Hyehwa area in Seoul

After a few days staying in Hongdae, we thought we'd explore another part of town. A few readers said we must check out Hyehwa in Jongno-gu district so we decided to book our next right next to Hyehwa station.

Hyehwa (like the rest of Seoul) is riddled with universities except this neighborhood caters to all of the artsy/theater students. It's no surprise that Hyehwa matches the crowd. Live music, tons of theaters, murals on the wall, creative statues and benches...Hyehwa is just plain cool. 

It was also only one metro stop from Gwangjung Market where word on the street was that this was the place to go for Korean pancakes (pajeon) and rice wine (makgeolli). It was delicious but we were still back at one of those Korean BBQ places in Hyehwa the very nice night (because we're obsessed!).

You really can't go wrong with staying in Hyehwa or Hongdae!

TRAVEL TIPS

Where to stay: 24 Guesthouse was great!! And they have locations all over Seoul

What to eat: Korean pancakes...and BBQ ofcourse

What to do: Korea has bangs for just about everything (private rooms for karaoke, gaming, movies, etc). We found a DVD bang in the neighborhood, rented a movie and chilled out in our own private viewing room watching '127 Hours.'

*Bring extra shopping money too...the streets around Hyehwa are lined with lots of cute clothing and accessory stores*

Seoul!

Christian, that geeky husband of mine, is a tech guy at heart. Basically 'gadget' is his middle name. So early on in the planning of our 6 month backpacking trip South Korea became a part of our trip. After a Norwegian couple told us that Seoul was 'the best city on the planet' we decided to do a good 9-10 days here. And oh how happy we were during those 9 days.

The Koreans know how to party...I mean Hongdae was ALIVE every single night.

Then there were those cheap shops selling the world's cutest sweaters for like...$10!!

Then we went to a cat cafe which ofcourse goes to show we are crazy cat people...lol.

And then the Korean BBQ...mmm. Cooking quality meat while your table is covered with 'banchan' (Korean side dishes) and kimchee and the rice wine and soju wash it all down. Korean BBQ is one of the best culinary experiences we've had in Asia.

Seoul is so alive, so delicious and so so so so advanced. We were constantly connected to free wifi around the city. 

Basically, Christian wants to move there...and those Norwegians were right, Seoul was the best city we've experienced in Asia :)...and possibly ever...well besides Amsterdam ofcourse ;)...

Hong Kong

Once we set foot on the plane to leave The Philippines we realized we were stepping from the Southeast Asian world to the Far East Asian metropolis portion of the trip at the very same time. Yep...our trip was about to take a very different road leading to Hong Kong, Korea and Japan!

We loved Southeast Asia, the tropical beaches, jungles, motorbikes and delicious food...but we were quite looking forward to what was next. And first was...Hong Kong.

To me, Hong Kong felt like a giant, very clean and organized Chinatown. It was dumpling stands-meet-swanky bars, city skylines-meet-harborfronts, street markets-meet-fancy malls and everything in between.

We scored a sweet (and tiny) Airbnb room in Mong Kok. Mong Kok felt much more 'local' and our Airbnb room was right on the same street at Ladies' Market. Each morning we ventured around the corner for pork and kimchee dumplings for a late breakfast and then hit the town. Oooo the dumplings were so good!

I'll be honest, we pigged out in Hong Kong and most definitely passed the 200 dumpling market with our daily dumpling helpings, wonton noodles, fried wontons, dim sum and pork soup dumplings at Din Tai Fung (so good!!) and even more pork dumplings.

On our last night we were up for a really special treat, two friends from Amsterdam (one Canadian, one Australian) treated us to a very delicious Szechuan meal near Wan Chai. A big pot of boiling spicy soup is brought out to the table and you simmer away plates of beef, dumplings (yes...again), veggies, and noodles.

TRAVEL TIPS

Go for dim sum at Din Tai Fung on Canton Road (there is more than one location in Hong Kong and a few other locations around the world!). This place has killer pork-soup-dumplings and brisket soup!

Eat dumplings in Mong Kok...actually just eat dumplings everywhere ;).

Go to Chi Lin Nunnery for a bit of Chinese culture.

And ofcourse head to the Avenue of the Stars for a view of the harbor from below and go to Victoria Peak for a view of the harbor from above.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

I did not have high expectations for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...as in zip--zero--nada--didn't even want to go there. I thought it was only for dodging the backpacker life and it wasn't 'real' adventure. But Christian was dead set on visiting this first class city...for the very reason that I didn't want to go there, but he described it in different words: 'it's a chance to have a little break from the road and enjoy sidewalks again...sidewalks!!', he said.

Being that we had to fly to Kuala Lumpur from Bali and Christian was dying to see some of the high-tech stuff in KL (and now he's dying to go to Korea and Japan!), we stopped over in the city for a few days.

Wow was I surprised. Maybe it was that my expectations were low to begin with, maybe it was that the Petronas Towers at night were more breathtaking than I originally thought or maybe it was the Christmas decorations and multitude of shops in the fancy mall underneath the Towers. But I was definitely enjoying being back in the first world again...walking through the perfume section of department stores...eating Southwestern eggrolls at Chili's (ya we did that...in a country that is famed for food...we were those 'tourists')...riding the metro back and forth. It felt good.

Christian was on the nerd-version of Cloud 9: in one of the biggest tech malls in KL (in all of Asia!), Christian whistled and smiled as he wandered into one store and out the next...then he splurged and bought a Kratos figurine (some gaming thing) for his future Man Cave. Pfff.

Anyway, we did get our fix of culture. Turns it we picked just the right weekend to visit KL since there was an annual street food festival going on. Just a short stroll from metro stop Bukit Bintang, we returned for dinner both nights of the festival. Won Ton Soup (both nights!), Chili Shrimp, Mie Goreng, mini Japanese pancakes...all underneath Chinese lanterns zigzagging back and forth over the street. And it's true, the food in Malaysia did not disappoint.

So, would we do a quick stopover in KL again? Absolutely! And we already are, we'll be going back to KL for the Future Music Festival Asia in March...and I'm sure we'll squeeze in a wander around the Petronas Tower again...ok and the mall too.

HOSTEL TIP

*Suzie's Guesthouse was exactly what the reviews said it was: home-y and friendly! One night we just lounged indoors and chatted to some Norwegians. And the staff were so sweet! It's just around the corner from a metro stop, one stop again from KL Sentral and right in Chinatown.

{Christian in Tech Heaven at one of the biggest tech malls in Asia}

{Half day trip to Batu Caves--direct train from KL Sentral}