Bukchon Hanok Village 북촌한옥마을 & N Seoul Tower N서울타워

The first day had us whipped! We both were exhausted and our feet were hurting from all the walking, which is a good sign right? It only means we had a successful first day! 

Waking up and stepping out of the hotel into heart of Seoul was just surreal. Our plan for today was the Bukchon Hanok Village and we originally wanted to do a night bus tour (we found out later was sold out) so we ended up going to N Seoul Tower by ourselves, which I think was a much better decision! 

Nearby our hotel was this cute little shop that we had not notice before. It is only open in the morning during certain hours selling croquettes in various flavors. Everything looked and smelled so delicious. We went with the cream cheese and red bean jam ones. Soo good! 

We then set off to Bukchon Hanok Village, which can be reached via the handy dandy subway from Anguk Station (Subway Line 3), Exit 2. The Village is a neighborhood of hundreds of traditional houses called "Hanok" that dates back to the Joseon Dynasty. There are people living in the hanoks even though it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Seoul. Within the village, there are also a lot of cultural centers, guesthouses, and restaurants. A great way to experience and see the Korean culture for ourselves.

After walking around for awhile, we randomly picked a restaurant and went with it. There were quite a bit of people inside, so it must be good right? It turned out to be like a small snack shop with traditional dishes, such as toppoki (the rice cakes) and sundae (Korean sausages). I failed to realize before ordering that Korean sausages are made of cow or pig's intestines stuffed with cellophane noodles with pork blood... yum.... (I actually am just finding this out now as I am writing this, soo I'm glad I didn't find out before eating!) But then again, regular hot dogs/sausages are made of unknown materials so at least we can identify what is in Korean sausages. We ordered the Korean sausages, spicy toppoki (bad idea), and a clear broth stew? I don't remember what it was called exactly but it was radish, fish cakes, and an egg in clear broth. I learn quite a lot during this trip and one of those things was that I am not a fan of Korean sausages and that Korean standard of spicy is SPICY. Do not attempt. I repeat, do not attempt, even though it's very tempting. 

Our tongues were numb from the unexpected heat from the food and we happened to stumble upon Dalsuda, a dessert house! We got a french toast and a shaved ice which came with a red bean paste with mochi on top! It was so cute and we definitely needed something sweet after our meal. I don't remember what flavors we picked but they had many many flavors ranging from fruits (strawberry, mango, etc) to chocolate, oreos, etc.

We walked around some more afterwards (had to walk off all the food we just had. In the pictures, you'll be able to take a look inside of a hanok, very simple yet efficient with a very home-y feel. 

On our way home via the subway, we saw this lady selling bunnies at the subway station! Poor bunnies, they were so cute! If only I wasn't allergic.. 

Like I mentioned earlier, we wanted to join the Seoul City Bus Tour for their Night 2 tour of the bridges but they were sold out for the evening. Change of plans so we headed to the N Seoul Tower (which would have been one of the destinations). The line for the cable car up to the N Seoul Tower was very long that it extended out to the outside of the building. After we bought our ticket, we had to wait in another line to board the cable car. There are a few ways to get to the N Seoul Tower and that's either by cable car (our method of choice) which can be reached by Exit 3 of the Myeong-dong Station (Line 4), by bus, or by taxi. The N Seoul Tower is operates from 10AM to 11PM. I would highly recommend the night view, although I'm sure during the day, it's beautiful as well. The night view with the lights were just phenomenal and breathtaking.

Round trip for the cable car was ₩8,500 per person. After the 1 hour wait, we were finally up at the N Seoul Tower! Now to get our tickets to enter the Tower. We got the tickets to only the Observation deck (since we were more interested in the view more than the Alive museum) that was ₩9,000 per person. The cable car and the observation deck would total ₩17,500 per person (USD$17.50), which is not bad if you compare how much attractions in the States cost.

Once you get the ticket, you receive a number on your ticket that says which group/how long until you can go up to the Observation deck. We had 30 minutes to spare so we walked around the area and we found the Love Padlock area! It's where couples lock a padlock to the gate area to symbolize their love. People write all over it and they are suppose to throw away the key (not into the bushes or down the hill cause that's a hefty fine) to symbolize their unbreakable love. There are estimated 10,000 "locks of love" hanging around the Roof Terrance with new ones added every day. It's also really popular because one of the Korean dramas had a scene with the main characters up here (no clue which one though).

We explored a bit and came back via cable car/waited in long lines once again. Headed back to the hotel area and at this point, I believe it was close to 11PM and we still haven't eaten. There was a 24 hour Korean BBQ right around the corner from the hotel that I've been wanting to try so we decided to head over there. We ordered two things from the menu, it was ribs to be BBQ'd at our table and a Korean seafood noodles. One of us wanted soju, and how many times are we gonna be in Korea again together?! We're not going to talk about what happened. Our table ended up being full of food even though we only ordered 2 things but it was the most expensive meal we had in Seoul (definitely worth it though!) 

Last but not least, ice cream from 7/11 for dessert! Watermelon popsicle for me and a fish looking pastry filled with red bean and ice cream for Ilisha.

Final remarks:

1. Definitely try Myeong-dong Croquettes! They are delicious but they are only open for a short period of time. 

2. Visit the Bukchon Hanok Village! You will be able to see the traditional hanoks. Lots to see, but remember to be quiet. People actually live in the traditional hanoks! 

3. Make N Seoul Tower one of your must-visit destinations in Seoul, because you will never grasp how big the city is until you've been up the observation room. The city is ginormous. 

4. Must find a 24-hour KBBQ place with lots of people in it. If there are lots of people in there, it must be good!

Gyeongbokgung Palace 경복궁 & Lotte World 롯데월드

First full day in Seoul and Ilisha and I both were super excited about exploring the city. Our main focus was visiting the Gyeongbokgung Palace and Lotte World. We obviously didn't think it through before because we were basically dead by the end of the day. 

On our way to find breakfast around the area, we came across the Police Station in Myeong-dong. How cute are these friendly looking animated statues outside the station!

Cases and cases of strawberries on a cart right off of the street!

Our hotel was only a block away from the Lotte Department store!

The entrance for the subway and we went down the escalator because it said there was an underground mall! Most of the stores were closed and some were preparing for opening but even then, the underground mall was huuuuuge. 

After walking for what felt like an eternity at the underground mall, we picked an exit and exited. We ended up in the City Hall area, which was super pretty. We also spotted a temple/palace across the street so as the adventurous tourists we were, we went closer. 

How pretty is the drum!

We ended up grabbing a quick breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts.. how ironic. It was both our first times eating at Dunkin's ever and our first time would be in Korea.

Since I haven't been to Dunkin' Donuts in the States, I'm not sure if these items were out of the ordinary/the typical items they serve at Dunkin's but they had some really interesting donut options, as you can see below.

All the options! Ilisha ordered an egg panini, an egg tart, and iced milk tea and I ordered some grilled cheese, tater tots (sorry stomach, mama's on vacation), and hot milk tea. We ended up with a lot more than we ordered though! I got my grilled cheese on top of a grilled cheese with cranberries and walnuts?... And Ilisha found surprise meat (just kidding, it was ham.. or turkey) inside of her egg panini. Great start to our day!

After we had enough of watching the homeless guy outside of Dunkin' Donuts try to get the people walking by to look at his book or whatever he was holding, we headed to the Gyeongbokgun Palace! From Dunkin's, we literally had to follow the main road and it lead right to the palace. 

On our way to the palace, we passed by the Gwanghwamun Plaza where there was a statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin, who was a Korean Naval Commander. He was considered a hero for his famous battles against the Japanese (who were the ones invading Korea).

Super colorful flowers surrounding the statues in the Plaza. 

This is me trying to get a picture in with the flowers but my dear photographer (ahem) decided to take a wider shot, making me look super awkward kneeling right next to the flowers. 

We then encountered this little booth where people were trying on hanbok, traditional Korean clothing. I (of course) had to see how much it was to get into one of those pretty dresses! It turned out to be FREE. Yes, free. And I love free things! So here we were (below) with Ilisha being the King.

^ The six columns.

I wonder how much maintenance is needed in order to keep the flowers blooming!

We made it to the Gyeongbokgung Palace! There was a huge wall before entering and it's called the Gwanghwamun Gate, which had real guards (we thought they were fake at first) guarding the exterior dressed in traditional guard uniforms. 

This guy is probably Instagram famous. Lol!

The Gyeongbokgung Palace was built in 1395 (holy crap, that's 619 years old!) and is the grandest of all five palaces in Seoul. During the Imjinwaeran War, the Palace was destroyed but the close to 8,000 rooms were later restored.

This is the second palace I've been to! It was super pretty. The admission was ₩3,000 per person and ₩1,000 for our audio MP3 guide, which is always helpful in understand the background of everything.

We got a glimpse of the the King's residing quarters.

This was the garden area behind the Queen's residing quarters. 

And then this is the actual garden.

While we were walking through the garden, this lady came up to us asking if she can interview us for EBS, which is the Educational Broadcasting System (similar to PBS in the States). We were interviewed separately on a topic that she plans on covering, which was either travel agencies or food/cooking. We couldn't relate to travel agencies and I love food/cooking so it's the obvious choice. It airs June 4th and 5th! Definitely an interesting experience.

The Guard changing ceremony! I wonder how many times these guards have done it.

After we witnessed the guard changing ceremony, it was around 1PM. Since it was still early and we wanted to be proactive today, we headed out for Lotte World! To get there, we had to take the Subway for the first time. We had to purchase a Single Journey ticket where we had to select our destination and pay accordingly. We had to pay a deposit of ₩500 and once we reached our destination, we can put the ticket in the machine to get our deposit back.

Stopped by Mango Six, which is apparently a popular franchise in Korea known for their mango products (hence the name). 

Grape lemonade on the left and my Citron tea on the right. Nomz. 

We originally went to get our tickets for Lotte World, but I believe it was around 3PM by the time we arrived, after 4PM the ticket price goes down ₩10,000. Since we have yet have lunch, we decided to go eat and wait until after 4PM to go! There was a Lotte Department Store in the same building (surprise, surprise) and we found the food court!

Ilisha's Omelete Rice, which was super yummy. 

It was finally 4PM and we headed over the buy our tickets! Lotte World is basically a huge theme park. Indoors and outdoors, which is called Magic Island! It's actually in Guinness World's Record as the world's largest indoor theme park. The theme park was filled with rides, ice rink, and a lake. 

We definitely underestimated these teacups. They were MUCH more intense than we had originally anticipated. That actually can be said for a lot of the rides we went on. 

Magic Island side

For those who know me. Knows that I hate roller coasters, especially the ones that goes upside down or the ones that DROP. So imagine how I was feeling when I was forced onto this ride below called the Gyro Drop. A steep (understatement) drop with an altitude of 70 meters. I was shaking for awhile after the ride. It just kept on going up and up and then stopped. When the ride stopped at the top, so did my heart. And then we dropped and I died.

Mmmm mmmm mm never in my life. Cain't trust it.

The overall experience of Lotte World was a pleasant one. Like most theme parks, there were a lot of look at and the rides were definitely one of a kind (not that I'm a theme park expert..). But it's definitely one of my highlights of this trip! It is a bit pricey, but comparing the admissions price to Lotte World to Great America or Six Flags or even Disneyland is actually really reasonable and affordable. Highly recommended!

Final remarks:

1. Head to the Gyeongbokgung Palace and learn more about the history of Korea through their royal palace. Accessible via Gyeongbokgung Palace Station (Seoul Subway Line 3), Exit 5. Or, Gwanghwamun Station (Seoul Subway Line 5), Exit 2.

(22, Sajik-ro 9-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul | 서울특별시 종로구 사직로9길 22 (필운동))

2. Try a drink with mangoes at Mango Six! 

3. Reserve half a day and visit Lotte World. A must especially if you have children. Accessible via Jamsil Station (Seoul Subway Line 2 & 8), Exit 4.

(240, Olympic-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul | 서울특별시 송파구 올림픽로 240 (잠실동))

Myeong-dong 명동 & Cheonggyecheon Stream 청계천

After I found Ilisha at the airport, we headed directly to the bus terminal to pay our bus fare to go into Seoul, which was 45 mins/1 hour from the airport. Royal Seoul Hotel, the hotel we were staying at for the next few days, did provide free shuttle service but we had just missed the shuttle going into the city. The next one would have been 2-3 hours later. The bus into Seoul was ₩10,000, which was basically USD$10.

The sinking of the South Korean ferry just happened right before I boarded my flight for Korea and throughout our stay, the news covered every bit of it. It's a terrible tragedy. The survivors guilt is real and absolutely heartwrenching to witness. 

We arrived at our hotel that happened to be in the heart of Myeong-dong, which is known for Korea's financial, social, cultural, and shopping (like Downtown/Financial District).  

The area right below the hotel (below). Everything you need is basically within reach and super convenient. Myeong-dong is the #1 tourist destination and one of the busiest places in Seoul. There are countless shops and restaurants. Since Ilisha and I are both very indecisive, it was basically impossible for us to decide on a place to eat. There were so many street stalls along with clothing and cosmetics shops everywhere you turn offering really tasty looking snacks, clothes, accessories, and various souvenirs. The stores were a mix of the well-known brands like H&M, Forever21, and Adidas as well as thousands of Korean cosmetic and skin-care brands, like Tony Moly, Too Cool For School, Etude House, and etc. 

My favorite part about traveling in Korea without knowing a bit of Korean are these handy dandy helpful red long-sleeved representatives from the Korea Tourism Board who understand several languages to help you get to your desired destination. They also carry maps with them in different languages to draw out a route for you to follow. Extremely helpful and super nice! They can be found nearly everywhere around the tourist destinations wandering around, waiting for lost tourists to ask them questions. 

Oh you know.. just walking down the busy streets of Seoul nonchalantly.

Fresh lemon juice with club soda. Yum.

We were finally able to check into our rooms (delayed for an hour, which allowed us to explore the area) and the size was perfect, not too big, not too small. The beds were also super comfortable! 

Shortly after dropping off our luggage and being able to settle down, we decided to head out again since it was getting late to have our first meal in Korea (together)! Like I mentioned earlier, we are extremely indecisive so when it started raining, we had no choice but to just pick one and go with it. We ended up at this really cute (some might say creepy..) place that was on the second floor and they had paper notes hanging everywhere! It was very interesting.  

We realized that there was only one bento box dinner option in their menu and we were hungry... so we dipped. It was a cute place though! Wandered a bit and just went into another place that had no English name. It turned out to be a Japanese restaurant. Our first meal in Korea and we had Japanese food. At least it was really yummy Japanese food!

We're basically the same person so we (almost) always order the same thing. We had the curry pork katsu dinner set, which included miso soup and salad. On the side, I think we ordered a sweet potato croquette as an appetizer. Our eyes always play us telling us we need more food than we really do. But great meal nonetheless! 

We were super full and decided to head out to do some exploring and to find the Cheonggyecheon Stream, which was apparently "10 minutes" away according to the lady at the Tourism office. The streets are really confusing so maybe we misunderstood her directions. It took us probably 30-45 minutes in order to get relatively close to the stream. We definitely wondered into these dark sketchy looking areas with a bunch of garages and mechanic shops. Lol! Lost in Korea, Part 1. We eventually found it! It was beautiful but then it started raining and the stream wasn't well lit (when we were there at least). It's suppose to look like this below:

And this is what we actually saw:

I think we just went at the wrong time as it was past 10PM I believe. Maybe it looks better during the day or when something is happening? 

Final remarks:

1. Book a hotel (knudge, knudge: Royal Seoul Hotel) near Myeong-dong! Everything is opened until midnight and past midnight, there are still 24 hour restaurants. 

2. Walk along the streets of Myeong-dong. You will get lost but you will also quickly find your way. And even if you do get lost, there are still a lot of things to look at. It is the number 1 tourist destination afterall. There is also a Myeong-dong Tourism Information Center equipped with maps and everything you will need to go anywhere in the heart of Myeong-dong. Accessible via Euljiro 1-ga Station (Subway Line 2) Exit #6. Or Myeongdong Station (Subway Line 4) Exit #6)

3. Visit the Cheonggyecheon Stream, which is within walking distance from Meyong-dong Shopping District-- just get a map from the Tourism Information Booth, during the day! Accessible via - Gwanghwamun Station (Seoul Subway Line 5), Exit 5. Or, City Hall Station (Seoul Subway Line 1, 2), Exit 4.

(110, Sejong-daero, Jung-gu, Seoul | 서울특별시 중구 태평로1가 ~성동구 신답철교)