Take me back to the magnificent and amazing city of Jeonju! ๐ This week I will be showing you the city I lived in South Korea. Jeonju is one of Koreaโs hidden gems, a city that is both urban and rural with a vibrant community. Jeonju is the capital city of Jeollabukdo province. It is known for its beautiful Hanok Village, traditional houses, historical districts, craft shops and delicious food.
Where I lived:
I absolutely loved the neighbourhood where I resided, even though it was quite a bit far from the school I taught at. I lived in the area next to Gaeksa and Hanok Village. (I will describe these areas in more detail in the popular places section of Jeonju) I was so lucky to have one of my good friends I made in the TaLK program living in the apartment floor above me! We taught in the same city, but different schools. There were also many restaurants, convenience stores, and cafes within a minute walk away! The 7-11 convenience store nearby had two adorable and sweet pomeranians named Dankan and Sarang that I always went to visit and play with. There were also beautifully decorated and aesthetic cafes nearby. Around the corner from my apartment was a quaint, little coffee shop called Cafรฉ Mio that I visited often to write my lesson plans at. Shopping for groceries was very convenient too as I lived near walking distance to Home Plus, which is a large retail supermarket chain in Korea.
Popular places in Jeonju:
Gaeksa ๊ฐ์ฌ
Gaeksa, also known as Jeonju Pungpaejigwan was named for its historical building that provided accomodation for government officials during the Joseon Dynasty. The Gaeksa district is one of the main downtown areas in Jeonju. There are a variety of restaurants, beauty, and clothing stores in this area. I loved eating at the all you can eat bbq place there. It was only 11,000 won ($12.99 cad) per person! Such an amazing price compared to the all you can eat Korean bbq in Vancouver, which costs over 30 dollars. I also enjoyed eating at Hans Deli for inexpensive western style food. There was also a 3,900 won restaurant where all the food and drinks costed only 3,900 won ($4.60 cad). My favourite Korean beauty and skincare stores can be found in Gaeksa too. I love to stock up on bb creams, cushion blushers, eyeshadows, eyeliners, toner pads and more at Etude House, Holika Holika, Olive Young, LOHB, Apieu, Missha, Innisfree, The Face Shop and Banila Co. These stores have fantastic prices with amazing and cute packaging. I definitely miss the k-beauty scene here as they give such a generous amount of samples and gifts for every purchase!
Hanok Village ํ์ฅ๋ง์
This popular tourist area in Jeonju was only a 5 minute walk away from where I lived. Hanok Village is where people can dress up in traditional Korean hanboks and walk around taking pictures in the fancy clothing. There were numerous shops that rented out elegant and intricately designed hanboks and accessories for tourists and guests to wear for a day. I rented out the beautiful hanboks twice, once in the summer and once in the winter! I felt like a royal princess when I wore the wonderful traditional clothing of Korea. Hanok Village was such a super pretty place to walk around in during the day and night time. There were many shops selling delicious street food like tteokbokki (rice cakes), pajeon (korean pancakes), mandu (dumplings), gimbap, marshmellow sticks, and skewered veggie and meat delights. There were also many restaurants serving a popular dish of Jeonju called bibimbap, which is a bowl of warm white rice topped with a variety of seasoned vegetables, meats, chili pepper paste that is mixed together before eating! Traditional craft and souvenir shops were also located in Hanok Village. At night, sometimes buskers will come out to sing and play soulful and heartwarming music on their guitars.
Bukdae ๋ถ๋
Bukdae is another main downtown area of Jeonju. Bukdae is a popular university district area for young people, as it located in the front of Chonbuk National University (CBNU). This area is primarily for food and drinks! There were many restaurants in this area and my friends and I liked to go to Bukdae to predrink and talk before we head to another area called Shinshigagi. Our favourite foreign pub in Bukdae was called Oscars. Their staff were really friendly and knew had to speak English. They always gave us free appetizers like fries and nachos whenever we came to chill there! There were also arcades and entertainment located in this area too.
Shinshigaji ์ ์๊ฐ์ง
Located a 10 minute taxi ride away from Bukdae was Shinshigagi! This was the main downtown area for nightlife and entertainment. There are plenty of bars and clubs in this area. My friends and I like to come to Shinshigagi once in awhile to club on the weekends. Our favourite clubs to go to are Neo Lounge and Club Keep! The clubs in Korea stay open past 6 am so it was great fun being able to spend time with friends and hanging out together till the morning. Korean people were also very kind to us foreigners in whatever places we went to!
More travel diary pictures of Jeonju ์ ์ฃผ below ! ๐
Tell me where you reside. I’ll love to get to know more of my readers! ๐
