Seoul, when West meets Japan
Seoul, South Korea, June 2017
Gyeongbokgung Palace
Traditionnal Hanbok
After another #adventure with our hostel – we arrived at 4 am in the morning to see the door of our room locked and nobody to help us, landed in another room with 4 free beds then their occupants arrived 30 minutes later and were not happy etc. – we visited the Royal Palace ‘Gyeongbokgung’. The funny attraction there is to get a traditional costume (hanbok) to visit the place, see the changing of the guards and take some funny pictures. The whole process throws you back in the past as most visitors play the game. We then had the renowned ginseng chicken in a famous restaurant ‘Tosokchon’, but I didn’t really enjoy it as I didn’t really feel the #ginseng and the chicken was hard to eat with so many little bones.
Nanu Guesthouse Bunny (7/10): there will be soon a rabbit coffee at the ground floor of the hostel located in Hongdae district. The location was perfect (near the metro and full with restaurants and bar at night) – Mapo-gu, Yeonnam-dong, World cup buk–ro 6-gil, 89-8
Gyeongbokgung Palace (8/10): 161 Sajik-ro, Jongno-gu – Gyeongbokgung Station Exit 5
Insadong district
Buckchon Hanock Village
We spent the afternoon visiting the Ancient Buckchon village, buying some cheap Korean jewellery and enjoying some huge sweet snacks. We then wandered through Insadong, a district famous for the its art galleries and antic shops. Then we directly headed to Itaewon, the international district known for its bars and restaurant. After an aperitive with white wine, we finally enjoyed our first Korean barbecue with some soju, to finally end in some dancing bars.
Tosokchon (5/10): 5 Jahamun-ro 5-gil, Sajik-dong, Jongno-gu – Gyeongbokgung Station Exit 5
Buckchon Hanok Village (7/10): Anguk station, 37, Gyedong-gil
Insadong (8/10): Anguk station
Itaewon (9/10): Get off at Itaewon station
N Seoul Tower
On the second day, we wanted to try an unusual thing: a sheep coffee! Think of a cat coffee – same concept but with cut sheep. Ana and Sam the sheep were lovely and the coffee offered some great waffles. In the metro, we met a group of Korean teenagers in love with a #K-pop singer displayed on the wall, who had the chance to get many love stick notes from his fans. Then we took a cable car in Nansam district to the N Seoul Tower to admire the view of the city from the top.
Smoking place in the street
Changdeokgung Palace
You can walk in the park down to Myeongdong district where the real #shopping begins. For lunch, have a traditional beef bibimbap (ask if there is beef if the dish you order, restaurants can be tricky…). We wandered few hours in the district, searching for Korean funny cosmetics and have a look at some amazing street food. Then we headed to Changdeokgung Palace, passing next to the City Hall. This palace is really beautiful and the sunset’s light makes it even more mysterious. From there, you can walk through the Dongdaemun Cultural Park. You can’t avoid the Cheonggyecheon stream where every Korean goes to relax near the fresh water and even grasp something at the numerous food trucks nearby. We decided to try a restaurant and a waffle in our Hongdae district.
Cheonggyecheon stream (9/10): Cheonggyecheon-ro, Sangwangsimni-dong, Jongno-gu
Thanks Nature Cafe (10/10): cute sheep coffee with wonderful waffles and pastries, 10 Hongik-ro, Mapo-gu | Seogyo Purgio
Indian restaurant (6/10): main street
Better than Waffle (9/10) : go for some fruits and Nutella
Noryangjin Fish Market
Next day was dedicated to the huge Noryangjin fish market. Have a look at all the fishes presented by the hundred of fisherman and choose the one you want them to cook for you (you can’t go for fresher fish!). We tried a fresh salmon sashimi platter and met a very nice #fisherman who had a crush on M. and provided us with some soja sauce. The afternoon led us to the famous Gangnam district where we played some baseball – it is quite difficult! – and we ended in a cat coffee where E. was not really reassured by those pets. We spent the evening in Gangnam in a typical Korean restaurant, eating some tofu-based dishes and again some good grapefruit #soju. After a game in the shooting range where we tried to meet Korean people we headed back to Hongdae and we assisted in a movie filming with some Korean k-pop dance, even taking part into the audience cheering them up.
Noryangjin fish market (8/10): 674 Nodeul-ro, Noryangjin 1(il)-dong, Dongjak-gu
Hongdae district (9/10): very convenient to sleep, near from subway, shops and bars – Eoulmadang-ro, Mapo-gu
Paris Baguette (7/10): for the charm of a very French boutique in the heart of Seoul – 581 Namdaemunno 5(o)-ga
Cat loft (6/10): cat coffee with some cats but staff was not really friendly and the cats only wanted to sleep except one cute kitty..
View on North Korea
We visited the Korea Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on our last day, even if quite tired from the past night, we visited a tunnel that North Korea built in secret in order to attack Seoul by surprise. We were drove to the Dora Observatory where you can see the first village in North Korea, empty like a ghost town with some voice speakers playing traditional North Korea music… There is also an abandoned train station that was being built between both countries but the project was abandoned because of failed negotiations after unauthorised missile strikes from North Korea. After another walk in Insadong district and our last Korean barbecue, we had to take the plane back to Hong Kong.
DMZ guided tour (8/10): closed on Monday, no need to take the shopping option (you will even have a ‘mandatory’ jinseg fabric visit…)
—
An interesting country, with many Western sides but still with local and typical Korean culture and an amazing food. The city is full of paradox and that makes it unique!
Did you like this page and my trip’s recommendations? Do you want more information about them? I’ll be happy to receive any comment from you!
I’m extremely impressed with your writing talents as smartly as with the
layout for your blog. Is that this a paid subject or did you
customize it yourself? Anyway stay up the excellent quality writing, it
is uncommon to look a great weblog like this one today..
Wow, marvelous blog layout! How long have
you been blogging for? you made blogging look easy.
The overall look of your web site is magnificent, let alone the
content!
Hi, thank you for your comment. I’ve been blogging for a year now, thanks for reading my site 😉
Do you mind if I quote a couple of your posts as long as I provide credit and sources back to your blog?
My blog is in the exact same niche as yours and
my visitors would definitely benefit from some of the
information you present here. Please let me know if this okay with you.
Thanks a lot!
Yes sure Darell, please quote my name when you do so and send me your blog’ s link too 😉 Cheers
I am genuinely glad to glance at this blog posts which contains plenty of valuable
information, thanks for providing these kinds of information.
And thank you for your comment!
Spot on with this write-up, I really believe that
this website needs a great deal more attention. I’ll probably be returning to read more, thanks for the info!
Nice blog here! Also your site loads up very fast!
What web host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host?
I wish my site loaded up as quickly as yours lol
Unquestionably believe that which you stated.
Your favorite justification seemed to be on the web the simplest thing to
be aware of. I say to you, I definitely get annoyed while people think
about worries that they just do not know about. You
managed to hit the nail upon the top and defined
out the whole thing without having side-effects , people could take a signal.
Will probably be back to get more. Thanks
What’s up friends, good paragraph and nice arguments commented here, I am actually enjoying these.
I always spent my half an hour to read this weblog’s articles everyday along with a cup of coffee.
Good idea 😉 Thanks
Very descriptive post, I enjoyed that bit. Will there
be a part 2?
Hi Dolores, I don’t think I will write a Part 2 but I wrote about others countries I visited on the blog… I suggest you take a look at these articles 🙂
I blog often and I really appreciate your content. Your article has really peaked my interest.
I’m going to take a note of your blog and keep checking for
new details about once per week. I subscribed to your Feed as well.
This website truly has all the info I wanted about this subject and didn’t know who to
ask.
I do not even know how I finished up right
here, however I assumed this publish was good. I don’t
understand who you might be but certainly you’re going to a well-known blogger for those who are not already.
Cheers!
Great blog post.Much thanks again. Will read on…
Thank you for every other informative blog. Where else may I am getting that type of information written in such a perfect approach?
I’ve a venture that I am simply now working on, and I’ve been on the glance
out for such information.
Hello there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that it’s really informative.
I am going to watch out for brussels. I’ll appreciate
if you continue this in future. Lots of people will be benefited from your
writing. Cheers!
Can I simply say what a comfort to uncover an individual who truly
understands what they’re talking about on the net. You definitely
realize how to bring a problem to light and make it important.
More and more people must read this and understand this
side of your story. I was surprised that you
aren’t more popular because you most certainly possess the gift.
Whoa! This blog looks just like my old one!
It’s on a completely different topic but it has pretty
much the same layout and design. Superb choice of colors!
You sure know what you’re talking about. Everyone is going to soon be visiting your site.
What’s up everybody, here every person is sharing these kinds of knowledge,
so it’s nice to read this weblog, and I used to
go to see this weblog everyday.
Thank you very much for your note and I am glad to see that I have loyal readers! Cheers
Do you mind if I quote a few of your articles as long as I provide credit
and sources back to your site? My website is in the exact same
area of interest as yours and my users would really benefit from some of the information you present here.
Please let me know if this alright with you. Cheers!
Hi Isla,
Of course not, I will be delighted! Please do and I’ll be glad to know the name of your site to have a look too. Cheers!
Hi, Neat post. There’s a problem with your site
in web explorer, would check this? IE still is the market chief and a good
portion of folks will miss your magnificent writing due to this problem.
Tremendous things here. I’m very happy to look your post.
Thanks a lot and I’m taking a look forward to contact
you. Will you please drop me a e-mail?
Thank you for your comment and please check my ‘Contact’ page to drop me an email 😉 Have a nice day!
Hi, i think that i saw you visited my site thus
i came to “return the favor”.I am attempting to find things to improve my website!I suppose
its ok to use a few of your ideas!!
Thanks on your marvelous posting! I definitely enjoyed reading it, you are a great
author. I will be sure to bookmark your blog and will eventually come back at some point.
I want to encourage you to definitely continue your great writing, have
a nice weekend!
Thank you very much for your comment! Please, don’t hesitate to comment on Their Style pages too, the girls will be happy to hear what you think of their style too! Have a great day! 🙂
Hi there i am kavin, its my first time to commenting anyplace, when i
read this article i thought i could also make comment due to this sensible article.
Thank you for your commenting on my blog then!
It’s amazing to pay a visit this website and reading the views of all colleagues concerning this piece of writing, while
I am also keen of getting knowledge.
Nice blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download
it from somewhere? A design like yours with a few simple tweeks would really make my blog shine.
Please let me know where you got your theme.
Bless you
Thank you for your comment ! I bought the ‘Divi’ theme from Elegant Themes and I created the colours and layout myself.
What is your blog about?
Cheers
I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself or did you hire someone to do
it for you? Plz answer back as I’m looking to design my own blog and would like to know where u
got this from. cheers
Thank you very much for your comment! Yes, I created it myself 🙂 I am using the Divi Theme but then I created the rest from scratch.
Incredible! This blog looks exactly like my old one! It’s on a entirely different topic but it has
pretty much the same page layout and design. Superb choice of
colors!
Thank you very much Mari for your lovely comment! On which topic was your old blog? 🙂
Nice blog here! Also your web site loads up fast! What web host are you using?
Can I get your affiliate link to your host? I wish my web site loaded up as fast as yours lol
Thak you! Just working with Bluehost and WordPress but it took me almost a year to know all the tricks of speed loading and SEO 😉
Hello there! This is my first visit to your blog!
We are a team of volunteers and starting a new project in a community in the same niche.
Your blog provided us beneficial information to work on. You have done a marvellous job!
Thank you for this lovely comment Gretta! Hope you can tell me more about your project 🙂