Korea Hotel Review - Hotel Pop Jungno

Wanted to combine this hotel review together with the post on Day 0, but realised that naggy me simply had too many things to say and was making the post rather long, so decided to split it up since the content is sufficient to warrant a post on its own. 

Here it goes! 

The hotel we booked is Hotel Pop Jungno - an accommodation with very affordable pricing and well furnished with amenities and facilities. Location wise, it is near Jungno-3 ga train station, and hence accessible and convenient. 

It was only after booking that we realised this street and hotel, is so called Korea's Love Hotels, where Korean couples come here for staycations or rent the room for a couple of hours to satisfy their intimacy need. Wanted to change the booking initially, but then thought it would be rather interesting to have a look at their local culture, and since we are foreigners, no one would be judging us anyway. *shrugs* Also read online that nowadays, the love hotels have been undergoing renovation and changing their image to a more hip, more modern, hotel, that locals will think of for staycations. Sounds like the staycation culture is here to stay! 

Comfortable and pretty waiting area in front of the reception desk

Well furnished amenities for hotel guests - free flow mineral water, fruit juices, tea, coffee for consumption, and there is even a microwave for guests to use if they ever need to heat up food. Love it that it is free flow - everyday we will stock up on our water supply before heading out, and also grab some juice to start off the day =) The mega TV also adds to the overall completeness, though I personally think the TV is meant to entertain the reception staff. 

There is also a small area to the left of reception, where laptops are available for guests rental. 

Guess is somewhat serves like a 'Business function room' like those luxury hotels? 

Can you also spot the free flow popcorn supply on the right? 

Next, showing the room that we got...

Yes, I was amazed at the room. Indeed they had done a good job in refurbishing and renovating the room; the pictures on the wall beside the bed gives the room a cosy homely feel, and the room comes with its own private bathtub (or whatever you call it). Yes, the room is actually big enough to house all these! It is still a love hotel after all. Though the tub is well functional, we did not use it cause of fear that it is not very clean, and only used it to soak our tired feet everyday after coming back. 

Most hotel rooms have one TV - this room not only has a TV, but also comes with one PC each for the guests. There are 2 computers, connected to a surround sound system. HOW AWESOME IS THAT! Found this really handy because most of the channels are local Korean channels which we do not understand a single bit, and the PCs helped to serve as a 'TV' of sorts. 

They even provided the below - hairdryer (no biggie) and a... hair straightener. Like WOW. I know that Korea is a country where looks and appearances are important, so I guess the straightener is there because... it is deemed as an essential? This is my first time seeing a straightener provided by the hotel. Was quite tempted to try out the straightener and using it to curl my hair ever so slightly, but as I do not have any hair cream with me and my hair is rather short (only shoulder length), I gave up on the idea. 

Not forgetting moisturizers for guests, a very thoughtful item

I am well impressed with the hotel facilities and amenities; who cares if it is a love hotel? We didn't hear any odd noises coming from our neighbours, free flow mineral water was fantastic (we took 2 bottles each to bring out with us everyday, so we wouldn't run out of water supply halfway), the PCs helped to entertain us when we would like to serve the Internet for both research purposes and for pure entertainment. The shampoo provided in the bathroom was also a local Korean brand, quite established in Singapore, called Kerasys. Did not manage to capture photo of that, but overall, it was a good pick of hotel location for its pricing. Very value for money, will definitely recommend to friends if they do not mind staying on this street =) 

Korea Day 2 (part 3): MyeongDong

After 2 long and sobering posts about the DMZ, time to lighten the atmosphere!

Day 2's evening was spent in MyeongDong, where I did my cosmetics shopping and fulfillment of cosmetics purchase requests from friends and colleagues. 

The sight that greeted me as I stepped out of the station

MyeongDong is the area renowned for cosmetics shopping, the entire street / area is filled with cosmetics retail shops. Whatever brand you name it, they have it. Faceshop, Laneige, Holika Holika, Etude House, Nature Republic, Innisfree, and other local brands that are not available in Singapore. Not only do they have almost all brands possible, they also have multiple branches of the SAME brand on that SAME street. It is crazy. 

A humongous branch of Nature Republic, 

very eyecatching with its green foliage on the building

Coincidentally, it was the season for SALES. 

Can you imagine... the already-very-cheap cosmetics undergoing FURTHER discounts!

It's a no wonder that tourists are grabbing the products without any hesitation.

Spotted Laneige! where I was tasked in buying some items. 

Went in and out, done with the purchasing, within 10 mins. 

When night falls... 

Wanted to try something different for dinner, something that is not the usual jigae or ramyeon or bbq version, and chanced upon this:

Porridge! The chinese character really stood out and caught our eye. 

Located on the 2nd floor... 

Making our way up

The restaurant

(pardon the yellowish photo, was too hungry to bother adjusting 

/ fiddling with the camera settings to change it to white light)

Check out the massive spread of porridge available! 

Oh my, they REALLY specialise in porridge indeed...

Ordered the Crabmeat porridge but they were sold out on it =( 

So we changed to Shrimp porridge instead. 

Order for the night! 

Koreans are really very generous in the side dishes serving, they always make it free flow. The porridge serving was also MEGA huge, luckily it was a shared portion, else I wouldn't be able to finish it on my own. Was glad to try something local and yet, not the typical Korean dish. Porridge is definitely not the first item that comes to mind when one mention 'Korean food'. 

Close-up of the steaming porridge; 

texture was thick enough, taste was sweet enough, and sufficient ingredients for you to munch on.

Thumbs up! 

Korea Day 2 (part 2): DMZ Tour - Joint Security Area (in the afternoon)

The interest from blogging about my Korea trip 1.5 months ago had somewhat waned off, but am trying to keep to my words and continue posting photos of the trip! Need to document down the stories because as you know, the brain is not very reliable when it comes to memories. Even though I am about 40% done? Will be peppering the days of the trip here and there with posts about some interesting things in my life (though mostly are on Dayre, cause it is so much easier to write and post there!), so hopefully it doesn't come across as boring or an information overload. If one were to write for the sake of writing, the it would have lost its meaning and wouldn't be interesting. 

To continue on the second half of the day on DMZ Tour:

We had a brief respite from the solemn topic during lunch, which was included as part of the tour package. We were not expecting much of the meal but were greatly surprised.

We were brought to this house for lunch 

For a superb, and awesome lunch. 

We ranked it as one of the best meals we had in Korea. 

[Comments and summary about our meals there will be done separately in another post]

Afternoon: Camp Bonifas, Joint Security Area, Conference Room, Bridge of No Return

Camp Bonifas
Camp Bonifas is the base which houses the United Nations Command Support Group, who assists the South Korea in guarding their half at the 38th Parallel. 

No photos to share for this visit, because photography is strictly prohibited. The entire atmosphere becomes more solemn and serious at this point onwards, because not only do we have the UN soliders on board the bus to protect and guard us, the entire environment just feels like a military base. 

The only photo I had was the pass that was given to each of us, during the briefing for JSA

We had to take another bus from the camp to the JSA, and the scenery enroute is amazing. Very peaceful, despite the tense situation. It is as if the whole environment is blissfully unaware of what is happening around. 

These fields are actually crop land, manned by locals who are staying in a village located inside the JSA. 

The South Korean government actually allows descendants of the land owners to stay here in a village and grow crops. In order to entice them to stay, males are exempted from the otherwise mandatory army, and all residents of the village need not pay taxes to the government. There is one rule though - only females are allowed to enter and stay in the village via marriage to an existing resident / land owner. Males are not allowed to do so. 

Joint Security Area

This is the joint area which is manned by both sides, and lies on the 38th Parallel. Security is very tight here and we were given a limited amount of time to take a look, with the UN guard playing the role of timekeeper. 

To distinguish the ownership of the houses in this area, blue belongs to the UN, who represents the South, and white belongs to the North. 

The white building that you see, situated beyond those blue houses, is North Korean land and belongs to North Korea. 

The tour includes a visit to one of the blue houses, called the Conference Room. 

It is where important meetings between both sides are held, with half the room situated on the South Korean land, and the other half lying on North Korean land. 

The security personnel standing guard in the modified Taekwondo position

The Military Demarcation Line runs down the middle of this conference table, a line marked by the flag on the table and the wire. You can see that the soldier's position is aligned with that of the flag, which means he is standing ON the line itself. 

The wire line is actually a sound tapping system, which enables the North to listen in to whatever is being discussed in the room. The conference table allows both sides to engage in meetings and discussions without crossing the divide. We were limited to a mere 5 minutes in the room, and allowed to walk to the other end of the room (onto North Korean land). From the room's windows, you get to see North Korean soldiers standing guard outside. A rather tense experience I would say. Some of them will peer in curiously, and some just stand around chatting (probably talking about this group of strangers who come to visit). I spotted one taking photos of the tour group, not sure if he will be using it as propaganda material? 

Bridge of No Return

The last visiting point of the tour - the Bridge of No Return. It is the site where both sides exchanged Prisoners of War from the Korean War. Here, the prisoners were given a choice to on which side they want to go. Once they make their decision and crossed the bridge to their desired side, they were not allowed to return to the other side from then on. Hence the name Bridge of No Return. 

We were not allowed to get off the bus and only given a view of the bridge from the bus, at this point. If you look closely, the bridge starts beyond the blue barricades. Even looking at the photo now gives me the chills. 

This then sums up the tour, and we were brought back to civilian land, where the tour first started. As it was Korean Thanksgiving period, there were some festivities being held. 

A news reporter providing coverage of the event

Performances 

And this sums up the tour! A very sober history lesson indeed. One may feel sad to see such a case, but if you look back at the origins, it started long ago even before the Korean War. After the world war, Northern region of Korea was manned by the USSR, and the Southern region was maintained by US troops. Each region were under the influence of different ideologies - one communism, the other democracy. Unifying both sides proved to be too much of a challenge as both sides refused to budge on the ideology that they wanted to use to rule the country. That, in my opinion, is the start of the divide of the country. Because once they are mentally separated, physical separation will follow. Afterall, man's behavior is guided by his mindset and beliefs, isn't it?

The DMZ tour is a very pricey tour, it costs us SGD 160 each. However, I feel that it is a worthy experience and definitely a must-go if one ever visits Korea! 

Hermes 'Leather Forever' Exhibition Singapore 2015

Hermes has all along been one of my coveted brands, very upscale and classic, but yet beyond my reach at this stage. So when I found out that they are having an exhibition in Singapore, I made a point to head down to visit. Another plus point - its free admission to the exhibition! 

The exhibition is named 'HERMÈS LEATHER FOREVER', held at Marina Bay Sands Art Science Museum, from 25 Oct to 13 Dec'15. What makes this exhibition special is that some of the display artifacts were specially flown over from the Hermes Museum in Paris, the very first time that they are brought onto the shores of Singapore. 

Source:http://www.buro247.sg/fashion/news/hermes-leather-forever-exhibition-singapore.html

Took many photos with my phone, so this will be a picture heavy entry =) 

Upon stepping in, the first room that greets you is a large one, filled with many different types and colours of leather used by Hermes in their production. There are various items that deserve your attention here: 

A wide variety of leather on display for you to touch and feel.

Be amazed at the colours, texture, and categorizing of the leather here. 

You can also read to find out how Hermes places utmost importance in their leather rearing, curation, protection, every step of the way, till the end of the production line. Every detail is paid attention to, to ensure that the leather is of high quality, deserving for their customers. 

The centrepiece table in the room, is a big table with one huge leather canvas. 

Touch the screen to select the bag that you would like to see being produced, and drawing lines will soon appear on the leather canvas, with each pieces making up parts of the bag when they are stitched together. 

One of the main draw of the room - a French craftsmen doing live stitching of the leather in front of your eyes. 

As he speaks French, he is accompanied by a pretty translator lady who is sophisticated and mature in the way she handles the crowd and their queries. 

Everyone knows that Hermes is one of the luxury brands in the world, whose items are of a high price range. One of the reasons why is that the stitches for their bags are done manually, painstakingly by hand, by their craftsmen. Sewing machine is rarely used for the stitches. One single thread is used throughout one length / side of the bag, hence it is very very detailed. No such thing as 'oh! the thread is loose, let me just pull it out'. Nope. You can't pull it out, because it holds the entire length of the bag. Given today's technology and efficiency driven production process, it is awe inspiring to know that Hermes bags are stitched by hand, in detail, to ensure high quality and long lasting reliability. This is partly why their bags and items are SO durable. 

Various bags / models on display

Moving on to the next room - paying tribute to their roots. Hermes started off in 1873 as a harness workshop in Paris, producing horse harnesses and bridles. Back in those days, horses were the mode of transport. 

Drawing your attention to these 2 bags, which enables people to put their horse saddles inside and bring it along with them. Its amazing that the bag does not look that big, and yet, can fit a horse saddle in it. Not to mention, it looks very classy, and does not make the user look clumsy at all. 

The bag used to put all the horse riding essentials. 

There's a reason for its shape - for practicality purpose, though in modern times, this shape has been used for fashion and aesthetic purposes. 

A close up on this bag, with a dotted 'H' in front. Many people mistakenly think that the alphabet 'H' stands for 'Hermes', but actually, this dots also serve a practical purpose. The bag is used to dry various horse essential items, and in order to ensure that the items can be air dried even while placed in a bag, these dots are created. 

The next room has an orange theme, and displays many trunks and luggages under Hermes. 

Can you see that this is used to store / transport shoes? 

One of the unique feature of Hermes' trunks / luggages then was its attention to detail and ready availability of pockets. They have so many compartments / pockets available, you never have to worry about losing your things in the vast space. Shoes, belts, notebooks, perfume etc. Each compartment / pocket comes with an intent, and you can readily locate anything as they are neatly categorised. I love the functionality! 

Next, a room displaying the classic items and how the design evolved with time, and why it was a milestone during its time. 

The bag in the centre, is obviously the most prized possession. 

A short write-up on the personality of Hermes bags

Moving along the exhibition, I was lucky to chance upon a student group who were brought around with a guide, who explains the key feature of each room peppered with the history of Hermes and some of the classic items. 

One of the key exhibition pieces 

An item that was highlighted by the guide (yes I eavesdropped, what's wrong with wanting to have a better appreciation of the items on display?) - a piece inspired by the dog collar. Hermes introduces a few belts and bracelets etc, whose design is inspired by the dog collar. Some spikes here and there, giving it a rough and not to be pushed feel, but exuding a smooth and classy air. A bit off that such a design powerhouse takes reference from a dog collar, but apparently, back in those times, a lady (can't remember her name) requested Hermes to design it using dog collar as reference. 

Other than the dog collar, Hermes also does not forget what they do best - their history to the horse. 

Many design pieces are inspired by items used in horseriding, such as the latches, clips, fasteners etc used on the saddle to secure it onto the horse. 

This room also showcases the shoes by Hermes. We have a bag with bags just now, now we have another bag with shoes. These are all real Hermes produced shoes by the way. Beats me why the sizes seem so small... 

The next room features a series of work related bags, such as document bags and artist bag (which looks like an enhanced version of a document bag that allows artists to place their artwork inside without crumpling them). 

Which then brings us to another key display item in this exhibition - the winged saddle: 

It pays tribute to Hermes roots once again, as a saddlemaker. 

It was originally made for a Japanese rock band album cover. 

Last but not least, the grand highlight and most close to heart exhibited items are in this room - 5 Kellydoll bags created specially in recognition of Singapore's 50 years of independence, with 1 bag per decade. 

The design of this room is also the most exquisite out of all, it is a garden. 

You may not be able to see from here, but the bags are inspired by the Kellydoll, and each of the 5 bags have a face that smiles and make you smile too. 

Hi there! Want to join me on a swing? 

Irresistibly cute and endearing. 

Somehow, looking at these characters on a swing in a garden, I wonder if garden is chosen as the theme here because Singapore is a 'Garden City' and it will look like Hermes Kellydolls are having fun in the Garden City! 

A must read, for all you Singaporeans out there.

Ending this picture studded post with a bag that caught my eye - the Toolbox Bag, 

The excerpt - exactly what I love about a bag. The perfect balance and combination between aesthetically pleasing and fully functional for the user. 

I am not an expert in commenting on the exhibition but I have always been impressed by (and hence loving) the brand for its quality and functionality, without compromising on the aesthetics. Not that I own any of their lovely pieces, but I have been targeting for one since 21 years old! A worthy target to work towards, and am aiming to own one by 30. 

For more information on the exhibition, you may wish to refer to the below webpages that I found when reading up: 

http://www.buro247.sg/fashion/news/hermes-leather-forever-exhibition-singapore.html 

http://www.bornrich.com/hermes-marks-175th-anniversary-leather-forever-exhibition.html

http://www.marinabaysands.com/museum/exhibitions-and-events/hermes-leather-forever.html

ENJOY! =)