N Seoul Tower and "Infinite" Baby Octopus!

Last night, a bunch of us went out to eat then headed to N Seoul Tower (남산 타워). For dinner, we headed into Ewha (이화), the area near the women's University. We went to 바로그집. I thought it was just a 떡볶이 (spicy rice cakes) place, but it turns out this place has a variety of foods on its menu. I was impressed. When I don't know what to eat but know I want Korean food, this will be a great place to venture to. Plus, it's relatively close to where I am staying ^^

I wasn't all that hungry so I just got 순대 ^^

Afterwards, Michael, Esther, Patricia, and I headed to the N Seoul Tower! I was so excited. I couldn't wait to see the city lights from so high up. Many Korean natives said the view was much better at night than it was during the day. And they were right! (not that I can compare my experience of seeing it in the daylight since I don't have any ^^) The tower itself was lit up with bright, fantastic colors. 

To get to the tower, we had to take a cable car to the top of the mountain. 

 My ticket for the cable car!

 Pictures of the tower on my way up to the mountain.

 As you can tell, the quality of the pictures got better as I got closer heehee

 The city view from the cable car! Look at those lights!!

Finally, the Tower!!!

Hello and Welcome! ^^

These trees are covered with locks and key chains. It is called "Locks of Love." I thought it had to do with the hair donation, but it's far from it. Couples come to N Seoul Tower and write loving messages or dates that are meaningful to them on locks or key chains and hang it up. There was one very random date that caught our eyes: "138th day mark" for a couple... such a random number!

There's a Teddy Bear museum!! How cute are they!!??

My ticket up to the Observatory!

On my way up to the Observatory. Apparently, the elevator that takes you up is the fastest elevator in the world. We got to the top in under 20 seconds!!

 Views of the city from the Observatory! 

There was a post office box so people could write letters and postcards and mail them out ^^ 

Near the base of the N Seoul Tower is an old broadcasting station. In front were statues of some of their famous shows and characters.

둘리 (Dooly) and Friends!

장금이의꿈 -Jang Geum's Dream

Today, Ivana and I had an adventure of finding "인창 쭈꾸미" a restaurant owned by the parents of 동우 (Dong Woo), a member from the idol group "Infinite." Ivana was definitely more excited than I was about going, although I was pretty excited about the food: spicy baby octopus. It took us a little over an hour to get to the restaurant. We had to take the bus and transfer on the subway a few times, but I have to say, it was worth it! The food was great and I got to learn a little bit more about Infinite. The restaurant was covered on every wall with images of Infinite. (Of course, there were more of Dong Woo than the others, since it is his parents restaurant ^^) We got to talk to his dad. He seemed to be so proud of his son. It was really nice to see. He even led us to a private room so that we can look at and take pictures of more images of the group!

We have arrived!!

 This is the front door!

According to Ivana, this section is super well known. It has all the members' signatures ^^

The walls are plastered with images of Infinite.

The 쭈꾸미 was really good, but pretty spicy. At one point, Ivana and I had to move all the baby octopus bits to the side, so that they wouldn't soak in the spicy sauce.

More signatures and more images! The one on the right is a life size poster ^^

Dong Woo's dad took us into the private room so we could take more pictures  ^^

Look at how cute these socks are!!!

For dinner, Ivana and I ordered 짜장면 (black bean paste noodles) and 만두 (dumplings). Maybe it was because we were so hungry, but it was really good! This will be a great option for future lazy days when I don't want to go out to eat, or just the days I crave 짜장면 ^^