Heyri, Provence, Hongik

Today, I was fortunate enough to go to places where normal tourists would not be able to go. A post-doc fellow brought us (a keynoter, me and two grad students) to places out of Seoul city.

First, she brought us to Heyri Art Village. It is an artists' village where artists gather in one place to sell their creations - pottery, jewellery, candles, cravings, etc. Heyri, although far from Seoul city (about an hour's drive and near the DMZ :P), is a popular weekend outing destination with families and couples because there are many creative and beautiful things to look at, it is a great place to experience artistic atmosphere and the mountain scenery is beautiful especially in autumn with its reds, yellows and greens. It was a great place to me because I love handicrafts. :) Go to this link to see more of Heyri http://www.heyri.net/ But be warned it is in Korean, lol.



We had lunch at Farmer's Table. I ordered a Seafood Pasta in cream sauce (19000 KRW). My goodness. It was really good and rich. I was surprised by the amount of seafood in the pasta - squid, baby octopus, prawn, clams, mussels and get this, crab, no, not crab stick, but CRAB! This is what I call seafood pasta hahaha. :P



After lunch, she brought us to Provence, where there are shops selling hand-made pottery and hand-made skin care products. The shops are housed in quaint and colourful buildings.



We went on to Hongik University area. It is a favourite hang-out place for the trendy, young and hip. We went to Coffee Prince for a drink. I didn't realise it is the cafe where the Korean drama serial Coffee Prince was filmed in lol. No wonder there were so many people taking photos outside the cafe and inside the cafe. :P I had a green tea latte. It was very nice and it came in a very adorable cup. My Korean friend met up with us at the cafe with another of her friend.




We proceeded to walk around the area. There are many shops. Unfortunately, they are all selling autumn/ winter stuff. Sigh. We stopped at one of the street stalls and ordered Tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) and another dish which is noodles stuff into intestine (it is a bit like sausage). Standing there and eating at the stall, doing what Koreans do, is a really fun and interesting experience. :) After that, we went to a sake house for drinks and yakitori. Throughout the day, we have been chatting about conferences, the interesting and funny experiences. Lots of laughter.

The biggest Husky I have ever seen. It certainly got the eyes of many passer-bys. :P




I got back to my accommodation close to 9:30pm Korean time (8:30pm S'pore time). As my watch is still on S'pore time, thinking it was still early, I went for a walk around the area near my accommodation. Saw many eating places and I found a fashion outlet mall just round the corner. Wanted to shop in there when I realised I misread the time. It was close to closing time for the mall (10:30pm Korean time). Well, I will just come back tomorrow then lol.

I really enjoyed myself very much today. I visited an artists' village which is not on any tour group destination. I sat in Coffee Prince cafe. I experienced eating street food. Most importantly, I had a great time with my new found friends, chatting and laughing. I am sure we will keep in touch, if not at each other's country, at least at one of the international conferences. :)