Seoul and Busan!
One missed flight and one made flight later (read the end of my Japan post if confused), I arrived at Incheon. It was super easy to navigate and I was out the door in under 30 minutes; just in time to catch an Airport Limousine into Seoul. The bus service provided by Airport Limousine was top-notch and very easy to get tickets for. The ride was comfortable, albeit a bit long (90+ minutes) and I arrived near Nakseongdae station, just north of Seoul National University.
This is where I reunited with Harry, a close friend from my time ETH Zürich and a frequent guest on this travel blog (ex. Strasbourg, Mainz, Munich, Vienna, and countless spots across Switzerland). It was so great to meet him again and we caught up over some Dakgalbi at 유가네닭갈비 (Yoogane Chicken Galbi Seoul National). The chicken stew was delicious and perfect after a long day of travel in the rain. The dinner was just the first course, and we got some Korean beer and snacks at Yeokjeon Halmeoni Beer SNU. The night ended at Homac, a popular Korean chain for desserts and drinks. Having a local contact is 10000x better for finding delicious, traditional food, and this was a great start to the trip.
After a late night yap session, I crashed at Harry’s apartment and happily had a late morning the next day. We got lunch at Bulcho Braised spicy chicken, where I had some excellent cold noodles (called Mul Bibim Chogye Noodles) in an unassuming restuarant. We joked that it might have been the first time that an Indian person ate there, since we were far away from the touristy area and this was the definition of a local gem. Harry had a busy day ahead, so we split up and I headed to Starfield Coex Mall. I wanted to see the viral library inside the mall that was all over my Instagram! Plus, it was raining, so I decided to check off my indoor activities
It was my first time taking the Korean subway system, and similar to the systems in Taiwan and Japan, it was a clean and efficient system but involved a good amount of walking. After a semi-long ride, I arrived at Coex and after getting lost finding the entrance, I finally made my way inside. The mall itself was a nice, standard mall but I was there for one thing and one thing alone.
The library! It was easy to find and was expectedly packed with people. The place was clearly built for instgrammable moments with its multi-story and inaccessible bookcases. I wonder if anyone actually came here to use it as a library. The second floor featured various coffee and pastry shops, and I remember Harry telling me how popular cafès and coffee culture was in Korea. I got a pick-me-up from % Arabica (after waiting in a lengthy line) before leaving the library and exploring the mall. I spotted an Art Box store, which was famous for cute little knick-knacks and even cuter T-money cards that you could use for the metro and convenience stores. I happily picked out a card and few other things before heading out. The library didn’t take me much time and I didn’t really want to shop, so I spent my afternoon at the Starfield Aquarium, which is also located in the mall!
The aquarium was cool and I had a lot of fun with cuter animals (no offense fish), like the axolotl, otters, beavers. I’m also partial to seahorses, so I loved that exhibit. I did feel like the exhibit spaces were quite small though, and worried about the animals’ quality of life—I’ve heard bad things about animal cafès and zoos in Japan, so I’m hoping this was different.
My next indoor spot to flee from the rain was the National Museum of Korea. The space was grander than I had expected, and the scale of the museum was something I hadn’t seen before. It was so large that it made me hungry! So my first museum exhibit was the food court: the food wasn’t very good, but it was just fuel for me at that point in the day. With a full stomach, I started exploring the exhibits. There were A LOT. A L O T. of artifacts, ranging from prehistoric Korea to modern-day. I started at the very beginning, but soon realized I was out of my depth when it came to Korean history. Luckily, with ChatGPT by my side, I learned just enough as I went on. It was amazing that pottery, calligraphy, military items, and so much more were preserved for thousands of years. Because I got there in the evening, I was on a time crunch and I found myself speedrunning the lower floors.
There was an interesting ceremony at 8 PM that involved lighting up the tower, but I didn’t understand the Korean commentary so it was so-so for me. I ended my museum exhibit with the famous Pensive Bodhisattvas, which were from the 7th century! They had their own room in the museum with a dedicated guard: the definition of aura. All that history worked up an appetite, and given the rainy, gloomy evening, I had one thing and one thing only on my mind.
I made my way to Kkanbu for some korean fried chicken. The chicken options were for at-minimum 2 people (suprsingly common in Korea), but I wasn’t worried. I had their special, which was leg-piece oriented, and ate about 80% with some local Kloud beer. Content, I took the metro back to Harry’s apartment in southern Seoul and met up with him at a nearby cafè. I was quickly checking off classic Korean foods off my list, and I could add a few more after we went to Yein Chon Makgeolli. I really loved the chive pancake (부추전) and the chestnut makgeolli (밤막걸리) was a milky, sparling rice wine that was unlike any drink I’d ever had before. We capped off the night with a couple hours of yapping before dozing off.
Harry and I started the morning late at a local Totoro-themed Japanese restaurant: Daihiro (다이히로). Harry set off for his basketball tournament and the weather was much better today, so I had my sights set on Yeouido Hangang park by the Han River. The metro took me a while, but I finally made it. There were a lot of families and children walking along the river and playing in the various playgrounds and mini-waterparks along the river shore. It was a nice vibe, but I was getting a little bored. So, I walked to the nearby Hyundai Department Store Mall. It was much fancier than Starfield and the vibes were super polished and luxurious: there was even a multi-story indoor waterfall! As expected, the stories were SUPER expensive. I was ready to splurge a little on a few items, but when the cheapest item is >$100 USD, it was time to move on. Based on the clothes I was wearing (and maybe the color of my skin?), I got several weird looks from storeowners and even other shoppers. I accidentally bumped into someone and he got quite aggressive with me, which I thought was strange. Anyways, I conclued that this was not my scene, so after exploring all the floors (including a beautiful indoor forest at the top floor, which was a set for the k-drama, Queen of Tears), I headed to the food court in the basement.
There were not many savory options for someone that only eats chicken, and ordering was even harder. It was kiosk-based and required a Korean phone number, so I had to go up and ask each store owner if I could order at the counter. Eventually, I had a fried dessert from Golden Ball and a pizza pastry from a bakery, but it wasn’t anything special.
Disappointed from my shopping experience thus far, I decided to check out the famous Hongdae district near Hongik University. I walked around for about 30 minutes and checked out some thrift stores, but I was exhausted from the day the area seemed a little dead. So, I decided to head to Harry’s early. I would later come to find out that I was 10 minutes away from the main Hongdae area!
A very long train journey later, I got to Harry’s apartment, where I quickly packed up my things and took the same journey back to Myeongdong. Turns out, my travel adventures had inspired my K-drama-loving family and they wanted to join me for my last week in Korea. They ( = my dad, mom, and sister) were staying at Lotte Hotel Myeongdong, which was beautiful and a major step-up from the hostels I had been hopping between (one advantage of traveling with family!). The long journey had tired them out, so we had a quiet evening hanging out in the area. We walked along the Cheonggyecheon Creek in the heart of downtown before grabbing a bite at Gimbap Cheongug Euljiro1. It was another kiosk-based system that we couldn’t use, but the lady running the place was super nice and walked us through the English menu at the counter. Their kimchi fried rice was some of the best I’ve ever had! The night ended at Twosome, a famous Korean dessert cafe, from which promptly got kicked out for not ordering enough desserts.
It seemed to be a common rule across Asia and especially Korea that you needed to order at least 1 dish per person. Good to know!
The next morning, which also happened to be my 22nd birthday 🥳, we (me + family) had a packed schedule and started the day early at Gyeongbukgang Palace. This Palace was all over the Internet as the #1 thing to do in Seoul, so it had a lot of hype behind it. Maybe it was the previous month of visiting temples and palaces, but this palace wasn’t all that impressive. The reenactment of the changing of the guards in the morning was entertaining, but knowing that it was a reenactment kind of took away the magic.
There were some great, picturesque spots, but it wasn’t anything super special. It was, however, centrally located to many touristy sights, for example, the Bukchon Culture village. Before tackling the winding, hilly, ancient streets, we took a quick lunch break at Mosaique, which was a homey bakery with delicious sandwiches, soups, and pastries. I was personally impressed by the vareity of breads and cheeses they had—it felt like Paris!
We walked around the Culture Village, but it didn’t feel like anything special. Again, there were some picture-perfect scenes, but otherwise it was a standard neighborhood with some shops. Since it was an actual neighborhood, we had to be very quiet (and even got shushed once -_-), which was a unique touch to a touristy spot. We stopped by a Hama Photobooth; photobooths are a Seoul Staple™️ and it’s a crime to leave the city without grabbing a few polaroid-style photosheets. The target audience was definitely teenage girls, so we were a littttle bit out of place. But, the real star of the culture village was the ttoekboki we had at a nearby street food stall, which currently holds the title of best ttoekboki in my heart.
The culture and history continue at the nearby Jogyesa Temple, which was just a short stroll away. There was an information center across the street at Templestay Lotus, featuring arts and crafts activities like making your own lotus lantern. They had an event called “tea with a monk” but I guess the monk was all tea-d out, because they said the earliest availability was 2 days out. So, we explored the grand Jogyesa Temple. It was prayer time, and they urged tourists not to come inside, but they had several views of the GIGANTIC golden buddha inside. The ornate blue-and-green architecture was stunning and was juxtaposed with the modern skyline in the background.
Next door was the famous Insadong Street, lined with hundreds of boutiques and stores. My mom and sister (and me) had a field day at the knick-knack, jewelry, and clothes stores. And we ALL had a field day at the jelly stores, buying dozens of juicy jellies in different flavors like mango and apple. Our last stop on this street was Acorn Caricatures, another Seoul Staple™️. Their artists are world-class and can make anyone and anything look beautiful, even me! Within a couple of minutes, we had a nice family portrait as a keepsake.
It had been an eventful day, so we took the metro back to our hotel area. Before officially winding down, there was a much-needed KFC break at Jadam Chicken to introduce my dad and sister to the marvels of Korean fried chicken. And of course, after that, a well-deserved nap. Our post-nap destination was Namsan Tower via a taxi called by the hotel, and while I’m a huge fan of the metro, sometimes a 20-minute taxi beats a 2-transfer train journey.
There’s an option to hike Namsan park up to the famous tower overlooking the city, but after our 20,000-step day already, we opted for the cable car ride up. The viewpoint at the top is an absolute must-see: the centrally-located park provides a 360-degree view of the city’s skyscrapers and rolling green hills in the background. Of course, sunset is the best time to go, which is exactly why we were there. Watching as the sky turned to red, to purple and eventually to black was an amazing experience. Going to the very top of the tower is unncessary because there are more than enough vantage points at the base level that we took advantage of. This park also is a hotspot for couples to put locks on the railings, and there were thousands, if not millions of heart-shaped locks bunched along the railings. I was worried it would cause a collapse!
As the city lights flickered on, we got in line for the gondola down, which was much larger than the line to go up. Within about 30-minutes, we were back down at the base of the hill and caught a taxi back towards Myeongdong Market. I was meeting a friend from Penn, Eunsoo, at this famous night market, so I had the taxi drop me off here (side note: he also dropped off the rest of my family here because I don’t think he understood a multi-stop ride, so unbeknownst to me, they got stuck here for the evening as well).
I met up with Eunsoo, which was a crazy meetup to be happening on the other side of the world from Philadelphia. He’s from Seoul, so I got inside information on the best things to try and things to avoid. The first item on the list to try was bingsu, a milk-based shaved ice dessert, at Sulbing Cafe. The cafè itself was hidden on the second floor of a relatively unmarked building, so I never would have found it without him. The bingsu was delicious, and I especially loved the condensed milk that you can mix in at the end. We then walked around Myeongdong Night Market and chatted for a while, punctuated with trying various streetfoods. My favorite was the vegetarian black bean noodles (Jjajangmyeon) and the egg (Gyeran-ppang: 계란빵). The streets were packed and Eunsoo noted that this market was much more touristy (and therefore overpriced and less authentic) than some of the other markets, but at the end of the day, I am a tourist too! We parted ways at the giant blue LOVE sign (since there is a red version of the exact same sign on Penn’s campus) before I head back to the hotel. After a quick stop at the nearby 7-11 for some more snacks and refreshments to finish off my birthday, I fell fast asleep in the comfy room.
The next morning, my dad and I got an early start to catch a metro to Seoul City Hall. This is where our tour bus picked us up to take us to the demilitarized zone (DMZ). As a former speech & debate kid, I’d given countless speeches about the DMZ, so it was an absolute must-visit for me. I took a quick nap on the ride there, punctuated with commentary by our helpful and funny tour guide. A short 90-minute bus ride away was Imjingak, a park located north of the town of Paju. There were some interesting sights to see, such as a Korean War memorial dedicated to the US (featuring all 50 states), the Freedom Bridge, and a gondola ride across the river to a site surrounded by minefields. It was one of those stops that every tour bus makes for no real reason, since it wasn’t all that exciting. We soon made our way to the Dora Observatory, which was a functioning training facility complete with South Koran soldiers in classrooms taking notes.
The weather was crystal clear, and atop the Dora Observatory, my dad and I could peer into North Korea. With the help of the coin-operated telescopes, we could even see the North Korean flag and farmers across the border in the North Korean propaganda village. While we were on the terrace, the classroom of students let out, and I took the opportunity to snag a picture with a soldier from the class. It was super cool to be inside the famous demilitarized zone that I’d heard so much about. And while we couldn’t go into North Korea itself (even if we bought the more expensive package, it was supposedly not allowed due to an American soldier deserting on the tour), it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see it right in front of us.
The third stop of the tour was the Third Tunnel, which was discovered in 1978 as a method for North Koreans to potentially invade the South. It was quickly blocked off and has now become a tourist site for civilians to go underground to experience being a Korean soldier and to inch closer to the border. It was a wet, narrow, and steep descent and ascent, so no shame if you have to end up skipping it. There were also no phones allowed due to national security. My dad and I ended just meters away from North Korea.
Our final stop was the Unification Village: a small village inside the DMZ managed by the United Nations. We had some soybean ice cream, bought some souvenirs, and hopped on the bus to head back to Seoul City Hall.
That (delicious) soybean ice cream didn’t make a dent in our appeitite, so we unified with my mom and sister (pun intended) and hit up a Subway. Subways are a common meetingplace in K-dramas for whatever reason, so it was almost a tourist attraction in and of itself.
Following an afternoon nap, we took a stroll around downtown and grabbed dinner at Gimgane Gimbap in Myeongdong. I felt like an expert because I knew the ins and outs of eating like a Korean: the secret drawer of metal chopsticks and napkins, the water dispenser, and kimchi station. Or, at least I hope I looked like an expert. Afterwards, I took the fam to Sulbing Cafe from earlier. It was the go-to bingsu spot, and they loved it.
I ended the night by taking the metro to meet up with Joe, a close friend from Penn who was featured in my Japan post. We met in Hongdae, which seemed like a college town inside the middle of Seoul. Our first stop was Flashback, an 80s throwback bar with an emphasis on American culture. Next, we hit a local spot for some Krush beer and snacks. Lastly, we hit a classic Korean photobooth, before I hopped on a metro back towards Myeongdong to get some much-needed sleep before an early morning.
And it was an early morning indeed, waking up early to get to the main station by 7AM to catch our train to Busan (just like the movie!). I wanted to watch the movie on the train, but had mistakenly downloaded a version without subtitles. I fell asleep during the main zombie attack scenes, but I imagine the movie would have been better if I understood it. After arriving in the Southern coastal town of Busan, we headed to our hotel, The Club Hotel Gwangalli. Our taxi driver tried to use the Korean Siri to route to the “The Club”, but he had to say “The Club” in a heavy Korean accent at least 20 times before the text-to-speech picked it up. The elevators were hard to understand, and we accidentally ended up in the backrooms of a seafood restaurant before finally making it to the actual hotel.
We dropped off our bags and headed down for a quick lunch at Portana Pizza (who apparently use a whole potato in their fluffy pizza dough!) with a view of the famous Gwangalli Beach. Next, we grabbed a quick taxi from Kakao T to the Gamcheon Culture Village. Compared to the culture village in Seoul, this one was 100x better. There was clear route (called the Grandpa Route) that looped around the village and featured beautiful views of the multicolored buildings sprawling across the hill with the Korea Strait in the background. Along the walk, there were lots of stores selling snacks and souveniers, so I got a sweet treat (some gelatin multicolored spheres) and a phone case from there. The whole area had lots of murals and merchandise from The Little Prince. I hadn’t seen it before, but my dad loved it and the art style was stunning. We are still unsure of the connection between The Little Prince and Busan but it was so wholesome. We ended the Grandpa Route by descending the 148 stairs, called the “The Stairs to See Stars” due to its dizzying steepness.
The bottom of this neighborhood felt much quiter and more genuine than the places in Seoul, so enjoyed the calmness before grabbing another taxi to Gukje Market. We walked around this all-encompassing market for a bit, but the smells from the nearby Bupyeong Kkangtong Market caught our noses. While Gukje may have had some great food, we were sucked into Bupyeong Kkangtong and tried some fruit juice, fried chicken, a pancake-like bread, candy, and some jellies. Everything was delicious and felt very authentic—I felt like Anthony Bourdain here to be honest.
Next, we grabbed a taxi to our hotel room. Our room was ready and as soon as we entered our jaws dropped. It was a stunning oceanview room on the 16th floor with views of Gwangalli beach and Gwangan Bridge, complete with a hot tub on the balcony. Travelling with parents really elevates your living situation from 16-person bedrooms in hostels to oceanside penthouses!
I taxi’d to the nearby Hueandae Beach and spent dinner with an old friend from my time at ETH Zürich, Minggie! We grabbed some Korean Fried Chicken at Yellow chicken Pub and walked along the beach during a gorgeous sunset. As the sky turned from orange to bright pink to the navy blue of the night, the Busan skyline flickered to life. We ended walking back to Minggie’s apartment, where he gave me a ride in his imported BMW, which was super sleek. Shoutout Minggie for a great evening in this beatiful seaside city! I reunited with my family for dessert at Look at the Barista, a cafe with great ambiance but where we fell victim to the classic Korean rule of having to order at least 1 dish/person. After eating 4 desserts, it was definitely time for bed.
With the stunning sunset the night before, I had high hopes for sunrise the next morning. And Busan did not dissapoint! The early alarm was so worth it when we saw hues of lavender and soft pink fill the morning sky. Our neighbors in the hotel were even setting off fireworks into the air, creating a full sensory experience. After taking in the views, it was time for the universal post-sunrise activity: a nap. In the mid-morning, we checked out, kept our luggage at the hotel lobby, and took a Kakao taxi to Hwangnyeon Mountain. The area was the base of many hikes, and we did a mini trail to the top to enjoy the views. The fog-filled landscape was beautiful, and reminded me of Kung Fu Panda. There were only a handful of people, so it was a calm, serene experience. We then took another Kakao taxi back to Gwangalli (and even had a full conversation with Google translate with our driver), just in time for lunch.
We split up for lunch—my mom hit a Subway (just like the K-dramas!) for a vegetarian-friendly lunch and the rest of us went to the Chinese restaurant nearby. It can be hard to be a vegetarian in Korea, but not an impossible feat. After stopping by Cafe Mignon to pick up some pastries for the road, we grabbed our luggage and went to the station. I was astonished to find a Krispy Kreme at the station and had to sample some donuts. Even though we already ate lunch and had a ton of desserts in our bag, I cannot say no to a sweet treat. Now feeling absolutely stuffed, I had an amazing nap in the train and woke up back in Seoul. We took a quick taxi to Gangnam and I immediately head back out to meet up with Harry and Tejas (you might know Tejas from my Switzerland or Vienna travels).
I met Harry at Express Bus Terminal Station and we set off for Banpo Hangang Park, where we got some snacks and beer from a CU convenience store (no real stores along the river so you have to go more inland). We walked around and chatted, and eventually met up with Tejas and his friend from Princeton. It was a standard night at the Hangang Park, complete with fried chicken, beer, soju, snacks, and a lot of yapping. The night grew late, and I took a taxi back to crash and sleep in the next morning. My next day was focused on exploring Gangnam, starting with the Kukkiwon World Taekwondo Headquarters.
For those of you that did Taekwondo, you know how famous Kukkiwon is, so I was so excited to see the global hub of the sport. There was a massive dojo surrounded by various offices and historical artifacts. It was personally very interesting, but was definitely not a tourist site and felt like a bunch of offices. As I was exploring the surrounding neighborhoods, I realized that the stories of the hills of Gangnam were legit. My calves were on fire the whole time, but it did make for some fire views.
I fueled up with some fried chicken from an unassuming shop in Gangnam before taking the train to Hongdae and meeting back up with Tejas. I had been to the area earlier on my trip but missed the main street, and this is when I would actually discover it. I couldn’t believe I missed it before because it was bustling and packed with vendors. We walked around, checked out some of the clothing stores, people-watched, and enjoyed some street snacks. One of the last items on my Korean bucket list was a cat cafe, so I split up from Tejas and headed to Roof Cat Me: a cat cafe that gives the cats more autonomy and freedom than standard cafes. The drinks were almost an afterthought and came from a machine in the back, and the main attraction was obviously the dozen or so cats meandering around, snoozing, or playing with the toys that the cafe had. It was a lot of fun to take pictures and hang out with the cats, but they did seem a little indifferent to the toys I was trying to get them to play with. The other people in the cafe were also almost entirely couples or groups, so being a solo 22-year old male playing with kittens did feel a little awkward.
After getting my fill, I head back to Banpo Hangang Park, this time to meet up with my family. It was a beautiful evening, although the famous fountains did not turn on for us. After a nice stroll, we returned to the hotel, and I, of course, set back out to meet up with Joe and his hostelmates at Thursday Party, a bar in Hongdae. Interestingly enough, I met an Indian guy from Frisco (a suburb close to where I grew up), and we made conversation about Dallas suburbs while being on the other side of the world. Our next stop was a convenience store/ATM and then the nearby Club Aura. The streets were suprisingly trashed and this part of Hongdae reminded me a lot of Shibuya in Tokyo. Aura was a good experience and a solid EDM venue (complete with glowsticks for everyone), despite the clear focus on bottle service and selling tables. I called it an early night (at around 3) and head back to the hotel.
Unfortunately, I could not sleep in the next morning as we packed up, checked out, and spent our last hours in Korea at Lotte World Mall. I was in desperate need of a thisisneverthat shirt and some Olive Young cosmetics to take back. After traversing this maze of a mall, we found what we wanted and even stopped by Blue Bottle coffee for a quick pick-me-up. We then retrieved our luggage from the hotel and took the Airport Limousine back to Seoul Incheon Airport.
It was definitely a bittersweet ending to an amazing month of travel through Taiwan, Japan, and Korea. I got to ponder my thoughts about my trip over a great lunch at the Skyhub Lounge at Incheon. I felt the urge to extend my trip, but it was time to go back and unwind a little. Plus, my suitcase could not handle another single souvenir. So, it was the end of a trip that started alone and ended, somehow, with my family!
Takeaways
- Having a local friend (shoutout Harry) makes these trips 100x better. The hidden food gems are essential
- Seoul is MASSIVE and it’ll take you a non-trivial time to get around, even with the efficient (but busy) metros
- The DMZ is a must-see and a reminder of the after-effects of war and conflict
- Is it really a trip to Korea if you don’t eat fried chicken and drink soju 238479238479324 times?
- Busan is a beautiful city and the beaches surrounded by skyscrapers are amazing
- Keep an empty suitcase for all the shopping (especially the skincare) you’ll do!
Rose-Bud-Thorn
Rose (what went well): I got to see a lot of old friends this trip, including Harry, Minggie, Eunsoo, and Tejas. It was a lot of fun to catch up with them, and extra fun to have local Koreans show me around their cities of Seoul and Busan. Can’t wait to see these guys again!
Bud (what was good but could be improved on): As noted above, it took a WHILE to get around Seoul. There were several spots where it took over an hour to take the train from one place to another, and that definitely threw the schedule off at times. It wasn’t the end of the world and it was fun to ride around on the transit system, but we could have planned some activities better to prevent long transportation routes.
Thorn (what did not go well): Even though we had expected this ahead of time, finding vegetarian food was difficult. It never caused a serious problem, but it was enough of a barrier to keep in mind whenever we set out for the day. I couldn’t imagine being vegetarian when travelling, so shoutout to my mom for sticking to it.
Rohan Chhaya 