Seoul Forest (서울숲) & Under Stand Avenue (언더스탠드에비뉴)

I went to Seoul Forest (서울숲) right after my unplanned visit to Cube Entertainment. My original plan for that particular day was to visit COMMON GROUND and Seoul Forest only as I expected to spend a lot of time in Seoul Forest. I had this expectation based on my visit to Haneul Park where I spent almost 5 hours and just so you know, Haneul Park is not even that huge compared to Seoul Forest. 

My journey to Seoul Forest was not as smooth as I expected. Pretty sure I took the wrong subway exit and had to walk for about 30-45 minutes from the Ttukseom Station, instead of 15 minutes. By the time I saw the sign to the Seoul Forest, I already had this mindset; "Haaaaaaaaaaaa, dah penat dah! Tak larat nak jalan dah! Sakit pinggang dah! Nak jalan ke tak ni? Okay, jalan mana yang larat je. Bila rasa tak larat, jom balik please?"

I was greeted with this Under Stand Avenue (언더스탠드에비뉴) project when I crossed the road heading to the Seoul Forest. Honestly, I wasn't aware of this place because I didn't do any proper research (remember?) so this was a pleasant surprise.

If I remember correctly, Under Stand Avenue is a CSR project by Lotte Duty-Free and a few other companies? I also read that Under Stand Avenue is aiming to be a cultural space that aims to support teenagers, mothers, artists, local vendors, and social entrepreneurs. Hence, Under Stand Avenue has different Stands, namely Mom Stand, Youth Stand, Power Stand, and Social Stand.

I didn't explore Under Stand Avenue thoroughly because it's like a smaller version of COMMON GROUND so I figured that breezing through the area might be enough. Additionally, I was already dead tired but I have yet to reach Seoul Forest, which was my goal for that day, in case you forget. But now that I think about it, I should just explore Under Stand Avenue as well because that place is so Instagrammable and a lil bit different from COMMON GROUND. And what made me more regretful of not exploring Under Stand Avenue was there were suddenly a lot of shows especially music shows that were shot at Under Stand Avenue at night, and wow! Under Stand Avenue looked so pretty, homey, and almost magical T^T

I barely spent 30 minutes at Under Stand Avenue and then off I went to Seoul Forest. My first impression of Seoul Forest was, "Wow! This park is hugeeeeeeee! Where should I start?" I tried reading the map near a convenience store but I got so overwhelmed by the map that I decided to just go with the flow. For your information, Seoul Forest is the third largest park in Seoul so that speaks volumes, eh?

I basically just strolled around the park aimlessly. At one point, I reached this playground. I thought to myself, "This playground looks familiar. Where did I see it?" Spent about 10 minutes thinking about it when I realized that this playground has been featured countless times in The Return of the Superman.


Anyway, I was so in love with the playground surroundings. It was quite crowded with kids and parents but I was so happy at that time. I felt so much love watching parents willingly spending time and playing with their kids at the playground. The continuous and contagious laughter sound was all around the area. Hilang penat masa tu :D

I then walked aimlessly again, mostly under shade because it was hot and humid during that day T^T. At one point, I saw a sign that had "Deer" on it. Figured that Seoul Forest has this area with deer, and I followed the sign, oh boy was I happy that I decided to follow the sign.

There were a lot of deer in that designated area. You can touch the deer if the deer that you approach is friendly enough. You also can feed the deer but I believe you can only feed the deer with the feed sold at a vending machine near the washroom.

I wasn't lucky enough for I didn't get to touch the deer and I decided not to feed the deer. There were too many children trying to feed the deer when I was there. So, there was no room for me to approach the deer. So, I settled with observing the deer from afar. 

After that, I walked on a bridge that oversaw the deer area. Think it leads to an observatory but I wasn't sure because I only walked to the middle of the bridge before making a U-turn. Also, you can see Hangang from the bridge but I wasn't sure which part of Hangang. Was tempted to go and walk along Hangang but decided not to because I was afraid that I'd get lost.

Other than these, I also reached a few parts of the park which have a skate park, and water play area respectively. The skate park was empty but the water play was crowded with families. I then decided to walk back to where I came from as I didn't have the energy to walk anymore. Like seriously, kaki dah jadi jelly that I can barely walk T^T.

I then walked to the nearest subway station and headed back straight to the hostel. This was one of the days that I concluded my day early. My whole body was sore and I had a fever later that night. Despite falling in sick later that night, I was truly happy with my decision to go to Seoul Forest. Hopefully, I can go to Seoul Forest again with my best friend or my sister :)