Weekend Trip to Cheonan/Asan - Part 1

Took a trip to Cheonan/Asan this week, to visit the city of my Alma Mater during my Korean language school years. I remember the time that I left, how much I disliked my time in this place, wishing that I could be living in Seoul like the other two-thirds of the scholarship students sent to Ewha and Kyunghee University for their language studies. Little did I know, I would be visiting this place again, with some exploring to boot. But prejudice aside, Cheonan and Asan are pretty great places to take a break from Seoul at. It's just a little outside of an hour to get there, and they have amazing sights and places of interest to visit as well.

Took an express bus down to Cheonan Terminal from the Express Bus Terminal in Seoul. (You get discounted tickets from Seoul to Cheonan and vice-versa if you show your student pass) and arrived there a little into lunch time. Walked around, snapped some photos, reminisced a little and then sat down for some lunch.

I went back to this restaurant that I used to frequent a lot because of their free-flow of fried eggs but I see that it's gone now T.T They serve a few different types of bulgogi and have been featured on newspapers and television shows before too. (I guess they changed their fried eggs to steamed egg)

Headed back out on the streets to take a walk and came across this place called Disco Pangya. This place reserves some of my scariest days as a fresh student in Korea. Now, this isn't because this ride is scary, but it was because I knew nothing about it except it spun. Disco Pang Pang is a ride that Korean students love and they hang out here a lot after school. On top of that, it's cheap (4,000won per ride) and it lasts pretty long.

How Disco Pang Pang works is that the entire ride is controlled by a DJ who plays music and talks to the people taking the ride. It's a very endearing experience because the DJ will ask where you are from, how old you are and all the other basic questions. Thereafter, he will continue spinning the disc and ask other people as well. Now here comes the catch. Not only does this thing spin both ways, the DJ can control the flipping as well. So it could be spinning and flipping at the same time and unless you know how to keep yourself stable, you'll find yourself falling and being bullied in the middle by the DJ. It's really fun to watch and laugh with your friends, but not that fun when you can't stand up.

Sometimes there are people who work there who get in the ride with you and do many tricks that are pretty amazing. They are able to stand perfectly balanced during the whole ride and even do jumps and poses in the air. If you've never tried it, it's definitely worth a try. But be warned, watch a few times before you try it.

Thereafter, we headed to the theatre. Now, if you're located in Seoul, you'll see places like CGV, Lotte Cinema or Megabox. I'll bet you have never seen a place called Yawoori. Yawoori Cinema was opened as Yawoori Mall in Cheonan and thereafter it was acquired by Shinsegae groups. The theatre, however, maintained its name and has been ever since. The Shinsegae Mall here is massive and is home to many of the luxury imported brands as it has a building A and building B. The place was renovated and is now one of the nicest cinemas I've ever been to. Coming back here brought back a lot of memories and I caught Beauty & the Beast here!

Yawoori (Shinsegae Mall Cheonan)

43, Mannam-ro, Dongnam-gu, Cheonan-si, Chungcheongnam-do

Cinema is beautiful :D

The sun was setting when we came out of the cinema and we started to walk towards Cheonan Station, where we would take a train to Onyangoncheon Station, where the Onyang Hot Springs Hotel was located (the pit stop for the night). I used to shower with cold water when I was back in Singapore (where it was hot all the time), but ever since coming to Korea, I've been really accustomed to warm, or even hot water. So much so that I really enjoyed staying in a Hot Springs hotel in Noboribetsu, Hokkaido, Japan. This time, I really wanted it again so I took the opportunity that I would be heading to Asan to experience it again.

Took a 30 minute walk to the station, visiting the Cheonan traditional market along the way, and finally arrived at the station. Got on the train (Line 1), and headed toward Onyangoncheon Station (온양온천역).

Took a 500m walk toward the hotel, checked in, dropped my bags and relaxed for a good hour before I decided I was too hungry to laze around anymore. Smelled something really delicious from the bedroom window and decided to indulge in some beef ribs from the restaurant across the street that looked really popular since it was packed to the brim and there were even people waiting.

Onyang Hot Spring Hotel

1459, Oncheon-daero, Asan-si, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea

Tel: 041-540-1000

Onyang Hotel was nice. The staff were friendly and the room was comfortable. The hot springs are pretty cool too, and apparently it's a place that's frequented by people all over who come to visit. Circled the hotel to the restaurant I mentioned earlier and got a table. Ordered some beef ribs and also a bowl of cold noodles (which I finished before I could even take a photo). Usually, cold noodles are eaten after ribs to help with the digestion of the ribs (that's what I heard). Not too sure whether that is true so don't take my word for it.