Seoul
- Badger
- Nov 13, 2018
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 14, 2019
After a pleasant flight on Asiana First Class, we deplaned and headed towards baggage claim. A pretty welcome to Incheon Airport arrangement was picture worthy.
A waterfall welcoming passengers to the baggage claim area.
After my friend got his bag, we followed the signs for the airport railroad.
Past Xmas displays setup in front of the Starbucks.
And to the train terminal which was large and easy to purchase tickets.
We headed to the train for Seoul Station with lots of other passengers.
We crammed in and began our about hour long journey.
We got to the train station and took a taxi to the Somerset Palace Hotel in the Gangbuk area near several temples. The hotel itself was fine, think mid-range business and functional over aspirational.
By this time it was now evening and we decided to wander out the back of our hotel to find dinner.
Beautifully decorated bushes with Xmas lights, I was loving it.
I love how everything in Korea is done with purpose and skill, the street musicians were legitimately great.
Cool lanterns as we walked through the streets.
A restaurant showing off their fresh fish.
And heaven, a double deck 31 flavors - hello best mint chip!
And of course had to get a picture for MsFlamingo.
Street vendors with sometimes good, sometimes not as good looking food.
And we settled on finding a Korean BBQ spot to start the evening off with.
Great start with the coals and new to us was the egg on the outside.
A tower of meat.
And let's get cooking! Overall it was tasty as always, but interesting because it became apparent that the Korean BBQ in the US and especially LA is in our opinions better. Largely that comes down to the quality of meat, and we frankly have better quality meat.
The next morning we started off with a coffee and pastry from one of the many great coffee shops.
Then set out towards some of the monuments and through the downtown. What surprised us is how not dense this area of Seoul is compared to other major cities.
A temple in the middle of town.
And towards the temple complex and mountains that not too far north, has the DMZ.
The opera house.
Interesting...
What a great presence.
Guards and tourists.
An amazing complex of temples and buildings that were administrative buildings during the old empires.
Check out the details on the ceiling!
As a side note, it was funny how many people, especially girls, rented and dressed up in the traditional dress to take pictures of themselves around the property.
One of the oldest stilted buildings in Korea.
An area showing off the history of Korean technology starting with the water wheel and progressing into what ultimately would become a booming technology hub.
We wrapped up and walked around some of the adjacent neighborhoods.
Which reminded me of Switzerland between the architecture and how clean things were.
A pearl tea stop was a must.
And we just loved the craftsmanship and care they take for everything they do. Check out that potato chip machine, epic!
We stopped at a hole in the wall place to get some bibimbap, it was fantastic!
Then onward through a nice local shopping district.
And although we were full, had to stop at this dumpling place.
And ate way more than there was room for.
Luckily we were right next to another temple complex and decided to stop and walk around it to walk off the dumplings.
More beautiful temples.
And again the detail and care.
The sun soon started to set which provided great scenery.
We headed back to our hotel to do some work before dinner, and then headed out. We asked the concierge where they recommend and would personally like to go.
So we headed out that way and unfortunately think there was a lost in translation moment. Instead what we got was the white person area with dodgy massage parlors and shitty Americanized food.
Certainly a hopping area.
And a serious WTF...
So we headed back to the area by our hotel for a more authentic experience and decided to stop by one of the great looking fried chicken wing places. And boy was it tasty with a nice cold beer.
Then we stopped off at a dessert cafe to have something sweet, all in moderation :)
We headed to bed since we'd need to get up in the morning to head to the airport and begin our trip to Hong Kong.
Overall we really enjoyed Hong Kong, it was great to explore it with a long time friend and we both agreed it's a place worth visiting and we'd want to come back and spend more time exploring. Definitely check it out if you ever get the chance.
Trip links:
- Seoul
- Shantou
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