Dates with Love in Korea- Day 4

23 May 2014-

It's time for Seoul! 

We had breakfast at a restaurant nearby. A few flies were visiting the store too. But nobody seems to be bothered. Maybe it's the norm. 

  

Melon and strawberry milk

Rice cake in soup with some veg, some beef

Pork chop with BBQ sauce

 

We decided to go with taking a bus back to Jeju airport. Can either take bus 500 or airport limo 600 from the bus stop opposite. Since bus 500 came first, we just took that because time was running out. FYI- airport limo have a space for luggage and the driver would come down to help you with it.

Happy feeling when we reached Jeju airport. I was so afraid that we would be late! 

                         

At Gimpo, we took Arex to Seoul station. Outside Seoul station, it is quite easy to get a taxi as there is a taxi stand for foreigners (I think it's called that). Someone would be there to help you too. Quickly, we got into a taxi but he can't speak English at all! So we showed him the hotel confirmation slip. We were staying at Cats Hotel. When we thought he understood us, suddenly he "yobuseyo" loudly. We thought he was talking on the phone but turned out he was talking to us. Soon, we were near our hotel as I saw Jongno(3) ga subway station. Yay, reaching soon. No.

The driver stopped somewhere and pointed at a direction. The hotel was nowhere in sight (the hotel is said to be hard to find). So I told my bf to just get down because we cannot communicate with him anyway. Just when I thought I have typed the directions to the hotel in google docs, I DID'NT. O.O Bf walked around while I stayed at a corner with our luggage. Later, we went down to the subway station, wanting to ask the staff for information. But their counter is located inside, after you tap in -.-. So I sat down again while bf went up to continue looking. I was feeling damn sad and lousy. Bf came back down to check on me before heading up again. He came back the second time and yessss he found the hotel! He said he managed to get Wifi somewhere and searched for the answer in Agoda comments area. Turns out, after you come out from the subway station, you need to turn around and look up! You can see Cats big big there. The hotel is hidden behind a small alley, that's why drivers have problems driving in too.

We were starving then, so before we checked in, we ate some food from the roadside stall. The fishcake and the spicy soup is just awesome! My mood was getting better. However, after we checked in, the room disappoint me. The room is supposed to be a junior suite but only the toilet is big. The room is small and the chairs were kind of dirty. Sometimes, a fly can be spotted. At that point, I just wished I was staying in December hotel where it's guaranteed bug free. However, after you stay in Cats longer, it's actually not as bad as how you first reacted. The shower has no doors though, just a curtain. And we had a bathtub which we only used once. It is also interesting to note that, there were two porn channels on the tv haha. Oh ya, the tap design shown below is horrible. The tap is so high and the water keeps leaking out of the sink when you use it. To compensate for all the bad points, Cats provide free ice-cream and coffee at their lobby! Simple morning breakfast is also provided during the designated time; Eggs, noodles, toasts, juice and a stir-fried dish.
 

After unpacking our stuff, we slept until about 10pm before heading to Dongdaemun! Since Dongdaemun market only opens at night, I was thinking of shopping overnight. Major malls there are Migliore, Doota, Hello Apm and Good morning city. There are also street stalls of course. 

Iced tea auntie

Mr Dota

Stickers from Doota!

>S$12 dessert!

Continued walking around in the other malls but as the time pass by, there were less people. I had to refrain myself from touching too much because once I touch something from the store, the staff would approach me immediately. Not very pleasant to shop like that. At about 4am or so, we walked into Good morning city. Although it was still brightly lit, most stall owners were not around anymore! You can still browse their products (because the mall is like a big area with many booths) but you cannot purchase. That made us wonder whether anyone would steal their things man. Overall, I don't think Dongdaemun is that nice an area to shop at. Different people would have different views though.

Decided to just cab back instead of waiting for the subway station to open. This time, the driver is more helpful and polite. We slept in until afternoon before heading to the next place of interest.