SOKOR TRIP DAY 2: NAMI ISLAND & HONGDAE

Assalamualaikum people!

I'm going to post day by day itinerary to SoKor first, and then sum up all 7 days itinerary including budget to a final post where I will link every post there!

So my friend and I went to Nami Island & Hongdae on our second day. The weather was so cold we can barely walk, so forgive me if I don't share much things as other bloggers (it was our first time experiencing winter!). But I will dedicate a post to share some very useful tips, especially to those who will experience winter for the first time. Wish me luck HAHAHA

1. NAMI ISLAND     

There are two options to go to Nami Island. 1- Bus (the easy way), 2-Train (the cheapest way).

as always, I tutup muka. sorry! hehehe

|| TRANSPORT OPTIONS     

Bus

This is not the option I would suggest if you're on a budget because it costs W 15,000.00 (round trip). But if you don't mind paying more, then why not because of course, you can sleep & rest while on the bus. Something you can't do if you're using subway sebab kalau tak, habis lah miss station pastu kena patah balik 😅

Nami Shuttle bus fare

(click HERE for more info & how to book)

Train

We went from our hotel in Jongno-3 by train. Just use the subway app (refer HERE on how to use it), and make way to Gapyeong. Our journey takes more than an hour, around 1 hour & 45 minutes. The fare was around W 2,250.00 won per trip (around W 4,500 round trip, but just put W 5,000.00 on your budget as there might be some changes in fare/ charges if you change line/ stations) by using T-money!

Once we arrive at Gapyeong, we took normal bus shown by ahjusshi and went to the gate to Nami Island. We took normal bus instead of shuttle bus, so just use T-money to pay!

koreans use media in every possible way / place they can to educate citizens. For example, the tv here and on trains. 

There are 2 ways to get to the island which are by zip wire or ferry. We went on winter and it was freezing cold that day. So zip wire is a suicide option (besides the fee of W 38,000.00 instead of W


10,000.00 if you have passport hahaha). Zip wire will only be available if the weather is good and not too cold.

image from KTO, fee W 38,000.00 includes admission to Nami Island and return via ferry

Tip : show your passport at the counter (if you buy the ticket on the spot) to get the ticket for W 10,000 instead of W 13,000.00! Sometimes staff forgot to ask for your passport so be aware if you want discount!

Bonus: we met some other travelers from Malaysia and they informed us that they went to KTO Seoul and got lots of vouchers & coupons which includes Nami Island entrance voucher! So, they just pay W 4,500.00 per person. maigadddd!

80% of what we did in Nami Island.

told you it was freezing cold!

we didn't do much on Nami Island because it was too cold and we waste most of our times at the campfire and heater in the toilets HAHAHA

|| FOOD     

For Halal food, there are several choices here in Nami Island.

1. Dongmun

Picture credit from Google Images

click HERE for more information on this restaurant.

2. NamiOk - Gyeonggi-do

This restaurant is located near Nami Island. According to HHWT post HERE, you can get there in 15 minutes by taxi. Just show the taxi driver the address and you're good to go!

Picture credit from Korea Tourism

as for us, we didn't go to these restaurants as we were lost and our handphone was apparently shocked by the minus temperature and died (seriously, apple...) and we were busy hunting for the campfire and heater LOL. So we decided to just go to the nearest whatever restaurant we could find and eat seafood.

beansprouts soup (forgot the name) and the delicious potato pancake!

I forgot the name of the soup but it was filled with fish and beansprouts. I actually HATE beansprouts, but since I was super hungry, I decided to just makan jelah. and turned out the beansprouts were so delicious! Would someone please tell me what kind of bean they use for korean beansprouts? because I die die hate the ones people use for Char Kuey Teow (the one using green bean which idk what the name is). That one tastes bad!

We requested them to take all meats off except seafood, and confirm with them that the food we want includes no alcohol. I would recommend you to go to the other restaurants with halal certified / muslim owner. But if you're stuck, find the clean, seafood restaurants and make sure to tell the owner to exclude all meats and alcohol from your food! No pork broth also, okay?

Then off we go to Hongdae!

2. HONGDAE     

Holy s***? No, it's Holly's Cafe. LOL

It was dark when we arrived. But I love how lively Hongdae was! And it wasn't as crowded as Myeongdong. Hongdae is filled with students, and this is the place for you to shop! There are lots of shops that sell various fashion item, head to toe, with super affordable price! Hey, students are not the only ones that loves affordable stuffs!

I googled about Hongdae A LOT because I was curious. We will be going there in winter and one of the things that I look forward the most is the street performances. Will there be any? you know, since it's winter (freezing cold!).

And... yes! there will still be street performances! Actually, it depend on the weather. If it's too killing, then no performances. The performances might not be as much as in the other season but it's still fun and I love it!

not many audience, i guess because he sang a really sad song kot hehe

and these guys, they dance along with B2st Beautiful.

and, seriously, I'm B2uty. How can I not be here and sing along HAHAHA! Luckily my friend wasn't a kpop fan like me or else, we sure stay lama gila lol.

I don't focus much on the street food as the cosmetic shops and street performances really attracts me. But one thing for sure- I WILL DEFINITELY COME TO HONGDAE AGAIN!

As for street food, our first street food was the Strawberry Nutella crepe! of course there was nothing korean about this crepe kahkah but it was delicious!

and we spent most of our time at Forever 21 before going back. There were lots of items that was on sale and most of them are cheaper than street stalls (sebab tengah sale laaaa), seriously.

That's it! end of day 2. Click HERE to check out our 7 days Seoul-Jeju Island itinerary!



Till then,
Thank you for reading this entry!

hn