[REVIEW] Visit Korea VIP Invitation Tour Day 1: Hongdae Trick Eye Museum & Ice Gallery

I’m back with my Visit Korea VIP Member Invitation Tour blog series^^

Previously, I wrote about my dining experience at Nature Kitchen (자연별곡). Next up is my review of the Trick Eye Museum and Ice Gallery in Hongdae. This place is just walking distance from Nature Kitchen, and has been in my Korean bucket list ever since my first visit last 2013. That’s why I was so thrilled when I found out that it’s part of our itinerary. ^^

Trick Eye is a 3D interactive museum that’s famous around the world. It has been featured on TV several times and has branches in Singapore (Sentosa), China (Jinan), and Hong Kong. It's also the first optical illusion museum that was recognized by Trip Advisor visitors as the no.1 museum in Seoul.
The word trick eye came from the English expression 'Trompe-l'oeil', meaning ‘trick of the eye’. Unlike traditional museums where you just look at the art and displays and have a guide to tour you around, Trick Eye Museum gives you a unique experience via optical illusion, which makes flat 2D paintings look like 3D images. And you don’t need a guide in exploring the facility (and there are no ‘Do not touch’ signs too!), you can freely tour the museum, touch and interact with the various art creations, and best of all, take pictures with them! You can create your own stories, and come up with creative poses for lots of SNS-worthy pictures. Trick Eye is like a huge and entertaining photo op facility with paintings on the walls, floor, and ceiling, and is a very popular date and hangout place in Korea because of all the cute, unique, and creative art images that one can find there.

The museum also offers a lot of activities. There are fun activities like art toy experience, mask making, and educational programs for children where the concepts behind the art illusions are explained. Then, for adults you can try the Hanbok experience and enjoy all sorts of carnival games. You can even have your own caricature and digital oil painting made!

An artist doing a caricature of a couple visitor

There are several facilities inside the Trick Eye Museum (aside from the museum itself). There’s the Ice Gallery, Carnival Street, and the Experience Hall, which were all in the same floor. There are restrooms, locker rooms, a Greek-styled café, a Greek mythology educational room, and exhibit halls that feature contemporary artists as additional attractions. Also in the same building is the Love Museum, an adult only sensual erotic art attraction, which we were not able to explore.

our ticket to the museum (front and back)

Here's a very cute map from the Trick Eye leaflet that we got there :)

We were supposed to have group photo ops in the museum and we were the first to arrive. We took a lot of photos and it was indeed a lot of fun to pose with all those art. After that, it was time to take photos with ice!

Lol, the giants are gonna get us!

Haha, this is one difficult pose XD

The Visit Korea VIP Invitation Tour group photo

Cute photo, a selfie within a selfie. Photo credit to Jean Therese Kurniawan

Kim eonni taught me how to 'fly' at Trickeye. I was posing my usual pose, when she said, "Oh, there's a better way to do it" and she showed me that super cute pose. Lol, this is my attempt to mimic Kim eonni's pose. :D

It was really cold at the Ice Gallery/Museum (I think around -4°C). Good thing we were wearing our K-Smile Supporter Jackets.^^ We posed with all the ice sculptures, tried the ice slide, laid down the ice bed, sat down at the ice sofa, and even played (well, I tried) the ice piano. There’s even a toilet made of ice (and there’s a toy poop in it, lol!).

Selfie time!^^

I tried to play the piano, lol

Nat, Tere, and me hanging out at the Ice Bar. Photo credit to Jeanne Therese Kurniawan

Here's a video of me trying the ice slide. It was short, but really fun. Hope they'll make a longer one!^^ I'm sure the kids will love this....Haha, it was slippery so its hard to get up :)

Read on for my detailed review:

Ambience: 9 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

- The museum gives you a light and fun feel. There is ample lighting and the place is also well-maintained. The art masterpieces and the optical illusions are very entertaining. The art displays are divided into several rooms, and I noticed that each room seems to have a certain theme (e.g. under the sea, etc.).
I think I just expected it to be a lot bigger, and didn’t really expect to finish in just 60 minutes or so. The entire facility is 2,314 square metres big and can accommodate a maximum of 700-800 people.

Value for money: 10 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

- The price of KRW 15,000 per adult (approx. Php 600) and KRW 12,000 per minor is just right for the unique experience being offered by the museum. It’s a very good place to hang out, enjoy, and bond with family and friends.

They accept cash as well as credit card payments (major credit cards), but refund is not possible after the tickets have been issued.

Accessibility: 9 ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

- The museum is very easy to find and is at the second basement floor of the Homi-hwabang building.

Here's a detailed map from the Trick Eye leaflet :)

Will I go back to this place? : Of course!

- Trick Eye Museum and Ice Gallery is a good place to let your imagination run wild, and to bring out the kid in you. It’s a good and unique experience to interact with various art masterpieces, and to create your own stories while taking pictures. I think people from all walks of life will enjoy exploring this museum, and I’m sure it will be a remarkable bonding experience with family and friends.

Other important details about Trick Eye Museum and Ice Gallery:

Operating Hours:

The museum is open every day (Monday-Sunday) all year round.

09:00 am-21:00 (9pm)

*Last admission is at 20:00 (8pm)

Admission Fees:

15,000 won per adult; 12,000 won per minor (under 18)

Special rate for groups of 20 or more: 11,000 won per adult; 8,000 won per minor

50% reduced admission fee for disabled and handicapped (The museum has facilities for the disabled and handicapped such as wheel-chair accessible ticket and information booths, as well as ramps)

Free for children under 3 years old

*Pets are not allowed inside the museum

How to get there?

Address: 

20, Hongik-ro 3-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Korea 121-838
서울특별시 마포구 홍익로3길 20 (서교동)

[Subway]
Hongik University Station (Seoul Subway Line 2), Exit 9.
Go straight 150m, cross the road, and turn left onto Hongik-ro Street.
Go straight 120m, and turn right down the second side street (in between TONYMOLY and Holika Holika).
Continue going 100m to arrive at Trickeye Museum on the right.

If you have a car, parking is available at B3 & 1F of the building. It’s free for the first 30 minutes and costs KRW 1,500 for each additional 30 minutes for Trick Eye Museum patrons.

Approximate length of tour:

60-90 minutes


For inquiries, you may check out the following sites:

• Website: www.trickeye.com / www.icemuseum.co.kr
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/Trickeye.museum

You can also call these travel hotlines for more details:

• 1330 Travel Hotline: +82-2-1330 (Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese)
• For more info: +82-2-3144-6300 (Korean)

~~~

If you want to know the rest of our itinerary for this trip, you can check out my first blog post about the Visit Korea VIP Member Invitation Tour.

Many thanks again to Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) for making this trip, possible. You can check out the KTO official website and follow their accounts on Facebook and Twitter for the details on tour sites and packages, as well as helpful tips on travelling to Korea.

For Filipinos, follow Korea Tourism Organization Manila at Facebook, Twitter, and KakaoTalk (@ktomanila) for the latest updates on Korea tourism, events, tour packages and promos. :)