Jimjibang , Bath House in Seoul, Korea: SILOAM Sauna Near Seoul Station

My friend made it her agenda to visit a Jimjibang / Korean Bath House this trip. She is a big K-drama fan and didn't want to visit Korea without experiencing the bath house she has seen in several dramas.

After doing some online research, we decided on Siloam Sauna near Seoul Station because of its good reviews.

Siloam Sauna Entrance

It is rather cheap too with a 7,000KRW per pax entry fee. We didn't quite understand the ticketing lady but there's a cheaper fee of 5,000KRW if you only want to use some of their facilities. Anyway, we paid the full 7,000KRW so that we can explore the whole sauna.

For entry after 8pm, it'll cost 8,000KRW per pax instead.

Ticketing Booth

Shortly after we reached the place, a group of school children arrived with their teachers too. We got our tickets and the ladies and men have to enter through separate doors leading to the locker rooms.

Locker Room Where Naked People Roam

Once in, you'll need to place your shoes in a small locker located near the entrance and pass the locker key to the counter lady. She'll exchange it for another bigger locker key, a set of clothings and 2 towels.

It's quite a sight to see everyone walking or sitting around naked in this locker room. The first step is usually to go into the baths one level down on B1. And it's the practice to leave your clothes behind and nonchatlantly strut naked downstairs.

Siloam Hot Pot Sauna Brochure

The ticketing booth lady kindly pointed out that the common meeting area is on the 2F as shown in the brochure. In fact, besides B1 and L1 where naked souls reside, all other levels are unisex.

While my friends were making up their minds to go naked in B1 and try out all the different hot, cold, salt etc.  baths supposedly good for your health and skin, I ran off to the higher floors to be fully clothed in comfort.

I just tried all the different hot, cold, salt etc rooms that are supposedly beneficial for health. There's even jade, charcoal and ice rooms. All I know I was sweating like hell in 1 room and cool like a polar bear in the next.

At the end of it all, I still had to go naked to shower and clean up after all the sweating. The small towel was definitely not enough for my modesty but at least, it's only strangers (no friends) around by then.

Visiting the bath house is such a norm to Koreans and there were people soundly asleep in the resting room, hugging the hard wooden divider and snoring away. It's quite a sight.

In fact, if you want a cheap accommodation, you can stay overnight in a bath house; there's sleeping rooms available in the topmost floor. And there's even a room for snorers! How considerate, hehe... 

Map From Siloam Sauna Website

It's not hard to locate this sauna. Just take the train to Seoul Station on intersection of subways Line 4 and Line 1 and exit. Walk to the back (or around building) of Lotte Mart and you should be standing on the top of the stairs below:

Back of Building

You should be able to see the view below from the bottom of the stairs and behind the building. The Siloam Sauna sign is red and big on top of the building. 

Walk towards Siloam Building and you'll need to cross under the overpass at the 4 way intersection below:

Walk ahead and Siloam Hot Pot Sauna is situated on top of the very steep slope.

It is an eye-opener to visit Korea's Hot Baths. The many naked Ajuumas should be right about the right way to maintain tofu smooth skin. Must be all the salt scrubbing...

And it's interesting to know that teachers are perfectly comfortable being naked with their students.

If you have the time, take it slow in the Jimjibang because there's even hair and beauty salons in the bath house for your enjoyment! And should you get hungry, there sell food just like in the K-dramas!! You can practically run away from home cheaply and stay in a Jimjibang!

I'm sure it's a welcoming place to go to, especially in the Winter. Just make sure you go on a weekday where there's less crowd if you're body shy like me. ;)

Korea Calling Cards, Prepaid Phonecards, Telephone Cards or How to Make Phonecalls from Korea?

I was searching for info from the web before my trip to Korea to find out how I can make inexpensive phonecalls from Korea to Singapore and to Korea itself. 

Mobile Phone Rental by SK Telecom Korea

Using my Singapore mobile phone at $1.85/min calls to Singapore (Singtel rates) and even more expensive calls to Korea, I was weighing the odds of either renting a cellphone from Incheon Airport or to just use my mobile phone.

Click on the picture below to enlarge it and you can see that it cost 1,098KRW per min (excluding 10% VAT, daily phone rental charges, 10KRW per sec) to make a phonecall back to Singapore. It may be even cheaper to use your own mobile phone to call back home.

Charges for Renting Mobile Phone In Korea

But if you need to make a lot of calls to Korea itself, renting a Korean mobile phone from the airport may be a good idea. 

Locations To Rent Mobile Phone In Korea

In the end, I settled for public phones when calling my Korean friends and my favourite Kik to keep in touch for non-urgent matters.

Afterall, free wi-fi is widely available in Seoul. It's unreliable though; signal can be weak when on the streets. It's best to chill in a cafe when you need to use the internet or Kik someone. ;)

Damyang (Slow City), Samjicheon Village, Bamboo Forest & Soswaewon Garden

One of the things I was really looking forward to this trip was visiting Damyang. And I sure wasn't disappointed. 

Our first stop was to the Bamboo Forest aka Jungnogwon Garden whereby quite a few K-dramas were filmed at. 

Bamboo Forest Entrance

Feeling Cold In Bamboo Forest

We were blessed with sunny and cloudless days the whole time we were in Damyang. Yet, when under the shade or when the wind blows, it felt colder than when we were in Seoul. I think it has got to do with the fact that Damyang doesn't have tall building and it's like a old preserve town instead. I've read that it is nestled between 2 mountains too. Nice!

There's even a Hanok in the Bamboo Forest and I guess the guests will really have it s.l.o.w. when staying there. There'll be absolutely nothing t...o....  d...o....

One thing I found unsettling in the Bamboo Forest was the presence of fake pandas everywhere. It's so weird and what's with the pandas man??

Anyway, we ended the Bamboo Forest visit with a pot of expensive bamboo leaves tea, which tasted almost like normal teas.

*Click here to find out how to get to Bamboo Forest.

Next, we checked in to our Hanok called House of Kim Yeong-Bong after the kind Hanok owner picked us up from Damyang bus station. My Korean friend was so worried that we'll get lost as you'll hardly find anyone who speaks English in Damyang, hence, she arranged for the pick up.

It was a beautiful Hanok and really breathtaking. I heard that it is run by only a husband and wife couple and there's about 16 rooms in total.

BF Learning To Set Up Our "Beds" For the Night.

The owners are really warm and friendly even though we didn't have a common language; they speak only Korean.

Attached Bathroom In Hanok

For 50,000KRW per night, it is a really charming place to stay.

By the way, the floors of Hanoks are warm but bf and I weren't used to sleeping on hard grounds. It was a comfortable stay on the whole though.

While at the Hanok, we were met a young Korean couple who could speak English and were just about to go out as we arrived. They were really friendly asked where we were going for the day. Since it was close to 5pm, we wanted to stay around Samjicheon Village and venture out to Soswaewon Garden the next morning.

Our new found friends then invited us to go along with them to Soswaewon Garden. It really was our lucky day!

Soswaewon Garden

It's about 10 mins ride from Samjicheon Village but would have taken us more than an hour if we were to take the bus.

It is one of my favourites this trip. You can almost understand why the person who built the garden have it done the way it is.

Even with its small size, Soswaewon Garden exudes such charm that'll make you forget time for a while, as if it has stopped.

*Click here to find out how to get to Soswaewon Garden. Or simply cab there for convenience sake!

We had dinner together and tried the Damayng styled BBQ whereby the meat are in patty form instead of slices. It was also the night we discovered the addictive Korean Raspberry wine that was served at APEC 2005.

By the time we were full with a little alcohol to start the night, we were treated with a beautiful sunset right outside the restaurant. The restaurant faces a lake and has a beautiful view.

Seeing how much we enjoyed our drinks, our new found Korean friends invited us to their room (theirs was the bigger room with a common area and a sleeping area) for another round of drinks.

We went prepared with snacks we've brought along from Seoul together with a big bottle of Max Beer.

Our Korean friends brought us more Raspberry wine and also a bottle of Plum wine. I guess they were pretty amused that we drank so much and we had a good time. It was really a lovely night and blessing to have made new friends somewhere so far out as Damyang.

Traditional Rice Snacks Complimentary from Hanok Owners

The rice snacks were more delicious than they look!! We didn't stay long that night, just a round of drinks before going back to try out hanok living. 

The next morning, we have learnt to take it slow in Slow City to appreciate the beauty of the Hanok and Samjicheon Village.

Fresh In The Morning 

Original Hanok Which Is 100 Years Old

By noon, we made our way to Gwanju Train Station to catch the KTX back to Seoul.

*Click here to find out how to get to House of Kim Yeong-Bong Hanok.

I hope my self-drawn map helps if you decide to test your navigation skills to get to the House of Kim Yeong-Bong in Damyang, Samjicheon Village.  

Damyang has indeed left a impression on me. I felt so blessed to have great weather, met kind strangers, found a warm Hanok stay and a had special time stepping back into old world Korea.

How To Get To Damyang From Seoul
-No direct train from Seoul to Damyang

-Take KTX train from Seoul (Yongsan Station) to Gwangju

• It's a direct train from Yongsan Staion in Seoul and you can check out the train schedule here
• It take about slightly more than 3 hrs to travel from Seoul to Gwangju
• 1 way ticket is about 50,000KRW

-Take bus no 301, 303, 311 or 312 from Gwangju Bus Terminal to Damayng

• Bus ride is about 30 - 40 mins
• Check with the Tourist Information Centre right outside Gwangju Train Terminal, they'll be able to advise better and provide maps

How To Get To Around Damyang

-Cabs are inexpensive but if you're feeling adventurous enough, you may try out the many buses traveling within Damyang

• Do note that intervals of the buses as some may come every 40 mins apart
• Plan your route before heading to Damyang and check with the Tourist Information Centre right outside Gwangju Train Terminal for the bus frequency and correct bus no. to take; staff can speak English which is a great help as not many people can converse in English in Damyang

Cherry Blossom In Korea, Spring 2011

So, did I get to picnic under the full bloom of Cherry Blossom in Seoul? Heck no... :(

Some trees were already in bloom. So, we snapped some pics to capture the nature's beauty.

Even at Damyang, which is further south of Seoul, only a handful of trees were in bloom. Most were just starting to bloom.

Oh well, wrong dates estimation. 

Another time perhaps.

On the day we left ( 14 April 2011), it seemed like most trees were in bloom. I'm sure it'll be a beautiful sight this week in Seoul.

Beautiful Springtime Flowers

'Til next time, we'll just look silly posing away with lone Cherry Blossom trees here and there. :|

닭한마리, Dak Hanmari; Must Eat Chicken Meal In Korea!!

We arrived in Seoul on a cold and rainy day. My Korean friend even warned us about the possibility of the rain being radioactive due to the Japan Fukushima Nuclear Plant situation.

By the time, we reached our hotel at around 6pm, it was dark, wet and gloomy.

We quickly got changed and ventured out for a hot meal. We thought that there must be food around Dongdaemun area so took the train 2 stops to Dongdaemun Station. When we exited, it was deserted except for a few roadside stores that didn't seem very appealing.

We just followed the lights and saw an alley that looked bustling and boy, were we lucky! We found the extremely yummy 닭한마리, DakHanmari on our first night in Seoul. A must eat when in Korea!! It's left such good memories for me that I've decided to dedicated 1 post to DakHanmari, which literally means "One Whole Chicken".

Enjoying A Hot Steamy & Soupy Meal On A Cold Night

The restaurant that we chose was served by a few Chinese speaking staff which weren't exactly the most friendly restaurant staff. Between the 4 of us, she insisted that we take 2 whole chickens! We kept rejecting 'til she finally relented with 1 and 1/2 chicken instead.

To eat this dish, it's really simply although there's quite a few steps:

1) Let the staff know how may chicken you want and the whole chicken will be served with potato slices in a soup base.

2) Cut the chicken up to cook with the scissors provided.

3) Put in all ingredients mentioned below (except soju and beer of course ;)) together with the Korean Red Pepper Paste available on every table into the pot of chicken soup. If you prefer the soup to be more spicy, just add more of the Korean Red Pepper Paste. 

4) While waiting for the chicken to cook, mix all the ingredients below that will form the marinade / dipping sauce.

Final Product: The Yummilicious Dipping Sauce

5) Put in the handmade noodle that has to be ordered separately into the boiling soup below.

6) Tuck in and feast away!!

Everything can be dipped into the dipping sauce before eating.

Best Rice Cake I've Ever Eaten

The rice cake is the only one I like after trying so many time in Singapore and Korea. It's the softest ones that I've came across and it tasted like the handmade noodles. I don't like Korean Rice Cake but I really think the ones here are nice!

The restaurant also serves very good Gingseng Chicken Soup aka Samgyetang.

2 Different Kinds of Seating

The place is usually packed but we went close to 10.30pm, the closing time. Which explains why the picture  shows a pretty empty place.

The Restaurant We Went to Twice

We enjoyed the dinner there so much that we went back a second time to the same restaurant before we left Seoul.

Supposedly Famous Restaurant, I Guess

Both Times, We Emptied Everything

For those interested as to how to get to this DakHanmari Restaurant, here's the name card for you to show the locals or the cab drivers. You'll be spoilt for choice with the many DakHanmari restaurants in the same area.

If you prefer to take the train, take Exit 10 of Dongdaemun Station on Subway Line 4 (Blue). After exiting, just walk straight until you come to a big T junction, the DakHanmari alley is situated diagonally across where the subway exit is.

Just walk into the unsuspecting 2nd alley after crossing the road and continue on, before you know it, it'll be a bustling place with lots of locals enjoying their whole chicken meal.

Hope you'll enjoy the meal as much as I did! =)