Korea Day 1: Seoul

안녕하세요 Guys!!!

 

The Korea trip is a backdated event but I thought I should still write about it just in case some of you might find it useful :)

 

Background Info

My younger sister was studying in Korea for a year and my boyfriend (aka J) have always wanted to visit Korea. Thus after much persuasion from J (I was contemplating as we had already been to Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Bangkok since the beginning of the year), I decided to do some read-up on Korea and to search for the cheapest flight available.

 

Vietnam Airlines was having promotion and I bought it at $500 per pax, inclusive of 2 full meals and 7Kg hand carry and 20Kg check-in allowances with a stop-over at Ho Chi Minh City.

 

But after planning the itinerary, J thought it would be too short to go for only 9 Days thus I called to extend it to 12 Days 11 Nights (to be exact it was only 11 days and 11 nights- the last day, we had to wake up at 5.30am to catch our flight). We had to pay additional US$30 for the change of date, thus our airfare became $542/pax.

 Here's the flight itinerary:

In-flight meal- Singapore to Vietnam

In-flight meal- Vietnam to Korea

J woke me up to catch the sunrise and I thought it was sooo romantic to witness it together butttttt he went back to sleep after waking me up, Geez!

 

Pretty colours

After half an hour.....

Blazing sun

Once we arrived in Seoul, we headed straight to my sis's hostel to check in. We stayed there for 2 nights (1st and 4th day of the trip).

Address:

Lohas Livinghome, 8 minutes walk from Sinchon station

The room looks some sort like the photo below but in replacement of the single bed, it's a double decker bed and the room is slightly smaller. It comes with an ensuite bathroom.

Credits: Lohas Livinghome website

In Korea, it is very convenient and cost effective to travel around via their subway, especially when you are travelling on your own or in small groups (2-3 pax).




Credits: Seoul SMRT website

While waiting for my sis to get back from school, we went to Namdaemun market (Hoehyeon station Line 4 Exit 5) to change money. We found a money changer that offered a better rate near Shinsegae Department Store. Exchange rate was S$1 = 846won. Unlike what I read online, those ahjumma with make-shift booth, did not offer very rates :(

 

 

J saw this ddeokbokki shop and he was sooo excited hahaha, so we ordered a portion to share. It costs 2500won (~S$3) and it came with 2 small cups of soup. The salty soup went very well with the spicy sweet ddeokbokki!

Visted the Sungnyemun Gate (aka Namdeamun Gate).

29, Namdaemunno 4-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul 100-094, South Korea  

Entrance of Namdaemun Gate

 

Once sis is done with school, we headed out for lunch, just 5 minutes away from the guesthouse:

Dakgalbi HaneulBornDak 하늘본닭

31-86 Changcheon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, South Korea (Near Sinchon station)

          

We ordered 3 portions of chicken galbi fried rice. 4500won per pax, 13,500won (~S$16). It tasted so delicious! It wasn't very spicy and the good thing is that the staff will cook it for you and you can just focus on eating! A must try!

 

 

After lunch we took a nap and got up around 5pm for dinner, Ahjumma (owner of the guesthouse) cooked Kimchi Jigae, omg so spicy, I felt like i was having a sore throat immediately after dinner.

Went to Hongdae to walk a bit before Sis brought us to her regular hang out at The Pie Hole @ Sinchon. It is pretty near Yonsei University.
Located at: 70-39 Changcheon-dong (36 Seongsan-ro 22-gil) 서대문구 창천동 70-39

Below are the directions from Uplex mall to the cafe, it takes about 15 - 20 mins of casual walking. Hopefully my directions are clear, if not, do feel free to drop me a text.

 

 

 

We ordered 1 peppermint latte and an iced early grey latte for 10,500 won (~S$12.40). They gave each of us 1 cherry tomato, hahaha that's so intersting. The drinks tasted pretty good and the ambience is very suitable for those who would like to enjoy a quiet evening with some friends or for a conducive study environment.

 

After supper, we headed back to pack for our Jeju trip!!!

 

That's all for Day 1 in Seoul, stay tune for my next post on our 3 Days 2 Nights trip to Jeju!

 

PetiteFreckles ♥