가자 Korea Diary Part 6: Ewha Womans University, Yonsei University, Sinchon

For once, I am not taking forever to write a new blog post for this 가자 Korea Diary series. For the previous posts which I have their links down below, I had friends with me. This was the very first day I headed out on my very own - throwback to 29 Octover 2017 (Sunday). I was nervous, anxious and excited. After getting my banana milk (necessity of life) from a grocery shop outside of my Airbnb, I took off.

Meanwhile, here are the previous posts from the series if you haven't caught up!

가자 Korea Diary Part 1: Post Kimchiland Thoughts & Reasons Why I Love Korea
가자 Korea Diary Part 2: Preparation Tips for Korea
가자 Korea Diary Part 3: First Night in Korea - My Airbnb @ Hapjeong & Dinner @ HongDae
가자 Korea Diary Part 4: The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince @ HongDae
가자 Korea Diary Part 5: Traditional Side of Seoul with the Koreans - Ikseondong, Gyeongbukgong, Insadong, Cheonggyecheon

First time taking the subway all by myself and I spotted B1A4's photo. Next up would be to hunt for a CN Blue or Yong Hwa oppa one. Surprisingly, I made it to Ewha Womans University 이화 여자 대학교 (이대) by taking the green line #2 without getting lost.

Discovered a really cute bakery. Look at those cakes, how adorable~ 

I felt like I hit the jackpot when I spotted 계란빵 (Gyeran-ppang which literally translates into Egg Bread), which is a really popular street food of Korea that costs only around 1000-2000won (1-2 dollars). Rather than having the texture of a bread, an egg bread is in oblong shape and is made of cake batter and topped with an egg, sometimes with cheese/bacon for extra taste.

In Melbourne, it is easy to find Korean restaurants that sell tteokbukki (Korean rice cakes) but so far, I have yet to find a place that sells gyeran-ppang. Back in 2016, my housemate at that time decided to try making egg bread for the both of us. It turned out looking decent but definitely nothing like the real thing! Of course, me being unapologetically straight-forward, dissed her big time HAHA~ The taste was good though. Well, that explains why the craving of having an egg bread would be kept alive for such a long time. Tell me, is this next level determination or just me being stubborn :P 

Before I headed out of the house, I told myself that I was going to speak only Korean to challenge myself. So, I ordered in Korean and also helped some Taiwanese tourists to order because they couldn't communicate with the seller. 

Omg, that feeling of having an egg bread was enough to send me to heaven! No pun intended. I felt like I could die in peace. I was so shockingly appreciative of everything in my life when I was in Korea. 

It's the little happiness of life that makes life amazing <3

I sat under a tree with the autumn leaves and started munching on my egg bread with tonnes of gratitude. Those bunch of Taiwanese tourists probably took pity of me being a total loner as they kept on looking over to my direction, whatever~

After finishing my egg bread, I continued to walk straight down the slope towards the direction of Ewha University.

Once you get out of the subway station, it's the Ewha University shopping district. You'll go through a bunch of shops and cafes before reaching at the university at the very end of the streets. 

HERE!!!!!

Ewha Womans University is one of the top schools in South Korea and the largest female educational institution in the world. Established in 1885 by Mary Scrantons. The name of the university is inspired by ewha "pear blossoms" which can be found across the campus and that leads to the blossom design of the school's logo as well.

Campus map and I swear I'd be cursing if I was ever late for a class here because the campus is very hilly and sloppy. Just imagine having to go through a sweaty hike before arriving in class.

Not trying to be all melodramatic but when I saw this view, I teared up.

Though I was already in Korea for a few days, this breathtaking scenery just felt too good to be true.

It was a Sunday when I went and there were a lot of tourists.

If I were to study here, I would not skip any classes. I promise. 

The spot for mandatory tourist shots. Towards the very end, there's a flight of steep stairs to get to another side of the campus. Nope, I did not take that challenge. 

Let's be a typical tourist. 

And more picture spams coming...

This chapel is also a mandatory tourist spot. To get up here, there is no way but hike. I was a dead cow when I arrived but it's so worth the climb. 

Managed by Christian missionaries, the chaplain system is an important part of the Ewha Womans University organization. Written on the official website of the university, it is said that every student is required to earn 8 credits by attending the morning chapel services once a week and 3 credits in Christian studies in the course of 4 undergraduate years. 

The statue of the founder of Ewha Womans University Mary Scranton.

For those non-Koreans out there like me who might be interested in studying in Korea to learn their language and to experience the life as a local, Ewha Womans University offers a 10-week program. You can click on this link for more information. 

After I finished walking throughout the entire campus, I headed back to the shopping district. 

I arrived at this shop and walked in because of the cute colours. It's a shop for bubble tea. Amasvin 아마시빈, that has over 80 outlets throughout South Korea, is something that you should never miss out on while in Korea. I swear it's x10 better than Gongcha/Chatime. 

I ordered cafe latte with pearl. As funny as it sounds to put pearls into iced latte, this thing blew my mind. OMG now I am craving for one!

And, it's really cheap too 3500won (3.5 dollars) which is 50% cheaper than the bubble teas in Melbourne.

아마수빈 이대점 Amasvin Ewha University Branch
Address: Ewhayeodae 7-gil, Sinchon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Opening hours: 8am-10.30pm daily

As I was sitting in Amasvin, I texted Elissa (my good friend who used to be in the Melboure University Korean Students' Society with me) about how beautiful Ewha Womans University was and she suggested me to go to Yonsei University. "If you think Ewha is pretty, just wait until you go to Yonsei".

Taking her advice, I went to catch the next subway to Yonsei University which is located at Sinchon 신촌. Just 1 or 2 stops away from Ewha. 

Yonsei University is located at the other side of the shopping district of Sinchon. 

I put shopping aside for a bit and walked straight down the street and arrived at the Yonsei University.

Compared to Ewha Womans University, Yonsei University is all about things being grand. The entrance's grand, the buildings are grand. It just puts my beloved Melbourne University to shame, to some extent :/

I'll let the photos do the talking. 

Somebody shooting wedding photos here. This shows how beautiful the campus could be - plus it was autumn which made everything even nicer than usual.

Took a long walk, snapped too many photos, sat under the tree to look at the autumn leaves, chilled by the fountain while looking at students walking in and out of the library on a Sunday afternoon...why didn't I appreciate my life as a student back then when I was still in Melbourne University? *sigh*

Here's a little video that I took at one corner of Yonsei University.

Feeling hungry, I walked back to the Sinchon shopping district to find some food and I came across this fish-shaped pancake that's filled with sweetened red bean paste called 붕어빵 (Bunggeoppang). 3 for 1000won (1 dollar), that's really cheap!  The traditional Bunggeoppang comes with red bean paste but nowadays, you might be able to find Nutella, custard, chocolate, strawberry jam fillings depending on your luck.

The busy main road.

I love SPAO, it's like the Uniqlo of Korea. I wouldn't say the prices are dirt cheap but they are definitely affordable and the clothings in there are of high quality.

SPAO is famous for their collaboration with many brands such as the Simpsons, Crayon Sinchan and etc. When I was there, they had a collaboration with Pokemon.

I was lucky to find a 9900won (9.9 dollars) long sleeved pastel pink sweater from SPAO on that day because they were having a happy hour sale or something. You'll see that sweater in an upcoming post.

Hyundai Department Store is more of the high end shopping mall. You can find many of the luxury brands in there.

I was trying to make my way back to the catch the subway to head back to my Airbnb and I found this hidden underground gem. I think everything's all connected when they are underground but I'm just too clueless to figure out. So I don't really know how to point out the directions, I'm sorry. I only know this subway station is called Sinchon. 

It has Kakao store - my all time favourite. How cute is my little A-peach and Ryan <3 

Pop up stores - totally digging it!

I'm team Kakao instead of team Line but they are still cute and worth checking out :p

VR game corner.

This post is relatively short in comparison to my previous photos. I was alone for the whole day and all I did was chill and walk around enjoying the air and breeze and food of Seoul. 

I didn't know that happiness and gratitude could come from such a simple day like this. To my surprise, I actually love being alone like that wandering around without an itinerary. 

Here's my Snapchat story of the day. 

See you in part 7! Annyeong~