Seoul Summer 2018 Blogs
Day 1 - Thursday, June 7
After landing in Incheon, South Korea, I absolutely could not wait to spot the crowds of K-pop and K-drama stars milling about the land of my media consumption. Needless to say, I had to temper my expectations a bit, but it was still satisfying to be able to identify the celebrities on product advertisements and billboards -an ability I unfortunately lack in America.
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Song Joong-ki is the face of Incheon Airport's Terminal 2!!
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The transportation system proved to be intuitive and easy to navigate, with the added bonus of an extremely cute transportation card that doubles as a payment card for many convenience stores. A metroride from the airport to Seoul Station brought us to our AirBnb in Yongsan-gu (a district in Seoul).
vs
It was already late evening by the time we were settling in, yet the streets were still bustling with people going out to eat after work or slipping in some night time shopping. After a quick dinner at a small mom-and-pop store, we did what we always did when arriving in foreign territory -explore the supermarket.
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| seoul station |
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| naengmyeon noodles with ice! |
A quick trip to LotteMart -a store similar to Target, Costco, and WholeFoods all in one- yielded us a box full of breakfast and snacks! I was amazed to see the sheer variety of milk options available, with three full refrigerator cases packed full of different kinds of milk (soy milk was an entirely different case of options).
And of course, in lieu of American tabloids, there were BTS albums and Kpop entertainment magazines available at the checkout line :D Self-packing stations supplied with boxes and tape were even provided for visitors to send home cases of Korean ramen.
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| tabloids ;) |
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| albums :O |
Day 2 - Friday, June 8
Since this is the second day, these blogs will probably become a lot shorter. Oops.
Stop 1: A trip to Bukhansan National Park. We actually got on the bus and rode in the wrong direction south through Gangnam, rather than north to where the mountains actually are. However, I like to think of that detour as a nice excursion through the neighborhoods of Seoul that we otherwise wouldn't have visited. Another fascinating tidbit is how it was the midst of election season, so every few minutes a truck would roll past, blaring campaign speeches and flying huge banners of officials running for office. Of course, I don't understand any Korean at all, so those trucks may have been screaming "Wanted: Korea's Number 1 Criminal" for all I knew.
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| elderly korean hotspot |
Anyways, after hopping of the wrong bus and taking the metro back north, we finally arrived at the park. There were a ton of mosquitos and elderly Koreans with intense hiking gear, but the experience of trekking up rocks through a forest to the tune of Buddhist chants coming from somewhere up the mountain was pleasant. The shoe cleaning station with pressurized air was also very handy.
Tip: Google Maps is kinda wonky in Korea, and I read online that it is because South Korea is still technically at war with North Korea, so locations cannot be publicly disclosed on the internet. Despite the 1-star rating on the App Store, Naver Map is a lot more useful at providing accurate transportation routes, and the presence of ample WiFi hotspots make going online even in the mountains possible.
Stop 2: The Itaewon area definitely had a more international atmosphere, with Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Turkish, and other ethnic restaurants lining the streets. Quynh was a very good Vietnamese restaurant we ate at, and the prices for the quality of food was really uncomparable to the Bay Area (oof =.=). One of the owners, an ex-pat from New Zealand, was really nice in explaining the menu (all in Korean and Vietnamese), and probably was as excited to converse in English as we were. Apparently, the daytime is when Itaewon is relatively tame, as the streets become packed with clubbing once night hits (as we could see from the numerous bars).
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| quynh |
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| world food street |
Stop 3: I can't really describe the LINE flagship store at Itaewon as anything but CUTE CAPITALISM. The branding was extremely on point, and the concept of purchasing merchandise on the first floor, fangirling over a collab with BTS on the second [BT21 characters], and settling down for ample photo ops and cute cafe snacks on the third was well executed (and CUTE). Also, I TOUCHED RM'S SIGNATURE :DDDD
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| flagship |
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| ahhh |
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| ahhhhhhh |
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| i eat the body first |
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| alskdjfslkdjf |
Stop 3: The Yongsan Garrison is the current headquarters from the US Military in South Korea, though it is set for relocation to a place outside of Seoul in 2019. The base will then be demolished and rebuilt into a Central Park-like area.
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| clearly not the most welcome |
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| itaewon welcome gate |
A visit to the War Memorial of Korea was also a necessity, and the sheer presence of military planes, tanks, and ships set into an open park for visitors to read about was startling.
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| b 52 |
The museum says something along the lines of "To achieve peace, remember war." I can feel the lasting effects of the nation embedded in war, from the endless list of casualty names engraved on smooth black monument stones (including UN forces) with fresh flowers from family members laid at their bases, to the troop of young Korean soldiers posing for a picture in front of the memorial. It's pretty common to see young Koreans in military uniform wandering about the metro and Seoul as they serve their mandatory duty, and I supposed it is a normalized walk of life for them. I do not pretend to understand the full mechanisms of war as a tool of foreign policy, but for a nation so intent on remembering war in order to establish peace that they build a children's museum next to a bullet-riddled war ship and tanks parked in the manner of a used-car dealership, the juxtaposition is just perplexing.
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| red paint emphasizes bullet holes from a skirmish with north korean forces in 2002 |
Stop 4: I've always wanted to build a PC, and we knew we were walking the right direction to the Yongsan Electronics Market when people hefting computer towers on their shoulders began popping up. Stalls filled with powerstrips, hard drives, cameras, and cable connectors of every kind imaginable certainly made the electronics market live up to its name. Beyond the gaming chairs and possibly bootlegged copies of Gundam Battle Operation, one has to wonder to whom the battle for customers between these side stalls and large department stores will go to.
Stop 5: Quick dinner at Seoul Station!
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| yum |
Day 3 - Saturday, June 8
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| (y) |
The number of cute cafes with cat decor and soft jazz music floating out the windows exuded a pleasant, calming vibe. As usual, Seoul was a place with the juxtaposition of the old and new, where skyscapes are visible from the doorway of an old, traditional building.
Stop 1.5: Being the koreaboo I am, I cannot help but take pictures of spots were famous K-drama scenes were filmed, such as the "Before I die" wall in Ihwa Village or the rooftop cafe near Changdeokgung Palace. It's always fun to see branding with celebrities and even posters with their signatures.
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| ohohoh |
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| do something? |
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| aHHHH it's THE CAFE |
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| temp of love <3 |
Stop 2: Changdeokgung Palace, the secondary home of the royal family, and Bukchon Hanok Village. The palace was reminiscent of Chinese royal homes, and a lot of the decor and calligraphy were Chinese-influenced. In addition to foreign tourists, a lot of Korean families meet up to dress their children in hanbok and teach them about their history. Similar to Ihwa Mural Village, the Bukchon Hanok Village had posters asking visitors to be quiet and respectful of the residents. Some flyers even went as far as asking tourists to stop visiting, though the souvenir shops and hanbok rental stores seem to speak otherwise.
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| :/ |
Stop 3: Insadong. An artsy area with handmade crafts and traditional art. Prices vary, with the good stuff costing more accordingly, but I did get a nice backpack :D The printed stationery and headbands were extremely tempting to buy as well :)
Day 4 - Sunday, June 10
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| bookshop |
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| clever B) |
Stop 2: Continuing with the theme of my Hallyu fandom, next was a trek down the K Star Road. Various GangnamDols represented Kpop groups and singers, and my dad had a particularly good time posing with the bear-like statues. Must've been the Gangnam-fever.
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| are we doing this right? |
Stop 3: Gangnam Station Underground Shopping. Koreans really appreciate their cute socks, and so do I. Most of the shops sell similar items such as the seasonal clothing, socks, and shoes, but for decently cheaper prices than department stores. The clothing is usually one size, which makes shopping less of a hassle digging through smalls, mediums, and larges, as long as one fits the clothes, which I suppose says something about the ideal beauty and size standard. After picking up some gudetama socks for friends (who wouldn't want an existential egg), I got to pick up a cool yellow Snoopy shirt :)
Dinner: Heated-up packet of ginseng chicken soup from the supermarket :P
Day 5 - Monday, June 11
Stop 2: Nearby to Nami Island is the Gapyeong Rail Park, which has the feel of a Disneyland ride with more trees and less safety. Old railroad tracks that cross the river and circle the surrounding area are repurposed for two or four-seater carts, for visitors to pedal along. Smaller resorts and many corn and rice paddies are visible along the ride.
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| milk! the dude behind this bus is literally running in front of cars to get them to park in his parking lot |
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| couple outfits on point |
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| fields of food |
Stop 3: After a dinner of KBBQ in Itaewon, a hike to Namsan Seoul Tower finished our day. Seoul looked tiny, but vibrant from the view atop the hill, kind of like a LED metropolis lego set. Visitors also seem inclined to "lock their love" with physical locks on the rails of the tower.
Bonus Fun Story: After I accidentally tripped and yelped outside our Airbnb (darn ledge), our neighbor poked his head out to see what was going on. He was a very nice guy and open about telling his life story to some people other than the elderly grandmothers and grandfathers sitting in the alley outside. After hearing that we were from the Bay Area, he mentioned how he lived in SF for about a year, until complications with his work visa made him come back home to Korea. Currently a software engineer at Hyundai, he's waiting to marry his girlfriend in Berkeley and move to the US. He even brought us snacks later that day! Small world :)
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| snackssss |
Day 6 - Tuesday, June 12
It's our last full day in Seoul! Tomorrow, we'll be leaving in the morning to catch a flight to Taiwan.
Stop 1: A stroll along Cheonggyecheon Stream, with the added decor of campaign advertisements and even a rally(?) or protest (?) chanting in sync to a gong.
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| vote vote vote |
Stop 2: Myeongdong!! Walking along the endless streets of skincare stores, streetwear stands, and fried chicken shops, Myeongdong can really make my wallet hurt. One of the underground shops at the metro station even had stickers, postcards, playing cards, and all kinds of merch with the images of Kpop and Kdrama stars <3
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| bts brand cosmetics :D |
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| supreme(?) |
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| ahhhhhhhhh |
Stop 3: Gyeongbokgung palace. We just walked around the perimeter to digest a lot of chicken eaten, but the palace was nicely backlit and an interesting fossil of tradition among city lights and cars.
