Seoul pt 4: POUTINE

Saturday cont.

After my fantastic massage at The Foot Shop (other location by IP Boutique Hotel), I headed down to Itaewon to find POUTINE, foreigner grocery stores and a special Skinfood.

The Poutine Factory (Noksapyeong Station, Line 6, Exit 2. Keep walking down the street and it's on the other side, with a very clear sign.)
*UPDATE: Sad face, OUT OF BUSINESS! It's now a milkshake place.

It's a small place, but they make up for it in Canadiana. They had coffee table books, moose crossing signs and moose/RCMP stuffed animals.
Everyone working was incredibly nice.

When I returned my tray, the owner (maybe) came over and asked why I'd left the cheese curds. I told him it was very authentic 'cause I don't like cheese curds and I came for the gravy, which was delicious. He was pleased with the authentic comment and said next time he would give MORE gravy!

He was soooo nice and called me a cab and helped give the cabbie directions on where to take me next.
Worth it: Heck yes! A taste of home is always great and the fries were crisp, the gravy thick and cheese curds were cheese curds, LOL. I think they make everything fresh.

Menu: Yum Yum! Not an everyday occurrence, because you'll get arms length fat, as I tell my kids during Canada class. Definitely a treat!
Website: Poutine Factory

-kilmosnaps

ps. I found the foreigner grocery stores. 

1. High Street Market (Itaewon Station, Line 6, Exit 2. Walk straight about "5" minutes, until you pass the IP Boutique Hotel, on your left. 2nd Floor)

If I lived in Seoul, I would be poor because of this place, but I would be eating like a Queen. Sliced meats, fresh bread, cereal brands from home, PESTO and a variety of vegan acceptable food. I bought a pack of English muffins, because I felt I should buy something and I was searching. 

2. Foreigner Food Market (Itaewon Station, Line 6, Exit 3. Walk straight, turn right after Dunkin Donuts and Mr. Kebab. Walk up the hill and it's on your left.)

Cheese balls! Liz Lemon would love this place. A variety of frozen meat, canned anything and tons of middle eastern food. Also a great place, less expensive than High Street Market.

pss.

Skinfood is my new The Body Shop. I love all the products, except for ones with whitening, obvs. The location at the bottom (West End) of Itaewon is the only location that has the Eggplant Waterproof Mascara Remover. It works so well. 

Seoul pt. 3: Massage

Saturday cont.

So after I satisfied my eggs benedict craving, I headed off to Myeongdong for 2 H&M's and a Forever 21 (Myeongdong Station, Line 4, Exit 6. Make a left and keep walking 'til you see it.)

I love this area and is def. in my Top 5 places to live if I move to Seoul. There's so much happening and sooooo much shopping. There's 2 Uniqlo (Japanese brand) that are like 5 stories each.

H&M Noon Square (Euljiro 1, Line 2, Exit 6. Walk 230m, on the left). They are both fantastic and yeah me it was SALE time. My most favourite time of year. I finally got the leggings/tights I was searching for. I can wear skirts again, until the pants my mom bought me get here!

 I discovered The Foot Shop. It was fantastic. Massage galore in a clean, warm and atmospheric environment. Mine kind of place. I forgot to take pics of the interior, 'cause I was soaked but it reminded me of home.

The front desk lady was super nice and had business English. You got a foot soak before you entered the massage area and you had the chose of regular or Dr. Fish. Yup the fish eat your dead skin. I'd done it before and it works, it just tickles ALOT.

Anyway, I got the Shoulder and Foot Massage, 60min for 44,000won. 40 Min Foot Massage, 24,000won. I saw cheaper down the street, but ambience and cleanliness was worth it. I'm fickle about my massages.

I got a choice of Hard or Soft. I chose medium. It was AMAZING. It was one where you were like "okay this is the end point" and it keeps going. Fantastic.


   You get green tea before and after the visit. You also get lockers for your stuff. One for shoes, one for personals, etc. They even had a basket for my glasses! I highly recommend this place if you're down in Myeongdong. There's also a location in Itaewon by the IP Boutique Hotel. CASH ONLY

Seoul pt 2: Eggs Benedict

Saturday:

So, I leave Spa Lei and oh it's pouring rain. FUN! I love finding places when it's raining. After getting highway robbed the umbrella price, I went searching for the 5 story Forever 21 in Sinsa-dong. Turns out Sinsa is a pretty hip/rich area. There's a bunch of clothing boutiques, fancy restos, Burt's Bees has its OWN store (not a kiosk) and they're getting a Godiva chocolate soon. Anyway, I also found The Flying Pan.

The Flying Pan- white (Sinsa Station, Line 3, Exit 8. Walk straight to the J Tower building, turn left at the next street AND an Itaewon location)
It's been described as one of the best brunches in Seoul. I've been burned before: Suji's (West end of Itaewon) was horrible. The hollandaise sauce tasted like I tried to make it in my blender*. I was gonna skip and head over to the Comfort Zone (Hyewa, Line 4, Exit 4) like I'd originally planned, but it was raining. However, the Flying Pan was YUM!

It was really good, but a few complaints and compliments as per usual, LOL.  Those yellow clumps were the hollandaise sauce. It was also cold and sorta tasted like ricotta/cottage cheese. It wasn't disgusting but not the best.

So-so: If you can get english muffins on Jeju Island, you should be able to get it in Seoul. Anyways, the bread was like a ciabatta bun. It was actually tasty. I was worried when the waiter told me it was bread. I've gotten benedict on Texas toast (really thick white bread) and it was not good.

Great: The eggs were runny and the salmon was seriously delicious and fresh. The bread actually worked well with the meal, despite what I said above. The pictures I saw beforehand and mine(!) look a croissant, which would've been really nice.

Ambivalent: The mood lighting. It was 11am, it seemed like a pretty kid friendly and it was RAINING. The place should've been brighter, especially since it was already dark outside. I like seeing my food, thanks.

Worth it: 16,000won --  Try once. The benedict also comes with ham. Overall the resto is really expensive for everyday. Most meals between 15,000-20,000won. I am glad I experienced it so I can cross it off my list.

*I did find and try a blender hollandaise sauce. It did not work. So gross, LOL.

-kilmosnaps

Seoul Shopping Trip

Seoul shopping trip! I went because I'm was (still am) in desperate need of some clothes. I've been living in my Lulu Lemons for the past month since the weather's changed to COLD! I used to live in my jeans, which is probably why my 2 American Eagle jeans I brought over died back on Jeju and then they never got replaced. At that point I was living In shorts because it was HOT! My new job is a wearing suits to class type of place. How wearing a suit helps teach kids, no idea but I digress, no jeans.

So, I set a budget, figured out where to go (H&M, Forever 21), where to stay, what subway exits to use etc. It was a couple solid days (hours) of planning. I can be anal about stuff sometimes and I can't get it out of my head and i just wanted things to go smoothly. Oh and I was on a quest for eggs Benedict!

There would be more pictures, but it was raining all weekend, sad face. Also, the Poutine Factory (YES!). 

FRIDAY:
Turns out the train to Seoul was SOLD OUT. Oops, so I took the BUS, after 3 attempts for the right bus terminal. First, I went to the Dongbu Bus Terminal, because that's the Pohang bus and I just figured for sure that's where to go. Turns out it's the terminal across the street from the train station. FACE PALM! All the counter lady's were nice and tried to explain 'Express Bus Terminal.' Note: Train attendants have more English than bus attendants. 

The bus was actually fantastic. Super comfy and spacious. Although, why is the bus more expensive than the train??? 24,000 ($24) won to 19,200 ($19) won? Makes no sense. 

I arrived later than planned so I only did one H&M. I went to the brand new IFC Mall (Yeouido Station, Line 5 exit 7 or Line 9 exit 6). It's in the Finance district so its fancy brands and really expensive restaurants. The first Hollister in Korea is here!

Jjimjilbang - Spa Lei (Sinsa Station, Line 3 Exit 5. Walk straight, turn left 2 blocks, across from Riverside Hotel)
Why get a hotel when you can sauna it up! 12,000won for 12 hours. This women only spa is amazing. I've been here several times and it's my favourite for spending the night. There's cubicles for private sleeping and an open floor. There's extra floor mats, "pillows" and BLANKETS! The floor is also heated. Warning. If you're a light sleeper, it's not the best. You can hear murmers from downstairs and has a light up sign. Average English signage. Upstairs, they have a patio/pool. I've never been able to take advantage, because it's always been raining. The food is really good as well. No English or pictures however. You should know a few Korean food words, cause the nice lady cooks don't know much English. No mandu-gu (dumpling soup), but the bulgogi soup is good. 

Website: Spa Lei

OR 

Dragon Hill Spa (Sinyongsan Station, Line 4, Exit 4. Go straight out of the exit for 150m/5 min; Yongsan Station, Line 1, Exit 1. Go towards My Wedding Hall Buffet (마이웨딩홀부페). The sauna is located next to the buffet) If you want 8 floors of awesome! Sleeping is an open space, no blankets, no heated floors. I've found the people here are less considerate and are chatty in the sleeping area. Impressive amount of English signage, also Japanese. 

Website: Dragon Hill Spa

Ooh this got long. Saturday up next. 

- kilmosnaps

Obsession: Pinterest

Check out my Pinterest. Where it is proven I would make an excellent obscenely wealthy person! Where I silently judge people for not having the same "filing" system as me. What use is this awesome product if I don't know who made it!?!?!?!?

Where I succumbed to a wedding board. So many ideas!!! As the board name says its in the super future, so in the future we'll have hover boards like we promised in the 60s. Well hopefully not that in the future, but you get my drift. Where I have a fascination for watches so expensive you coulda bought a car! Where I like my boards tidy. No errant food in the animal section, coats in the bag section, etc. 

I'm trying to get a widget/gadget link on the front page, so here's the link in the meantime: http://pinterest.com/kilmo. 

-kilmosnaps

ps. Plus all the baby animals will make your day!

Why did this TAKE so long???

I was gonna start one when I first got here and it was gonna awesome. I was going to post pics of my Jeju Island adventures and my friends and family would and could live vicariously through me. It/my life was gonna be awesome! Yeah that didn’t happen.

Instead I got a job that… didn’t PAY! I can deal with no communication, inconsistent scheduling, wrong books, but I needs to get paid. Long story short, inconsistent payment and warnings from half the island about terrible work practices does not make a great time happen. Eeeeeee.

Turns out I’m a worrier. I had braids when I got to the island and braids are supposed to promote hair growth. I was to unbraid them and all I had to do was get to Seoul to work that out. Instead I got stress alopecia!

Alopecia means loss of hair on the head and body (thank you Wikipedia!). Anywhoo, my body decided to do patches. Not the best look. So, in the 3 weeks it took me to detangle my hair with hair product assistance from a friend, it was done. It did not look great, in fact I wore a (cute) hat all the time, I was that girl. BUT it was getting too HOT to keep going, so I shaved my head.

I figured it would be  a bigger existential crisis, ala an ‘America’s Next Top Model’ makeover episode. Not so much, I looked good with a mohawk and I was badass for the volleyball tournament.

Yada yada the job went under and I got screwed out of money. Though, I did get to experience the Jeju Labour Board on multiple occasions. They were actually really good and my old boss got fined and a criminal record!

Upside: I met the best people who ate cheese with me, kept me sane and had crazy amounts of Eggs Benedict at Winnie's Brunch/Pub with.

Anywhoo, so 6 months on Jeju Island, 1 month in Waegwan squatting (lol) at my best friend’s place looking for a job, and 2.5 months in basically Daegu at an English Village that pays on time. BEST JOB EVER! My standards are quite low, lol.

So, let’s see where this thing takes me. I’m getting paid (!), my hair is growing in and “The Vampire Diaries” and “American Horror Story” are back on tv. My life is going awesome, LOL. Actually travelling around the next 2 weekends. Seoul shopping trip next weekend (I have no pants!) then a Seoraksan & Sokcho East Coast Tour. Seoraksan is a national park so tons of pics!

-kilmosnaps

9 Months Later...

A child was born!

Just kidding.

I’m starting the blog I should’ve started when I began my travels.

This is gonna be one part travel blog, one part a bit ranty (I can’t keep calling my mom and have her talk me down. She’s so SMART and rational, GAH!), one part  food loveah blog, one part a little late movie reviews, one part writing section (if I get around to it), one part etc. etc.

That’s a lot of parts to this cog, so LET US DO THIS!

- kilmosnaps