It was my first visit to Seoul, Korea.
I was absolutely clueless about things.
I couldn’t (still can’t) even speak Korean.
There were numerous moments that surprised and delighted me and even more adventurous times that I have experienced during those 6 days (December 2018 — Start of January 2019). I will select five things to write about, so if you are interested to find out more, drop me a comment. Special mention to my travel mate, Quek, for the lovely photos that she took.
Siloam Sauna Jjimjilbang ✔
Our first stop when we touched down in Korea was surprisingly not our Airbnb apartment. It was to a jjimjilbang — traditional bathhouse (near Seoul station) that you must definitely experience when in Korea. We dropped off our luggage at the reception desk (no other charges)! I thought I will fulfil my Korean drama dream of wearing the towel on the head with two rolls at the side. (I was sorely disappointed when none of the customers wore the towel that way).
The bathhouse essentially consists of the pre-spa shower, the spa itself, the sauna, and of course the jjimjilbang food. It was not as awkward the second time round — being completely naked at a bathhouse (my first time in Japan was a HUGE culture shock). After the shower (with a lot of exfoliating), we went to the different spas, which the temperatures approximate at 40 degrees. A warm welcome to the cold winter. Surprisingly, I could not stand the heat as well (as the previous time) so I quickly moved on to tasting the jjimjilbang food. My favourite is definitely the iced sikhye drink — traditional sweet Korean rice beverage.
Hongdae ✔
Our Airbnb was in Hongdae — where the cool kids hang out. Hongdae has a chill and hipster vibe and my favourite part is watching talented young budding artists perform and showcase themselves on the streets. My Hongdae days were filled with chimaek (chicken and beer), Korean BBQ, and performances.
Noryangjin Fish Market ✔
I remembered we had to walk through a creepy dark carpark to get to the fish market or perhaps we were just directionless. The main purpose is to taste the fresh seafood of Korea. We didn’t know that we were supposed to buy our own ingredients from the fish market and bring them to the restaurant for them to prepare the food.
Samgyetang ✔
We queued for an hour to eat at one of the famous samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup) places in Korea, Tosokchon Samgyetang Seoul. But the restaurant felt rather touristy despite its traditional Hanok-styled decor. Perhaps the authenticity failed due to the Chinese-speaking waitress, the bilingual menu and or the 16184091-step guide to teach you how to best consume the soup. The chicken was not as tender as I expected it to be but the hot soup with the ginseng liquor definitely warm us up in the cold weather.
EVERLAND ✔
I learnt it the painful way that -12 degrees is not the right temperature to visit a theme park and the blue skies did not hint at the cold when we woke up in our Airbnb apartment. We took the train to Myeongdong and hopped onto the shuttle bus that took us straight to EVERLAND. (Highly recommend this!) The saddest revelation was that the T-Express was not operating as it was below -5 degrees. (I had wanted to go to EVERLAND for the sole purpose of riding on the wooden roller-coaster.)
We spent our time walking and exploring EVERLAND, basking in the magical atmosphere. We ended up at the Panda World — imagine a bunch of girls amazed at the cute giant pandas and red pandas. I even got a red panda plushie from the gift shop!
TRIPE has been an essential tool for the planning and execution of my trip so do check them out if you are planning for your summer travels!
For the full itinerary of my Korea trip, drop me a comment!