If you have seen the Korean romance-comedy drama “The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince”, they this place should be familiar. I went there last Friday afternoon with some friends (and my son) after eating Chinese food at Yeonhui-dong. The place wasn’t difficult to find. We took the taxi and asked to be taken to Sanullim Theater. Oh well, it isn’t really far from where we had lunch.
The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince is one of the most popular Korean dramas last year. It even earned its female lead, Yoon Eun Hye, the best actress trophy in this year’s Baeksang Awards. She and Gong Yoo also gained more CF because of the popularity of this drama.
We were excited when we got to the place, a two-storey building. The second floor is not open to customers though. The first thing you’ll notice is the raw finish. Some may like it (I did) and others may not. The walls are autographed by the stars, the staff and fans who visit the place. My friends even signed on the board near our table. The counter has espresso machines and lotsa other things that I really didn’t notice.
I was shocked by the prices of the coffee! I don’t even go to Starbucks since I don’t really like fancy coffee. I like mine black with a hint of brown sugar. My friend ordered an ice caffe mocha for me. My son tried it and liked it. That was his first coffee.
The shop wasn’t full when we were there. There were less than twenty customers that time. Two were Japanese, three Chinese, three Pinoys and the rest were Koreans. Most took pictures. I don’t believe people go there for the coffee…
The staff was really nice. IMO, customer service in Korea is topnotch!They played the drama’s OST and that made my friends really “kilig”. They said it was a surreal experience and I’m glad they enjoyed it.
Like I said in my previous post, we ate Koreanized Chinese food for lunch today. I planned to do a Coffee Prince-inspired tour for my friends today. I thought of bringing them to the Chinese restaurant where Yoon Eun Hye and Gong Yoo’s characters ate “tang-su-yuk” or sweet and sour pork. The place is called “San-dong-su-gyo-dae-wang” or “Chinese Dumpling King.” It is located on a street more popularly known as “Yeonhee-dong mat gil” or “Yeonhee-dong’s Street of Flavors”, for the many restaurants located in the area.
We reached the place at 3:15PM and found it closed! They are close from 3-5 PM on weekdays. We were a bit disappointed but not totally disheartened We just took pictures outside and moved on. I have a not-so-nice picture of the exterior. I was carrying my son and trying to avoid the traffic.
We walked some more and found another Chinese restaurant. It’s called “Jin Bo” and has a very nice interior. I was “famished” that I didn’t bother to take pictures inside! We ordered four “sam seon jjajang myeon” (5,000 won each) and “tang-su-yuk” or sweet&sour pork (small for 14,000 won). They didn’t offer water but a fragrant jasmine tea. After lunch (a late one!), we took the taxi to the 1st Shop of Coffee Prince. I’ll blog about this later… we have a three-day weekend and we’re going camping!
We had a summer-like weather last week. The temperature peaked at 29 degrees in Seoul, but it was a milder 25 degrees last Sunday afternoon when we went to Namsan Park. My parents-in-law and my aunt-in-law came to visit us (again). They came to our home at around three o’clock in the afternoon. The base of Namsan (”nam” means south and “san” is mountain) is a five kilometer drive from our apartment and the sky was clear that afternoon so we thought it’s best to go there for some air.
We took the car and parked at the National Theater of Korea. The Seoul city government used to allow cars to go up to the park. That all changed in the spring of 2005 and I think that it was a good move to reduce pollution. The city is seriously in need of air purifiers. Now, only shuttle buses (yellow bus) and the Seoul City Tour bus could go up to the park.
If you’re commuting, it’s best to take the shuttle bus (yellow) at the Chungmuro subway station. If you use a transportation card, you won’t have to pay extra for the transfer. If you’re paying cash, it’s 700 won per person. You can also take the cable car (7,000 won roundtrip) or just walk.
Namsan is one of the two famous places that people go to to get a bird’s eyeview of the city. The other is the 63 Building. It is also a popular filming location. Remember that cable car scene in “My Name is Kim Sam Soon”?
On the left side of the bus terminal is a “hyugeso” or a rest stop, where there is a small convenience store and a jjajang myeon (black bean sauce noodles) restaurant. You’ll need to walk an inclined 300 meters from the bus stop to N Seoul Tower. On the way up, there’s an ojingo-juipo (squid and flyfish) vendor at the left side.
Upon reaching the top, you’ll notice on the left a group of artists who does sketches for a fee. AFAIK, they charge 25,000 won per session. The day we visited the place, a US Army band was performing for the tourists. On our previous visit, there was a South American music group that played latin songs.
N Seoul Tower is an observation tower, and you need to pay to go there. I haven’t been up the tower, since I don’t want to spend 7,000 won to go there. It’s the same view anyway. I’d rather see Seoul from the free observation decks.
N Seoul Tower has one of the best restrooms I’ve seen in the city. It’s almost always crowded when I use the restrooms so I couldn’t take any photos. At Entrance 1, you’ll find a coffee shop and a bakery. There are exhibits and a waiting area with TV monitors for those waiting for their turn to ride the elevator up the tower. Outside is a food court (where I go to drink water), convenience store, gift shop, and more coffee shops. There’s also a buffet up the tower and a revolving (?) restaurant.
The Palgakjeong (pal means eight, gak is side) or the eight-sided pavillion is almost always full of resting people. The sloped 300-meter walk is sometimes tiring specially on a hot day! To the right is a beacon built during the Joseon dynasty. The district of Jongro or old downtown Seoul is visible from this area.
A few meters from the beacon is the entrance to Namsan Cable Car. The ride is 7,000 won round-trip or 5,000 won one-way. I once rode the car with sister when she visited us. There is also a stairs that go down the mountain from that area.
As much as N Seoul Tower is the main attraction of Namsan Park, there are other places to visit in the area. One of my favorites is the Botanical Garden located near the Hyatt Hotel. There is also the Cartoon Museum, libraries and the jogging course that my husband frequents whenever he needs an exercise. There is a really nice playground for kids in front of Dongguk University (Jeon Ji Hyun attended college here). And of course, the National Theatre.
Here are some pictures that I took on my visits. Also is a video taken last Sunday (to give you a feel of what it was like). If you see a guy wearing a white shirt and carrying a sky blue bag, that’s my husband I was piggybacking my son who was asleep that time. On the way back down, we walked… the shuttle bus would cost us 700 won each
N Seoul Tower is one of the must-visit places in Seoul. It won’t really cost you anything aside from the transportation, unless you want to go up the tower or ride the cable.
I’d visited the Seodaemun Prison twice, first was when my mother visited us in 2005 and last year a few days after my son’s birthday. Last Saturday, March 1, was a holiday commemorating the “March 1st Movement“. People troooped to Seodaemun Prison to pay respects to their ancestors who fought the Japanese regime in the early 20th century.
There’s a small museum at Seodaemun Prison that houses pictures and documents of the movement. In the basement are small rooms with exhibits on how prisoners were treated and tortured during that time. It is forbidden to take pictures there. The prison was originally built and used by the Japanese during their occupation of Korea. However, it was also used by the Korean government until the late 1980s.
At the back of the complex, there is a small wooden building which was used for execution. Have you seen the Korean television drama “Sandglass”? It was where Tae Soo was executed. If you look at the pictures I took of the building’s interior, you might notice some “circles” floating around. They aren’t supernatural orbs. OK?
Naksan Park is a walking distance from our apartment and we come here often to exercise and enjoy the fresh air. If you’ve seen the drama “Lovers in Paris”, some of the scenes were shot here. Tae Young (Kim Jeong Eun) and Soo Hyuk (Lee Dong Gun) often go to the park to talk. I took some pictures of the park when my son and I went there one autumn afternoon. It’s not as popular as Namsan, but from the top you can see N Tower (used to be Seoul Tower), the palaces, Dongdaemun and Hyewha-dong.
I’m cleaning up my computer and I noticed that there are just so many pictures to write about. One of them were a group of photos taken at Nami Island when I accompanied the team of “Pinoy Abroad”. It was on October 20 last year (same day I learned I was pregnant ;)). Anyway, “Pinoy Abroad” is a television show hosted by Ivan Mayrina. From what I know, it’s not on-air anymore and replaced by a similar themed show hosted by the popular tandem of Paolo Bediones and Miriam Quiambao. By the way, Ivan Mayrina is a “cabalen” and a schoolmate. I was just a year ahead of him. In fact, he was my niece’s classmate (oh yeah I’m old!).
Nami Island is one of the locations for the highly-successful Korean drama “Winter Sonata” starring Bae Yong Joon and Choi Ji Woo. It was my third time that year to visit the island. First was with my mom and husband and second was with my pinay friends here in Seoul.
“Dae Jang Geum” (The Great Jang Geum) or “Jewel in the Palace” is currently the hottest Korean drama showing in the Philippines. I never expected that it would be a hit back home since it’s a historical drama with a lot of Korean culture thrown in. I thought that most Filipinos are not interested in anything “cultural.” I don’t remember “Noli Me Tangere” enjoying the same popularity when it was shown on TV more than a decade ago.
Honestly, I wasn’t able to watch this drama in full. I had just arrived in Korea when it was being aired. I just remember that people were talking about it. When we were in a “kalbi” restaurant in Jongno3-ga, I remember salarymen still dressed in their suits talking about this drama. I remember them saying that it was a big comeback for Lee Young Ae, the actress playing “Jang Geum”. She was in almost every CF (short for “commercial film” as they call TV ads in Korea) and billboards in Seoul with her long and milky white legs gracing the ads of “Whisen”, an electronic appliance maker. That was more than two years ago.
Lee Young Ae is still enjoying her immense popularity after the drama was shown here. She was the lead of the hit and critically acclaimed movie “Sympathy for Lady Vengeance” where she played “Geum Ja”. Recently, she was invited by the Berlin Filmfest to be part of the jury. A first for a Korean actress.
Going back to “Dae Jang Geum”… My husband and I had planned to go there in October of last year but we had so much weekend activities that it was hard to include it on our schedule. Last weekend, my friend Katie had to do a report on the Dae Jang Geum craze in Korea and we thought it was the right time to go there. My husband drove the four of us (Zoe, Katie, Anna and I) in our compact but very reliable Matiz to the the Dae Jang Geum theme park. The drive was about an hour from downtown Seoul (Jongno-gu, where we live).
The theme park is located at the MBC Cultural Valley in Yangju, Gyonggido. We got there at around 2 PM. The entrance fee is 5,000 won ($5)… very expensive! Don’t expect a Disneyland-like theme park. This place is where some of the scenes in the drama was shot, so expect to see a replica of a palace and a traditional village. There are similar and better places that you can visit in Korea but the difference is that, it was a location for some of the scenes in Dae Jang Geum!
and asked to be taken to Sanullim Theater. Oh well, it isn’t really far from where we had lunch.
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