Mana nih yang suka kulineran di Bandung? :)

Apalagi para pecinta mie/bakmi, boleh banget nyobain mie lezat yang ada di daerah Sudirman ini (Eveline approved!). Alamat lengkapnya ada di Jl. Luna no 2, Jamika, Kec. Bojongloa Kaler, Kota Bandung, Jawa Barat (dekat pasar Andir). Harga seporsi mie di sini berkisar antara 23k — 50k.

Berbeda dengan mie rica kejaksaan yang toping nya adalah daging babi, semua mie di sini bertaburkan daging ayam yang disuwir halus dan irisan tipis daun seledri. Tekstur mie nya kenyal, bentuknya sedikit keriting dengan ukuran sedang. Kalau kalian pesan mie tanpa tambahan toping bakso / pangsit / bakso tahu, maka semangkuk mie kalian pasti sudah ditemani oleh semangkuk kuah bening dan berminyak seperti foto di bawah ini. Rasa kuahnya gurih, segar, dan makin top kalau disantap dengan mie yang diaduk dengan sambal. *Jadi pengen*

Bakso / pangsit / bakso tahunya enak juga ga? tbh rada lupa rasanya gimana. Kemungkinan so-so atau sekedar ‘lumayan aja’ karena ga ada ingatan yang kuat tentang rasanya. But still, tetep aja makin enak kalau ada toping-toping yang menemani mie lezat ini. Berasa makin lezat aja ada tambahan ini itu :)

Pertama kali aku makan mie ini pas zaman kuliah. Sekali makan langsung jatuh cinta, hehe. Ternyata rasa mie ini memang selezat namanya, lezaaaat! Alhasil, ekpektasi saya setiap makan mie ini cukup tinggi. Bahkan setiap ke Bandung, so far aku selalu menyempatkan diri mampir makan di sini. Terakhir ke Bandung bareng keluarga, mereka pun puas dengan rasa mie ini. Saat ke Bandung sama teman pun, mereka suka banget sama mie ini! Temanku yang memang pecinta mie sampai pesan 2 porsi.

Porsi di sini juga passs banget sama porsiku. Untuk yang makannya sedikit, kamu juga bisa request 1/2 porsi aja ya. Seingatku hampir semua menu di sini bisa dipilih 1/2 atau 1 porsi, cukup fleksibel. Halal atau tidaknya boleh dicek lagi ya guys.

Selamat mencoba!

Sounds familiar? I believe most people ever experience that stage of life, and so do I. The most important is how we respond to that situation. Are we going to let it control our mind…and affect our health? How should we deal with it?

After once experiencing it, I’m more firmly convinced that the ultimate cause of ‘disease’ is stress. Supporting by a medical research in the USA, 90% of what takes people to the doctor is stress related illnesses. Stress knocks our brain and body out of balance. So what’s truly dangerous? the stress is. Stress which is caused by what we think, that eventually affects our emotion. The stress hormones inhibit the immune system.

The science explains:

1. When we are in a state of stress (feel the frustrations, hate, jealousy, rage, fear, anger), our energy field goes into a state of resistance. Heats up, cool down.
2. Our blood is affected. It doesn’t flow as it should be, and eventually affects our pH.
3. We become more acidic when we’re in a state of stress. Then inflammation occurs.
4. When inflammation occurs, our body pumps more blood to attempt to help with healing.
5. Help? Nope. It starts to burn the body instead.

Here I could say, not every pain — illness— stress needs medicines. Sometimes what we need to do to heal it…is controlling what we think and believe. For our mind is the controller of our body. The CPU of the computer.

Ever hear or watch the placebo effect? People can heal their illness without any medicine, but positive beliefs. The main point is belief shifts biology, right? The positive thinking can cure us, while the negative thinking can cause any illness. Both of the thinking ways are equally powerful, yet work in the opposite ways. Which one you choose?

—

What usually happen:

If we fall prey to the prognosis we think or someone tell us about (the negative one), say “you’re really bad at it” “you cannot succeed” “your cancer can’t be cure & only ~3 months left to live” “your illness is incurable” “I cannot handle it”. It makes us tend to not consider any other options / possibilities:

That we still have other options, we’re allowed take new options, get beyond certain emotions, & overcome our limited thinking. — and yes, if we believe the negative one & think over it, we’ll be trapped then. It will send a signal to our brain (and subconscious mind) to response negatively. How if we believe the opposite one?

I once joined a retreat & one of the sessions was “Healing The Inner Wound”. I saw so many people cried, thrashed around - even shouted, as they remembered the things which hurt them or their mistakes. The past emotions (accumulated stress, unprocessed trauma, disempowering beliefs) that turned out still affected them, but they’re not aware of it.

Then at the end of the session, we’re guided to let go of the anger, resentment, grief, or trauma — the victim mindset. Let go of that inner judgement blame. That from that day, we forgive all people or conditions that ever hurt us; forgive ourselves if we’re the one who made the mistakes. We decide to continue fill our life with peace and joy. At this point, the mind changed its environment from negative to positive.

Little did I know, this perhaps ever affected me as well? What I realize is..after that retreat, I become a better person, emotionally.

—

The fact

I watched some real stories of people got sick due to stress. They didn’t realize the stress was the root cause of the illness. When they consulted with a (spiritual) psychologist, they started to release the ‘inner wound’. After they forgive people or themselves, they naturally got healed every week that goes by.

And another good fact is: a researcher, Kelly Turner, Ph.D., studied radical remissions >10 years, analyzes >1500 cases of the radical remissions survivors. She found that people that had a tumor or even stage 4 cancer could survive. Some common patterns did by the survivors were: releasing suppressed emotions, increasing positive emotions, & deepening a spiritual connection. You can read more about radical remission survivors here. There are 9 steps the survivors did and only 2 of them related to physical ones (healthy dieting & consuming herbs). Others are emotional things. Soooo if we have any specific health concerns, we may need to consult with professionals. Still, keep in mind that we have the power to control the emotional ones.

—

Mental, health, emotional, and spiritual are linked to each other. Emotional blockages can lead to physical blockages. Get rid of the fear, the old hurts, wounds — release it. Then the healing will come to us.

How? Meditate, pray, walk in nature, or anything that let our mind be quiet and our breath slows down for a while. Feel the inner peace.

I always remind myself with this verse whenever I am in sorrows “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” — Proverbs 17:22

—

Let’s do an affirmation! :) — You may adjust it accordingly, with any positive self-talk you need.

I profoundly grateful how God created me. I forgive [myself/someone’s name] for [what we/someone has done to me]. I release the past and believe that everything happens for my greatest good. It makes me wiser & stronger than before. From this moment, I decide to fill my life with joy and peace. I allow myself to give and receive love.

Saat ini cek informasi paspor sudah cukup mudah loh, bisa lewat WA. Kantor Imigrasi Kelas I Khusus Non TPI (Tempat Pemeriksaan Imigrasi) Jakarta Selatan sudah punya Whatsapp Gateway Serwice (WGS) untuk melayani hal ini. Tahun lalu aku sudah pernah coba menggunakan layanan ini dan menurutku sangat membantu. Ga perlu lagi datang ke kantor imigrasi untuk sekedar cek paspor ku uda jadi atau belum. Yuppp, cukup chat WA aja :)

Nomornya: 0813-8171-0123

Berikut hal-hal yang bisa kamu manfaatkan dari WAGS ini.

1. Ketik nomor permohonan paspor (contoh: “104900008”) untuk mengetahui status permohonan paspor dan kode billing.
2. Ketik #Bayar untuk mengetahui cara bayar.
3. Ketik #Biaya untuk mengetahui biaya paspor.
4. Ketik #Persyaratan untuk mengetahui persyaratan paspor.
5. Ketik #Jaksel[spasi]pertanyaan atau komentar untuk menyampaikan pertanyaan.

Info lainnya bisa cek di beberapa sumber tautan ini ya guys.

• jakartaselatan.imigrasi.go.id
• IG: @kanimjaksel
• Twitter: @kanim_jaksel
• SMS: 08126821122
• Telp: 021–79170912 atau 081383735382 (jam kerja)

Hmmm, baru kali ini aku mengalami permasalahan dengan meteran listrik. Bangun tidur kok tiba-tiba gelap dan panassss. Awalnya aku kira memang mati lampu. Ternyata eh ternyata…lampu kamar lain nyala!

Akhirnya aku cek meteran listrik dan bingung karena di layarnya tertera tulisan “PERIKSA” :( Ada yang pernah mengalami hal yang sama?

Setelah tanya beberapa orang dan cek di internet, ternyata memang perlu panggil petugas PLN untuk bantu membenarkan. Awalnya hanya tahu kalau cara lapor isunya melalui telepon saja. Setelah baca-baca lagi, ternyata PLN sekarang sudah menyediakan aplikasi mobile loh, yaitu “PLN Mobile”. Uda diluncurin dari 31 Oktober 2016 dan sekarang aku baru tau :)

Dengan aplikasi ini, aku bisa mengajukan keluhan layanan ketenagalistrikan lewat chat, telpon PLN (GSM) ke 123 — bayar pulsa ya hehe, atau telpon PLN (VOIP) — bebas pulsa karena merupakan komunikasi jalur internet.

Apa aja sih fungsi PLN Mobile?

• Mengecek pemakaian listrik (kWh dan Rp)
• Mengecek informasi tarif listrik terbaru
• Memberikan feedback
• Mengadukan keluhan terkait layanan ketenagalistrikan PLN
• Mengecek detail riwayat pengaduan
• dll

Bagaimana cara menggunakannya?

DAFTAR dulu dong kalau belum punya akun. Tap tombol daftar dan kamu perlu mengisi:

• Nama lengkap
• IDPEL / no meter
• Nomor HP yang aktif digunakan
• Email atau lakukan integrasi Gmail
• Password 6 digit
• Ketik ulang password yang telah dimasukkan

Selanjutnya, setiap membuka aplikasi, kamu hanya perlu menginput password untuk login.

— -

Oke, lanjut ke kisah sedih di pagi hari karena lampu padam dan baterai HP < 10%. Lebay sedikit.

Aku coba chat lewat aplikasi dan menginfokan empat hal: nomor meter, jenis keluhan, nomor HP, dan alamat lengkap. Setelah selesai, petugas akan memberikan nomor pengaduan. Nomor pengaduan ini penting untuk follow up keluhan kamu jika belum terselesaikan. Jadi jangan lupa dicatat kalau kamu ga download aplikasinya :)

Sekitar 30 menit setelah pengaduan, petugas datang dan lampu pun akhirnya nyala. Yeayyy! Senang sekaligus terkesima karena pelayanannya begitu cepat. And btw, pelayanan ini gratis. Bahkan saat chat maupun telpon, operator support akan mengingatkan kembali untuk tidak membayar atau pun memberikan uang tips kepada petugas yang datang. Wow.

Satu ketidaknyamanan menggunakan aplikasi ini: chat sering ter-closed padahal pengajuan belum selesai dilakukan. Alhasil, akujadi berulang kali chat sampai pengaduan benar-benar tercatat.

—

2 hari kemudian….

Ternyata kejadian ini terulang kembali :(

Kali ini kecewa dengan pelayanan PLN karena beberapa hal:

1. Petugas tidak ada kabar

Awalnya sempat ditelpon oleh petugas PLN & beliau request untuk share foto meteran melalui WA. Selanjutnya beliau bilang akan segera menginfokan instruksinya agar saya dapat memperbaiki meteran sendiri. 1 jam berlalu, lalu tidak ada kabar. Setelah hampir 2 jam, aku pun coba menghubungi kembali nomor WA yang diberikan. Namun ternyata nomor sudah tidak bisa dihubungi dan status chat pun tidak delivered.

2. Update status penyelesaian di aplikasi tidak sesuai dengan kenyataan

Aku cek di aplikasi bagian riwayat pengaduan, ternyata tertera bahwa keluhan sudah diselesaikan dalam 30 menit sejak pengaduan. Hmmm? Belum ada petugas yang datang atau pun menghubungi.

Aku pun coba mengajukan pengaduan kembali terkait perbedaan status penyelesaian tersebut. Wondering kalau pengaduan ini tidak ditindak lanjuti karena benar-benar dianggap sudah selesai ditangani, seperti status di aplikasi. Dan teryata kejadian terulang dong, sekitar ~45 menit setelah pengaduan terakhir, status di aplikasi sudah “Selesai”, padahal belum ada petugas yang datang membantu.

Lalu….tentu saja aku coba follow up kembali ke PLN 123. Sampai akhirnya setelah beberapa jam, ada petugas yang datang membantu dan lampu pun nyala.

3. Tim support (chat/telp) seharusnya bisa lebih helpful dalam menanggapi keluhan

Tim support sudah responsif, tetapi saat ditanya beberapa case, tidak ada jawaban pasti yang diberikan. Seharusnya untuk kasus yang sering terjadi, mereka dapat memberikan penjelasan singkat mengenai penyebab & cara mengatasinya. Kok bisa tahu kalau yang aku tanyakan adalah kasus yang sering terjadi? Sudah tanya ke petugas salah satu kos dan ternyata memang cukup sering terjadi. Jadi menurutku, akan lebih baik jika tim support pun dapat memberikan penjelasan lebih terkait ‘basic case’.

Anyway, I do hope PLN will improve the apps! It’s a good start to serve their customer better.

—

Other notes:

• Tim support tidak akan memberikan komitmen waktu kapan keluhan akan diselesaikan. Perkiraan waktu penyelesaian pun tidak diinfokan. Mungkin karena jumlah case cukup banyak dibandingkan jumlah petugas, sehingga sulit diprediksi SLA yang tepat.
• Entah kenapa operator support PLN selalu menanyakan “Apakah saya berbicara dengan Bpk/Ibu ……(nama pemilik akun)?”. Jika kalian tidak jawab, biasanya pertanyaan tersebut akan diulangi kembali sampai kalian menjawabnya. Hehe

Bulan ini ada teman yang tanya-tanya tentang cara perpanjang paspor. Minggu lalu ada pembaca blog ini yang bilang kalau artikel ambil antrian paspor online yang aku post sangat membantu. Jadiiiii…sekarang termotivasi untuk tulis lebih lengkap deh :p

Langsung aja ya aku share pengalamanku buat atau perpanjang paspor. Langkah-langkah nya begini guys:

1. Ambil antrian paspor secara online. Cek di artikel aku tentang ini.
2. Persiapkan dokumen2 yang diperlukan:

Perpanjang paspor

• Paspor lama beserta fotokopinya.
• e-KTP beserta fotokopinya.
• Tambah fotokopi KK, akte kelahiran, dan kartu kerja jika kamu mengajukan perpanjangan paspor di kantor imigrasi yang berbeda dengan kota asalmu.

Buat atau ganti paspor baru

• KTP beserta fotokopinya.
• Kartu Keluarga (KK) beserta fotokopinya.
• Akta kelahiran atau surat nikah beserta fotokopinya.
• Surat pewarganegaraan Indonesia, khusus orang asing yang menjadi warga negara Indonesia.
• Jika kamu pernah ganti nama, bawa surat penetapan ganti nama dari pejabat berwenang.
• Paspor lama, khusus untuk yang ingin menukar dari paspor biasa ke e-paspor.

3. Datang ke kantor imigrasi sesuai dengan lokasi dan jadwal yang kamu pilih saat mengambil nomor antrian online.

4. Tunjukkan bukti antrian (kode booking) dari aplikasi Layanan Paspor Online atau foto - screenshot bukti antriannya ke petugas.

5. Jika kamu perpanjang paspor, maka kamu tidak perlu mengisi formulir pengajuan lagi. Waktu itu aku hanya perlu memberikan paspor lama asli dan e-KTP. Sebaliknya, kalau baru mau membuat paspor, maka kamu perlu mengisi formulir pengajuannya. Formulir ini bisa didapat dari petugas.

6. Ambil nomor antrian wawancara dari petugas. Lalu tunggu sampai nomormu dipanggil.

7. Wawancara dengan petugas di dalam, foto di tempat, dan rekam sidik jari. Wawancaranya hanya terkait alasan kamu buat paspor, rencana mau ke mana, atau verifikasi data diri kok. Jadi ga perlu tegang yaaa! hehe

8. Dapat 16 digit nomor permohonan paspor beserta bukti pengantar pembayaran.

9. Bayar melalui teller/transfer bank BRI/BCA/Mandiri/BNI. Kalau kamu ke kantor imigrasi Jakarta Selatan, di lantai 1 ada teller bank BRI kok. Jadi bisa langsung bayar di sana. Ga ada biaya tambahan kalau bayar cash.

Biaya perpanjang dan pergantian paspor sama saja. Untuk paspor biasa 350,000 IDR, sedangkan e-paspor 650,000 IDR.

10. Datang kembali untuk mengambil paspor setelah selesai diproses. Jangan lupa bawa e-KTP, bukti pengantar pembayaran, dan bukti bayar.

— —

Other information:

• Pembayaran dilakukan maksimal 7 hari setelah proses wawancara.
• Paspor akan selesai diproses dalam 5 hari kerja untuk yang paspor biasa dan 10 hari untuk e-paspor.
• Untuk yang ngurus papsor di kantor imigrasi Jakarta Selatan bisa cek status pengajuan papsor lewat WA loh! Waktu itu petugas yang wawancara aku memberi tahu nomor Whatsapp Gateaway Service (WAGS) Kantor Imigrasi Jakarta Selatan. Cukup kirim 16 digit nomor permohonan ke nomor WA tersebut, lalu kamu akan tahu status pengajuanmu sudah selesai atau belum.

Menurutku layanan WA ini membantu banget, really appreciate it!

Ga cuma bisa cek status pengajuan, lewat nomor WA ini, kamu juga bisa cek cara pembayaran PNBP, persyaratan permohonan paspor, dan penyampaian aspirasi/apresiasi.

Namun sepertinya layanan WAGS ini belum tersedia di semua kantor imigrasi. Kerbatku ada yang perpanjang paspor di Jakarta Barat, tapi belum ada layanan ini. Semoga kedepannya layanan ini bisa lebih merata tersedia :D

Anyone loves pork, please raise your hand! :p

I guess you love it since you are opening this post in the first place.

If you visit Bali, you will definitely find many places sell pork. Yup, along the way you may see “Warung Babi Guling” or Balinese roast pork. Even if you search on Google about “Foods You Must Eat in Bali”, babi guling will be shown on your search result. One of the best babi guling is Warung Babi Guling Sari Dewi, Bp. Dobiel, usually known as Warung Babi Guling Pak Dobiel.

It’s located on Jl. Srikandi no 9, Benoa, Kec. Kuta Selatan, Kabupaten Badung, Bali. Specifically, there’s Pura Panti, Pasek Gelgel in front of it. The road was not wide and there’s only a few spaces to park the car. When I went there with my friends, we even parked our car quite far from the stall.

No doubt that it’s one of the famous ones. You can see from the photo above, lots of people were queueing to eat. My friends and I even had to wait one hour to get the foods we ordered. Such a loooong time, right?

And oh! They open everyday 10AM–4PM, except on Tuesday. They’re closed on Tuesday, take a note on this, otherwise it’ll be in vain going there.

Btw, I give you a tips if you wanna eat it, but don’t want to spend so much time to queue. How? Just take away the food. You can go inside the entrance gate, then go right.

Spot the sign “Order here” on the photo above? There you go. You can order your food there directly and no need to join the long queue. Basically Go-jek or Grab drivers also order the food from this spot.

On the other hand, if you wanna enjoy the food there..wow, you have to queue from the front side. I’ll give another trick for you, hehe. At that time, I went there with my friends..so some of us queued, while others were waiting for people eating. Yesss, waiting until they finished eating, then we ‘booked’ one table there. Some of us sat there until other friends got the food served.

We ordered the beverages while waiting for the foods. They offered mineral water, orange juice, original coconut, and tea (Teh Sosro). After one hour, eventually we could enjoy the food. Felt like finallyyyy!

I went there with seven friends. Yet you know how many plates did we order? Eight of us ordered 10 plates of nasi babi guling + 10 pork bone soup + 2 plate of Samcan + 1 plate of pork rind (the culinary term for the skin of a pig). My boy friends ate a lot! haha

Two days before I actually went to another Warung Babi Guling, which is Pak Malen. I could say that:

• I prefer the nasi babi guling & pork rind at Pak Malen than this. I felt that the pork rind here was not crispy enough.
• The samcan was just a so-so taste for me.
• But the pork bone soup here was more delicious than Pak Malen. Yummy!

Below is the price list of the menu we ordered:

• Beverages: Tea/teh Sosro (IDR 5,000), orange juice (IDR 10,000), coconut (IDR 15,000).
• Foods: nasi babi guling + pork bone soup (IDR 40,000), samcan (IDR 50,000), pork rind (IDR 50,000).

Actually while waiting for the foods ready, I went around the place and observed how they cooked the foods. Just go straight from the entrance door and you’ll find this spot. I had a chat with some staffs and they’re so friendly.

Greetings from the flower wall when you open the door! In fact, this was one of the reasons I plot this spot to visit. For the decorations are beautiful, full of flowers, make me feel the nature..so I love it! hehe

The store area actually wasn’t big, only one floor. When I arrived, even there was only one staff on duty. If you expect an instagrammable spot, it’s a yes to visit this place.

Many interesting spots to take good photos, right? A cozy place to stay and have a chit chat with friends as well.

First and foremost, you can see myriads dried beautiful flowers all over the ceiling, hanging upside down. This was the part I love the most :)

Here was a weird pose of me in front of the beautiful decorations, near the entrance door. And btw, they sell flowers and related stuffs such as all of the stuffs behind me in the photo above.

Another photo spot with Arriate fresh herb tea house written on the wall.

Anyway, they actually have another store in Hongdae. I read from other blogs saying that their Hongdae branch is better. It has four floors they said.

They offer various beverages and foods on the board. For the beverages, you may have coffee (₩4500–5500), ade (₩7000), fresh juice(₩6500), vin chaud* (₩8500), hot tea (₩5000), mojito (₩8500), black tea, fresh herb tea (₩8500 hot / ₩9000 ice), dryherb tea (₩7000 hot / ₩7500 ice), milktea (₩7500 hot / ₩8000 ice), or ginger ale (₩7500 hot / ₩8000 ice).

*Vin chaud is a French mulled wine, usually made with red wine along with raisins sometimes. It is served hot or warm, a traditional drink during winter, especially around Christmas. I went there in last March when the windy winter still hit me.

Cakes and cookies were provided in the glass shelves as well. The range of the prices were ₩2000–6000. You can choose a piece of tiramisu, double cheese cake, earl grey, moreno milk and more.

I ate the earl grey cake. The taste was unique and I like it. On the other hand, the beverage was too sweet for me, so just a so-so taste.

Btw, they had the rule of “Please order at least one meal per person”. Perhaps it’s because they experienced many people come there to take a good photo only (?) Hehe

Anyway, the ambience was really good. I assume you’ll love it too if you like natural scent or kind of ‘garden’ -like place.

Address: 520 Nonhyeon-ro, Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Hours: Monday- Sunday at 9AM–10PM

— —

How to get there?

If you plan to go there by bus, the nearest bus stop should be Eonju Station Exit 5, CHIA Hospital Sageori. But if you plan to go there by MRT, the nearest station should be Yeoksam Exit 7. Please recheck on the NAVER map guys! :)

I went there by bus, so here are some spots to help you find the cafe easier. It’s located near GS energy station.

Right beside the Parrish store. So try to find it on the map.

And tadaaa! This was the front view of Arriate cafe Gangnam branch.

If you read this post but still wondering what Gomtang is. I would simply tell you it’s a Korean traditional soup served with sliced beef meat and rice. It contains various parts of beef along with radish to boil.

Hadongkwan is known for its gomtang, since they opened in 1930s. I ever read that previously this restaurant only sold Gomtang (곰탕) in the menu, with various variants. Yet when I went there, they already offered Su-yuk (수육) / pork belly as you can see on the menu beside.

Their menu is only available in Korean, but I think no need to worry even you’re a tourist. Several staffs could speak English or Chinese. I assume you can :D

At that moment, I ordered a bowl of special gomtang ₩15,000 with mixed beef parts. If you are not into beef intestines and tripes, you better tell the staff to not add it in your soup.

How to eat Gomtang?

1. Add minced green onion and salt for seasoning, adjust with your preference. As you can see on the photo above, they provide a full bowl of green onion. So it’s like an ‘All you can eat green onion’ here. lol
2. You may use Kimchi and its gravy instead. You can refill this side dish Kimchi, eat it till drop. Btw, so far their kimchi was the most favorite kimchi I ate in Korea. The ingredients were so fresh and made me felt the ‘click’ feeling in my mouth.
3. Add more flavors into the soup by adding in various condiments prepared on the table: salt and pepper to your preference. I personally felt the taste of the soup was quite plain so I definitely pour more flavors in it.

Despite I still needed to add some flavors in my soup, I recommend you to try this if you come to Korea. I ate other Gomtang, yet I still think this was the best one :)

I enjoyed this meal at Starfield COEX Mall, the address is Samseong 1(il)-dong, 강남구 서울 South Korea. Hadongkwan is located in front of JAJU store. Just try to spot the signage 河東管 in traditional Chinese or 河东管 in simplified Chinese, or of course 하동관 in Hangul.

Opening Hours

Monday — Friday 9:00 AM-8:00 PM
Saturday — Sunday 9:30 AM-8:00 PM

— -

They have stores in other locations, so you can check other information on their website: http://www.hadongkwan.com

Opening Hours

Open 7:00 AM-16:30 PM
Closed 1st and 3rd Sundays throughout the year

It’s been a long time I post nothing on Medium. Now I’m back, eventually continue sharing my story in Korea. This time I wanna share a lil bit of my travelling experience in Gangnam area. That day I made a list of spots to visit in Gangnam, starting with Arriate Cafe. Check my review about it on my another post :D

Right after visiting Arriate, the next destination was Bongeunsa Temple. Once known as Gyeonseongsa Temple, it’s located in front of COEX, the building on the photo above. In 1498, Gyeonseongsa Temple refurbished by Queen Jeonghyeon and she renamed it Bongeunsa Temple.

Actually I read from myriad blogs, it’s originally located near the Royal Tomb of King Seongjong. Then it’s transferred to the current location during Joseon King Myeongjong’s reign.

This was the view after I entered the main gate, which was right in front of COEX. You can visit this temple with no admission fee. And by the way, I read that some temples in Korea offer Templestay program for visitors. Are you curious to join it? At Bogeunsa, you can enjoy it! Available programs here are:
- Overnight templestay
- Retreat-type templestay

You can spend a night in this Buddhist temple, experience how the resident monks do their chores, engage with them during your stay, and definitely you have chances to attend the Buddhist services.

From the first spot, I walked up to the right, then found these colorful lantern hanging above my heads.

This traditional temple is located in the middle of the city. A good place to find peaceful moments after going through a hectic life. Perhaps you can try to meditate here, to get enlightenment? To connect with your soul? Sometimes it’s more important to be able to tap into our heart rather than our head, isn’t it?

You may find peace when drinking a cup of tea too & just enjoy the moment. Just drop by the tea house inside the temple area then.

Talking about peace, what is the definition of peace in your opinion? To me, it’s when I walk in love, no time to stress something out.

As life is very challenging where various obstacles (juggling stressful situations, whether in office, life, or relationship) may hit me, the best thing I can do is to make peace with myself. Not finding it around or lean on other people. Yet of course with the faith in God.

I believe that peace and joy are related to each other. It should be built within ourselves. Make peace with who we are, why we are, and how we are. Thus, the joy will dwell in our soul.

Strive for peace in every interactions in this world, and our peace shall be multiplied. In short, walk in love. — I am not saying I have done it perfectly, but yes I’m trying.

And oh! Don’t forget to practice gratitude in our daily lives. Otherwise, we’re gonna stressed out as we always feel not enough. How can we find peace if we live that way?

Live with peace, joy, and happiness. Remember that “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22)

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Btw, below are other temples which provides templestay program.

1. Lotus Lantern International Meditation Center (Ganghwa-gun, Incheon)
2. International Seon Center (Yangcheon-gu, Seoul)
3. Myogaksa (Jongno-gu, Seoul)
4. Jogyesa (Jongno-gu, Seoul)
5. Beomeosa (Geumjeong-gu, Busan)
6. Haeinsa (Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do)
7. Bulguksa (Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do)
8. Donghwasa (Dong-gu, Daegu)
9. Yakchunsa (Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do)
10. Guinsa (Danyang-gun, Chungcheongbuk-do)

Dress yourself up with hanbok, here is the guideline.

Since the most nearest palace from my rental place was Changdeokgung, it became my first palace to visit. Changdeokgung was the main palace for many kings of the Joseon Dynasty. It’s built following the construction of Gyeongbukgung Palace in 1405. This palace was recognized as a World Cultural Heritage site by the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Committee in Dec 1997, during the committee meeting in Naples, Italy.

Here was my first photo spot as I arrived.

I loved the scenery surrounded me, those white-pink cherry blossom ♥

Going inside the palace where most people were outside, so that I could take photos without lots of people walking in the background. Hehe

Strolled in another side of the palace, while bringing this little Korean hanbok bag.

In my opinion, this palace was not as crowded as in Gyeongbokgung Palace. So you can walking around more freely here.

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Other informations of this palace:

Closed : Mondays

Baby Stroller Rentals : 8 strollers available at Donhwamun Gate

Admission Fees

• Adults (ages 25–64): 3,000 won / group (>10 people): ₩2,400
• Students (ages 24 and under): Free (*except for foreign visitors)
  *Kindly search more about the free admission information.
  *Discount admission ticket: Jongno residents (50% discount, present an ID card)