It’s become
more than a simple craving. A craving is when you just need to shove huge
portions of that moist chocolate cake in your mouth, and then ban sweets from
your life the next day. My itch to revisit
South Korea, however, leans towards obsession. I have already been here twice
prior to this trip, but still I feel that much remains to be explored in this
charming country. And I haven’t even gone beyond Seoul.
This being
my 3rd time and my former colleagues’ 2nd, we have afforded
to avoid the usual tourist spots and just walk the streets of Seoul like the
self-proclaimed honorary Koreans that we are.
If this was
10 years ago, the idea of living in some stranger’s apartment overseas would be
both horrifying AND stupid. Lucky for us, we now have websites such ashostelworld.com, booking.com, and airbnb.com. I wouldn’t say it’s 100% safe,
but they at least eliminate the taboo-ness of couchsurfing.
We found
Anne through airbnb.com, and she was glad to accommodate the 4 of us in her
[huge] 3-bedroom apartment at the Platinum Tower in Myeongdong. Anne occupied
the master’s bedroom so it wasn’t surprising to see that the place was very
well-maintained. It was convenient, too, being less than 5-minutes’ walk to
Myeongdong’s main shopping area. Not bad for a W130,000/night (Php5,460/night)
rate.
photos cr. to Jaja
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| in front of Anne's place |
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| The amazing view from Anne's living room. |
Navigation:
TRAIN: The
best way to get around Seoul is by train. At first glance the subway map could
be intimidating, but it is actually straightforward and comprehensive. There
are also a number of directional signs that will remind/warn you if you’re
going the right way, so it’s almost impossible to get lost. ALMOST. Armed as we were with details on which train
to board and which exit to take (a station could have more than 10 exits that
get you in different sides of the road in one area) to our destination, we
still managed to get on the train going the opposite way. But that was one
time. We’re experts now.
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| photo cr. to Jaja |
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| Jedi and I can't resist posing in front of the subway's huge mirrors. LOL |
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| photo cr. to Jaja |
If you
think you’ll be commuting often during your trip, I suggest you purchase a
T-money card. It’s similar to the octopus card in HK, which you can use for all
public transport. The card costs W2,500, and then you can load it however much
you want. I wasn’t able to confirm, but I think you get about W100 discount in
any fare when using the card. You can check the fare being charged when you tap
the card on the sensor, and I noticed that it’s less than the cost of
single-journey tickets. T-cards can
be bought and reloaded in 7-11 stores.
BUS: Another
common mode of transportation is by bus. I was only able to try once—alone—and it
wasn’t as hassle-free. The drawback with Seoul’s buses (at least, for us
tourists), is that there’s a gazillion of them that travel different routes.
For one, they have 4 color codes: red, green, blue, and yellow, each assigned
to cover only certain areas. Even with my Seoul Bus mobile app (yes, such an
app exists), I had to do some major analysis to ensure I got on the right
coach. Bus stops show you which bus number goes where, BUT, they’re written in
Korean characters. So, yeah. Therefore, if taking a bus is inevitable, I
recommend you do your research beforehand. Although once you get the hang of
it, it will make it easier to get to places that are too far from the subway
stations.
YOUR OWN
FEET: People, we have discovered the Korean secret to getting slender bodies. Just
walk. Walk, walk, and then walk some more. It probably made up 90% of our
itinerary. The traffic in Seoul didn’t seem that bad, but the locals seem to
prefer walking and commuting than driving cars. Some even prefer walking than
taking the train. We paid a visit to Starcom Korea and we have this
conversation with DK and Ka Young over lunch:
DK: Where did you go yesterday?
Ms. Abbie: We went to Insadong and then to
Itaewon in the evening.
DK: Oh. How did you go? You walked?
Ms. Abbie: *flabbergasted* No, we took the
train from Myeongdong.
DK: You can actually walk from here to
Insadong.
Me: Really? It’s not that far?
DK: No, it’s only maybe 15, 20-minutes walk
Us: Oh. Okay...
Haha! Thank you,
DK. That would have saved us money but unfortunately, our legs can only walk
short distances. Any longer than 10 minutes of walking and we will consider ourselves
athletes. #lazies
By the way, thanks to DK and Ka Young for spoiling us with sooooo much food when they treated us for lunch. They basically made us try every Korean dish in the menu. Hope we can return the favor when they come visit the Philippines. :)
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| Spicy beef soup. They give you a cup of rice and you have to pour it into the soup! |
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| Cold noodle soup with vinegar (photo cr. to Jaja |
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| Seafood pancake (photo cr. to Jaja) |
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| Dumpling soup (photo cr. to Jaja) |
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| Spicy Octopus noodle. Suuuper spicy but super yummy! (photo cr. to Jaja) |
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| BULGOGI, my favorite Korean dish in the whole, wide world (photo cr. to Jaja) |
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| with DK and Ka Young (photo cr. to Jaja) |
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| At the Starcom Korea office - the counterpart of my former company (photo cr. to Jaja) |
Itinerary:
As this was
a relaxed, no-definite-schedule trip, we just decided to go to the most
frequented places in Seoul and see what locals are in to. And upon observation,
we conclude, that they have a certain fascination for coffee shops. They have
yogurt and ice cream shops but these lose in number compared to the store count
of coffee shops. Even Starbucks lost its prestige standing beside its more cozy
and artistic competitors. Maybe coffee beans are cheap in Korea? I’ll try to find out.
But one thing’s for sure, one won’t have to worry about internet access because
you can always find a coffee shop within 5 meters that offers free wi-fi.
Insadong –
full of arts and crafts and souvenir shops and restaurants. We even found an
unconventional ice cream place that sells vanilla ice cream in a J-shaped cone.
Fancy.
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| This art wall in the subway to Insadong |
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| Found this local bibimbap place at Insadong and we all went for it |
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| (photo cr. to Jaja) |
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| We actually attracted a few foreigners who took photos of us while we were eating ice cream. I guess we looked adorable. LOL |
Itaewon –
one of Seoul’s go-to places for night life. But since we were dead tired, we
were only able to have dinner at an Italian pub called Old Stand. Lots of other
options in the area though. Itaewon has a line of international cuisine restaurants,
as well as clubs that cater to a variety of music genres.
Gangnam –
PSY was right. Gangnam does have its own style. Being Seoul’s Manhattan, Gangnam
is lined with a hodgepodge of local and branded stores. Of course, beauty retail
brands and coffee shops abound.
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| (photo cr. to Jaja) |
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| (photo cr. to Jaja) |
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| (photo cr. to Jaja) |
Hongdae –
Officially my favorite place. Everything’s here. Street food, fashion retail
stores, restaurants. It is home to amateur artists, so it’s common to find
street performers providing musical entertainment while you take a stroll.
Hongdae also has a number of samgyupsal places, so if you’re looking for an
authentic “lettuce-wrap” experience, you can go here.
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| (photo cr. to Jaja) |
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| Photo with the owner of Tong Tong Dwaeji, the sampgyupsal place we ate in |
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| And of course, a photo with the cure server :) |
Oh, and hey, they
have coffee shops (surprise!). If you’re into K-dramas you would know that the actual Coffee Prince Shop is
in this place. Although I wouldn't say it's a must-see anymore. The place already looked like it's behind its glory days, suggesting that the Coffee Prince hype must have fizzled through the years. Nevertheless, it could still be worth the visit for die-hard Gong Yoo or Yoon Eun Hye fans. Thus, I have included the map (below) for your reference. It requires a little hike from the main Hongdae area, so perseverance is key.
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| Hongdae map to Coffee Prince No. 1 Shop. Follow the arrow |
So, have I had enough? Absolutely not. I still haven't done my K-Pop excursion (yes, K-pop), so I'll leave that to my next visit. Besides, I am yet to have dinner with Lee Min Ho (shout-out!).
Here's a short video of our trip. Check out the music bed from my k-pop homegirls, T-ARA. :)
