The Infinity Challenge South Korea Tour [LIFESTYLE]

Recently Infinity Challenge decided to make up three tours for what to do in South Korea . To be honest, I've been to South Korea before but even though I was a huuuuge variety show fan...I had absolutely no idea what to do in Korea . Back then the only thing I thought of using was BB cream so unfortunately I didn't think about hoarding all the beauty goods . T^T And if it wasn't for the fact that I had fun there with friends, I think I would've had absolutely no idea what to do at South Korea since I knew nothing about it . So luckily Infinity Challenge decided to make tours up for South Korea . The tours are:

• The K-Bob Tour: the ultimate foodie experience !
• Midnight in Seoul: a timely historic experience .
• Romantic in Seoul: a wonderful romance tour~ (but to be honest I think it'd be really fun to go on this tour with friends too!)

I wanted to write it down somewhere as a reference if I'm ever lucky enough to visit it again ! If you want to see the full version of it all this is referenced from episodes 453-454 of Infinity Challenge (무한도전) . I've decided to write all the tours for anyone else who'd like to use it as a reference and write the hangeul version of it incase you get lost and the locals don't get what you're saying lol . XD If you want to attempt to pronounce it, I suggest you learn the way to pronounce things in Korean from reading the romaji of it .

The K-Bob Tour 

For all the foodies out there !

Led by food MC Junha and should-be Hongdae resident Haha, this tour mainly focuses on the amazing and delicious delicacies that South Korea has to offer . For the theme, they decided to mainly focus on restaurants that foreign and Korean celebrities have been to and love, so luckily with this tour it's the best of both worlds ! Places so renowned for their deliciousness that even celebrities have tried it out and loved it !

Bindaetteok Restaurant (@ Gwangjang market)

과장 시장 빈대떡 (gwajang sijang bindaetteok)

As their first stop, the K-Bob group first arrived at the Bindaetteok restaurant . This restaurant is situated in the first ever market place in South Korea, so you get a bit of a taste of the historic side of South Korea as well ! This restaurant was visited by Tim Burton, and if you decide to visit the restaurant you can see a picture showing evidence of that ! 

Bindaetteok is a type of Korean cake made of mung beans, kimchi, green onion and meat . Definitely sounds very different from what I'm used to . But with that delicious sizzling sound and golden crispy outside seen in the episode, it really looks absolutely delicious to eat, wouldn't you agree ?

the top picture is of Tim Burton at the restaurant . xD

Garlic Ddeokbokki Restaurant (@ Nonhyeondong)

논현동 마늘 떡볶이집 (Nonhyeondong maneul ddeokbokki)

This wasn't broadcasted in the actual episode, but there was a list for the K-Bob tour and I decided to get on it . XD Apparently this place delivers their goods to the K-pop idols Girls Generation nightly ! Ddeokbokki is soft and spice rice cake, and is often eaten as an appetiser in Korean restaurants and general dining . I don't usually like to eat spicy stuff, but Ddeokbokki usually is very spicy, and even when it is, I still really like eating it haha . I've never heard of garlic ddeokbokki, but it sure sounds tasty !

Grilled Pollack Restaurant (@ Nonyeondong)

논현동 환태구이 (nonhyeondong hwangtae-gui)

"Strongly recommended" by South Korea's big mumma, Ihye Jeong . Grilled Pollack is dried pollack a bit spicy and fried . It consists of green onion, garlic and red chilli paste as the coating, which provides a crisp against the pollack's chewiness . Not that the fresh and crispy fried fish already sounds appetising, but the restaurant also serves pork bosom ! In the episode Ihye Jeong explains that when Koreans first meet someone, they serve them pork bosom wrapped in lettuce and wish for their good fortune~ 

The top images are Grilled Pollock while the
bottom image is Pork Bosom .

Seafood Market (@ Noryangjin)

노량진 수산 시장 (noryangjin susan sijang)

Visited by Jessica Alba who absolutely loved it, this seafood market allows you to try the freshest of seafood . So fresh that it might still be moving . In the episode you see that they were able to try octopus that was still moving while it was still in their mouths ! Whatever your preference of eating might be (and whether you know, you like them dead or alive in your mouth), this market offers an large variety of seafood at amazingly fresh quality .

Sangcharim Restaurant (@ Garosu-gil)

가로수길 한정식집 (Garosu-gil hanjeong-sigjip)

This restaurant also wasn't shown on Infinity Challenge (or maybe this is when they went to the dry sauna, I'm not sure but from the description shown of this place it doesn't sound like it), but it's apparently a 'luxurious' place where Kim Soohyun has visited . From what the description of sangcharim it sounds like Korean styled buffet, with different tables that serve different types of food . For example, the main table has the main food and appetisers, then theres a liquor table, noodle table and porridge table . Since they described it as luxurious it sounds a bit pricey, but if I were to go to Seoul I'd definitely prepare my wallet for what sounds like an absolutely gorgeous feast .

Midnight in Seoul

Your crash course in learning about Korean antiquity .

Headed by my wonderful bias Yoo Jaesuk and the doey-eyed Hwang Kwanghee, they give a wonderfully classy tour of South Korea's history . I actually found this tour pretty informative because honestly speaking, it's a bit difficult to know much about South Korea's history . Even though some of this tour was done during the day, from what I understand these places can also be visited at night, which is why they call it "Midnight in Seoul" ...but I could be wrong~! LOL .

Hangnok Village (@ Namsangol)

남산 한옥마을 도착 (Namsan Hangok-maeul dochak)

This place is also known as Phil-dong in Jung-gu (중구 필동; jung-gu pildong) and is a glimpse of South Korea before its modernisation started to occur . In Autumn you'll be able to see the aaaaabsolutely gorgeous colour of the red leaves in fall, along with observing Korea's beautiful past history . In the episode they were able to learn how the guards handle their guns, but I'm not too sure if they'll allow you to do that as the norm . ^^" However I think you can try oriental medicine at the Hangok village which is always an interesting experience ! Whether you believe it actually works or not, it's always interesting to learn about their method and how they do it .

Their episode with Paris Hilton was filmed here too !

Tongin Market

통인 시장 (tongin sijang)

A really interesting aspect of this market is the fact that you seem to change your money for the market's food ! There are screens there that give you 10 yeopjeons for 5,000 won (approximately $5 USD), and you can exchange the yeopjeons for food from participating stalls of the market . This sounds awesome considering the fact that if I learnt anything about travelling- a countries street food is the best food you're ever gonna eat . And looking at the food available in the epsidoe, it looks like an absolutely tantalising experience . They also said that if you pull out some of your aegyo (cute acting !) and say ddo juseyo~! (또 주세요~) they'll put in more food for you; but you probably shouldn't quote me on that lol . This place looks so awesome to visit regardless of the season because of the variety of food that's available for you to eat~

Try some 'drug kimbap' 마약 김밥 & fried ddeokbokki 먹거리 기름 떡볶이 while you're there~

Deoksugung Palace (@ Junghwa Jeon)

대미 덕수궁 탐방 (daemi deoksugung tambang)

This is the palace and residence of Emperor Gojong, the first emperor of South Korea . This place is quite a vital part to South Korea's history as it's essentially the last bit of South Korea's history before it was annexed to Japan . Another interesting part about this place as well is the fact that night tours are available . As someone who's done quite a bit of sightseeing, it's pretty rare that a tourist spot allows its gates to be open even during the night . But with South Korea's low crime rate and the easy accessibility and cheapness of taxis, it's a pretty perfect combination . 

This palace has a fascinating mix of Western and Korean architecture, which I personally find pretty cool considering other parts of South Korea's history looks pretty similar to other countries architecture . Not that it's not a good thing, but when you visit the Forbidden Palace and then see something like it in another country...it doesn't really have that element of being enlightened by something new . I rarely hear of Western and Eastern architecture mixed together, especially in antiquity, so I think it's quite an innovative tourist area .

Romantic in Seoul

For a truly different South Korean travel experience

With Hyung Don and Myung Soo partnered together to make this tour, they opted for a 'romantic' route . But looking at it in retrospect the places they went to really made me think "these places look fun to go to with friends" . They had a really interesting unconventional route in terms of doing something in a foreign country, and with that they were things that are definitely very unique to South Korea . I know they were really pushing this to be a romantic tour but in general, these looked like really interesting places to go to ! Apart from the first destination, the other places would be perfect places to take some really awesome photos in . But these places are probably better for Spring and Autumn .

The Pitch Dark Cafe in Sinchon

신촌 암흑 카페 (Sinchon ameuk kape)

Looking for a super intimate way to be with your special someone ? This cafe let's you and the person you're with eat, talk, and do everything...in complete pitch black . Featured in another variety show known as We Got Married it is seen that the couple participating pretended to meet each other for the first time and got to have a heart to heart talk . It can definitely be a super cute way to communicate with your significant other but at the same time ...just imagine the dumb fun you can have if you came to this place with your friends . It would be like a total mix of horror and utter amusement at hearing your friends complain that they can't see a thing . Also eating food would be hilariously chaotic, too .

He was meant to give him some chicken, but picked up rice instead . (◡‿◡✿)

Yeouido Hangang Park (@ Han River)

여의도 항강공원 (Yeouido hangang gongwon)

The awesome part about watching this episode was learning about the things you can do at Han River (which btw, is the ultimate chill spot yo !) . At Han River you're able to deliver your food there . Not only that but at Yeouido Hangang Park you can make your own instant ramen at the place and they provide you with some foil for you to hold it in and hot water . Sounds awesome right ? To top it all off if you feel like going there with your significant other you can go on those self rowing duck boats and take a glimpse of the beautiful and famous Han River . Not only this but you can also go couple bike riding by the side of the river, does that sound super romantic and scenic or what, right ?

Sky Park

하늘 공원 (haneul gongwon)

Visited at the right time by the IC crew, the footage of Sky Park showed these gorgeous light brown shades from these wonderful fields . I don't know what kind of plants they were but the plants look kind of like, human-sized wheat plants ? That sounds scary . But if you watched you episode you'll get what I mean when I say that the place looked utterly dreamy . Like something out of a pokemon game, the wonderful park features really natural and scenic trails for you and your loved one to have a lovely little stroll and look at the clear view of the sky . For a photographer, whether you like taking pictures of people or landscapes, you will love this place . The endless fields of plants is really quite gorgeous and makes for fantastic and unique fashion photography .

A little glimpse of that fashion photography I'm talking about lol .

And that's it ! Those were all of the places of the tours they did on Infinity Challenge . It may not seem like it but this took forever to write lol . Was not expecting that . So are you guys going to take one tour or mix it up a little ? I'd love to hear if you've already been to these places and your experiences of them . 

And for any of you that are about to go to South Korea, I hope you have a trip filled with an infinite amount of amazing memories and zero challenges ! haha .

Signing out,

-THE TEACOAST .

by j 10:25:00 PM 3 comments