After an hour flight back from Jeju Island, we settled in our AirBnB in the Gangnam province.
Rested a little and headed out for a late lunch.

And arrived at another instaworthy spot - Common Ground pop-up container shopping centre, where local designers and artists sell their work. It is located near the Konkuk University Station, just a few minutes' walk away.







The containers are connected by bridges and topped with alfresco dining areas.
View so hipster tho.



Enough of the fake candid shots, giving y'all a legit candid shot.
THE BLUES MATCH MY HAIR THOUGH.



T'was a sunny evening, with beautiful golden rays of sun.





Definitely an artsy place to visit.


Common Ground Container Shopping Centre
17-1 Jayang-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Opening hours: 11am - 10pm daily

You'll be greeted with an impressive view of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) when you exit from the Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station. It is also located near the main shopping outlets that open till late night/early morning, some places even close at 5am!
Some of the outlets include Doota and HelloAPM.





The DDP is best viewed at night, as the place is thoroughly lit and the cooling night breeze definitely helps.



Snacked a little before continuing. THE STREET FOOD IN KOREA IS GOOD DAMNIT.



We (sort of) rushed to the Hyundai City Outlet before it closes as it was quite late then.


image from insideretail.asia because my camera went dead after taking a few photos





It's the Yellow Cafe, at the B2 floor of Hyundai City Outlet.

What's so special about this cafe, you may ask? It's a cafe dedicated to the famous must-drink 바나나맛우유, or simply known as Binggrae Banana Milk!
The bottled packaging is only found in South Korea, as far as I know. They have Binggrae Banana Milk in boxes here but it is certainly not as fresh nor as lovely as the bottled ones (you have to admit that the bottles are cute too). We tried.
Anyways, we had one bottle of it almost every day when we were in Korea. Mom's a huge fan. True story.



Banana-flavoured Milk Ice-cream (₩3,500), milky and banana-y.
Just like the Binggrae Banana Milk, this banana ice-cream most certainly does not have the overwhelming artificial banana taste like some other brands/food items but milky instead (the banana flavouring IS artificial though).



Banana Flavoured Milkshake with Ice-cream Topping (₩5,700).

To be fair, the items that we ordered tastes similar as the cafe is devoted to the Binggrae Banana Milk, and almost everything is from the banana milk. Didn't try their cheese tart nor pudding though.



Yellow Cafe is located at the B2 level of Hyundai City Outlet.

Hyundai City Outlet:
13- -ga,, 20 Euljiro 6(yuk)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea

You've most probably heard of Hongdae but if you are not familiar with the area, you might not know that Hapjeong is only located next to the Hongik University district and is also home to many cafes.


YG Entertainment Building



Our first stop in Hapjeong is to the YG Entertainment Building as my sister is a diehard fan of Big Bang and some other artistes who are under YG Entertainment.
I don't really fancy kpop but I do appreciate some of the songs and dramas. Just not crazy enough to want to wait outside the building for the next few hours.



You could find messages from visitors/fans all over the world on the wall directly opposite the building and fans waiting outside the building or sitting outside the GS25 convenience store nearby.

My sister did claim that she saw about 10 kpop artistes entering/exiting the building during her 4-hour wait, and was hyper excited when she saw the president of the company
-insert 'but why' gif here-


Well, you could always try your luck.


Anyways, after leaving her there, we continued on to explore the beautiful town that is also full of eateries and unique architecture.





Your Public Oasis

After walking around and exploring supermarkets, we passed by a flower shop.



Your Public Oasis is a project by Iamo, one of the bigger flower studios in Seoul. It was so beautiful that I had to stop and step into the store.



But getting photos taken is also a priority. *so candid*





If only I get to keep them all to myself (even for just a few days).

Anyways, they do serve flower teas and coffee at Your Public Oasis.



And my tea came with a flower ring! (free flower rings for everyone? wow.)
Got myself a card with dried flowers too. The cashier was kind enough to get me a box to keep the flowers from getting damaged and I could safely put it into my check-in luggage.





Get & Show Cafe

We also passed by a lego-themed cafe so we did the most logical thing: we went in!







Our itinerary for the trip was mostly shopping and eating so we decided to let my 11yr old brother have some fun at a lego cafe (not to mention that it is fun!)







They do sell a variety of Legos at Get & Show. For those who are just looking for a little funtime,  Lego sets are available for rent at ₩4,500 every 30mins.



We settled for honey toast again as they only sell desserts and we were quite hungry at that time.





Anyways, here's the completed X-Men Lego set that my brother chose. The jet took quite some time to build and we capped it around 1hr15mins. Ohwell.




Also... you know what to do if you're interested in more posts on my trip to Korea.
Hint: the image below is clickable

Of course, there's also the photogenic Brighton Beach bathing boxes in Melbourne. Was surprised that none of my relatives ever heard of it (or maybe it just wasn't their thing).

We went on a little detour on our way back from Cing Jing Farm (well, I'll update about that later). Our tour guide/driver introduced us to this little village in Taichung since it is on the way back to Taipei.





I thought it would be a little bigger but the vibrancy was not what I expected. Whoa.







It is actually a very, very small place with a few houses which a 92-year-old veteran brought to life with his brushes even though he did not attend art classes nor did he major in arts.
It's fascinating, really. He has his own style of drawing. They call him, Rainbow Grandpa.



It is not a commercialised area and to be honest, not plastered in every guidebook. Therefore, it is a less-known place. It will take about 15 to 30 minutes for you to wander around the "village", snap some photos, admire the drawings..



We saw a bridal photoshoot at the area when we arrived. Also, there's another group filming a graduation video, since it's nearing graduation day in Taiwan. And a photographer with his model who looked like a Korean star, according to my cousin. Okay...









There's this guy in an Ironman mask and striking clothes playing his guitar. It was a very hot day indeed. Thumbs up.









There are also wishing cards, for people to write their wishes and comments and leave it in the village. It's a messy kind of nice to me.



Couldn't resist snapping a photo from the back but well, I'm kinda disappointed with my cousin's photography skills .-.



There's also a park and a kid's playground outside. The park is very colourful and cute. It's really a vibrant place.







Some of the 12 Chinese Zodiacs.





pic from Aunt's phone

This place is adorable for portrait photography and there's also a sign there writing, "Let's Get Married", being one of the reasons why we saw a bridal photoshoot that day. Hahaha.

Place worth to stop by if you are in the area. Different kind of experience, you can say.



Rainbow Village
Lane 56, Chun'an Road,