[Jan 2020] Day 10: Sky Park, Woohyun's Dad's Restaurant, Ichon Station, and Art Monster

My 10th day fell on the eve of Lunar New Year, January 25th. I spent the morning going to Sky Park since Jangjun and Jaehyun went here in late 2019 for an episode of Star Wars Season 2. I didn't realize what a trek it was to get here! About a 30 minute walk from the nearest subway station, then 292 steps up to the mountain top, and then another trail before actually reaching the park.

The park is really large and at this time of year, the grass is really tall and makes for really pretty photos. One section is filled with this tall grass with pathways in between, creating like a corn maze.

Other sections have various sculptures and art installations. My favorite was this bird nest like sculpture where you can climb up from the inside.

Next I went back to U-Plex in Sinchon to visit the Samsonite Red stall. I had wanted a Samsonite Red backpack for years; they always look so fashionable yet comfy. I found a cute lavender colored backpack that I have since been using to go to work.

I also walked through the basement of U-Plex to go to the subway station, and happily saw the same 2 Bomin ads for Dahlia. Then the beauty shop there caught my eye when they played Bomin's Dahlia commercial on their flat screen! I was too embarrassed to stay for long, so I only took this quick picture.

Afterwards I met my Inspirit friend of 6+ years and we headed to Woohyun's dad's restaurant 강촌숯불닭갈비 in the Sangbong neighborhood for a late lunch. Despite being Lunar New Year Eve, the restaurant still had normal operating hours. We went to the restaurant around when they opened at 3PM and were the only patrons throughout our stay.

Woohyun's dad and an ahjumma created us and sat us down. They later handed us large plastic bags. I thought they were rolled up posters of Woohyun so I acted super grateful and said thank you in a super high pitched voice; my friend then told me they're for our jackets so they won't smell from all the grilling...

The walls are all lined with Woohyun's official posters and fangoods.

This restaurant's specialty is their charcoal grilled chicken ribs. There are 3 different flavors, and each order comes with 3 ribs. We ordered the soy sauce one (pieces cut and on the side) and the seasoned one (entire order is centered). Wow the chicken was so moist and flavorful! This was definitely the best chicken I've ever had, and I can't wait to go back and have it again...sometime in the future...

We also ordered spicy mixed noodles to go with our chicken.

After we paid Woohyun's dad, he went outside with our dirty grills and started cleaning them. I knew this was my last chance, so I bravely asked him in Korean if we could take a picture together. He gladly cleaned his hands, gestured for us to stand in front of Woohyun's picture, and he posed with a finger heart, the pose that Woohyun had made famous!

Next my friend and I went to Ichon Station, the filming location of another scene from Sunggyu's "Kontrol" music video. Sunggyu filmed in front of this mosaic of N Seoul Tower.

Sunggyu also walked out from this exit of the station.

Afterwards, my friend and I went to brewery Art Monster in Gangnam, where Woohyun filmed many scenes from his "Hold On Me" music video and and held his photoshoot for the A New Journey album photobook. The alleyway leading up to Art Monster is featured in the music video; it looks similar to the trademark Hong Kong with its neon signs. As much as I wanted to go inside Art Monster since more of the music video and the photoshoot took place, I don't drink and would have felt so out of place.

Later on my friend and I wanted to have raw beef (육회). I love Korean raw beef; in the States, it'd always be an appetizer at more upscale Korean restaurants, but in Seoul, there are pubs that mainly serve raw beef to go along with alcohol. I definitely wanted to have an entire meal dedicated to raw beef! We walked all over Gangnam and unfortunately the first two locations we went to were closed due to the holiday, but finally the third place was open. We had the raw beef prepared two ways: the bottom is mashed and seasoned, and the top is straight up sliced raw beef with all the sauce on the side.

And lastly I visited my friend's place, where she showed me her signed copy of X1's debut album. She's an accountant and her coworker's account was for a company (either the company that manages X1 or another company within the entertainment industry) who gifted him with this.

[Jan 2020] Day 09: East Incheon - Sunggyu's "Kontrol" MV Filming Site, Golden Child's "Gol-Cha!" Photoshoot Site, and Gangnamdol

I spent the day going to East Incheon for none other than continuing my Woollim tour! About a 15 minute walk from the East Incheon Station on Subway Line 1 are a few filming locations for Sunggyu's "Kontrol" music video. The music video was released in May 2015 so the locations in present day look a bit different, and every time I had to really scrutinize every detail to ensure that I was actually at the correct locations.

The first stop was this stairway, where Sunggyu walked down in the beginning of the music video.

The second stop was a few minutes' walk away, to the alleyway that Sunggyu made his hangout spot. Here is the view from looking into the alleyway.

And here is the view from the alleyway looking out.

The third stop was another few minutes' walk away, to the alleyway that Sunggyu walked through. This is the one location that I'm hesitant if it was really here, since everything looks so different now.

And on the other side of the East Incheon Station was none other than Golden Child's Gol-Cha! photoshoot site! While on the way, I walked into a Daiso in an underground mall where they were playing Lovelyz' "Rapunzel"!

I honestly had no idea where the Gol-Cha! photos were taken since it looked like a random residential neighborhood, but from the behind the scenes video I saw a tea house in the background and took a chance and planned to go to that area. On the way to the tea house, I walked around exploring the area when I saw the white fence Joochan had in his shots!

Then on the same street but on the other side was the gray wall Donghyun and Joochan posed in front of.

And then the gray wall and garage door Donghyun was in front of!

I then left this street and headed to that tea house, which was about a block away, and I believe that was the wall Seungmin was in front of. Of course with the different season, it's really hard to tell.

And just around the corner is the staircase Jaehyun sat on.

Jaehyun also took a photo from the same staircase with that building in the background.

And at the beginning of the staircase is where Bomin was.

I went back to the street where Joochan and Donghyun had their photos because I was just so mesmerized by this feat, but suddenly an elderly lady came out of the home with what I'm guessing was her daughter. Her daughter walked a bit to get their car while the lady spoke in Korean telling me "This is where we live you know." I felt bad for intruding but I could see Jibeom's photos were also taken on the same street, just across from their home, and really where Jibeom was was a lookout point where it seemed like outsiders would visit. Instead I continued walking up the street and waited as the daughter picked up the lady and they drove off.

I continued walking up the street when suddenly I came to a park. I walked up a few stairs to where Y and Jaeseok took pictures!

And this tree is in the middle of the stairwell; it's where Jaeseok had a photo!

And the view from this stairwell is where Y took his solo shot!

I continued walking up these steps and was surprised to find some sort of cage with live animals. It was like a public zoo.

And as I continued walking deeper through the park, I miraculously found this long bench where Golden Child took their group photo!

I tried looking around the area for where Daeyeol, Jangjun, and Tag had their photos, but failed. Instead I went back to where I knew Jibeom took his solo shots (as well as some with Seungmin) along the railing with that blue roof in the background.

As for the photo of Jibeom crouching on the roof, I couldn't recreate it, but here's that roof!

And then I finished off by going back to Jaehyun's spot on the staircase, and found where he took his teaser photo next to a wall and bush; of course it looks different now in winter...

As I walked back to the subway station, I saw a food stall and decided to buy an odeng for 500원. I clearly had no idea what I was doing, so the customer next to me helped me out - she took that blue spray bottle and sprayed my stick of odeng, then she scooped some broth into a paper cup for me to drink as I snack. I had always wanted to try street food in Korea but was too afraid, especially now that I was outside of Seoul where English wasn't too common, but I'm glad I pushed myself (though partly it was because I hadn't eaten all day and couldn't wait the 1+ hour commute to be back in Seoul).

Once back in Seoul, in the early evening I made a short trip out to Gangnam. My first stop was Romantic Crown, a Korean clothing brand that Golden Child often wears!

I saw that oversized white button down that Y and Bomin wore...but instead I settled for a women's cardigan from the "Girls Need A Closet" line, and there was a surprise 20% off discount at the register along with goodies with my purchase.

Next I went to Twotuckgom to help my friend get a figurine.

They sold out of the Wonho version so I got her a different member instead, and the purchase came with a postcard and a pen; the shopping bag was  an extra 100₩.

Lastly I went to see the Gangnamdols. Ever since these were created years ago, I figured I should go visit the Infinite one no matter how weird they look. On the way to Infinite's, I passed by many other Gangnamdols. Here's CNBlue's with only 3 members...

And finally here is Infinite's. The colors match Infinite well, but just the overall design doesn't represent Infinite well.

The timing worked out perfectly; this was the evening that the Golden Child members were having individual relay vlives! After Gangnam, I spent the evening in my hotel room watching these lives and after the fifth member, I figured I should go out and eat. And it just so happened that the members resumed the relay vlives a few days later anyways, so my timing was spot on.

Also on this night the Golden Child behind the scenes video ("CH.GOL-CHA2!" Ep.14) was released, where Seungmin gave an indication where they shot the other Gol-Cha! photoshoot! I'm really grateful for this because I was trying to figure out this location for weeks and failed, and because I had one day left with no agenda. But now I could spend my last full day searching for this magical place~

[Jan 2020] Day 08: Starbucks Korea × BTS Collaboration and Woohyun's Brother's Restaurant

Starbucks Korea held a limited edition collaboration with BTS from January 21, 2020, selling BTS themed drinks, food items, and merchandise. I was in Danyang the day of release so the following day I checked out various Starbucks stores around Seoul for a friend. I spent all morning on the 22nd in Myungdong. I visited about 5 stores in Myungdong, all of which already sold out all the BTS merchandise. All stores had a BTS design on their doors, signage boards displaying the BTS drinks and food items, and shelves with the BTS collab design.

At the last store I visited, I noticed that at the counter there were purple cup sleeves, so I ordered a Blooming Purple Vin Chaud which even came with a grape, a fruit slice, and a vine (like an herb) inside the drink and grabbed a cup sleeve for my drink.

While in Myungdong I went back to the Underground Shopping Mall and found the Woohyun Arbor Day 2 strap for 22,000원 and Infinite 2018 fanmeeting Infinite Forever lightstick for 25,000원 at one shop, both before tax. I also stumbled upon the music store Buruttrak that sold rare and used items; I found a used version of Infinite's Infinitize Showcase: The Mission DVD set for 53,000원.

For the afternoon I met my old college friend and she took me around Ikseondong (익선동) and Insadong (인사동), adjacent neighborhoods known for their traditional hanok style. We visited a traditional tea house where I had a delightful and refreshing tea along with a traditional snack that had a Styrofoam consistency and was just slightly sweet and paired well with my drink.

My friend also graciously walked around with me to find more Starbucks stores in these neighborhoods. The first one we found in the area had one of each glass left, however the workers couldn't find the box for the tall glass to my disappointment. When I made the purchase, I made a point to ask for the box, then instead they wrapped it in their generic burlap sack and then placed them in a BTS branded bag. The frustrating thing is the second store we went to had lots of the tall glass in stock, but I couldn't do a direct exchange to get the box, because they said I had to return the item from the original store I had purchased it, as long as I had this special return receipt. Unfortunately they had only handed me the receipt, but not the return receipt...(it could've also been placed inside the sack). I went to several more stores and they all had glasses in stock, and here I was with a glass without a box.

I went to a store in Insadong and they surprisingly only had several copies of the large pouch in stock.

In the end, I ended up with 1 short glass, 2 tall glasses (1 boxless), 1 large pouch, 2 cup sleeves, and 3 paper bags.

For dinner, I met my friend's friend and together we went to Woohyun's brother's restaurant 먹삼김치삼겹살 in Bomun! This is the new location after leaving 먹&삼 생고기집 in Suyu. Back at the location Boohyun seldom went to the restaurant, but now he's at this location often. We stepped in and the cashier station is right in the center, and Boohyun stood right behind it and greeted us.

We sat down and ordered, and Boohyun kept checking in on us and even said to my friend "long time no see". As I was using the tongs to place the kimchi on the grill, Boohyun came over and graciously took the tongs from my hold (he held onto my hand for soooo long, I'm going crazy just thinking about it!) and started cooking for us. The pork belly and grilled kimchi were great; I've never had grilled kimchi before so it was great to experience this at Boohyun's restaurant!

The walls are lined with Woohyun - official posters, fansite banners, what looked like fansite canvases, and fanmade creations. However majority of the clientele looked like locals and older generations; we were the only fangirls.

As we went to the cash register to pay, I knew it was now or never to talk to Boohyun. He asked my friend if I didn't speak English, and I said "no...우리 같이 사진 찍어도 돼요? (Can we take a picture together?)" which is the same exact phrase I said last time to Boohyun, and last time he said as long as I don't post it. This time he was all for taking photos!

Boohyun also gifted us with Woohyun goodies that international fans had passed onto him!

Afterwards my friend and I went to a nearby cafe and she helped me to complete my Re-boot normal collection for both the photocard and special photo! And we talked awhile, reflecting on how old we are, being an international fangirl, and life after Korea.