South Korea Trip 2013: Day 1 in Busan (Nampodong, BIFF Square, Gwangbok Street)

Lotte Dept Store at Nampodong

My dream holiday to South Korea finally came true! When AirAsia first launched their new route to Busan in April earlier this year, I chanced upon the cheap airfares and managed to book a return ticket for approximately RM800!

After months of researching on the internet and tedious planning (since I'm on a self-guided tour) on my maiden visit to South Korea, I was ready to experience the country that I've only been to see on my television and through K-pop songs I loved to listen.

Busan Tower Hill Hotel

I booked a 4 night stay at Busan Tower Hill Hotel in Jungang through Agoda, for approximately RM300 per night. My stay was split into 2 parts, the first night in Busan, then another 4 nights in Seoul, and another 3 nights in Busan before heading home to Kuala Lumpur. They have a luggage storage service too, so that's another brownie point from me, since I left my luggage with them before leaving for Seoul via KTX.

Cozy beds and warm ambience in hotel room

I loved the service provided in Busan Tower Hill Hotel. The beds were cozy and comfortable, and all necessary amenities including toiletries were provided. Counter staff were polite and friendly, and very helpful too!

Clean bathroom and toiletries are provided

I loved that they were generous with their body wash, shampoo and conditioner. Not many hotels provide such huge bottles of toiletries. The best of the toilet was the warm bidet! Never fear of sitting on a cold toilet seat during autumn or winter again!

Gwangbok Underground Shopping entrance just outside the hotel

After checking into the hotel at 4.30pm, I had a stroll around the surrounding area. Since it's autumn, the sun sets around 5.30pm and by around 6pm it's already completely dark. With nothing much to do, I had a walk looking for dinner. Jungang Station is the nearest subway station to Busan Tower Hill Hotel, take exit 1 since it's the nearest. 

Next, I found Gwangbok Underground Shopping Center just a short walk out the hotel. It's somewhere where Lotte Departmental Store is in sight, to be precise.

One thing great about Korea is there are many entrances to their underground shopping centers or subways, so just go down any entrance you encounter because you'll eventually end up in the same place no matter where you enter from.

Nampo Underground Shopping entrance

Nampo Underground Shopping Center is linked to Gwangbok Underground Shopping Center, if you walk along following the signs, you'll end up here from where Lotte Departmental Store is. If you exit from Nampo Underground Shopping Center, you'll find yourself closer to BIFF Square and Jagalchi Market.

Buzzer given when you order food or drinks

I had my first dinner at Lotte Departmental Store since it was Sunday and not many shops around the hotel were open. I had a great first experience with the buzzer! It will buzz when your order is ready. Then you proceed to collect your order at the designated counter. 

Jeonju Bibimbap at Lotte Dept Store food court

The Jeonju Bibimbap (approx 7000 won; RM21) I had was quite similar to the bibimbap that I've tasted in KL, so there's nothing to shout about. What I loved was every other meal I had in Korea came with free refillable drinking water, so that's savings in terms of drinks. Their meals are usually around 7000 won, which means it's a budget of RM20 every meal, (thank goodness food in Malaysia is cheap!) but of course it's a huge portion each round with many side dishes (kimchi!).

BIFF Square entrance opposite Jagalchi Market

Next up after dinner I went to BIFF Square to get a glimpse of night market life. There was a particular hotteok stall that was popular and has a long queue. 

Look out for this hotteok stall with a long queue somewhere outside the Eight Seconds store

The hot hotteok (1000 won; RM3) was delicious and was a perfect snack in the cold weather. 

Hotteok, the perfect hot snack in the cold weather

I also tried the spicy grilled chicken (2000 won; RM6) on a long stick, but unfortunately I was too busy eating to take pictures!

Entrance to Yongdusan Park (Busan Tower) along Gwangbok Street

Next I had a stroll back to the hotel from BIFF Square through Gwangbok Street. This street is quite nicely done up and I find myself thinking that I was in some European country. Many branded stores, both international and local, lined this street.

Hollys Coffee next to Teenie Weenie on Gwangbok Street

There seems to be no shortage of coffee chains on Gwangbok Street too. Hollys Coffee, Coffine Gurunaru, Tom N Toms Coffee, and Caffe Bene are among the coffee shops you can opt to stop for a hot drink here.

Caffe Bene along Gwangbok Street

I stopped at Caffe Bene for a drink before heading back to the hotel. It's endorsed by Crayon Pop in very Christmassy red uniforms, which is sure to put you in the Xmas mood. Next up for Day 2 is the KTX ride to Seoul!

Read about my experience in Chungmuro, Namdaemun and Myeongdong here!

Read about my experience in Edae, Hongdae, D-Cube City and Dongdaemun here!

Read about my experience in N Seoul Tower, Namsangol Hanok Village, Garosugil and Go-To Mall here!

Read about my experience in Gyeongbukgung, Bukchon Hanok Village, Samcheongdong, Changdeokgung and Insadong here!

Read about my experience in Busan (KTX and Busan City Night View Tour Bus) here! 

Update: Check out my latest account of my trip to Japan in 2015 here. Stay tuned for more updates on this trip!
 
The author was thrilled to be able to step on the grounds of the Land of the Morning Calm. Busan was a pretty much laid back town and next up is the adventurous shopping experience in Seoul! Look out for the next post!

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miss A Is All 'Hush'ed Up

miss A is back with their latest album and single titled Hush! With an even sexier concept this autumn, the girls certainly will captivate more fanboys (and fangirls like me too!).

The most intriguing part of their latest album is that their title track is not produced or written by their boss, JYP. Instead, E-Tribe, who was behind the success of SNSD's Gee and Lee Hyori's U Go Girl. Which also means this is a break of tradition, since they have always promoted using JYP songs. Let's see how they fare this round, shall we?

I was actually in South Korea when the album was released, and managed to track down a local K-pop music store nearby my hotel in Busan. It was a mistake on my part not to buy it on the first day of its release as it was sold out the next day!

Check out the music video for 'Hush' below!



The author is back from her 9-day trip to Seoul and Busan and is currently sorting over thousand pictures to post up on this blog. Look out for more updates!

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Big Bad Wolf Books Warehouse Sale 2013

Before I leave for South Korea and come back with lots of stuff and pictures to post on my blog, I'm gonna post about the upcoming annual Big Bad Wolf Books Warehouse Sale 2013 in December first!

For those not in the know yet, the warehouse sale will be held at MIECC, The Mines from 6 to 15 December 2013 and the best thing this time round is that they will be open for 230 hours straight. That means 24 hours book shopping! Whee!! Super cool for K-drama freaks like me who hate missing my drama episodes for book shopping!

As always, make sure you have lots of time to spare before you go in, since you'll spend lots of time poring over books to buy (there's 3 million books to choose from!), and bring some recyclable bags, trolleys and water too!

For more info, hit up their website here!

They will also have contests in anticipation of their warehouse sale, so if you are keen to win preview passes to get in the venue ahead of others, make sure you follow them on Facebook or Twitter!

The author is freaking out that she'll overspend her budget this year, no thanks to her South Korea trip and Big Bad Wolf Books Warehouse Sale!

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Kim Jaejoong pre-releases 'Sunny Day' and 'Butterfly' singles

I just can't wait for Jaejoong to release his latest album WWW, so I'll just post about his 2 pre-released singles Sunny Day and Butterfly to let off some steam!

First off, 'Sunny Day' was the typical ballad that I'd expect Jaejoong to sing. It's something like those songs for drama OSTs, so sad yet beautiful. A collaboration track with Noel's Lee Sang Gon, the song pulls your heartstrings at right places, and their vocal delivery makes it all the more emotional.

Check out the audio clip for 'Sunny Day' below! 

Meanwhile 'Butterfly' is a pop rock song, a genre which I think Jaejoong had more fun singing than ballads. It's a fun song filled with electric guitar riffs, and I can picture him singing this song during his solo concert.

Check out the audio clip for 'Butterfly' below!

The album 'WWW' will be released on 29 October, and it's already topping charts in pre-orders. Looking forward to listen to all the new tracks soon!

The author hopes to get a copy of WWW when she lands in South Korea in 2 weeks' time!

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IU and Her 'Red Shoes'

IU is back with her latest album, Modern Times. It seems that she is blossoming into a pretty and sexy young lady with her latest album. Somehow I think she does it in style, sort of in a classy way instead of trashy.

The album has been on loop on my playlist for 2 weeks now, and I still can't get enough of it. Maybe it's just my tendency towards jazz and 1920's music, Great Gatsby style, but I digress.

Nevertheless, IU made a mark on K-pop this season with her out of ordinary music choice. Given that the K-pop is overflooded with similar-sounding songs, as if made out of the same cookie cutter moulds, IU's 'Modern Times' album is a breath of fresh air. Never mind that the album is named 'Modern Times' although it might sound more like 'Old Times' to some people.

The title track, The Red Shoes, is a jazz number that'll get you dancing in no time. With its catchy beat and IU's soulful interpretation, this has to be one of the best tracks on the album.

Catch the music video for 'The Red Shoes' below if you have yet to. Look out for some famous faces!

Some of my other favourites on this album are Between The Lips, Modern Times, and Gloomy Clock (featuring SHINee's Jonghyun).

Great comeback from IU this round. I'm already anticipating her next project and transformation. Can't wait for her next acting project too since she did very well in the concluded drama You're The Best Lee Soon Shin!.

The author hopes that IU will be promoting more of her songs on music shows even after 'The Red Shoes' as most of the songs on the album are really good!

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Ko Hyang: Korean Country Delights

Ko Hyang's Yukgaejang is simply delicious!

Yet another food review before my upcoming trip to South Korea in November. This time round I tried Ko Hyang, a quaint little store located at the LG floor of The Gardens Mall. 

My choice of dish is Yukgaejang, a spicy beef stew with vegetables. Served with a bowl of rice (with beans in it) and 3 banchans (bean sprouts, anchovies and kimchi), the meal was quite satisfying and affordably priced (it was around RM18.90 I think). My mom tried the Dol Sot Bibimbap, while my brother had the Chicken BBQ. 

While the Dol Sot Bibimbap was similar to what we've tried at most places, my Yukgaejang was flavourful and not too spicy. I kept drinking till my spoon reached the bottom of the bowl. Even my mom couldn't resist from stealing a few spoonfuls of the delicious soup. And mind you, she was already quite full at that point!

The Chicken BBQ was the most surprising winner of all the 3 dishes we ordered. The chicken was succulent and juicy, and so fragrant that when the chef started cooking it, we could smell it right away!

Definitely stop by for a taste of Korean country delights (their tagline obviously does not lie!) when you're around the vicinity. Do be warned though, they have few tables only and most of the time they are full at meal times. But staff are quick and we were seated within less than 5 minutes even when the store is full.

Can't wait to try their Bulgogi Bokem next round. Hit up their website for more info!

Update: I managed to try their Bulgogi Bokem last week when I was in the vicinity. The meat was very succulent and tasty! It was so good that I finished it till the last piece although I was practically full halfway through the meal :)

The author is ecstatic to try authentic Korean food in South Korea. If you have any great food suggestions, do drop a comment below. Thanks!

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Viki For DiGi: K-drama Fans Rejoice!

DiGi has recently partnered with Viki to bring English subtitled K-dramas to their Malaysian subscribers. Whee!! This could not have been a happier announcement for me since I'm a loyal subscriber of DiGi (and a K-drama queen at that too)!

Nonetheless, according to the webpage, the app is only available for Android users... Fret not if you don't have one... just buy or borrow one (just don't steal, okay?)!

As I have a Blackberry phone on a DiGi line, I was afraid that I could not download the app, but I'll just divulge the secret how I did it. Curious already? Read on....

Well, instead of downloading the app on my Blackberry, I did it on my Android tablet! (Hahaha.... it's tragic I know) 

But I still managed to download the app after tapping on the download button on the webpage, which then prompts me to enter my phone number since it couldn't detect my phone number. Next, a message was sent to my phone, and from there I entered the code in the message to the webpage on my tablet.

And, tadaa!! The app was successfully downloaded into my tablet! I registered my account with my email and I was good to go. Started watching 'My Princess' starring Song Seung Hun and Kim Tae Hee already. Hehehe...

Another heads up on this app, it is free for all DiGi subscribers but the promotion is only from 1st July 2013 till 30th June 2014 (so milk it as much as you can!).

Lastly, here's the all important link to get the free Viki app! Enjoy your K-dramas!

The author is ecstatic to get free access to Viki from DiGi since she loves watching K-dramas. Well, DiGi is 'always the smarter choice', ain't it?

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Shopaholic Me: Nothing Feels Better Than Getting A Good Bargain

Mid Valley Megamall: Great location for KL & PJ folks

Ever the shopaholic, I took the chance to go on a shopping spree at Mid Valley during Malaysia Day. Not too bad it seems although I thought the mall would be too crowded on a public holiday, maybe most have opted to go on a holiday outstation.

First off, since I'm a stickler for all things discounted and at a bargain price, I made a stop at Uniqlo. They do sometimes have great in-store offers on public holidays, so it's best you check them out during that time. I usually stop by their stores twice a month or so, most of the times they have a good rotation of the goods on offer.

Uniqlo's Heattech series

 Looks like they didn't have much on offer that interest me since I'm just shopping around for their Heattech series for my trip to South Korea. I managed to buy a camisole and socks from this series at RM39.90 each, not so satisfying but I saw the fur-lined jacket which I bought sometime ago selling at RM129.90 today. Bought it at RM79.90 back then (RM50 worth of savings!), so it consoled me a quite bit!

Then I went over to Factory Outlet Store (F.O.S.) which is another great store for bargain hunters. Not only do they stock affordable clothes of great quality, look around and sometimes you'll find some great treasures! Branded clothes at discounted prices! Now who wouldn't want that?

H&M leggings, got mine in blue instead of white

Today I went over to look at their leggings, and guess what? Forever 21 and H&M leggings at RM45 for 3 pieces! Ka-ching!! It's a bit frustrating sometimes when you can't find your size after going through piles of clothes, so when I finally found 2 of my size, one black Forever 21 and a blue patterned H&M legging, I was super satisfied. It's RM20 for a piece, but RM32 for 2 pieces. Still a great bargain nevertheless!

I went to pay and saw Levi's jeans priced at RM100 for 2 pieces!! Next time I'll be back, if there's still stock that is. Hehehe.... 

Anyway, I went to pay and upon giving my membership card (that's my IC by the way), my total was only RM22.40 instead of RM32. Say what? Apparently members get a 30% discount of all items just for today (I knew there was something calling me to shop today!).

Next on, I had dinner with my family at The Garden's food court, Food Garden, which is just next to Borders and Sushi Zanmai. The queues at Sushi Zanmai can get scarily long sometimes, similarly is Hokkaido Ichiba, just a stone's throw away on the same floor.

Dolsot Bibimbap in Food Garden. Pic credit: Cleffairy.com

Now, don't get me wrong, I didn't go to Food Garden just because I'm on a bargain hunting spree. I'm actually here for one of the best Dolsot Bibimbap I've had so far. I'm probably biased since I know the generous Korean ahjumma and ahjussi who operated the stall (she has since handed it over to foreign workers who have retained her recipe well). They once gave me a huge extra plate of kimchi when I ordered 2 sets of bibimbap, which comes with an equally awesome bubbling hot kimchi jjigae!

After that huge meal which costs me RM20 per set, I needed to burn the calories away. What else besides more shopping? I went over to Aeon and bought some sushi on 20% discount for my brothers, then headed to the last stop for the day, Cotton On!

Cotton On is probably overpriced at times, but like Uniqlo, you'll just have to give them some time to rotate their items which goes on sale. Today I went in with a mission to buy just shoes. Good ol' Rubi shoes. I bought 2 pairs for SGD30 back in November last year, and now I'm back for more!

Rubi flats for me! (cue Wonder Girls' 'Nu Shoes' song)

They have 2 variants, but I find the fabric ones tend to be more comfortable and less stiff. I picked 2 peep-toe sandals for RM60 (cheaper than in Singapore) and went off with that. I personally feel that among all the Cotton On shops which I visit often (Sungei Wang, Pavillion, Mid Valley), the one with the most items on sale is the Sungei Wang outlet. Check out their huge selection of sale stock if you're around the vicinity!

I hope I'll be able to hold in my buying impulse as my trip to South Korea is nearing closer. I'm really looking forward to bargain-hunting in Seoul and Busan, as well as cafe-hopping! Do look out for my posts in November!

The author is ecstatic to be able to visit South Korea, home to K-pop and the shopping mecca for all things cute!

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JYJ releases 'Only One' for 2014 Incheon Asian Games

JYJ has finally released a new single Only One (Cassiopeias, rejoice!), albeit for the promotional use of 2014 Incheon Asian Games.

Having been out of the music scene as a group for almost 2 years, this single is hopefully the sign of better things to come from the trio in the musical department.

While on hiatus, Jaejoong and Junsu both released solo albums, while Yoochun had focused solely on acting in dramas. He will soon take up the lead role in the movie 'Sea Fog'.

Meanwhile, enjoy the music video for the upbeat single 'Only One' below!



The author is simply thrilled that JYJ has released a new single and is hoping for a full album soon!

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2NE1's 'Do You Love Me'

The ladies of 2NE1 have been on a roll lately, releasing one single after another in a span of one month. Recently, they have released their latest single, Do You Love Me, another single off their upcoming album!

Many fans, like myself, have been anticipating the drop of their upcoming album since late last year, after the release of 'I Love You'. 

Wait... have any of you guys realized that all of the songs they've released as singles so far have the word 'Love' in the song titles? (I'm thinking their new album is along these lines!)

I also love the fact that each members' part in this song fits really well with their vocal prowess and personalities!

So, without much further ado, do let me present to you the music video for 2NE1's 'Do You Love Me', a party jam that's just perfect to let your hair loose during a pool party (that's just what they did in the video!). Enjoy!

The author is still patiently anticipating 2NE1's new album release. Hopefully all her nails won't get bitten off by then!

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