The #1 Tteokbokki in Korea

On my last day in Seoul, my Korean friend Aju brought me to this very special Korean place that's home to the spiciest topoki in Korea, that many of them locals can't handle it!

Looks familiar? 

Tteokbokki, topoki, ddukbokki, 엽기떡복이 is a super popular Korean street food and is a must try! It's rice cake cooked in spicy sauce and can be served on its own, or coupled with the likes of eggs, dumplings, sausages, fish cakes and topped with mozarella cheese.

It's called Yyupdduk and check-out the self-explanatory restaurant group name (or is it a slogan?) Ttangcho Hot Food ( 땅초 ) 

Housed in a standard 2-storey Korean shophouse, this restaurant is almost always full and I'm about to find out why

That fire tho

Group mentality runs deep in Korean eating culture - they only serve huge bowls of topoki!

I was sure that we were gonna be full by the topoki itself, and I was gonna order the topoki bowl a-la-carte. Aju insisted on the sides - she said that she couldn't eat the topoki on its own. I'd soon thank her for this 

Peek-A-Ju!

AAAAAAND IT'S HEREEEEEE

A closer look at this beauty

THE KOREAN TOOK THE FIRST CUTE BITE

And I did

And I died

Like

ded

kinda died

Whew

After 1 bite 

I cried

in pain

and joy

it was like hell hath no fury like a spicy topoki 

but it hurt like heaven

I could definitely taste the millions of chilli working hard for my money's worth with each bite that I took

Basically me throughout the meal

Aju gave up after a few bites and I think she found it amusing that I was ravenously devouring the topoki the that Koreans had trouble eating.  

I'm bought. It's a definite 5 stars from me and it's the highlight of my gastronomic journey in Korea, aptly had on my last day there :')

I love spicy food so much - it's a pain that's worth it. Look at the picture above - oh them tears of joy. 

If you cringed at what I just said, don't bother coming here unless your tongue is numb/has lost its ability to taste spiciness or you've been fed chili padi since young and have sky-high tolerance for spicy food.

Find out more about Ttangcho Hot Food here!

Dongdaemun Hanbok Cafe

Wherever I travel, I make it a point to wear the traditional costume local to the place. The photos make for such unique keepsake and who'd say no to a photoshoot?

I was so excited when my Korean friend Aju agreed to go to this Hanbok cafe. I was shocked when she told me that it was gonna be her first time in Hanbok too!

It definitely helps when you're with a local who can give you a fun fact or two about the costume's historical and cultural importance. 

In this Hanbok Cafe you can request to have your hair done too like in those photos. How fun! You can then fake a scene from one of these dramas

or this 

we didn't want to risk looking funny so no thank you

This is how the cafe looks from the changing room. All studio and no cafe

As you can tell, they do professional photoshoots

There's no tables and chairs in this cafe...

...but who needs them when you have this tea room!

Enjoying our (empty) cups of tea 

Fun props #1

Fun props #2

Fun props #3

Fun props #4

Fun props #5. A Korean to be cooked along with them veggies. 

Just kidding lel. No cute Koreans were harmed during the photoshoot. 

Didn't get to see cherry blossoms cause it was summer but this would do

Notice the b162 watermarks in most of the photos? It's the most popular photo-editing app in Korea (at this time, mid-2015) which Aju used to take 99% of our photos

If you're wondering what lies beneath the seemingly bulky/balooney costume,

The first layer worn is this white tutu-ish long skirt which gives the handbook the balloon-y shape followed by the pink cloth which is worn on the chest - it bandages your boobs a little (probably their version of a corset) and doubles as a skirt.

         

hi am I Korean yet

The shopkeeper and her daughter

We only got the drink we ordered after the photoshoot session - which made sense because 1h of camwhoring left us so thirsty!

It costs 15,000 won per person for 1 hour of hanbok rental and a drink, which is very reasonable. It's a discounted price which we got from showing the Hallyu guide book (it's full of discounts so grab it when you're in Korea!)

If you want swanky studio-style photos and print-outs, it's 50,000 won per person.

Source: visitseoul.net

The normal rental price of the Hanbok ranges between 20,000-40,000 won, depending on how elaborate the costume is. The ones Aju and I wear are the most basic, but we like it simple :)

Oh you're allowed to change your hanbok once if you're unhappy with what you're wearing. Which I did because I wore a pale pink one which was totes unflattering on my skin colour. 

Click here if you want to check out the various hanbok designs! 

Dongdaemun Hanbok Cafe

Opening hours:    11:00am-7:00pm

Contact: 070-7569-0652

Address: 서울 중구 을지로6가 18-40 3층

(Approx. 150 m from Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station Subway Line 2, 4, and 5, Exit 15)

Kamsahamnida for reading my post. Annyeonghaseyo! 

Day 3: Wangsimni-ro

It's my second day of summer school in Hanyang and with every passing second I am falling deeper in love with Korea. It's hard not to. Everything here is pretty - the cafes, people, food packaging...

Just check these drinks out! They are packed in pretty plastic with Line character design and you decide if you wanna have them straight or on the rocks (cup of ice sold separately) How creative is this?! I guess I love the DIY element to the drink. Pouring the honey cafe latte into the cup of ice made me feel like I brewed my own delicious cuppa hehe

After school we decided to explore wangsimni-ro, the bustling street lined with restaurants, cafes, bar and shops. We wanted something really spicy and came across this shop that sells tteokbokki! It was my first time trying it and it was orgasmic (can i actually insert emojis here?!? i need some heart-eyed ones for my tteokbokki)

This is tteokbokki guys, so it's rice cake (the red ones submerged in the sauce) and fish cake (the yellow ones) in an out of the world spicy sauce. My life has changed forever.

And when it was time for dessert we went to Ding Dong Waffle! Yup that's what it's called in Korean too if you can read the Hangul.

It's a tiny shop at the back of wangsimni on the road leading to the train station.

Order here!

and when they're ready you'll hear ding dong! feat camera-ready oppa

Ding Dong Waffle is specialised in yogurt ice cream and waffle. Just this morning I was craving Llao llao and i think god heard me or i've gathered enough good karma for this blessing - their yogurt ice cream tasted like if not better than Llao llao! And as if Llao llao isn't good enough on it's own, their waffle was crispy on the outside and fluffy inside, and the chocolate chip and sauce made the whole thing just perf af :")

Their menu was in Korean and my Korean friends translated them for me, but you can now use google translate that translates word in pictures! Life today is so easy, thank you father google. So many of us owe our lives or the quality of our existence to you xo

fruitless sanum fix!

The strategic management gang

And what Korean outing is complete without some k-pop/karaoke?

Eunyoung's face is so funny here haha sorry Eunyoung you're too cute xo

What a lovely day