Annyeonghaseyo! Surprisingly, this is my first ever #jiraytakesavacay post here on my blog! It's been a couple of days, so I've had the time to rest, get out of jet-lag, unpack, edit my video, and overall process this awesome trip that I went on.
For those who are wondering, my best friend, Shaina and I embarked on a week-long trip to Seoul, South Korea. As a way to celebrate graduating college, we wanted to do something for ourselves and being the k-pop fans that we are, it seems fitting that Seoul was the place to go.
It took months to plan: from researching places to constantly changing our itinerary to figuring out how to dress for the weather (while trying to dress cute for the pics). It was all planned by us and we were nervously and excitedly counting down the days.
So here's a breakdown of what we did each day! I hope that it inspires you to visit this wonderful country!
Tuesday, Sept 10:
Our first day! We embarked on the bus and made our way to Hongdae. We arrived early and things were quiet: they don't open till 10 am! So we walked around the area, checked out the shops that we can swing by in later in the day. As we were walking, we came across this Trickeye Museum! It was more exciting than I expected! We did the package deal: a visit inside the Trickeye Museum, the Ice Museum, plus one VR experience of your choice!
Afterwards, we we're getting pretty hungry so we had the obligatory: KBBQ! My apologies, but I don't remember the name of the restaurant we went to, we were so hungry!
Once our tummies were full, we headed to Itaewon to visit the infamous 2-D cafe! We hung out and chatted all while hearing the the sound of the pouring rain outside the cafe. I'd recommend the green tea latte!
To end the night, we took a long bus ride to Yongsan Station to experience jimjilbang, which is their 24 hour bathhouses. The one that we went to, Dragon Hill Spa & Sauna, had both hot and cold rooms, saunas, bathing and massage areas, entertainment lounges, food and more! What better way to get out of jet lag and fatigue then to go relax in a Korean jimjilbang? It was a great start to our trip!
Wednesday, Sept 11:
Day two here we go! In the morning, we took the bus all the way to the Dongdaemun Design Plaza to sightsee the cool architectural design and visit some of their exhibits. Inside there's this cute stationary store where you can get customized pens and pencils. As well as artwork created by some of the local artists. There was even a shopping strip where you can walk around and get some goodies. I was awestruck by how beautifully made DDP was.
After walking around, both Shaina and I built our appetite and so we made the call to take the subway all the way to Myeongdong Shopping District to have lunch! We went to the highly recommended place called, Kyoja where we had an amazing bowl of noodle soup and dumplings! There's no wonder so many people love this place!
Now we've finally have food in our tummies, we had the energy to get some shopping done! Myeongdong was so pretty: they had some of the most cutest murals and shops so of course we had to stop by and take some obligatory cute pics in front of them!
One place in particular caught my eye: The StyleNanda Pink Hotel Flagship Store. It was such a cute, aesthetic place. On the top floor, there's cafe where you can hangout and have a drink. The other floors sell cosmetics, clothes, accessories, each with their own theme.
Some other places/stores to check out: Daiso Korea, Artbox, Top10, Myeongdong Underground Shopping Station, Ossuloc Tea, Olive Young. Myeongdong is such a good place to get your souvenir and gift shopping done. Don't forget to hangout after 4 pm to see their lively Night Market and try some awesome street food! We had dinner there and tried a little bit of everything!
Thursday, Sept 12:
Oppa Gangnam Style! That was the destination for today! After a crazy, long commute to get to Gangnam, we first visited the infamous COEX Mall to have some lunch. Then afterwards, we went to their Starfield Library for some cute pictures! So many books, mostly Korean, all displayed in various genres. I applaud the individuals who go there to study, read, browse on their computer with the many tourists around them!
Who knew how HUGE the COEX Mall is?! We were so overwhelmed with how many shops and stores they had. They even had their own aquarium! As we were browsing through the many stores, we finally made our way to the SMTOWN Museum. And oh my goodness, my inner middle-schooler self was screaming. That was the era when I first started getting into KPOP. They have some pretty cool exhibits!
After the museum, we ran into the infamous Gangnam Style sculpture, just outside the mall! We then transported to K-Star Road, where we got to see famous K-pop groups in their own personalized bears. They were all lined up in a strip, so as you walked down the street, you'll see different bears posted.
Our last part of the day was to see the N Seoul Tower, which was surprisingly close to our Airbnb! It turned out that our friends from WA, Irene and Trisha, we're also in Seoul at the same time for their study abroad term! So we decided to meet up with them at the N Seoul Tower! Turns out that our Airbnb host was right, going to up the tower is the best when it's at nighttime! I mean, just look at that view! Don't forget to buy a lock and post it along the fences by the entrance of the tower!
What a great way to end day three!
Friday, Sept 13:
After having a rice porridge and steamed egg breakfast in Myeongdong, Shaina and I headed to Gyeongbukgong Palace. Since we came during South Korea's Thanksgiving holiday called, Chuseok, it was awesome seeing the locals (and tourists) dressed in the traditional hanboks.
To keep it traditional, we traveled nearby to Bukchon Hanok Village, a neighborhood where they preserve their traditional houses. There were many tourists wearing hanboks.
We did a lot of walking in the first half of the day which led to hungry stomachs. Our hunger led us to Gwangjang Market, a famous traditional market. There were so many food vendors, that it was overwhelming to choose what to have for lunch! Shaina and I found a stall with open seats and we ordered japchae (stir-fry glass noodles), mandu (steamed dumplings, and tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes). Upon eating, we ran into our WA friends again, Trisha and Irene, and they joined us for lunch. We also tried their bindaetteok (mung bean pancakes) and nakji (raw baby octopus). Shaina wasn't particularly a fan of eating raw baby octopus that was still moving, but I enjoyed it! You can taste the freshness of the dish. It tasted so yummy with the sesame oil, seaweed, a chili sauce combo. Upon each bite, you feel the suction cups of the tentacles stick to your mouth, so the key is to keep chewing!
Once our tummies were happy and full, we stopped by Jogyesa Temple. At the frontgates, you'll see the locals greeting the temple. Once you enter, you are welcomed with a beautiful field of lotus plants. The trees were decorated with colorful lanterns. And the smell of incense lingered in the air. It was quite peaceful, a great way to sit and be still during our busy itinerary.
To end the night, we headed back to Myeongdong to do some more last minute shopping. For our last supper, we had KFC (korean friend chicken), a staple in South Korea. Let me tell you, Koreans know how to cook their chikin. That was probably the best chicken that I've had. What was cool was the different ways they could season it. Shaina and I got a mix of original and lemon honey butter (sounds odd, but so good!), but we saw some spicy seasonings as well. We toasted to our vacation with some soju (Korean alcohol made with rice) and makgeolli (korean rice wine).
Saturday, Sept 14:
Time to go home :(
Luckily our flight wasn't until later in the early evening so Shaina and I decided to take it a bit easy (and sleep in a bit). We spent the morning walking around our neighborhood, kindly taking it all in. For breakfast, we stumbled upon this cute cafe close by the bus station we would go on. The cafe is called #dono and it's super cute inside.
What's cool about our Airbnb was that it was placed in a neighborhood away (yet close) to the city. It's kept it's traditional style neighborhood before it started expanding. Not only that, we always had a killer view of the city skyline, plus a rooftop that we could visit! And so to end the trip, Shaina and I had a mini photoshoot on the rooftop!
Now it's bon voyage and on our way to the airport! To make things easier, we took the Express Train from Seoul Station all the way to Incheon International Airport. It's about a 45 minute ride, and you got to see the views of South Korea outside of city life.
Whew! Props to you for making it all the way at the end of this blog post! Has this post sparked the travel bug inside you that makes you wanna visit Seoul? But want to make the most out your experience? I've posted another blog post that provides travel tips and tricks for your visit! The link is here.
Wanna see a recap video of our trip? Click here!
Interested in the Airbnb that we booked? Check it here!
Here are some more snapshots of our vacay!
*I am not paid or sponsored for anything in this blog! Everything that I said here are my genuine experiences and expressions of Seoul.