Seoul World Cup Stadium Tour

Watching football is great. Especially when you watch it live at the football stadium. You can feel the euphoria and the energy from players and supporters there. If you come to Korea, there is a football stadium that I want to recommend to you if you want to experience watching football in Korea. Yes, it is Seoul World Cup Stadium, also known as Sangam Stadium, which is located in Mapo-gu, Seoul. 

Seoul World Cup Stadium is the second largest Stadium in South Korea. This stadium has its historical value because it was first built for 2002 World Cup, which means a lot for South Korean People, especially because at that time the South Korean football team made it to the semifinal. Besides, as for the facilities, in my opinion, this stadium is really huge, very clean, and very organized. The seats are very comfortable and overall, the facilities are also well-maintained. 

If you are a football fan, you will be happy because this stadium is also a headquarter of FC Seoul, one of well-known football clubs in Korea. Some of FC Seoul matches are held in this stadium. As an international fans, you can buy the ticket directly at the stadium ticket counter or at fcseoul.com or interpark.com websites (you can see the price on that website). However, if there is no match at the time, you can still visit and have a tour around the stadium, just go buy ticket directly at the counter. The price of the entrance ticket for a tour around stadium was really cheap (only KRW 1.000 per person). Some of you who are not a fan of football may also visit this stadium for a Kpop concert. 

To go there, I think the easiest way is to go by subway, then you can get off at World Cup Stadium station. From there you can just walk to reach the stadium. 

I myself have two experiences going to this stadium. First, I went to visit and have a tour around the stadium, then the second experience is when I went here to watch the Dream Concert. Really sad because I never experienced watching football here. But I will surely come again to watch football match here and to meet our one and only Maknae Hyung, Lee Kang In :)

Here are some photos from my trip at Seoul World Cup Stadium:

How to Go to COEX Starfield Library

It's not difficult to find good library in Seoul. I believe you can find tons of amazing libraries in Seoul. Even when you go to university library, it is also great, comfortable, and instagrammable. Today in this episode of blog, I want to share about one of must-visit libraries in Seoul. Yep, it is Starfield Library which is located inside COEX Mall.

The easiest way to go here based on my experience is by taking subway. You guys can get on subway Line 2 (Green Line) and get off at Samseong Station Exit 6. From there, you guys can just easily enter Coex Mall. Then you will find the library inside the mall (it's not hard to find the library because the library is super big and it's like the center of the mall). 

Starfield Library is super beautiful and super comfortable. For you guys who want to read books or magazines here, it's definitely your place. I believe you will enjoy your time reading in library. However, most of books are in Korean, so maybe if you guys can understand Korean, that would be great to read here. I forgot whether there are books available in english or not. But as I remember, I thought I found one or two magazine in English. Anyway, just go there, I hope you guys can find an interesting book for you to read.

But, if you just have a short time to visit, don't worry, this place also open for you guys even if you don't read a book, you guys can just sit here and enjoy the ambiences. Or maybe for tourist like me who want to take pictures, you guys can also take pictures here because the place is super super super pretty and instagrammable. But don't be noisy, so you guys won't disturb other visitors^^. And the last but not least, sometimes there are events held in this library, so you can also attend the event took place there. 

Here are the photos of me having fun visiting COEX Starfield Library:

Super happy, I found magazine with Sungjae in its cover

Great article 

Happy expression, because of library and sungjae lol

Inside the magazine

Conclusion, amazing library :)

How to Watch Dream Concert in Korea (Dream Concert 2017, My First Ever Kpop Concert in Korea)

Dream Concert,

It is a very big Kpop Concert in Korea, with so many idols and artists. The performers are boy groups, girl groups, and solo singers. And with all that performers, you only have to pay cheap cheap cheap price. That's why I love watching concert in Korea because it's super cheap. If I compare it to watching Kpop concert in my country, of course the price of ticket is more expensive when you watch Kpop concert in your own country (because maybe they have to pay for the accommodation, they need to pay for like hotel, flight, and everything). 

So, this 2017 Dream Concert is the very first Kpop concert I've ever had in Korea. I watch with my friend, Mbak Risa, she is my friend in graduate school who also fond of  Kpop like me. I still remember we bought the ticket for only 50.000 KRW (It's actually considered cheap if you compare when you watch it in your own country). But you know, actually the real price is much much cheaper than that, only 10.000 KRW. We bought at that price because you know the competition of getting the concert ticket in Korea is super super super difficult. Just for a few seconds, and the the tickets are all sold out. At that time me and my friend actually already tried to buy the tickets by our self in their website. We even sat at the computer lab just to get the super fast access of wifi. But still we didn't get it. So yeah we bought it from the Korean seller who wants to sell their ticket at higher price (It's worth it though). 

I watched because of BTOB, gladly we got a seat in the area where Melody sat. Super super amazing experiences because I can sing and do the fanchant together with other Melody. 

But you know, other than BTOB, there are many more artists and idol groups performed at Dream concert. That's why I guarantee you that it's super worthy to watch a Dream Concert.

Me and my friend, the first dream concert for both of us

The venue, Seoul World Cup Stadium

We were queuing to enter the venue

The ticket

I didn't have official lightstick at that time,
so just bought this one

The situation on stage at afternoon

The situation on stage at night

How to Go to Super Junior Kyuhyun Cafe, "Mom House" Cafe

Here is another blog to guide you to "Idol" Cafe, "MOM HOUSE" Cafe. 

Super Junior has always been one of my favorite Kpop groups ever. Me and most of my friends at my age, we all mostly know Super Junior, and we really like their song. Now you know my age lol.  And especially for me, Super Junior is one of groups that brought me to fall into Kpop music. When I lived in Korea, I went to three cafes owned by Super Junior families, first cafe is  Donghae cafe (I already made post about it here), then I continue the journey to Kyuhyun Cafe (Mom House), and the last but not least there is Yesung Cafe (Maybe I will make a post about this cafe later). 

I wonder why the name of this cafe is Mom House, maybe because this cafe is owned by Kyuhyun's mom??? (If anyone knows behind story about the name of this cafe, please just comment below hehe). 

Anyway, in this cafe, like the other cafes, you can order cake and coffee, and hang out with your friends here. Because they provide many tables and wifi. But there is other service that they provide, that is a guest house. If someday you travel to Korea, this "Mom" Guest House can be one of your options to stay because it's really near to Myeongdong, favorite shopping area for tourist and everyone's destinations when they visit Seoul.  

coffee that I ordered

I believe that I still keep the tissue lol

Inside the cafe you can find many photos, pictures, and gifts from fans for Kyuhyun. They put those things in cafe as the decoration. Here they are.

So, here is the direction to go there:

- You can take the subway, get off at Myeongdong Station, and get out from the Exit number 2.

Exit Number 2, in front of the north face store, I wonder in 2022 the store still there or not, pic source: Google map

- After that, just keep going straight a little bit (only around 50 meters), and then you will find the Hotel Prince and the shop "Alpha" located between the alley, you turn right to that alley.

  turn right to that alley, pic source: Google map

                                                   

- And just keep your eyes on your left side, because the cafe will be on left side, you just need to walk a little bit along the alley (maybe around 50 meters walk only, p.s. the road is a bit uphill), and then you will find the cafe on your left side. No need to worry to find it, because they put a large sign "MOM House" in front of the cafe.

Taraaaa, we arrive safely

Experiencing Eid Al-Fitr in South Korea

Celebrating Eid Al-Fitr with Indonesian Ambassador for South Korea

In 2017, I spent Eid Al-Fitr in South Korea and that would be one of the best memories I had in life. At first, considering that South Korea is not Muslim-majority country like my home country, Indonesia, I thought that the Eid Al-Fitr celebration in South Korea would be very much different form the celebration in Indonesia. However, I felt so grateful that I experiences such a festive and warm celebration of Eid Al-Fitr in South Korea.

The night before Eid Al-Fitr, me and my friends had our last Iftar (dinner) of Ramadhan at one of halal restaurants in Itaewon, near the Seoul Central Mosque. It was one of the best halal meals that I ate during I was living in Korea. Moreover, because there are many muslims ate in that restaurant, the atmosphere reminds me as if I was at home.

The next day, it was finally Eid Al-Fitr. I and my friends first prepared to do our Eid Al-Fitr prayer. At that time, we did the prayer with other Indonesian communities at one of the outdoor fields in Seoul. I grateful that Korean people gave us the freedom to perform our prayer at such an outdoor place like that. I didn’t feel like a minority because they respected us to perform our religion.  

After performed Eid Al-Fitr prayer, me and my friends from Indonesia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan, went to Indonesian Embassy in Seoul to celebrate Eid Al-Fitr together with other Indonesian people. At that place, I also had an opportunity to meet with Indonesian Ambassador for South Korea, Mr. Umar Hadi. There were many activities held in Indonesian Embassy to celebrate Eid Mubarak. We ate Indonesian traditional foods which are usually served on Eid Al-Fitr, such as Rendang, Ketupat, Opor Ayam, and other foods. We were also able to see such great performances from various performers, such as Marawis performers, singers, and etc. The best thing is we were able to meet with other Indonesian friends, talked together, and had a great Eid Al-Fitr like in our homeland. 

After several days, I also had Eid Al-Fitr Celebration in my school, KDI School of Public Policy and Management, which is located in Sejong City. The school is well-known for its diversity and I really appreciated my school to let us celebrate Eid Al-Fitr in school, and even supported us by providing the school hall to be used for celebration. In that celebration event, not only muslim friends, but non-muslim friends also came to join us and celebrate together. The school staff and professor also came by to the event. It was really meaningful Eid Al-Fitr Celebration and left a precious memory in my life. 

However, this year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I felt that Ramadhan and Eid Al-Fitr is quite different. Not only in Indonesia and South Korea, but in many other parts of the world, we all now struggle to fight this pandemic. That’s why I hope all of us can be strong to end this pandemic. I also hope that the spirit of Eid Al-Fitr remains in each of our hearts. Happy Eid Mubarak for all Muslims around the world!