새 해 복 많이 받으세요 ^^

Its local time 11.22pm now, going to be 2014 soon but its already NEW YEAR in Korea. 새 해 복 많이 받으세요 ^^  I wish everyone a better year ahead. May there be peace and harmony in every part of the world. May love and light shine upon everyone.

Gosh...I am still blogging about my Autumn trip 2013! Time flies. Come to think of it what have I accomplished this year....?? Nothing much but I am very very thankful for many things in my life. There are a few things that I wanted to learn in 2014. One of them is to brush up my Korean!  I hope to spend more time studying the language. May your wishes be fulfilled and may my wishes be fulfilled in 2014 ^^  파이팅!!

18 Oct 2013 - At 일자산 허브천문공원 Mt. Iljasan Herb Astronomy Park

I have always wanted to visit this Herb Park but I think I enjoyed the sky above more the park ㅋㅋㅋ Perhaps this was not the best season to come?

These cute little flowers caught my attention.
Any guess what is it called?

Ooooooooo...Hotlip Sage
I'll remember it for a long time ㅋㅋㅋ

I thought I saw a heart shape over there ^^

Okie. That's about it. Nothing much. Although I did not check out the nearby Ecological park but I did not travel all the way here to just to visit the Herb Park. I wanted to check out 몽촌도성 Mongchon Earthern Fortress, which is about two subway stations away.

I walked to the entrance and turned left as shown.

I walked straight down, against the flow of traffic.
I did not want to take a taxi becos I wanted to try searching for the bus back to the subway station.

Walk straight down.

Saw many florists across the road...

And I passed by this petrol station..

I saw bus stops after walking straight down the road for about 10 mins. I was standing at a bus stop located in the middle of the road. Did you see another bus stop in the picture? That was another bus stop in the middle of the road. I couldn't remember which bus stop did I take bus no. 370 back to Gangdong station. Was it from the bus stop in the middle of the road or not??  You can check the bus route when you are at the bus stops. There are English translation for the names of the subway stations.

What I want to convey is, I think the nearest bus stop to get to the Herb Park should be "강동자이프라자아파트 Gangdong Xi.Plaza Apartment" and it should be going to the direction of "둔촌2동주민센터 Dunchon 2-dong Community Service Center". It will take about 10-15mins from "강동자이프라자아파트 Gangdong Xi.Plaza Apartment" to reach the Herb Park.

18 Oct 2013 - Getting to 일자산 허브천문공원 Mt. Iljasan Herb Astronomy Park

I took the subway to Cheonho station, exit 6 for Herb Park.  

From exit 6, walk straight for about 3mins and you will see this sheltered bus stop.

Online information states that bus no. 300 and 307 go to the Herb Park.

This is also the airport limousine bus stop.

I knew the park was not too far from the subway station.
Online information said to get off at Gildong Park stop/Gildong nature & eco park.
Bus no, 370 arrived at 11.46am.
There were English and Korean announcements of the bus stops names on the bus.
10mins passed by but I have yet to hear or see anything that said "Gildong Park stop/Gildong nature & eco park."
I got off the bus, not knowing where I was.....

I crossed the road and took bus no. 370 back...
This bus stop is "상일여고입구 Sangil Girl's High School".

I decided to alight at "길동사거리 Gildong Junction" becos that was the only "Gildong" I saw on the bus route.......

Announcement of the bus stop in Korean.
The next stop is "길동사거리".

And also in English ^^
"길동사거리" refers to Gildong Junction.
I got off at "Gildong Junction" at 12.19pm and took a taxi from there.
The taxi fare started from KRW2400 and I paid KRW3400 for a 5 mins taxi ride.
The taxi uncle told me something but I forgot what he said.
Was there some surcharge?

Take the stairs up the hill.
The Herb Park is on top of the hill.

I think the place is quite big and Herb Park is only part of it.

A story which I don't understand...

Reached ^^

18 Oct 2013 - My third cup of 고구마 라떼

The itinerary for the day was a visit to 일자산 허브천문공원 Mt.Iljasan Herb Astronomy Park and 몽촌도성 Mongchon Earthern Fortress. However, before that I went to Myeongdong to get something first.  Took a bus from my guest house to Myeongdong this time becos I wanted to experience the bus ride. Yeah. I had lots of time to spare ㅎㅎㅎ 

I got on bus no. 604 at 9.37am. There were English and Korean vocal announcements of the bus stops names on the bus ^^ Oh, was that the old Seoul Station? 

Some notes I made for myself :

Passed by Sogang University at 9.40am.

Passed by Daeheung Subway station at 9.43am.

Reached bus stop for Seoul Station at 10am.
Reached Namdaemun market at 10.05am.

Ah haaa!
Reached 명동 입구 Myeongdong Entrance at 10.09am.
This bus stop is next to Myeongdong station, exit 4.
Exit 5 and 6 are just across the road. 

Boa told me the exchange rates given by banks are better than private money changers. She said Woori Bank at Seoul Station has the best rates. Was it Woori Bank??? I think so. I did not went to check it out though. Since I was at Myeongdong, I went to check out the rates at the different banks. Rate from 우리은행 Woori Bank was 839. Rate from 신한은행 Shinhan Bank was 844. Rate from Standard Chartered was 841. Just for comparison purposes, I went to ask a money changer near Standard Chartered. The rate given to me was 840. The exchange rate when I changed my money in SG was 843 and that was a few days before my trip. 

Few days back when I was in Myeongdong changing my Sing dollars, the rate given by most of the private money changers was 840. Usually, I don't go around checking the rates since I am not changing a lot. However, I was lucky to came across a money changer who quoted me the rate of 851!! Yes. In Myeongdong as well but located alleys apart from those who quoted me 840. I thought I heard wrongly but no. That was such a big difference, isn't it??  Ermmm...I did not take picture of this money changer and does not remember where his shop was located..

Something caught my attention ^^

I saw my 고구마 라떼 Sweet Potato Latte ^^

My third cup of 고구마 라떼 for this trip ^^
This was the best out of the three.
The right taste and the right temperature for me ㅋㅋㅋ
Seattle Coffee was located near exit 5 of Euljiro 1-ga station.

18 Oct 2013 - 햄 토스트 for breakfast

I stumbled upon this Isaac Toast outlet at a hidden corner near the guest house few nights ago.
So happy when I saw it ^^
Therefore, breakfast for the day was Isaac Toast ㅋㅋㅋ

Business was good when I went there on two occasions during my trip.
I think its close on Sunday becos it was closed when I passed by on a Sunday.

                                   

1. 계란 토스트 Egg Toast 
2. 야채 토스트 Vegetables Toast 
3. 햄 토스트 Ham Toast 
4. 치즈 토스트 Cheese Toast 
5. 햄 치즈 토스트 Ham Cheese Toast
6. 스페셜 토스트 Special Toast (No idea how special is this ㅋㅋㅋ)
7. 베이컨 토스트 Bacon Toast
8. 베이컨 치즈 토스트 Bacon Cheese Toast
9. 베스트 토스트 Best Toast (What is their Best Toast???)
10. 스테이크 토스트 Steak Toast
11. 스테이크 치즈 토스트 Steak Cheese Toast
12. VIP 토스트 VIP Toast (What is VIP Toast??)
13. 핫치킨 토스트 Hot Chicken Toast
14. 핫치킨치즈 토스트 Hot Chicken Cheese Toast
15. 핫치킨 야채 토스트 Hot Chicken Vegetables Toast
16. 핫치킨MVP 토스트 Hot Chicken MVP Toast (Isaac Toast has many different versions of MVP toasts and I wonder what is MVP?)
17. 불갈비토스트 Bulgalbi Toast 
18. 불갈비치즈 토스트 Bulgalbi Cheese Toast

I stick to my 햄 토스트 ham toast ㅎㅎㅎ
Becos I preferred to keep it simple.
I made a mess when there are too many ingredients ㅎㅎㅎ
Moreover, I can taste their "magic sauce" better with minimum ingredients ^^
I think the egg is a standard ingredient for the toasts becos I did not mention Ham and Egg Toast.