Hyehwa II

Planned to go for an orchestra concert in the evening so decided to go over to Hyehwa again in the late afternoon before heading down for the performance. According to my '100 Things to do in Seoul', Hyehwa, a neighbourhood that is slightly smaller than City Hall in Singapore, houses around 4 or 5 universities, performance centres for the art colleges and multiple theatres. And the best thing is, it is only 15 minutes away from Anam-dong by bus.

Oh, and spring is starting to show itself in the form of blooming flowers. Well, the trees are still barren, but I am starting to see some colours in the shrubery and smaller plants. Also, the sounds of chirps (and unfortunately the presence of a couple of small unidentified insects) too. And because the plants don't flower all year round here, I am starting to appreciate such small wonders of nature that I take for granted in Singapore. It's really magical to see small changes happening around you everyday unknowingly.

Hyehwa is like an art town, so the buildings here are also more unique looking. Check out the following pictures.

The bottom picture is actually the 'Lock Museum', which I have no idea what's inside, as it's closed. The building looks really good from far, with the nice brown and contrasting white branches and leaves. Upon closer inspection, the brown colour is actually caused by metal rust!

Here's a street snack I am holding. It's some crispy sweet pastry that contains red bean paste inside. And it's cheap ($0.40)! And I didn't intentionally point out my middle finger; it's just that I have really long fingers, and that thing is nasty hot!

Krispy Creme shop! The donuts here are supposedly really good. I've tried one during a party in KUBS, but that was left there for quite some time, and it didn't taste too good. I finally bought my very first Krispy Creme here at Hyehwa.

Here's my first store-bought Krispy Creme donut! It's called New York Cheesecake Donut and it tastes marvellous! The donut has a slightly chewy texture, and the crumbs on top are actually the oatmeal crust found at the bottom of cheesecakes. And there is actually cream cheese filling inside, and the whole slight-sour taste of the cream cheese, coupled with the chewy donut and crunchy oatmeal crust tastes simply amazing!

And FYI, I did not 自拍 this picture! Hahah look at my two hands; nope no camera! I was actually out with Chee Keong, but it's wierd to ask people to take pictures for us, so no group shots!

And since Hyehwa is famous for its arts scene, we managed to catch several free outdoor performances along the way, like band gigs, comedy acts and an a capella group at the park. It was mostly informal, and was really fun to watch!

Notice something unusual in the picture below? These 2 guys are actually playing badminton with 2 shuttlecocks! The result: twice the speed, twice the pressure. And they are not young; probably in their late 40s or early 50s! Great admiration for them!

Went to catch a concert back at school with Chee Keong and Ziyi. It was a concert held at the Ichon Memorial Hall by the Korea University Wind Orchestra. Watching the concert made me remember the fun I had playing in the band in secondary school/ JC days. I signed up for their band, so really looking forward to going for my first band session here! After 5 years of not touching my instrument, wonder if my skills have deterioriated already not.