Things to do in Hongdae on Weekend

Hongdae is one of the happening places in Seoul especially during weekend. This place is where many young people gather and hang out with friends. On weekend, it is usually very crowded. This place is not only popular among Koreans, but also among the international tourists. What are some of the things you can do in Hongdae on weekend? Let's find out now.

1) Watch Street Performances

During weekends, many talented young people will gather here and do street performances such as hip hop dance, singing, magic performances, etc. You can see many people gathering around the performers, clap hands, cheer, or sing along with them to show their support to the performers.

2) Eat Street Food

One of the must eat food when you visit Korea is the street food. In Hongdae, you can find many types of street food such as spicy rice cake (tteokbokki), fish cake (O-deng), chicken skewers (dakkochi), sweet crispy fried chicken (Dakgangjeong) and many more. How about grabbing some street food before you go to watch the street performances?

3)  Shopping

Be it cosmetics or fashion items, you can find it here in Hongdae. You can buy fashionable clothes, cute socks, accessories, souvenirs, character merchandise, cosmetics, etc. You can find many cosmetics brand such as Innisfree, Nature Republic, Tony Moly, The Face Shop, Etude House, etc. Hongdae is one of the favourite places for shopping among tourists.

 Shopping Street in Hongdae

4) Visit Themed Cafe

There are many themed cafes in Hongdae such as Kakao Friends Cafe (Ryan Cafe), Hello Kitty Cafe, Thanks Nature Cafe, etc. All the themed cafes have nice photo zones for you to take photos while you enjoy your drinks or desserts. Want to take a break from shopping? Take a rest at one of the themed cafes!

5) Try "Chimaek" (Chicken + Beer)

There are many "Chimaek" (Chicken + Beer) restaurants that operate till late night in Hongdae. "Chimaek" is a Korean word that means chicken and beer. So, as the weather is getting hotter, perhaps you can have a glass of refreshing beer to cool down your body after walking around for some time.

How to get to Hongdae?
Hongik University Station (Airport Railroad AREX and Seoul Subway Line 2).

Themed Cafe in Hongdae - Hello Kitty Cafe

Do you know that there are many themed cafes located in Hongdae? All these cafes are easily accessible by taking Airport Railroad line or Seoul Subway Line 2 to Hongik Univ. Station. Today, let's take a tour to Hello Kitty Cafe.

Exterior of Hello Kitty Cafe

It is easy to find this place because of this huge pink door. The moment you enter the door, it feels like you have entered Hello Kitty world. Then, take the stairs that leads to the cafe.

After passing through some trees, you will see the pink 2-storey building of Hello Kitty Cafe. The exterior of the cafe building is really nice for photos. Be sure to snap some photos before entering the cafe.

Greeted by Hello Kitty when you enter

Enter the cafe by using the door on the right side. Once you have entered, the staff will serve you by asking you the number of pax, and bring you to the seats. You need to place your order and make payment at the counter on first floor. After ordering your drinks/food, the staff will give you a bell. When the bell vibrates, pick up your drinks at first floor.

(Note: Every pax must order 1 drink)

Enjoy a cup of coffee by the window

The price range for drinks is KRW4,000~6,500. You can also find desserts such as cakes too.

"Cute Hello Kitty" Cafe Latte - KRW4,500

On the first floor, there is a gift shop where you can buy all the cute Hello Kitty stuff!

Hello Kitty Cafe is getting more popular especially among family traveling with children. Also, to all the Hello Kitty fans, you would definitely love this cafe.




[Information about Hello Kitty Cafe, Hongdae]
Address: 364-14, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Korea
Contact Number: 02-334-6570
Operating Hours: 10:00 - 22:30
Getting here: Hongik University Station (Airport Railroad AREX and Seoul Subway Line 2), Exit 9
Website: http://www.hellokittycafe.co.kr/en/

[Information of AREX Station] Geomam Station

Let's go to one of the twelve stations of Airport Railroad Line - Geomam Station (located in between Gyeyang and Cheongna stations).

1. Inside the Station Building

When you get out from the train, take the escalator down and you will go to the center of the station building. There are toilets inside and outside of the ticket gate of Geomam station. For passengers who have emergency to use the toilet, they can use the toilet after entering the ticket gate.

When you get off at Geomam station, you will see Airport Railroad Headquarters and Gyeongin Ara Waterway signboard.

Although the station is small, it is filled with many things.

It is an interchange station for Airport Railroad, KTX and Incheon Line. So, you can see the real time train operation information everywhere. The information is not only available in Korean, but also in English. 

For the passengers who want to take the bus, there is also real time bus information for the bus stop located in front of the station.

The customer information center for Airport Railroad is located next to the ticket gate, overlooking the interior of the station.

There is a nursing room next to the customer information center. Inside the nursing room, there are seats and washing basin.

In the waiting room that is located in the center of the station, there is a ticket vending machine to buy KTX ticket. On the opposite side, there is a vending machine to buy Airport Railroad ticket and to recharge transportation card. Above the vending machine, there is an information board about customer service center and nursing room. So, you can easily find the nursing room.

The toilet outside the ticket gate is located at the both side when you enter the station building. Men's toilet is located on the left side, next to Nature Republic. Women's toilet is located at the right side near the ticket gate. In front of women's toilet, it is the storage locker area for train passengers.

In the middle of the station exit, there is a braille map of Geomam station for the visually impaired passengers.

2. Facilities

In the small but filled with many things Geomam station, there are many facilities prepared for the passengers. There is Kimbap Cheonguk Cafe for passengers who are hungry, cafe with refreshing coffee and delicious pie, Tous les Jours Cafe, With Me convenient store, and Nature Republic store.

  

Duty free system is available in With Me convenient store for foreigners. This is one of the specialties of Geomam station. Duty free is available when you purchase 30,000won to 199,999won and you should bring your passport.

The moment you get out from Geomam station, there is a bicycle rental shop whereby you can rent a bicycle. It is suitable for traveling in Ara Waterway that has long and flat road. Next to the bicycle rental shop, there is an air pump machine that you can use for free.

There is a smoking area located about 50 steps away from the station building. It is separated into women and men room so you do not have to run into opposite sex smokers.

3. Transfer

Geomam station of Airport Railroad is a station where three lines meet. One of them is KTX that uses the same railway and station building, while Incheon Line 2 is located in the same station building but uses a different ticket gate. To take the Incheon Line 2 subway, you can enter by the ticket gate located on the right ride when entering the main station building, or use the station building of Incheon Line 2.

Travel to the place full of history - Incheon Chinatown and Songwol-dong Fairy Tale Village

There is nothing better than adding some meaning to your vacation. Because of that, Jung-gu, Incheon city is said to be an attraction that is attached with a lot of meaning as compared to other areas. Chinatown, that is located around Seollin-dong and Buksheong-dong in Jung-gu, is one of the representatives of tourist attraction in Incheon with long history.

Let's take a look at the history of Chinatown. After the opening of Incheon Port in 1883, many Chinese has entered Korea and have been living there. Since then, Chinese food has been spread around and this place has became the best food town in Incheon, gathering many Chinese food restaurants.

Two of the large-size restaurants - "Gonghwachun" and "Yeongyeong" can be known as the Chinatown main commercial area as it is always crowded around the restaurants during weekends. Especially, if you come to the famous Chinese food restaurants on weekends, you will see many tourists queuing. This is definitely an unusual scene.

 "Gonggal bread"(known as crunchy balloon bread) is the one of the representative food of Chinatown and you can see it everywhere. The sellers are very friendly and they let you try the bread too. This will add a lot of fun to your shopping. Also, the sculptures that you see in Chinatown will make your trip more interesting.

If you visit Chinatown, you should never missed "The Three Kingdoms Mural Street", which is a popular place among tourists. Of course, the history of Three Kingdoms is also recorded there.

 After eating delicious food in Chinatown, let us head to the children's world in "Songwol-dong Fairy Tale Village". As it is located right next to Chinatown, it is an advantage that you can visit this place too.

Songwol-dong Fairy Tale Village is a village around Songwol-3ga area made of world's classic fairy tale theme with paintings and sculptures that are filled with childhood memories. It was completed in April 2013 especially for the tourists. This is a fruitful result from the local residents who corporate voluntarily and work hard for it.

There are many themes with popular classical fairy tales in the village such as "The Street of Dorothy" and "The Street of Little Red Riding Hood" whereby adults can reminisce their childhood memories while children can be introduced to these amazing fairy tales. Because of that, this place receives many good responses from tourists who travel with their family.

How about taking a trip to Chinatown and Songwol-dong Fairy Tale Village with your family this weekend to enjoy the delicious Chinese food and feel the moments of the opening of Incheon Port?

[ Information ]

Getting here:

Airport Railroad Geomam Station > Transfer to Incheon Subway Line 2 > Juan Station > Transfer to Seoul Subway Line 1 > Get off at Incheon Station

Songwol-dong Fairy Tale Village Address:

22, Jayugongwonseo-ro 37beon-gil, Jung-gu, Incheon (Songwol-dong-3ga)

Chinatown Address:

Seollin-dong / Bukseong-dong, Jung-gu, Incheon (In front of Incheon Central District Police Station)

Chinatown Website:

http://ichinatown.or.kr/ (Kor)

New train for Incheon International Airport Passenger Terminal 2

On 31st May, the Korea Airport Railroad has brought in one new train (6 carriages) for the extension of Incheon International Airport Passenger Terminal 2. In order to maintain the current number of train operation after the opening of Incheon International Airport Passenger Terminal 2, they have planned to bring in a total of 2 new trains. One more train will be brought in on 22nd June.

On 30th May, due to the train delivered by Hyundai Rotem Company, Changwon Plant is Korail diesel locomotive, after being transferred on the Gyeongbu Line to Susaek Station, it was moved to the train garage through the section that connects directly to Airport Railroad.

The destination information indicator in the new operating train was upgraded from the standard LED display to LCD Monitor that will improve the convenience of seeing the train information. To ease the movement of passengers with luggage or wheelchair, the handle in the center of the train cabin has been removed and replaced by ceiling handle on both sides of the chair.

In addition, the standard fluorescent light in the train cabin has been replaced to LED and lighting in cabin has been improved; a bump has been installed on the baggage storage area to prevent the baggage from slipping away. They have considered very carefully the safety and convenience of the passengers.

The Airport Railroad CEO, Kim Hanyoung said "to inspect the safety of the new train, for the duration of 5 months, we will do trial runs technologically and operationally by assuming the real operating situation to ensure sufficient inspection of the function and safety, then it will operate for full service according to the opening of Incheon International Airport Passenger Terminal 2 that was scheduled". He also emphasized that "the safety of passengers must come first".