas day. It was fine though because we found out that the queue moved really fast and we were seated in less than 20 minutes!
Myeongdong Kyoja is a noodle restaurant that has been in the business for about 40 years. The restaurant is known for their knife-cut, handmade kalguksu (noodle soup) which is its main menu item. These lovingly prepared noodles are served in a deep and flavorful broth with meat and vegetables, making for a delicious meal. Also popular are the mandu (dumplings), bibim guksu (spicy noodles), and kongguksu (noodles in cold soybean soup). [source: here]
We ordered the noodles and dumplings (naturally) and they were delicious! :)
How to get to Myeongdong Kyoja:
Go straight about 150m to arrive at Myeongdong Kyoja (명동교자) on the right. From Myeongdong Station (Exit 8), turn left onto Myeongdong 10-gil Road. Go straight about 280m to arrive at the restaurant on the left.
After lunch, we continued strolling around Myeongdong.
Saw this Tornado Potato! I really liked it but I don't think I finished it. I bought the same thing a week later and it was so dry it cut the inside of my mouth hahaha so greedy.
YAS
After that, we searched for Style Nanda Pink Hotel. The recently opened third flagship store was opened in October in the bustling Myeongdong. The "Hotel" stands out by a mile because it is a five-storey powder-pink building with its brightly lit entrance.
I do love the design, it reminded me a little bit of the Marigold Hotel..
The ground floor of the "Hotel" was the Lobby which sold 3CE cosmetics. It was so full of people I had the hardest time maneuvering my way!
I didn't get a picture but the counter was built like a cute little Concierge Desk with room keys hung on the wall. But I do have a very brief video:
Selfie with the Pink Christmas tree on the ground floor!
On to the First floor: the Spa. This floor sold 3CE cosmetics too, to my joy because it was less crowded.
Pretty "sinks" and "toiletries" in the Spa!
The extremely instaworthy tub
The third floor: Rooms sold apparels, aka clothing and shoes
The clothing selection continues onto the forth floor at the Laundry Room. There are the cutest washing machines and dryers set up on the walls.
Cute selections.. But mostly winter wear :(
On the fifth floor was the "Pool" where there is a cute little cafe selling coffee, tea, juices and select desserts. I did not get any photos because it was very crowded. Instead we proceeded to the rooftop.
The rooftop was the extremely pretty "garden" with cushions laid out in pink and white for you to chill on! It was so instaworthy!! Well actually, the entire place was super instaworthy.
BF and I took a lot of photos there.
But mostly just me..
It was a really nice place to chill because they played good music and it was such a good weather!
#NATLEAVING.
I bought a pair of loafers and a couple of lip products, such as the newest Tattoo Lip Tint which I really like because it really was as long-lasting as it claims to be. I wore it a lot during the rest of my trip :)
This is one of the shades I got! So bright and I love it.
Wore my new loafers almost immediately :)
Woahey!
For our Christmas dinner, we went to Piggy Bank, a Korean barbecue restaurant in Hongdae.
Piggy Bank is famous because unlike other BBQ places, they use stone grills. We made plans with our friends Thanis and Mary, and they managed to get a table before we reached, which was great because there were a lot of people and they had to queue to eat there.
The restaurant is small and seating is quite tight. But we were glad to know that the stools we sat on could be opened, so we hid our jackets in there to prevent them from smelling like BBQ.
Piggy banks on the wall!
Crashing on the MANIS Honeymoon
Layer of black stones for the grill
We ordered the pork and beef. They had a "rule" where each person had to order a serving of meat, so we had 4 servings.
Waiting patiently for the meat to cook!
We also ordered Soju. A bottle each for my BF and I because we were noobs. But this peach one was really easy to drink and had minor alcohol content so we managed to finish both bottles easily. Mary and Thanis ordered Makgeolli (milky rice wine).
We enjoyed the dinner! I really love the Korean BBQ culture. You eat the meat alone, or you can wrap it up in the lettuce provided, along with other stuff such as spicy scallions and slices garlic.
Us with the portraits of famous people who have been to Piggy Bank.
After dinner, we walked around the extremely crowded Hongdae. It was Christmas so there were many street performances and there were even communities of young people giving out "Free Hugs".
(No I did not get any)
We then went for dessert at a bingsu place, to which the name I forgot.
This toast was very interesting. This Injeolmi Toast is filled with chewy rice cake inside! This was yummy.
We also had this bingsu which had a strawberry shortcake on top. Also yummy!
After more walking, we went into Labiotte and took a picture with the walking wine bottle outside because we love our wine. We are what you can casually call a "jiu gui". Haha not really... We were just really missing our girls back home because we have weekly Hump Days where we sit and talk about life.. over wine :)
I bought the very popular wine lip tint as well! I've yet to try it but I am excited!
That was our Christmas and 2nd day in Seoul. I had such a lovely Christmas and I look forward to more amazing Christmas'es in the future :D
We went back to our apartment early to rest because we were going skiing the next day and we needed to be ready for pick up at 7 AM. :)
Xx
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