Archive for November, 2009

Jermil and I headed south of the Han River to Gangnam to get breakfast for dinner at Butterfinger Pancakes (Line 2, Exit 6). Waiting for a table, we met a lovely pastor who drew us a map, and happily promoted his neighbourhood of Seoul.

Jermil and I had high hopes for Gangnam since we has read in ‘Dokkaebi Maps and Guides’ that it was as close to Paris as we would get in the Soul of Asia. On recommendation of the pastor, we went to Kyobo Tower which houses a book store with a selection of English titles, and we also took a stroll along Gangnamdae-ro (the main street).

We found lots of cute and unique shops, an interesting cityscape and tons of places to eat, but comparing this area to Paris is a bit far-fetched. We didn’t really find much there that is different from any other busy “dong” (neighbourhood) in Seoul. Actually, no, we did find these huge Iphone-resembling displays that take pictures of you on the sidewalk, and then you can email yourself the pictures. That was pretty cool, so cool that Jermil got in on the fun and had his picture taken with an unsuspecting Korean couple.

We only spent a short while in Gangnam, and we feel we missed something. What should we have done in Gangnam?? Any advice for things to see or nightlife??

Upon initial consideration, you might think a tourist motel might be more desirable than a love motel for your sleeping needs, but actually we prefer Love Motels!

The tourist motel we stayed at in Geojedo had a lovely lobby and looked more Western to us; however, the motel was average at best. If you like to party in your own room, go to this motel! You don’t even have to bring your own music! There is a night club conveniently located in the basement and it rocked tunes that could be heard until 6am in our room.

It cost 66 000 won for a night in October, the hall ways were dingy and out-of-date, and our room was small and didn’t provide a lot of the amenities that we have come to expect in love motels. We did get soap that was individually packaged which was nice, and the seedy element of love motels that offer hourly rates was not an issue there; however, the love motel we stayed at in April offered most of the same ammenities (if not more) for 50 000. We found this to be true in Busan as well after staying in the two types of motels there. In the bigger cities, love motels can be quite swanky, our favourite is Motel Aubeson in Anguk dong in Seoul.

Some extras that love motels provide that we quite enjoy:

Most of the above-mentioned bonuses are available at Motel Aubeson and we pay about 50 000 on weekends to stay there. I’d suggest you take a look at some love motel rooms. They are, in our experience, better value for your money. If anyone knows of a tourist motel worth staying at, let us know in the comments!!

My friend Lola told me of a lovely restaurant in Gangnam that serves Western-style breakfast everyday all day. It’s called Butterfinger Pancakes (or Butterfingers in Gangnam).

To get there, take the subway to Gangnam Station (line 2) and take exit 6. Then walk to the first corner and make a left. Walk about 2 blocks and you’ll run into signs like these…

They serve anything related to breakfast (sausage, bacon, pancakes, waffles, pigs in a blanket, omelettes, potatoes, and so on) that you could imagine and a few lunch items like mashed potatoes and gravy as well as macaroni and cheese.

The only complaint I have is that their syrup pours really slow!!! Besides that, it’s a wonderful place to pig out on breakfast food that should remind you of home.

The hours that Butterfinger Pancakes in Gangnam are open are 7am-3am! I think those are amazing hours!

See below for more pictures!

Haesindang Gongwon (Haesindang Park) is known as the Penis Forest in South Korea. It’s either because the real name is way too long and complicated or because you can find totem poles shaped like different penises with faces all over them.

It’s way on the east coast of South Korea in a ridiculously small town called Sinnam. It’s a dreadfully long 5 hour bus ride from Seoul to Samcheok. Then a local bus ride for about 50 minutes to Sinnam. We asked the nice lady in the Tourist Information Booth at the bus station how to get to Haesindang Park and she showed us where it was on a map and also told us exactly which bus to take. We took bus 90. But I’d suggest you ask the human in the Tourist Information Booth as well instead of going by the exact bus numbers that may be changed on the exact day that you decide to check out the penis forest.

We got there in the late afternoon and decided to eat before we headed out even further away from civilization. By the time we caught a local bus to the park, it was twilight.

We told the bus driver where we wanted to get off because we knew we wouldn’t know it when we got there. He told us but it was pitch black by that time. We didn’t see any place around with light or any other signs of life so we stayed on the bus until the very last stop.

We hopped in a taxi there and asked the driver to take us to a motel (by saying “motel motel” over and over until he started driving).

He took us about two blocks and wanted us to pay the minimum fare. My friend stormed out in anger! I gave him 1,000 won so he wouldn’t call the police or who knows what else. It’s quite country out there.

We got the crappiest motel I’ve ever stayed in which tried to rip us of on prices. Good thing my friend heard them tell the couple before us the real price and she demanded that price.

Besides all that, once you make it to Haesindang (penis) Park, it’s well worth it. Besides all of the amazingly weird and awesome penis totem poles, it’s located right off the East Sea. You can walk along an almost unnatural beach with rocks galore that you can walk along into the East Sea if that’s your thing.

When we got there the next day, we realized that if we got off at the stop and went down the hill, we would’ve found plenty of minbaks to stay in right outside of the penis forest. But it’s pitch black and looks like no one lives anywhere near that place. So if you get there at night, feel free to hop off the bus at the correct stop and find a minbak. Or do like we did and go to the end of the bus route and walk a few blocks to the nearest motel.

Here’s a few pictures from our time at Haesindang Gongwon aka Haesindang Park aka The Penis Forest.

Welcome everyone to what may one day be the best site for finding information for travelling and living in South Korea.

My goal here is to bring you videos and pictures and just a bit of text to show you how easy it is to travel around a country where words will usually get you nowhere.

Check out my about page here and get more info on what this site is all about and I’ll have my first informative post real soon!

If you have any tips, questions, or just want to share your experience with me, email Jermil (jermil@justenoughkorean.com).