DRAGON HILL SPA

Located near our university, just 15 minutes away with a bus, is a huge spa called Dragon Hill. I had heard only good things of it beforehand. We've been meaning to go there since the first days here when we saw it when getting our blankets for the dormitory from the big e-mart nearby. We've been so busy with everything else that we haven't done it but today was the day we finally decided to visit the place!

 

And I must say it was such a good experience that I really want to go there again before leaving! The basic sauna + spa area costs just 12,000W and you get a lot with that price. There are two floors just for women and two for just men, and also one floor that has common areas where you have to wear this kind of pajama outfit the spa offers. Me and my roommate started with the warm pools in the women's area (+40C) and also tried a Gingseng bath which is supposed to have all kind of health benefits. After that we tried the "saunas" there. Which turned out to be not really saunas, at least not to Finns like us. The warmest sauna was +59C so not really hot at all. But there were these hot chambers where the air was really moist and hot, there you could sweat a lot but at the same time they were kind of claustrophobic and made me think of the gas chambers on concentration camps.. So we moved on pretty quick from there. We put on the pajamas and went to check out the common area. There was a nice outdoor swimming pool I swam in a bit, and a lot of different rooms for meditation or sweating. We were looking for the crystal salt room since I've read it's really good for your skin and can improve your health in general in many ways. Locating it took a while and after visiting an "ice room", which, again, was not an ice room at all (even though it said -16C), but more like Finnish summer evening after sauna, we finally found it. And it was really nice, we just laid there on the salt rocks for a while sweating and almost falling asleep in the quiet atmosphere. After that it was time for a final relaxing bath and then heading to the spa's Korean restaurant to stop our stomachs from growling!

 

The restaurant had bibimbap, which is one of my favorite foods here, and it was in a hot pot, so it was still sizzling hot when it came to the table! That made the rice really crispy and delicious. Afterwards I felt really relaxed and, like I said, feeling like I'm going to visit the place again!

SEOUL FOREST & APGUJEONG RODEO

Yesterday me and Sanni had a day off and we decided to go explore the Seoul forest a bit. It was sunny and warm day, so the forest looked really pretty with autumn leaves and colors! We saw tiny bunnies and deer there, although the forest was sort of 'closed' since it was Monday, so we didn't get to see the deer up close or feed them. The butterfly garden would've also been a fun experience but it was closed too.

 

From the forest we walked towards Apgujeong and accidentally took a little detour.. I think we walked 2,5 hours before reaching our destination, Apguejong Rodeo. But that's what you get when you confuse Apgujeong and Apgujeong Rodeo street signs. But once again, we got to explore the city at the same time! :) And saw some pretty impressive views from the bridge between the forest area and Apgujeong.

 

Once in Apguejeong Rodeo we looked around a bit and had lunch at a cosy Moomin café! It felt really homely there. We also ran into the Running Man tv-crew filming an episode there which was kind of cool :) After that we met Zarah there and it was time for some whiskey gift-shopping at a Johnny Walker store and lipstick shopping at a Mac store. Me and Zarah also stayed and studied a bit at a café before heading back to the dorm in the rain by taking a bus.

LANTERN FESTIVAL

Last Sunday me and Zarah went to a lantern festival held in Seoul, along the stream that runs through a part of the town near Jongno and Dongdaemun. I thought there would only be traditional small, round lanterns but I was amazed that there were mostly these large lantern "sculptures" along the stream.



Before walking along the stream to see the lanterns we had dinner at a good Mexican restaurant called 'On the border'. And I totally recommend that place! Great good and the customer service was really friendly.

 

After the lanterns we ended up in Dongdaemun and went to see the led rose field I've wanted to see for so long! It wasn't as great as I've thought from pictures but still very pretty :)

LIFE LATELY

Been a long time since I last wrote! It's been a busy few weeks here during and after the midterms. I've eaten a lot of good food & studied a lot in different cafés. I like studying there since it's quite common in Korea and I feel like I am more productive there than just at the dorm lobby or room. They also have nice atmospheres :)



Halloween here was super fun! We were at a big "haunted factory" party organized by Global Seoulmates, I like that name haha :D We decided to go with a purge-theme, even though our outfits turned out to be kind of diy, quick versions. Everyone at the party had really put effort on their costumes and we, for example, saw a Hillary, a Deadpool, another purge-group and many Harley Quinns.



Right after my last midterm last Wednesday we decided to visit Ewha Womans University area in the evening with Zarah and Sanni. The campus itself was really beautiful, putting our Cau campus to shame a bit I think. We ate at the Two meals restaurant we found there and did a bit of shopping, I bought a shirt, a knit and a winter jacket there since it's starting to get colder here now. I love the color of the jacket!

 

We also had a "social gathering" last Friday in one class where we had to prepare a costume and theme for our group (ours was rainbow) and make our own business cards. The meeting itself turned out to be having chicken & beer at a restaurant with our whole big class!




I think two of the best ways to explore a city are riding a bus in it, and taking long walks where you just wander without really a certain destination. We've been doing both here and, for example, one evening during midterms me and Zarah went for a short evening walk that turned out to be a 10km walk to Apgujeong. And last week when I felt a bit stressed because of my last exams, I went for a walk and found new areas I don't think I would have gone to otherwise. It's good that there are subway stations everywhere and after walking around you can just take a subway back, which is exactly what we've done! :)

 

Aand this weekend we had a second culture trip organized by our school to a traditional Korean village where we got to pick pears from trees, ride a tractor, and make Korean traditional toys and rice cakes.

 

So there you have it, kind of a quick recap of what life in Seoul has looked like the last couple of weeks! :)

MIDTERMS & HALLOWEEN PREPARATIONS

So the midterm exams are full on and I already had one last week I studied a lot for. It was so different from Finnish university exams that I don't really know how it went. It had only very precise true/false statements and multiple choice questions. I still have two exams left, and one of them is after the actual midterm season. So still some studying to do! However, we have also been preparing for Halloween! A small group of us is going to a costume party on Saturday, so earlier this week we visited a party supply store where we bought supplies for our costumes :) The store was called Joy Party and it was at Gangnam-gu Office.



From there we walked towards Apgujeong where we (I mainly) admired all the luxury brand stores! I especially fell in love with how the Dior store looked like. I also found a Cos store that had a 50% off sale where I found a perfect basic top :)

 

On the way home on the subway we encountered an older Korean man who had a pet bird with him! We got to hold the bird, or my friend did since I'm kind of uncomfortable touching them. But it was so cute! After the subway ride the man put the bird into his little bag before going outside. What an endearing duo! :)

 

Otherwise this week has consisted of another hospital trip, since my flu/illness seems to be a very resilient type, and a lot of studying. We also studied at a cafe a couple of times to get some change of environment which was really nice. The cafes here are really cosy and a lot of students study in them.

 

It has also gradually started to get colder here, although it's still not very cold in Finnish standards. But especially today was a cold and rainy Sunday. We coped by taking a break from studying to take a walk around the Heukseok-area and also went to eat Jjimdak, one of my favorite foods here.