Friday, November 25, 2022
Insadong Street, Seoul: 인사동거리
After a busy Thanksgiving day at the DMZ and learning about the Korean War, today was a more chill day exploring the city and some of the many shopping districts and markets around Seoul.
Our first stop of the day was at Insadong Street; this area was definitely set-up for tourists with a lot of the stores selling "gimmicky" items. We found a Starbucks, that uniquely had its signage in Korean rather than the traditional starbucks logo, and grabbed a morning "pick me up" after our late night watching the soccer game yesterday evening.
Throughout the day, Katie and I visited around 10 Starbucks around the city searching for a Korea metal travel mug to add to our collection, but unfortunately, this must not be a "thing" in Korea, because we left empty-handed.
Side note: Check out those leaves!! They were HUGE and defintly got me in the fall spirit!
Ihwa Mural Village, Seoul: 이화동 벽화마을
After leaving Insadong Street, we headed to Ihwa Mural Village, a small street (up a huge hill I might add), with every building having a mural painted on it. Katie found a post on the Facebook page Tips for Asia Travel recommending it as a very picturesque spot, but neither Katie nor I were very impressed; we would agree that it wasn't worth walking up the hill for. But it did kill an hour (and our calves).
Dongdaemun Market: 동대문종합시장
Following our visit to the mural village, we began to look for cool street markets to visit and explore. The first one we found was Dongdaemun Market which was packed with numerous street vendors selling all kinds of Korean dishes and multiple stores selling stacks and stacks of books. The streets themselves were lined with mopeds and motorcycles galore, while the food booths were packed so tight together that you had to walk sideways to fit past the benches filled with locals eating! Clearly, this was the lunch spot for locals and it was a bit overwhelming for Katie and I, so we kept searching for a quieter lunch spot.
DDP (Dongdaemun Design Plaza): DDP 동대문디자인플라자
As we were searching for lunch, we found a really cool building called the Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP); construction was completed in 2013 and its magnificent architecture and futuristic themes make Seoul a global hub for design.
Across the street was a Shake Shack, and considering Katie and I weren't feeling super adventurous, and the fact that it was 1:30 pm, we decided to have a burger and fries for lunch.
I'm sure some of y'all will read this and think, "why are they visiting all of these cool places and eating American food?!" The answer to that would be this: Remember we live in the boonies of Japan, so spotting an American restaurant with good burgers was too much of a temptation. Plus, we were just very hungry!
While eating lunch, we got to admire this really cool three-dimensional billboard on the Mijeu Building right across the street. Yep, you are seeing that right- the board itself is made of small black squares that move in and out of the billboard!
Kyobo Book Centre, Dongdaemun Barodeurim: 교보문고 동대문 바로드림센터
After lunch, Katie and I made a conscious effort to find a bookstore so we could look around for cool Korean books. Back during Katie's first week in Sasebo, she decided we would start collecting Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in different languages from all of the different countries we visited. Knowing it is a popular book around the world, we thought it would be an easier book to find in bookstores during our travels, and with the help of the store clerk, we located a Korean copy! Katie bought the Japanese copy back when she first made it to Sasebo, so we have now added the Korean version to our home library!
Of course, you can't take a librarian to a bookstore without losing her...and I eventually located her in the children's section with some familiar books!
While exploring the Hyundai City Outlets, we stumbled upon the coolest outdoor chairs! This was the perfect spot to enjoy some sunshine!
Sulbing: 설빙 동대문점
After our new book purchase, we made our way to Sulbing to try out a Korean dessert known as bingsu. Bingsu is a milk ice sorbet topped with all sorts of things. To better understand, Katie's bingsu was essentially made of snow cone ice with sweetened condensed milk covered with strawberries, cheesecake, and whipped cream; my bingsu was tiramisu flavored. Most of the Koreans in the store were ordering one bingsu to share amongst three of four people, while us fatties were ordering one for each of us. (To our defense, we honestly had no idea they were going to be the size of our heads!) We definitely didn't finish them, but we made a pretty hefty dent into it!
Gwangjang Market: 광장시장
After eating about half of Frosty the snowman each, we kept on trucking! Next, we headed to Gwangjang Market which was filled with tons of food stalls selling everything from takoyaki (fried balls filled with octopus), haemul-pajeon (pancake with seafood and green onions), and the most popular item, sundae (a blood sausage made from cow or pig intestines).
We noticed a long line forming around an elderly lady, as she cut up sundae and stuffed it into plastic bags for people to take on the go. Once I saw her wipe the sweat off of her head and continue to cut the sausage, and witnessing a man brush his teeth over a fish tank at a nearby stall we decided to pass...we aren't in America anymore! (And clearly, there isn't an FDA in Korea!)
Wangbijib Myeongdong Main: 왕비집 명동본점
Our next stop was to find the world-famous Korean BBQ at Wangbijib in the Myeongdong district! Katie and I ordered a cut of sirloin and pork so we could get a little taste of both! We thought we had just ordered the meat, but they brought out a ton of food, most of which we didn't recognize.
We did recognize one thing: kimchi, fermented cabbage. Katie and I have both tried kimchi during our adventures in Asia and neither of us really enjoyed the taste or smell very much. I wasn't going to dabble with it again, but Katie suffered through a few bites because she didn't want to offend the waitstaff. Better her than me. Based on her facial expression, this Korean superfood wasn't better on her tastebuds than the other times she's tried it.
After a few minutes, the staff brought a bucket of red-hot coals and placed it in the center of our table; they then cut up and cooked the beef and pork right in front of us. It was a really unique experience and the meat was quite good!
Enjoy the pictures below, but know we have no clue what half the dishes were in front of us. Katie tried everything; I only tried it once she told me which items were "ok."
Myeong-dong: 명동
Following dinner, we headed towards the Myeong-dong district, known for its luxury shopping from brands like Lacoste, Ralph Lauren, and Louis Vitton in addition to numerous Korean cosmetics brands. After a quick Google search, I discovered that Myeong-dong was ranked as the ninth-most expensive shopping street in the world for three consecutive years in the early 2010s; it makes sense given the upscale stores Katie and I were walking by.
Lotte Young Plaza: 롯데영프라자
Before making our way to our show, Katie and I decided to watch this awesome Christmas projection on the Myeong-dong Lotte Young Plaza building. Between this and the 3D billboard from earlier today, I couldn't decide which one was cooler.
Myeongdong NANTA Theatre: 명동난타극장
Now for the highlight of the day: NANTA! Nanta is a 90-minute-long, nonverbal show that is the longest-running theater production in Korea (the first performance was in 1997). The general premise of the show takes place in a professional kitchen. There are three chefs on a tight timeline to prepare food for an upcoming wedding and their strict manager decides to hire his clueless nephew to help the group. As you can imagine, the nephew causes all kinds of chaos and messes that the rest of the chefs have to fix before their strict deadline!
There were acrobatics, comedy, magic tricks, audience involvement, and most importantly music; most of the show was the cast members creating music with knives on cutting boards, banging together pots and pans, or pounding on water drums. Throughout the show, food was cut and thrown around the theater, causing all sorts of laughter from the audience! Katie and I had a blast and would recommend this show to anyone visiting Seoul!
Saturday, November 26, 2022
At 4 am on Saturday morning, I decided to get up and watch the US Men's National Team take on England in their group stage game at the World Cup. The game lasted about two hours and I was able to quickly fall back asleep around 6:00 am. I would say it was successful because A) the US didn't lose to a much better team, B) I didn't fall asleep during the whole game and, C) I didn't wake Katie up!
Gyeongbokgung Palace: 경복궁
After my second wake up around 8:00 am, we ran over to the nearest bus station to make it to Gyeongbukgung Palace to view the Water Gate Open Training and the Changing of the Guard Ceremony at 9:35 and 10:00 am, respectively. Gyeongbukgung Palace is widely considered the grandest of all the palaces in South Korea; the original palace was built in 1395 and was the main royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty. The Joseon Dynasty was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea and lasted over 500 years until the Empire of Japan conquered Korea in 1910; this palace served as the home of the kings of the dynasty and also housed the central government of Joseon.
Take a look at the video below to watch the Water Gate Open Training and the Changing of the Guard ceremonies; it was quite cool to witness a reenactment of these traditional Korean ceremonies.
After the ceremonies, Katie and I ventured into the palace to grab some pictures; we were most impressed by how expansive the grounds were and by all of the beautiful, colorful designs decorating the buildings' interiors.
After being out in the cold for a couple of hours, we walked a few minutes down the block to grab some coffee at Starbucks. Of course, this one also did not have our metal Korea travel mug, but we were happy to defrost our fingers from the breeze outside for a little while!
Bukchon Hanok Village: 북촌한옥마을
After a coffee to warm up our souls and lift our spirits, we made the trek over to Bukchon Hanok village, a beautiful 14th-century village on a hilltop filled with hanoks, traditional Korean homes. Katie and I were stunned at how well-preserved the homes were and how beautiful the views were; you could see our future destination, N Seoul Tower, so well! Katie was also really impressed with the brickwork and the doors, so she was sure to grab plenty of pictures!
Hwangchilga Anguk Branch 황칠가 안국점
After building up an appetite from walking up and down hills marveling at old homes, we decided we were finally going to branch out and try some Korean food. As we were walking down the street, we found a restaurant selling soup, so we decided to give it a shot.
As we made our way down into the basement restaurant under a Starbucks, we realized this was definitely a local place. No tourists anywhere, and we received extra side glances from the entire Korean customer base. If we were looking for authentic Korean food, we got it. Luckily we had to order on a screen while waiting for a table, so with the help of Google translate, Katie ordered chicken soup while I ordered beef rib soup.
When we finally got a table, we were brought a pot of boiling water (what for? we have no idea) and, as the Lord would have it, more kimchi. After having to be shown where the chopsticks were located (a built-in drawer along the side of the table,) we were served our soups while they were still boiling. Literally. Bubbling liquid broth! Both dishes were pretty good; Katie's soup had an entire chicken in it! While we could have used some salt, we were happy to be full of warm broth and left feeling quite successful in our adventurous meal location!
Namsan Cable Car: 남산 케이블카
After lunch, we grabbed a bus over to the Namsan Cable Car which would take us up to the summit of Namsan Mountain where the N Seoul Tower is located. After a 20-minute queue, we packed into a cable car and made our way up the 270-meter-high mountain located in central Seoul.
N Seoul Tower: N서울타워
After our cable car ride, we bought tickets and waited an hour for our turn to go up in the tower! Once our numbers popped up, we got in the queue for the elevator and watched a cute Disney short film, where Mickey and Minnie visit the N Seoul Tower and add their lock of love to the fences!
It was perfect timing! We headed up N Seoul Tower just in time for a beautiful sunset.
N Seoul Tower is the second highest point in Seoul and makes for spectacular 360-degree views of the entire city. They even had markers showing what direction and how far away major cities around the world were located. Katie was sure to grab a picture in front of the major cities on the US east coast while I got a picture in front of the signs for Fukuoka and Tokyo.
After enjoying the sunset from up high, we headed back down the mountain via the cable car. Along our way to the cable car, we stumbled upon multiple areas where couples had placed locks on chainlink fences to signify their everlasting love. Katie and I did not participate because we decided that buying a $20+ lock was a steep asking price, especially since we decided we didn't need to attach a lock on a fence to know that we love each other.
But for those of you who are more romantic than I am, save some cash and bring your own lock! Had we known in advance, you KNOW Katie would have jumped at the opportunity.
Mikkeller Bar Seoul: 미켈러바코리아
If you've kept up with our previous posts, we've been visiting Mikkeller bars around Asia (Singapore in June 2022 and Tokyo in November 2022) after being introduced to the brewery by our friends in San Diego, Megan & Grant. Well, after looking at the Mikkeller website, we discovered that there was one in Seoul, so we definitely had to visit.
We enjoyed beer, pizza, and each other's company; we even bought a Mikkeller Seoul glass to go along with our cool Mikkeller Tokyo glass. (If you know us, we tend to "permanently borrow" glasses during our pub visits, so you know I love the place if I'm willing to pay the $5.00 for a legit glass!) After dinner and drinks, we made our way back to the hotel, calling our trip to Seoul a success!
Sunday, November 27, 2022
Incheon International Airport: 인천국제공항
At 10:30 am, we headed down to the lobby and checked out of the hotel; before heading out, we asked the front desk if they would call us a cab. Within a few minutes, we were in a taxi and headed to Incheon International Airport. We made it to the airport at 11:30, checked into our flight, and made our way through security and to our terminal.
Of course, getting onto our flight was a huge hassle; Japan likes to make it as difficult as possible for SOFA (military) personnel to enter and exit the country. Fortunately, Katie always has our orders in hand, so we can always prove that we are, in fact, allowed to be in Japan. This time around, Katie had to show our orders, her dependent entry approval documentation, and her SOFA stamp alongside both of our military IDs. For a country that has "opened to the public," they sure have made it harder than ever for SOFA personnel to enter!
We eventually were able to board our flight and were airborne for approximately one hour before landing in Fukuoka at 2:45 pm. After staring at an immigration officer for about 15 minutes, we had to show him our orders and point out both of our names on the orders. It was a huge ordeal but we eventually received another SOFA stamp in our passport and were on our way. By 4:20 pm we were on a two-hour bus headed back to Sasebo!
We made it back home around 7:00 pm and were greeted by our two favorite puppies! Thanks for following along with us! Stay tuned for more upcoming journies!
Yours,
Bryan
Comments