Crossing the Han River
Getting on the subway that early in the morning was totally harrowing! I managed to experience what it is like to be part of Seoul’s morning rush crowd! It was definitely a squeezy ride throughout my journey to Gangbyeon Station.
Unlike in Singapore, eating and drinking on the platforms and trains are allowed. Commuters who are in a rush can grab their breakfast from the food stalls on the subway platforms itself!
Subway Platform - Notice the food stall on the left!
Queing on the station platform
Waiting for X at Gangbyeon Station
Dong-Seoul Bus Terminal
Having mentioned Yangdeokwon, this would be the start of a 3-day segment of our trip dedicated to visiting the filming locations of the variety show, 청춘불패 Invincible Youth.
Yangdeokwon, a small rural town in Hongcheon-gu, is the closest town to Yoochi-ri where the main filming site is located. At approximately 11km west, it is also here where the members of G7 (group name for the main 7 female casts) occasionally visit to sell off their G7 products, participate in the 5-day market and purchase their supplies.
For today, our plan would be to travel and explore this small town and visit the shops G7 patronized during the filming of the show.
Back at Dong-Seoul Bus Terminal, we approached the information board to try and find out more information about the bus heading for Yangdeokwon. Strangely, we could not find it among the list of bus destinations and so we went straight to the ticket sales counter instead to enquire.
It turned out that getting to Yangdeokwon is a little tricky. We had to take a bus heading for Hongcheon that would stop at various other towns along the way including Yangdeokwon. The ticket price would then vary depending on which part along the journey would I alight at.
As for Yangdeokwon, the ticket sales lady issued us the tickets at 8,600won (~S$10.10) each for a bus scheduled to leave in less than 5 minutes! After paying for it, we grabbed the tickets and made a dash to the bus gate knowing that the buses here are extremely punctual in their departure timings.
Our bus to Yangdeokwon
Luckily, we made it just in time! We were like the last 2 persons to board the bus before its doors were shut! Phew! So you may ask how we would know when to stop since we have never been to Yangdeokwon before. Simple, I told the bus driver my intended destination and sat on the seat just behind the driver, occasionally asking if we had arrived already =P.
And so we hopped from town to town in our bus till we finally reached Yangdeokwon. I was admiring the scenery during the bus ride while X made use of the time to catch up on his rest.
On the way to Yangdeokwon!
Upon arriving at yangdeokwon, first thing we did was to check into the motel just behind Yangdeokwon Bus Stop (the only bus stop in Yangdeokwon) for convenience’s sake. It was also pure coincidence that it turned out to be the best looking one amongst the other motels in the town.
The motel, 우등장여관 (Udeungchang Inn), offers a variety of rooms ranging from western-styled to the more traditional Korean Ondol room. After much consideration, we chose the Korean Ondol room (room with floor heater and floor mattresses) which came with a PC and internet access.
우등장여관 Udeungchang Inn
At just 40,000won (~S$47) a night (20,000won each), it was definitely a steal! Although the room was not as big as the one I had in Jeonju, it was very clean and adequately spacious. The owners were also very friendly though they can’t speak English.
Floor mattresses to sleep on
That's X using the PC
The bathroom
As soon as we had settled our accommodation (where we would be staying for 2 nights), we headed out in search of the first Invincible Youth-advertised restaurant we had intended to visit and have our lunch - 부흥반점 Puheungpancheom.Puheungpancheom was the Chinese restaurant Taewoo, Shin Young, Sunny and Sunhwa sneakily ate a meal in episode 4 of Invincible Youth. However when we got to the place where the restaurant was supposed to be at, it was no where to be seen! Goodness, could this be another case of inaccurate location on map?
Nearby, we spotted yet another Invincible Youth-advertised shop - 학생사 (Haksaengsa General Store). We initially planned to visit this shop after our lunch but since we couldn‘t find the restaurant, we decided to visit 학생사 first and at the same time, ask about the whereabouts of the Chinese restaurant.
Haksaengsa was the general store Yuri and Narsha first visited to trade for a heating mat and a fly swatter with some of their personal belongings in episode 4 of Invincible Youth. Subsequently, several other G7 members also made various visits to the store to get supplies and other stuff such as a Christmas tree.
학생사 (Haksaengshi General Store)
Just as we were about to enter the shop after taking the above picture, a young man of similar age approached us and surprisingly, asked if we were not local in perfect English! Apparently, he was the owner's son and had overheard our English conversation. We then introduced ourselves as fans of Invincible Youth from Singapore and he brought us into his shop!
As he opened the door into the store for us, I noticed pictures of the G7 members, posing with the shop owners, pasted on the other side of the door.
Inside the store, you would find a whole range of things for sale. From books, to stationery, to clocks, toys, Christmas decorations, you name it, they might have it! Oh and of course Yuri and Narsha's autographs were put up for display too but are most certainly not for sale.
The lady boss was really happy to see us after her son introduced us. Getting to know we were from Singapore, she took out a mini-figurine of a Merlion that could play our national songs from inside her storeroom and showed it to us! It turned out she had also visited Singapore just recently and had a wonderful time there! How cute haha!
Lady boss posing for the camera!
Lady boss and her son
While browsing through the stationery section in search of a silver marker, we got to meet the owner who had just come back from lunch I guess. He, too, was also a very cheerful person and warmly welcomed us at his store.
Owner of 학생사
After getting the pen I needed, we bade them farewell. Their son, J (not his real name), then asked if we would be traveling to Yoochi-ri anytime between then and the next day. He told us that he would be helping his father make some deliveries in a neighboring town about an hour's drive away in the same direction, and offered to drive us there in his SUV! Purely out of goodwill =)! Wow! How lucky can we get? Asking if we could set off the next morning, he cheerfully agreed.
But back to the topic of lunch? Where was the chinese restaurant 부흥반점 (Puheungpancheom)? J then revealed to us that the restaurant had moved to another town =( Aww...
Fortunately, opposite 학생사 was yet another Invincible Youth-advertised restaurant where we could have our lunch! This was the restaurant Yuri and Narsha had their Jjajangmyun at a 1,000won discount – 미락 (Mirak Restaurant)
The restaurant was pretty busy as it was still within the lunch peak hours. Fortunately there was an empty table for us. Without even looking at the signboard menu, we had already decided on what to order! It would definitely have to be the Jjajangmyun Yuri and Narsha had! In addition, we also wanted the dish we spied the opposite table having – not too sure what was it but it looked real good.
Signboard Menu
While waiting for our food to be ready, we took the time to take a look round the restaurant and spotted Yuri and Narsha's autograph again! ^^ A framed up comic of their visit was also hanging on the wall! Proof that they have indeed been here before.
The wait wasn't too long before our lunch was served. MMmmm.... 맛있겠다! (Looks delicious!)
Jjajangmyun
What the opposite table had
X preferred the Jjajangmyun while I preferred the kimchi noodle-like dish (I still have no idea what it is called). Nevertheless, both were cheap and awesome!
After having our satisfying meal, we headed back out on the streets in search for the next Invincible Youth-advertised shop – 성미용실 (Seongmiyong Salon).
성미용실 was the salon Hara and Hyomin traded stuff in for their Mozart hairstyling in episode 4 of Invincible Youth.
This time round, the map was definitely WRONG! The location it had pin-pointed the salon to be at was next to a stream! Having already walked there, we decided to approach the stream anyway as we thought it would provide us with excellent photographic opportunities.
We headed back to the town area not too far away and decided to just walk around, explore and hopefully come across the salon eventually (considering the fact that the town is really really small).
Well, the streets of Yangdeokwon then was very quiet, unlike what we saw on television. That is because the famous 5-day market had just ended a few days ago and the next one would probably be held in the following week.
We managed to spot the Invincible Youth signboard pointing to the direction of Yoochi-ri at one of the major road intersections while passing by.
Walking further up, we managed to find the exact spot where Shinyoung, Huiseok, Sunny, Hyomin and Hara sold their Jjinbang during one of the 5-day market period on episode 9 of Invincible Youth.
Next to it was the supermarket where G7 sold their farmed products such as melons and cabbage. Sadly, there were no G7 products on sale while I was there =(. I would have bought a crate if there were!
After walking around for about an hour or so, we practically covered the entire town. But we still couldn't find the hair salon! Oh well. Having quite some time till dinner, we decided to head back to our motel. While I could do some research online to try and fish out more information regarding the hair salon, X definitely needed some rest. He was suffering from the same condition as I did when I first arrived in Korea - Sleep deprivation haha!
And so we stayed indoors for awhile till it was time for dinner. We chose to eat at 정육곱창 (Cheongyukgopchang) restaurant which was the place Sunny and Sunhwa visited to trade for beef on episode 4 of Invincible Youth.
The owner of this restaurant was very amused when she got to know we were not locals and were fans of Invincible Youth. Having not spent much money in the past few days, we decided to spare no mercy on our wallets for this meal!
We ordered at her recommendation without really knowing what it was. It looked really good though!
Getting our meat from the freezer
Slicing our meat
Side dish - Corn
Side dish - Something nasty X.X
Side dish - Quill's eggs
Side dish - Cabbage Kimchi
While waiting for our meat to be ready, we wandered around the restaurant and yep, there it was - Sunny and Sunhwa's autographs on the wall. ^^
With our meat served just moments later, it was time to turn on the fire and barbecue those meat!
While we were eating, the shop owner brought us some locally grown potatoes, insisting that they were really delicious and we absolutely had to try them! How nice of her!
Lettuce wraps for the meat
She also cooked Kimchi stew with rice and seaweed to go along!
It was a very filling and sumptuous meal! Costing only about 30,000won (~S$35.30), that's really cheap considering the amount of food we ordered!
Just moments ago, we had also received an SMS from J asking if we would like to have a session of beer together. Readily agreeing, we left for his shop as soon as we were done with our meal.
Having just closed his shop for the day when we arrived, we left for a nearby restaurant bar where we met up with another of his local friend. There, we simply talked about the difference between South Korea and Singapore on things pertaining to our everyday life over a casual drink of local beer. Cheers!
While at it, I also took the opportunity to ask J if he knew where the hair salon was and just as I had hoped for, he did. In fact, the salon is owned by his close friend's mother and so he was able to give me the directions. Weird, I was certain I did walk pass that area several times earlier but I didn't notice the shop 0.o. Oh well, I would just have to find out why tomorrow.
With time running late, we rounded up, said our good nights and headed back to our motel with J also heading home. Tomorrow's gonna be a tough but exciting day! We'd better turn in early! Good night.. ZZz...
Thanks again for doing such a great job recording and sharing the events of your yuchi-ri trip :)
ReplyDeleteThank you ! It was really fun reading your post.
ReplyDelete