@ Apgujeong

 

We had a wedding lunch at a restaurant adjacent to the wedding venue. We thought it was such a cool restaurant nestled in the busy district of Apgujeong. We loved the ambiance that the venue offered to its visitors. 

One of the cool amenities that the restaurant provided for its customers was its traditional outdoor heating on which we could hover our hands to warm ourselves up. 

They even had a pond and a flowing water system ...enough to create a soothing sound around the restaurant. 

This is the entrance to the restaurant. I think 삼원가든  (Samwon Garden) gives an unmistakably 'wow' reception to its guests by setting up a place like this in a hip yet crowded district like Apgujeong. 

Well, since it's still 4 pm and the kids did not want to go home, just yet. We might as well walk around to the nearest street that for the past 3-years keeps on gaining popularity: Garosu-gil (가로수길) @ Sinsa station. 

The kids just got their 'lunch' but yet..we wanted to sit down and relax...and agaiiin...WARM ourselves UP inside a restaurant.

But...though we wanted to warm ourselves up, the kids ordered blueberry yogurt!!! 

As long as they had fund enjoying what they wanted, okay girls....

(*Phew what a relief* They agreed to share one glass of blueberry yogurt!!!)

--> good girls.:)

Garosu-gil (가로수길): (part 4: Unique Features I Encountered)

Garosu-gil is famous for its unique window etalage. Shops after shops, boutique after boutique are full of unique features to see and to look at. 

I don't know about it..but the little green trees are enough to capture my attention, at least. 

What about these cute little pigs???

They're about to enter the store?

They're waiting for their owner to pick them up?

They're just...well...working there? 

But it sure did attract enticed passer by to take a snap of them.

They're too cute to overlook.!!! 

And this is, too. At first, I thought it was a leopard, or a tiger skin-patterned wall..but...it could also be just flower-patterned wall... 

Due to limited parking space, cars are parked in such a way that I saw it looked like it dangled a little bit..which kind of titillating to see:) oops... 

Then..this bear is grudgingly welcoming or wait...is he waiting for any customers..? or is he; oh well...this really got me, though. 

This is Hyundai's PYL corner. 

PYL (Premium Younique Lifestyle) where people could just come by and wrote anything on a piece of paper...then pasted them on the walls...and take a pic of it. and uploaded it into our Facebook or any other SNS sites. 

Once we did that, they'd give us a free toy car.  

Oh, please........! Come on down.

There are many other spaces around. 

As what the Shop's name suggests......... I was er.....err....

Back to the PYL thing. I was amazed at the signatures on this car alone.

What a marketing!!! 

Now me....well..got to have at least one picture of me, right? 

The purposely dilapidated car...  

There are some toy cars for us to choose from. 

Should we go inside the alleys or labyrinth of Garosu-gil, we'd end up meeting more and more cool shops to have more window-shopping. 

Now...this is something, too. 

Marketing departments did a really good job of decorating the etalage. 

Garosu-gil (가로수길): (part 3: A Showcase of Luxury & Unique Cars)

I should've mentioned that this area is called 'garosu-gil' because this 'gil' means a road or a street line up with trees along its sides. 

Oh, the reason as to why I emphasize the title of this entry as such...was nothing but the fact that it is not easy to see those kinds of cars in all areas in Seoul...

well, Koreans surely prefer to buy their national brand cars. But, lately...luxurious brand cars (mostly from Europe) sprung up.... 

Some cars were only passing the street by. Others were parked. 

With line up of trees like that, people could walk up and down the street easily without having to worry about being smitten and exposed to the sunlight.^^ 

Especially with the cooling breeze of early Autumn. People do flock here. 

Small cafes, small shops of non-branded stuffs also line up along Garosu-gil. 

I wonder who rode that motorbike?? 

A car...well..you guess it....was about to pass by. 

like this one, too. 

hmm..not sure about this one. Maybe one of these... 

 

Definitely not this one...but what about the others? 

Like this one...yes..sure! 

and this jeep...^^which I found quite attractive: in a way that I never saw this kind of vehicles in Korea before.:)

I am happy to know that it turn out Koreans do love other kinds of vehicles from other countries. ( I may be the one who did not realize about it before:(    !!!  )

Garosu-gil (가로수길): (part 2: Architecture to Smile For)

Yes, who wouldn't want to experience new facades that would soothe the eyes in Seoul? I mean...the architectures of shops and cafes in Garosu-gil are apparently nice to look at.  

People could describe it as European-style architecture--no matter how fake-looking it may be--coz it's nothing more than a facade to 'lure' consumers into the cafes. But, it does work, right? me myself...I was kinda attracted to this myself.:-) 

Smile Market. Hmm...I wonder if even the mannequins were also smiling at us.

And..I wonder what kind of smiles they're offering. 

Another porch..? Veranda?? adorned with flowers colorful enough for sidewalk(ers) to look at and decide..." hmm..." 

Veranda full of flowers. Wonder if they're real ones. 

I thought that tourists were not that many. But I was wrong...is it because it's Sunday that I overheard Chinese and Japanese languages being spoken....

Yes..some tourists from neighboring countries started to fling around here...

Oh, they have Forever 21, too. and...it boasts its 4 floors?? 

One of the corners that I loved. It's cute little shop with unique concept. 

These two women in red are tourist guides who would be gladly helping out any tourists who might ask for directions around Garosu-gil.

The fact that these kinds of guides are there...only means one thing: Garosu-gil started to attract many foreign visitors. 

Later on on my other entry: I saw lots of foreign brand cars around here.

It's indeed a really new atmosphere to behold. 

Glass-through walls..open for everyone to see and be seen really encapsulates the very core purpose of this kind of place. 

Garosu-gil (가로수-길): (part 1)

After my Sunday class, I decided to take a walk in Garosu-gil: the Mecca of boutiques, cool cafes, and any other consumerism-driven places. Endless one.^^ 

For Koreans or some expatriates, this has been a famous hang-out for years. But, foreigners or tourists, they only stated to notice this hip place recently, especially after Gangnam style brought attention to this Gangnam area. 

Just about 150 meters away from the exit 8 of Sinsa station (line 3), we would end up in a street....about 1 km long... 

with its undisputed and indispensable features of plastic surgery advertisement in town. It's a tinsel town of its own that makes it an attractive place to be. 

This, actually, looks like any other streets in Seoul where shops and cafes dot most of the spaces. But, if we look into it deeper...we'll find its own cuteness and attractiveness: exclusive to Garosu-gil.

Oh one more thing:

Blacksmith-like cafe is a cool hang out place in Garosu-gil.

 If you wanna have a chance..try it out once...