Day 26 | Seoul (Hapjeong)

Thursday 7 November, 2024

Missed the previous post? Check it out here

Today we get to explore our local area of 합정 ‘Hapjeong’. A bit further down the road is Hongik University where you will find a lot of international students and although Hapjeong is fairly close by it feels so much more relaxed.

After a morning run down the Hangang (a chilly 6°c!) we head to 아라운드 그린 ‘Around Green’. This was one of our favourite cafes from last year’s trip so we’re quite excited to go back.

The owner has the cutest dog that the customers always love seeing.

We order the mushroom pizza and mushroom rice dish because we like a bit of mushroom.

We then wander through Mangwon Market, which is still a fairly local market so it’s not too crowded, except maybe on weekends.

We reckon give it 6-12 months and there will be a lot more tourists because it’s so good and people will want other options to the crowds at Gwangjang and Namdaemun markets.

After yesterday’s bakery day we continue by visiting a few on the local area. Ugly Bakery is a popular one amongst the locals and the place is always busy.

Their signature is the Mammoth (cookie bread outer shell with layers of awesome filling) so we get a chocolate one for later.

We notice a local butcher that always has a massive queue down the street.

We stop by Grain Blé, a bakery that specialises in bread made of many different grains such as barley, rice and rye. We buy the cheese olive rice bread which looks great.

Our final stop is For Four Bakery, which is we didn’t realise was all vegan. It looks lovely but because it’s vegan, everything is a bit smaller and pricier.

On the way back we stop by Homeplus, a massive department store that has a grocery section. We stock up on food and snacks to bring home with us as our trip is slowly coming to an end 😦

Dinner is a quick stop to Ssada Kimbap, which is always good for a cheap and cheerful feed.

Our mate Jimmy has decided to meet us in Hapjeong so we head to a new board game cafe that’s just opened up called ‘The Holic’.

We’ve never been to a board game cafe before but the way it works is you hire a room (it’s about 2,800 won per hour, per person) and you can choose from a huge range of board games. You can grab a few if you’re unsure which is what we did.

There are both seated booths and capsule style rooms depending on how many people are in your group.

Once you get to your room you need to order one drink for each person, which you can do on the iPad.

When your drinks are ready you’ll receive a notification on the iPad to collect them and away you go!

We start with Rummikub, a game which neither of us have played before but is easy to learn.

We play three rounds and Belinda wins all three.

We continue with another game called The Da Vinci Code (aka Coda) which is also easy to learn. Belinda wins the first game but Jimmy wins the next two.

It’s a cool little set up and a great place to spend a few hours with family, friends or a date.

We try not to stay out too late as we have an early start tomorrow which will include a hike in Bukhansan National Park.

Next post: Day 27 | Seoul (Dobungsan)