Gonna interrupt my Seoul trip post with these very random photos of Omotesando（表参道） taken last Saturday (6th Feb). I got lost at the back alleys of Omotesando while looking for a restaurant *laugh*
Anyway, everything here look so Oshare （おしゃれ）isn’t it!? Oshare means “fashionable” or “stylish”.
Dear spring, please come soon.
So, when I told my friends that I’m going to Seoul for vacation…all my friends who have been to Seoul said I have to go to Insadong (인사동). Well, Insadong is a district lined with antique shops, art galleries, traditional Korean teahouses, and restaurants.
Also, this is the best place to pick up sovenirs as you can find a lot of shops selling traditional Korean handicrafts, Hanbok (traditional Korean costume), oriental fans, silk pouches, Korean mask, Korean paintings, calligraphy supplies, ceramics and so on. I saw some very nice Hanji (traditional Korean paper) in one of the shops and was really tempted to get it…
Colorful silk pouches.
Korean mask.
Other than traditional Korean handicrafts, you’ll also find a lot of shops selling T-shirts, socks, cups, posters, key-chains and other souvenirs item with printed images of Hallyu stars like these.
I think these men are drinking Makgeolli (막걸리), a kind of Korean rice wine.
Korean traditional candy call “yeot“.
Oh. I was quite surprised to find a Indian restaurant in such a traditional area.
Some of the restaurant signage has Japanese on it.
A funny looking robot.
The starbucks in Insadong have their signage written in Hangul (Korean character) which is very rare I think!?
Ssamziegil complex in Insadong.
The whole building is so colorful and arty, with lots of hand-made crafts & jewellery stalls, souvenir shops, art galleries and cafes.
Well, I think I enjoyed myself the most browsing at all the hand-made craft stalls in Ssamziegil. I have blogged about it here.
After Samcheong dong, I found a few more nice looking cafes on my way to Insadong. Seoul has so many nice cafes!!!!
A shoe shop with the name, ”Shurang” (슈랑)
ICESAND COFFEE Cafe.
Eunnamu (은나무) has some very nice earrings and necklaces.
Fortune teller at the roadside.
Weekends just passed by too fast. What did you guys do during the weekend? I was at home most of the time.
I still have a lot of photos to post on my Seoul trip. Are you bored with these photos? Should I post some Tokyo photos instead?
Samcheong-dong (삼청동) is another nice area to walk around in Seoul. After walking down the step stairs of those traditional korean houses in Bukchon village, I found myself in a very stylist area with European looking cafes, restaurants, wine bars, art galleries, small boutiques and accessory shops.
This is a restaurant coverted from a Hanok (traditional Korean house). There’s quite a few of these interesting blend of old & new architecture along the way.
You’ll also find cafes and restaurants up in narrow alleys like this.
A figure in front of TOYKINO Museum. TOYKINO has an impressive collection of American toys and action figures. I did not go in coz’ it was very crowded when I was there. Anyway, if you’re interested, take a peep at TOYKINO’s toy collection over here >> (Written by a Korean blogger)
p/s: I love their Simpson collection!
Samcheong dong reminds me of Daikanyama（代官山） in Tokyo. A quiet residential area with small little cafes and boutiques here and there.
p/s: It’s horribly cold here in Tokyo these few days. I caught the flu bug.
I hope all of you are enjoying your weekend.
Sangsangmadang （상상마당）in Hongdae, Seoul is a 11 floor building that has a cinema, live performance hall, art gallery, and a studio. The art square on the 1st floor sells products designed by young Korean designers. I went there to check out my friend’s product.
Here’s the floor guide of Sangsangmadang. Each floor has different business hours.
7F – Office
6F – Cafe 10:00~22:00
5F – Studio / CineLab 10:00~22:00
4F – Academy 13:00~22:00
3F – Art Market 13:00~22:00
2F – Gallery 13:00~22:00
1F – Art Square 12:00~23:00
B1~2 – Live Hall
B3~4 – Cinema
Photograph is prohibited but I managed to steal a few shots though. I only got to know it later when the staff told me ”no taking photos please”. I’m going to post one of the blur ones here so I won’t feel that guilty by breaking the rules.
The stuff at the art square was great!! I can see there’s a lot of creativity in these young Korean designers. Anyway, here’s the stuff I bought.
Seoul, Tokyo & New York subway maps from “Zero per Zero“. I saw these subway maps for the first time at last year’s Giftex exhibition in Tokyo and had wanted it then. Finally got them now in Seoul!
This is how the New York subway map look like. Awesome design yah!?
*Images from ZERO PER ZERO website. Copyrights belongs to ZERO PER ZERO*
btw. ZERO PER ZERO is a design duo of two graphic designers from Korea, both graduated from Hongik University. Their Seoul Tokyo Osaka City Railway System maps were the winner of 2008 iF communication design award.
They have a online shop. Go check it out if you’re interested >>
Next, a very cute post-it from “j’s story“. JSTORY has some very cute collection of stationaries. Check out their other products over here >>
*Images from JSTORY website. Copyrights belongs to JSTORY*
And this is a pen case or pouch from “red cloudy“. I love the cloth lining they used here! I used this as my second purse when I was travelling in Seoul, putting Korean WONs and receipts in it.
If you like movie and theater, you might wanna check out the cinema in the basement that shows independent films. The underground live performance hall houses various performances such as music, dance and theater.
I explored all the floors but basically there’s nothing much to see other than the art square on the 1st floor and the art gallery on 2nd floor. This is a picture I took from one of the higher floors.
oh. btw. There’s a cafe on the 6th floor which looks quite nice.
This is the last post on Hongdae, I think I don’t have anything to blog about Hongdae anymore *laugh*
Business hours
Art Market, Gallery – 13:00~22:00
Art square – 12:00~23:00
* Closed on every first monday of the month
Useful links :
