Seoul - Siloam Sauna, Sigolbapsang, Passion5, Young Plaza and Lotte Department Store

Have not blogged about my travels for a while, especially here. Been thinking of consolidating both the blogs (the other being http://ilovelongvacation.wordpress.com/) because I realise I don't have much time (and content) these days. Will see how - it's tough because both are so close to my heart...

Well, I mentioned briefly about my Seoul trip in end March (we just missed the full bloom cherry blossom by a bit :( ). Went with my sister C and my cousin SS (our first trip together) so it was quite fun :) Took Cathay Airline because it was relatively cheaper and the timing of the flights matched all our schedules. But it was a red-eye flight with a short stop-over in Hong Kong airport so we were a bit jet-lagged when we arrived in Incheon at 6am...



Headed for a local sauna after we left our luggage at the hotel. Siloam is near Lotte Mart (nearest subway station is Seoul Station). Quite interesting. Besides the sauna, Siloam houses many levels of entertainment but we didn't take any pictures inside because we didn't want to intrude into the privacy of the local community - in the changing area, many were walking around in their birthday suits! Haha.

Not really sure what we were doing - the language barrier is quite apparent here because it serves mainly the locals, I think. We soaked in many different types of pools and followed by trying the different sleeping areas set at different temperatures with different setting e.g. salt, jade. We also tried the BBQ eggs and fermented barley drinks - those you see in Korean drama! Haha. There were many other facilities available e.g. gym, karaoke, hair salon, massage spas, restaurants etc. Definitely a place where you can spend a day to relax! Cannot remember how much it costs but I recall telling my sister that the amount is value for money :P



After the bath, we went to Itaewon for lunch and decided to try Sigolbapsang, a small traditional Korean restaurant. There, we tried so many classic banchans for a flat price of 8,000 won each!



Very sumptuous lunch - I think we over-ordered. Should have just ordered 1 more ala-carte instead of 2! Didn't imagined that we will be served so many banchans!



Seafood pancake. I really like this version because it was over-flowing with seafood! Really miss it as I blogged. Yummy!



Spicy chicken stew which was also huge! Thought it would be a spicy chicken soup that will warm us, not fill us up!

After lunch, we explore Itaewon where many foreigners hang out. The area is large with shops, cafes, galleries lining the entire stretch. I'm sure there are many hidden gems somewhere in the gil and dong but we did not really seek them out. Haha. Still suffering from our red-eye flight...



Then we stopped at this place - Passion 5 - for coffee. Didn't manage to take any pictures but the  café was gorgeous with pastries both savoury and sweet! We just had coffee, no thanks to our overfilling lunch. Would have been nice to try some of the sweets... Hmmm...



My mocha - I always have this notion that in a good cup of coffee, the coffee art stays till the last drop if you don't stir it. Haha. Correct me if I'm wrong :P

Left Itaewon for Young Plaza, which was next to Lotte Department Store, which was near Myeungdong. SS checked out the SM Pop-Up Store. First time I heard of EXO. Haha. And this trip, my favourite was Mr.Mr, Mr.Mr. Haha.



While I checked out the highly-raved Style Nanda. Didn't buy any clothes but got away with some 3CE cosmetics :)



SS wanted to go back to the hotel at 6pm! Gosh! So we decided to have dinner at the Lotte Department Food Court to re-charge and to explore the Lotte Department Store a bit more before we call it a day. My cold noodles which was ok. Haha.

We found out that the departmental store closes at 8pm which I thought was really early for a shopping paradise like Seoul. Well, I guess everyone will just head to Nandaemun which we did in the later part of our trip - will share on that later.

It's like only 2 weeks since I'm back to reality. And I think I need a break again. If only we can travel every day...