Travel: South Korea (Day 1 - 9)
Heyyo, I'm FINALLY back to update on my really overdue-d 2017 winter trip!
So, to mark the end of a very arduous journey because of O'levels, I decided to visit the country that I've anticipated for the longest time ever, South Korea. This time around, I took a really early flight to Manila and then transferred to Seoul, so in one day, I experienced both sunrise and sunset in air...that was absolutely breathtaking. I had a 12 hours stopover in Manila and initially planned to visit Intramuros, a historic walled area within modern Manila..but we decided not to as by the time we settled down from arriving in Manila, three hours had gone by and we were carrying many luggage so we decided to save the trouble. But I really do wish I get to visit Manila one day and visit the Intramuros.
By the time we touched down in Seoul, it was about midnight so our initial plan of taking the All-Stop train to our place (which was supposedly really convenient for us) had to be taken down and we took the Limousine bus instead. It was quite a cool experience I guess? The driver and helper to move the luggage in were extremely friendly and taught us where to stop to get to our place (which ended up being wrong...but it's ok, we really appreciated their help). So, instead of stopping at Hongik University (Hongdae), we ended up at Mapo-gu, which was nearby by car but definitely not by foot. We dragged our luggage along streets for a good 3 hours because we could not find a single cab to help us (reason we suppose: the place is too near by car so the drivers would not profit by sending us). We ultimately found help outside the police station where this group of people initiated to walk us there but gladly got us two cabs in the end. We arrived at our Airbnb at about 4am? and we were cold, tired and famished so we settled with cup noodles and slept right away thanks to the comfortable heating system provided on the beds. The place is absolutely big and comfortable. The place is located in Hongdae, near Hongik University which was what I absolutely love about because by night, the neighborhood turns alive with many young people busking on streets and many street food stalls opening which will leave you spoilt for choice! (Here is the link to our airbnb if you are keen: https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/18606725)
Day 1;
Our first official day begun at this pork cutlet place near our stay. We ordered a normal pork cutlet and a sweet potato pork cutlet (and I swear, the sweet potato one is AMAZING!!) We explored the neighborhood for a little as we were waiting for our dad to arrive from Shanghai. At about 4pm, we had our early dinner at Baek Nyeon BaekSe Ginseng Chicken Soup. We had two soups - regular and black garlic (16,000KRW - 18,000KRW) - as well as, fried chicken and roasted chicken. I saw many websites recommending this store when I searched up where to eat ginseng chicken soup and clearly, it was worth all the recommendations! (We actually went back for dinner again on another day) Their side-dishes were really good as well, definitely worth the michelin star! I'm not even kidding! Moreover, they do not overcharge excessively for their reputation, I absolutely love this restaurant!
Baek Nyeon Baekse: 354-12 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea (5 minutes from Hongik University Exit 9)
We took the subway to explore Dongdaemun, supposedly, really lively at night with many fashion markets in its vicinity. And caught glimpses of the award-winning structure, DDP.
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Day 2;
Absolutely delicious and cheap korean dumplings (mandu) restaurant that operates 24hr! They even have a second store round the corner which clearly shows how popular their place is.
Mapo Mandu: 393-1, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea