On this day, we had no particular plans. Since we're meeting a new friend, Jin Kang in Hongik University (Hongdae, for short) for dinner, we decided to explore the university's vaccinity. Before we head to Hongdae, we went to Ewha Womans University (Edae) to just take a look around. It's like we're on a mission to check out all the universities in 1 day. haha. Edae is just a few stations away so, we thought.. what the heck, let's go.
Getting out from the subway station, we proceeded to the Wedding Street. It's res ipsa loquitor. The whole street is heaven for brides and grooms-to-be. There are shops selling hanbok (traditional clothing wore on special occasions for example, a wedding) and modern dresses. On the other side of the road is a small portion dedicated to suits for men. Churches can be found on the street too. The street is so convenient for gun-shot wedding. Buy a dress in 1 shop, cross the street, pick up a suit, go to the church next door and done!
Strolling down the Wedding Street, a single lady preying for potential grooms. But as u can see from the picture, nobody's to be found. Darn.
The Wedding Street
I love these.
After we woke up from fantasizing about our dream wedding, we finally went to Ewha Womans University. It was beautiful! Very unique indeed. The buildings are very futuristic and the university compound is opened to public, unlike certain local universities that stops every single car that's entering the campus.
A lot of statues. Failing my fierce pose.
Pretty much the front part of the uni.
In front of the uni, on the streets.
After spending 3 good, hours exploring that part of the city.. we finally make our way to our destination - Hongdae. We were there by 4.30pm and to kill time, another round of exploration. Actually, we wanted to just hang out at a coffee shop till it's dinner time. What happened was, i thought i saw a sign saying that a cuppa would cost around 2000 won. Little did i know, that that price is impossible in Hongdae. We walked inside this pretty underground coffee shop and on the menu it says : Espresso - 5000won. Dayyum. Eventhough we had already sat down, we quietly gathered our stuffs and went out without ordering. Hahaha. We kept walking to find the cheapest coffee shop and in the same time exploring the area too but we ended up getting lost. Finally, we settled with the first coffee shop we saw when we regained our bearing. The price is still ridiculous but our feet won't let us walk anymore.
The view from the coffee shop
While enjoying our caffe latte (that we shared), Jin Kang texted us to say that he's gonna be 1 hour late. I remembered a friend, Yujin who was supposed to meet us yesterday but she had to cancel. I called her up and she said that she could meet us for coffee (again) in Hongdae. We settled our bill and head out to meet her at the subway exit. While waiting for her to come, our handphone rang and it was Hyekyung calling us.
Hyekyung : Hi Nurul!
Me: Hi! How are you?
Hyekyung : Good. Are you, by any chance, in Hongdae right now? I think I saw u just now.
Me: Yeah. Im right in front of the subway exit. Where are you?
Hyekyung: Wait, Ill come to u. This is amazing. Haha!
Mind you that Ive never seen Hyekyung before and she only saw my picture on Couchsurfing. She said that it was so easy to spot us as we're the only ones wearing hijab in the sea of people in Hongdae. We chitchatted by the roadside for awhile and at the same time, Yujin arrived. Hyekyung left and Yujin brought us to this precious tea shop at some back alley. It is surprising to find a neat shop at that kind of place. ;) So, this is our second coffee (tea) shop for the day.
Nu'u and her teapot.
Pretty, pretty tea shop. The owner even has a certificate of making tea. (or whatever it is called.)
After hanging out with Yujin for 1 hour, it's time to meet Jin Kang. (phew. lots of new friends in 1 day). We told him earlier that we wanted to try sashimi so he brought us to this 1 huge sashimi restaurant.
The fishes were surprisingly chewy and very fresh. I like it but once is enough. I cannot eat this everyday. Nu'u could.
With Jin Kang in Hongik University. A quick walk around the campus to digest our food.
Next stop, coffee shop! We chatted about a lot of things. Jin Kang had some serious questions about Islam and we gladly answered him in the best possible way. We did not try to preach, just enlightening him on the true facts about Islam. From what I can see, there are still misconceptions about Islam be it because of what the media portrayed or out of sheer ignorance. Nevertheless, it was satisfying to have been able to clear some confusions even if it is only 1 person.
Our third coffee shop of the day!
Crowded subway.
All in all, it was a fun day.. Meeting new friends, trying new food, exploring new territories by ourselves. Im proud of my newfound adventurous side. Hehe. Because of the overload of caffeine I slept at 5.30am. It helped me to write new entries. Thanks, coffees.
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