Visiting Seoul
first trip with elen / April 2013
This is the first of a series of posts of my past travels. I’m starting with my latest one just to get going and get familiar with Medium.
We chose Korea as the first country to visit together because there is something to do for each of us.
Our main stop was Seoul - a beautiful city with a good mix of culture, history and modern technology. There’s a top notch metro system which connects the entire city, making travelling around convenient and cheap.
Language
Before we arrived, we were told that the younger generation generally speaks basic English and so we should be able to get around just fine. This was true, but many restaurant owners are operated by older generation locals who don’t know any English.
There were certain times when we were worried about what we were ordering. (We were very careful with meat as we know dog meat is something that is available in Korea)
However, even though there was a language barrier, the locals were really friendly and helpful whenever we got lost and were asking for directions.
Some Koreans also speak basic Mandarin. There are also quite a number of Chinese working as sales personnel in shops as Chinese tourists are quite common in Korea.
Getting Around
Get the excellent Subway app for iOS devices and Android devices. There’s the option to set where you’re departing from and where you are going to. Transit info will include transfers and even train timings.
Shopping
Cosmetics, fashion and beauty products line the streets of Seoul’s busiest shopping districts. Sales girls outside cosmetic stores like Etude House, Face Shop and innisfree giving out free samples became a common sight for us.
Our favourite shopping areas are Hongdae, Ewha and Myeongdong.
Dongdaemun is probably the most famous, but we had a really bad experience there.
Eating
Korean food is often very well balanced. The side dishes (banchan) normally consists of Kimchi, radish, spinach and anchovies. This is on top of the main dish.
Our favourite is probably the Korean barbecue meat (gogigui) pictured below.
Many street food stalls can also be found all over the city - normally around subway exits. Food is cheap and really good from these stalls!
Heritage
There are various palaces from the Joseon dynasty (and the dynasties before that) that are preserved and rebuilt after the Japanese occupation.
We visited the beautiful Changdeokgung where there is a secret garden (Huwon) which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The secret garden can only be accessed by buying tickets to a compulsory guided tours which runs every hour.
The palace and garden was destroyed by the Japanese during their occupation and was restored immaculately after that.
We were told that the garden looks a lot more amazing in the summer where the flowers and plants will turn green.
Cafes
The area we stayed in - Hongdae - is filled with independent coffeeshops where they serve absolutely amazing coffee. (My favourite is this little out of the way cafe - Cafe Aiya). The weird thing was that these coffeeshops open in the afternoon and well into the night.
Looking for a brunch place on a Sunday morning was impossible.
There’s also some sort of craze for cat/dog cafes. These cafes have resident cats and dogs which you can interact with and even buy food for. There are basic ground rules we had to follow. Some cats we are not allowed to pick up, some are aggresive and some are really friendly. They’re differentiated by the different jackets they wear.
Parks
There are many beautiful parks in Seoul. Notably the Hangang park which is right beside the Han River.
Unfortunately, the cherry blossoms didn’t bloom while we were there.
There’s also a beautiful park that was transformed from a lost stream buried underground for years in the past.
Next stop
Our other stop in Korea is the beautiful Jeju island - another UNESCO Heritage Site. I’m seperating it into a different post as it’s a totally different experience from Seoul (and my preferred destination).
This is also my first post on Medium and so far I am really impressed with the experience and really enjoyed writing with it.
I hope you guys got some useful information from the post and if you have any questions, feel free to give me a tweet!
