➹ running man fan - seoul itinerary

A friend has recently succumbed to being an avid fan of the hit variety-reality show, Running Man 런닝맨. She did a marathon on ALL the past episodes and is now able to catch up to the latest subbed releases (Ep 82 as of writing). Now, she wants to visit a lot of the popular places featured on the show on her upcoming Seoul vacation with friends. It will be their first time in Korea so I'll be helping build her itinerary.

Fortunately, wiki has an ULTRA COMPREHENSIVE database of NEAR-EVERYTHING you can think of about Running Man. Just check out their List of Running Man episodes . Die-hard Running Man addicts can certainly revel on all the details compiled on wiki… PD-nim's must be so proud to have created this cult following!

Anyway, I spot a couple of landmarks which would be easy to visit as a first-timer in Korea.
[Episode 01] Times Square (Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul) [Guests: Hwang Jung-eum, Lee Hyo-ri]
[Episode 06] N Seoul Tower (Jung-gu, Seoul) [Guests: Kim Shin-young, Se7en, Son Dam-bi]
[Episode 07] Sejong Center for the Performing Arts (Jongno-gu, Seoul) [Guests: Eun-jeong (T-ara), Jo Kwon (2AM), Jung Yong-hwa (CN Blue)]
[Episode 08] Seoul Museum of History, Gyeonghui Palace (Jongno-gu, Seoul) [Guests: Lee Joon (MBLAQ), Park Jun-gyu, Victoria (f(x))]
[Episode 09] Lotte World (Sincheon-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul) [Guests: Lee Hong-ki (FT Island), Kim Soo-ro, Shin Bong-sun]
[Episode 11] Seoul Central Post Office (Jung-gu, Seoul) [Guests: Jung Yong-hwa (CN Blue), Kim Je-dong]
[Episode 16] I'Park Mall (Yongsan-gu, Seoul) [Guests: Yuri (Girls' Generation)]
[Episode 19] Namsangol Hanok Village(Jung-gu, Seoul) [Guests: Nichkhun (2PM)]
[Episode 29] COEX Aquarium(Gangnam-gu, Seoul) [Guests: - ]
[Episode 33] Incheon International Airport (Jung-gu, Incheon) [Guests: Oh Ji-ho]
[Episode 34] Hongdae area (Hongdae, Mapo-gu, Seoul) [Guests: Park Jun-gyu, Uee (After School)]
[Episode 39] Seoul Folk Flea Market (Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul) [Guests: Sunny, Yoona (Girls' Generation)]
[Episode 46] Kyobo Book Centre (Jongno-gu, Seoul) [Guests: Kim Hyun-joong (SS501)]
[Episode 49] Dream Forest (Gangbuk-gu, Seoul) [Guests: Goo Ha-ra (Kara), Noh Sa-yeon]
[Episode 54] 63 Building (Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul) [Guests: Choi Kang-hee, Ji Sung]
[Episode 66] Everland [Guests: Kim Sun-ah, Song Joong-ki]

Funny how I've only been to 6 of my easy picks! There's just so much to visit in Korea ~ and even just in Seoul.

[Episode 01] Times Square (Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul) [Guests: Hwang Jung-eum, Lee Hyo-ri]


[Episode 06] N Seoul Tower (Jung-gu, Seoul) [Guests: Kim Shin-young, Se7en, Son Dam-bi]


[Episode 09] Lotte World (Sincheon-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul) [Guests: Lee Hong-ki (FT Island), Kim Soo-ro, Shin Bong-sun]


[Episode 33] Incheon International Airport (Jung-gu, Incheon) [Guests: Oh Ji-ho]


[Episode 34] Hongdae area (Hongdae, Mapo-gu, Seoul) [Guests: Park Jun-gyu, Uee (After School)]


[Episode 66] Everland [Guests: Kim Sun-ah, Song Joong-ki]

I've seen the Sejong Center for Performing Arts from across the street at Gwanghwamun Plaza. And I think I've seen the Post Office while strolling around Jong-no before ... both landmarks feel a bit more special because of the Running Man episodes shot in them ^^.

How fun would it be to have Running Man film in these heavily touristy areas?
Myeongdong!!!
Namdaemun
Ssamziegiel
Cheonggyecheon

Such a day shall come ^^.

➹ pororo generation

I think I first heard about Pororo from watching Running Man ㅋㅋㅋ. Haroro has in fact been one of my favorite players in the show. And then I encountered Pororo once again when I watched Greatest Love! That was when I realized how popular this penguin character is. There was a time when Dooly (the dinosaur character) was all the rage (cue X-Man, Star Golden Bell clips)~ and perhaps it is still quite popular these days … But it is crystal clear that it is NOW the peak of the Pororo generation!

A few weeks before I came to Seoul last fall, I encountered Pororo again via Flower Boy Ramyun! At this point, I just had to check out what all the hype is all about! As expected, there is no shortage of Pororo goodies online even for English speakers like me. Surely, there are tons more from Korean netizens! Sadly, I had no time to browse around before my trip.

Little did I know that Pororo is like all over Seoul! Well, all over Times Square at least. We went into the 24-hr eMart after midnight and marveled at the wide variety of Pororo merchandise at this supermarket! Chopsticks, lunchboxes, mugs, pencil cases and what nots. I couldn't choose what to buy for my 4-yr old nephew at that time because the choices were all overwhelmingly cute! I settled for a simple pencil case since I wasn't sure if my nephew even knows who Pororo was.

The next morning, we went into Kyobo bookstore and found Pororo books, toys and even Pororo himself in a car ㅋㅋㅋ.


I wanted to buy a book for toddlers ~ for my Hangul education and just for fun ~ so I picked this out.



The department store section in eMart is not open 24 hours so we came back to browse around after Kyobo. It was not so surprising that we found a whole section for Pororo in the Toys Department.




Pororo merchandise was even all over Incheon International Airport. This was where we found a Petty doll. Too bad it was a bit too expensive else, my friend would have bought it haha. Next time, I wouldn't mind taking home a Pororo doll myself ㅎㅎ. It was also in IIAC that we found Pororo chocolates!!!



So yeah, I gave in and bought a pack. They were sooo yummy!!! Well, it's hard to go wrong with strawberry yogurt, yes? Buying these was also a good thing since my nephew and niece are apparently huge fans of Pororo! They were so excited when I gave them the chocolates. My nephew even introduced me to all the characters on the show. It was not surprising that he even asked me to give him the Pororo book~ ah, but not yet. He wouldn't understand the Hangul characters yet haha!

Last Christmas, I decided to watch Pororo episodes in their youtube channel. Oh sooo much fun! ^^ It's such a fun way to learn simple Korean expressions. Ah scratch that ~ it's the CUTEST way to learn Korean expressions!

For my nephew's 5th birthday, I had Pororo notebooks custom made for his party! His classmates loved these so much~


Now I even downloaded the free Pororo apps on my smartphone. The camera app is also loads of fun for kids ^^.

Lastly, I just found out that this Pororo drink is also delicious (well, according to my nephew haha).


So what's all the hype on Pororo? I'm not exactly sure myself but I'm now pretty hooked in it!