Seoul, Korea (October 2019) I

25 October (Friday)

8am flight from Changi Airport T3 to Incheon Airport! Watched Aladdin on the flight there. Arrived at about 3:30pm KST and we went to buy train tickets to Seoul Station cause our AirBnB was in that area. 

It was quite a convenient place with lots of buses nearby and also near the station but there was this particular slope that made it very difficult for us to push the luggage up. The slopes in korea no joke man.

Went to rest for about 1-2 hours at our AirBnB and I was watching Music Bank cause there was Super Junior comeback!! We only left after I finished watching which was almost 630pm already hahaha. 

Hongdae

Biya, Hongdae - Budae Jjigae (부대찌개)

Hongik Univ Station, Exit 9

The budae jjigae was really good man. Went to shop around Hongdae that night before heading back after. 

Bought a bunch of my favourite masks from Too Cool For School and they gave me more free samples than what I even bought man. 

27 October (Sunday)

Woke up a little later today and went to Myeongdong to shop and also brought my family to have Myeongdong Gyoza for early lunch.

Myeongdong / Lotte Duty Free / Star Avenue

The albums got released when I was in Korea but I already pre-ordered hahaha but I bought Heechul's album there again since I got the group version already. But seems like the group version was sold out in Korea anyways.

Finally found this Star Avenue place which I was looking for during my previous trip but cannot find. End up it's like outside the mall at a corner or something. Randomly chanced upon somemore. But nothing much hahahha.

Got quite tired after walking for a bit and was so lazy to take the train back to the apartment to rest so I found us a bus that goes straight to the apartment omg. It ended up making our life so much easier for the next few days. I think I mastered taking the bus in Korea already during this trip. 

Also passed by this area which 2D1N S3 cast slept in the middle of the grass previously HAHA

Haneul Park / Seoul World Cup Stadium

It was kinda late but I really wanted to visit this Hanuel Park and autumn seems like the best time to visit too. As we went up we realise that the walk up was SO LONG and it was so high up the hill? Kept walking up endlessly and almost gave up but thankfully we didn't miss the sunset!! It was so beautiful omg. One of my favourite places in Seoul but maybe the next time I need to buy a ride up instead of walking...

It was so crowded that day but they were all like local family/couples going up and I didn't see any tourists around. Maybe Sunday is a bad time to go there hahah.

Went to Hongdae for KBBQ cause previously we saw this place with a pretty long queue. We had to queue this time as well but it was quite fast cause we were at the start of the queue. They even provided us with blankets while we were waiting cause it was kinda freezing. 

Found out that it was one of Chef Baek's franchise restaurant (Saemaul Sikdang) afterwards hahaha.

Went to find my Kakao Store and did some shopping at Lotte Mart before heading back! Haul after 3 days LOL

29 October (Tuesday)

Finally visiting Gwangjang Market and even though a lot of people say it's kinda boring but I thought it was okay cause they sell a lot of pots plates and all the ancient stuff HAHA It's not that ex too

Gwangjang Market

We also dabao some Mungbean Pancake and sat somewhere by the Cheonggyecheong Stream to eat.

Cheonggyecheong Stream

Dongdaemun Doota Mall

Walked from Gwangjang Market > Cheonggyecheon Stream > Dongdaemun for Shake Shack! Haven't tried the one in Singapore cause the queue was hella long so it was our first time. Thankfully there's indoor seats and no queue when we arrive hahaha.

Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP)

Seoul Station Food Court

Was still feeling hungry so we went to the food court at Seoul Station which had lotsa food and I got a Kimchi jjigae.

Namsangol Hanok Village (남산골 한옥마을)

Went back to our apartment to rest and headed out at about 4pm to Namsangol Hanok Village. I'm not sure why this place isn't popular because it's one of the most authentic Hanok Village and it's so serene and peaceful here. We couldn't make it in time for the sunset at Namsan but we caught it here and it was breathtaking with the Namsan tower in the background!!

Seems like everyone was already leaving the place in the evening (probably to go to Namsan) so we stayed around and there wasn't anyone in sight in the village LOL

Love this place man but I guess the best time to visit is during the evening and in autumn? 

Namsan Tower

Wasn't sure if I wanted to bring them to Namsan Tower cause there really isn't much to see there but since we were near the bus-stop with the direct bus to the tower so might as well. But we went up and came down almost immediately. The view at Haneul Park is much better hahaha. 

Took a bus to Myeongdong for dinner and some shopping before heading back!

Myeongdong

Had some budae jjigae again at another store but this wasn't as nice as the one at Hongdae. Went to Innisfree for pancakes again and my mum stayed there while we went to shop. Got a good seat with a good view this time hahaha.