Where to Eat in Myeongdong: Potala Tibetan Restaurant

A great choice for vegetarians. 

With 2 locations: Myeongdong and Jong-no 3-ga

We went to the former and had a great lunch.

Te Ate Bene Italian Restaurant in Seoul

Located in Jong-ro 2-ga this is one of several options for Italian food on this popular street. 

Te Ate Bene is located in the basement floor so its a little inconspicuous but still easy to find. 

NOODLE BOX Restaurant

This has to be the only noodle place we have found that serves non-korean noodles. What do we mean? We mean these are stir-fried and packed with flavor. 

They specialized in Thai and Vietnamese style dishes both noodle and rice based. 

We have only tried the Pad Thai (not pictured), Pat See Ew, Mi Goreng.

OOTD: Fall in Seoul Looks Like Spring

UPDATE: Ashley's Buffet Brunch Geongdok Location

 

All you can eat brunch equals Ashley's. 

For 9,900 won you can't beat that. 

The Geongdok station is by far better than the Myeongdong location. The selection is greater and the quality of the food was just better.

 UPDATE: 

솔레미오 Solemio Pasta and Pizza @ Yeonsinnae

Jacky and I have been on a pizza and pasta whirlwind. Its all we ate for 2 weeks! (just about lol).

This led us to the chain Solemio (솔레미오). We passed by it countless times around Yeonsinnae but never cared to stop. 

빈스빈스 Beans Bins Waffle Cafe Myeongdong Location

This is probably one of the best chains to get your waffles at. The waffles were just right -not soggy or too sweet. The first one is a Belgium Waffle with sliced grapes on top instead of strawberries. It is served with blueberry and strawberry jam on the side.... delicious!

The other waffle is the Apple Cinnamon Waffle. It is more of a softer waffle and a little sweeter.

Café Delicious Coffee Cat in Samcheon-dong

A really cute cafe in Samcheon-dong.  

Inside, it was cozy and just as cute as the outside. 
The place was really small with only 3 tables on the first floor. 
Drinks and desserts here are pricey. A hot Americano is about 5,000 won.

 

Where to Eat in Myeongdong, Seoul: Myeongdong Gyoja

Myeongdong Gyoja (명동교자)

Here is what we ordered: 

Soybean Soup 콩국수(cold)- This is a summer favorite!

Beef and Dumplings Soup (갈국수)

애슐리 Ashley's Buffet in Seoul Pt.2 - Myeongdong Location

We finally checked out the Ashley Buffet at Myeongdong! (on Buddha's Bday Friday, May 17th) during their lunch period but we got charged the weekend/dinner price: 19,900 :(((
It was still awesome. Sorry, couldn't get pics of Ashley's Ashley Meal. bahaha

This one is next to Everysing by Spao on the 5th floor. For front entrance, take the elevator to the 5th floor. If you take the escalators, turn left and find your way to the host.

They had a lot less vegetarian options :((
They didn't have Ashley's favorite mashed pumpkin and squash salad. (like a purée)

This location offers BRUNCH! Mon-Sat from 9:00-11:00AM

Link to Ashley website here.

 

Counterclockwise from pizza: Alfredo Pasta, Spicy seasoned potato from roasted pork entree, Sweet Maple Dimsum Dumpling, California Sushi Style Ball of Rice, Seasoned Potato Wedges

All very yummy!

Free Wifi in Seoul

Free wifi here usually means you have free access to the hotspot, some of the more popular ones are Olleh, U+zone, and T-wifi. To login in to these hotspots you either need to have purchased a code, as is the case with Olleh, or you need to have a valid korean cell phone number and alien registration number to access the free wifi. A tourist has limited options. 

Places with truly free wifi:

Seoul City Center- if you find yourself walking through Seoul’s more central areas then chances are you can connect to their city wifi. But the signal is often weak and not as stable as others. Some subway stations also have this service. 

***iptime and anygate usually don't require pw.

Cafes or Restaurants:

Dunkin Donuts-

Nokbeon

Eungam

Jong-ro 3-ga

in Yeonsinnae Station

Bulgwang
Sinchon

Angel in Us- most have their own wifi passwords on the receipts

Bulgwang Station (next to Dunkin Donuts)
Jong-ro
Sinchon

***Best bet for us has always been Angel - in - Us cafe. They always have their own free wifi and are open 24 hrs, best location to stay in all night with a laptop or for studying.

Crispy Pie at Yeonsinnae

Paris Baguette 

Eungam  

Dokbawi 

Seoul National University Station

Myeongdong across from the hidden Mr. Pizza by Friday's

Starbucks -most of them usually have their own wifi

Yeonsinnae

Holly’s Coffee

Sungnyemun by Namdaemun Market

Krispy Kreme 

Jong-ro

Myeongdong, 1F

Mcdonald’s 

Yeonsinnae

Zoo Coffee, Myeongdong

Kimbap Cheonguk at Yeonsinnae 

Gongcha Bubble Tea  in Myeongdong

5/15 Teacher's Day in Seoul, South Korea

Teacher's Day was filled with lots of fun for the kids and plenty of cute presents for the teachers yuhhsss. assaaa!!

Here are a few of the precious moments lol.

[5/13-5/16] This week in teaching....

Dunkin Donuts Challenge (self-proclaimed)

I'm just going to post small entries every time we hit up a Dunkin Donuts.

05/13/13

Simple Pleasures:

Blueberry Eclair
Bubble Green Tea Latte
Iced Cappuccino
Orignal Cake Donut

~^__^~

Serendipity Cafe by Dokbawi Station, Bulgwang, Seoul

Serendipity Coffee is a small cafe and a great place to just hang out enjoy a cup of coffee. It is right across Dokbawi station on the brown line 6, you can't miss it.

A Day in the Life of a Kindergarten ESL teacher in Seoul

I think we are going to do these posts regularly just to record our days and stuff and give people an insight into our lives as teachers.

Enjoy!

KIMBAP HEAVEN : Cheap Korean Food

Cheapest Food in Seoul: Kimbap Heaven (김밥 천국)

Meals start at 1,000 won (the simplest kimbap roll) and don't exceed 6,000 won. 

Jacky has tried a bunch of things and they have all been good. Here she ordered the Tonkassu and I got   kimchi kimbap. 

The food is filling and comes with sides and a soup (most of the time). 

Opening a Bank Account in Korea as A Foreigner (American Citizen)

Today is the day we try to open a bank account here in Seoul, our target bank is CitiBank.

We are gonna  check out the Bulgwang Branch and see if they can help us out. If not then the search will continue.

I heard that U.S with a valid passport and a social security number can open an account with no problems and it actually easier to send money from Korea back to the states. 

So wish us luck!

I will update this post later today with our findings~!

UPDATE 05/11/13

We waited to be helped by someone who spoke English. The lady who helped us was very friendly and spoke English very well. She handed us papers that we would've need to fill out to open an account.  However, we were confused when we saw that one of the forms was a W-9 Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification Form. We asked her why it was necessary and she said that the IRS might charge interest to our account, since we're American Citizens and taxpayers.

Since we were confused we decided to not open up a Korean account with Citibank in Korea. Instead, we're thinking of opening an American Citibank account online. On their website, it says that they can send a check card to wherever you're at.

If all goes well, and we each receive our check cards by mail, we plan on depositing our monies at the Citibank ATMs in the Korea.

If anyone knows about this or understand the system better than we do, please tell us about it!

Thanks~

Update 05/07/13

So my friend and I just came back from the Bulgwang-dong branch CitiBank. We weren't able to open an account but the people at this location were kind enough to help us out.

We got our number, waited and then spoke to the teller. Unfortunately, we don't speak very good Korean and they dont't speak enough English (which is understandable). They contacted the headquarters here in Seoul and I spoke to the man who asked if we had our passport, foreigner registration card, and social security number. We had all of this but the lady said it was "difficult" to open an account for an American. I actually thought it was the opposite but I believed her because I can imagine how hard it must be when you can't communicate.

Any who, we settled on the fact that we are going to have to make our way to the Jong-no Branch.

Here is a map of the "GLOBAL BRANCHES" in Seoul, where you can find bilingual assistance.

I will update again when we go to Jong-no...Wish us luck~!

Good Eats: 신기소 , Sinkiso Japanese Noodle Restaurant

We weren't looking for anything in particular that day but we were lucky enough to have run into this Japanese chain restaurant!

Meals start at around 5,000 won and are a decent size, the service was also very good.

We really liked the presentation of the food, this definitely made it more appealing ^__^

All in all, if you run into a Sinkiso I would give it a try~

We got the Udong and the Tonkatsu dishes.

Crispy Pie and Coffee Cafe at Yeonsinnae, Seoul

Coffee and pie!

We tried the Cappuccino and a cafe latte iced. Both very good ^^

We have yet to try their pies but it seems they are quite popular.

The place is usually pretty full so its hard to get a seat (lots of couples).

Atmosphere is good and you can definitely spend some time here. Prices are reasonable however the pie is slightly expensive ranging from about 3,000 won to about 5,500 won per small slice.