Seoul — mika ohata

The land of Kpop, Kimchi, Skincare, and more…Seoul is a top destination on many travel lists! Over the past few years, I’ve really started to love korean food. Soondubu had become a regular meal in college, and of course who can forget the chijimi (seafood pancake). Korea has become a leading country in the top skincare, makeup, and fashion brands as well. Places like The Face Shop, Innisfree, and Stylenanda, have been making a name all over the world.

I had some KoreanAir miles to use up before 2018, so I decided to do a short weekend trip to Seoul with my friend Mitsuki. Before coming to Seoul, Mitsuki and I met up at a popular bookstore in Japan, Tsutaya. We looked through travel books and planned all the places we wanted to go to.

Day 1:

We started our journey by taking a red-eye flight to Seoul at 2 AM on a Tuesday morning. Luckily, the flight was from Haneda Airport which is closer to the city. We both caught the last trains to the airport and met up at Haneda Airport after checking in and going through TSA. For those of you on a budget, these red-eye flights are definitely the way to go. However, they do fly out at odd times and can be an inconvenience at times. The flight to Seoul is about three hours. After a short nap, we arrived around 5 AM.

After meeting up, we bought a T-Money Card which is the transport card that you can use on public transport in Seoul. At the airport, you can buy them at the convenience stores for a couple of bucks. And don’t forget to top up your card as well! We took the All stop train from Incheon Airport to Seoul Station (around $3.50). From there, we made our way to Myeongdong to grab some breakfast! *Note at this time its only around 7 AM… Early in the morning, Myeongdong has a totally different vibe. The streets are bare, and the shops are closed. It’s kind of eerie in a way. We decided to grab Seolleongtang which is an ox bone korean soup served with beef, green onions, and rice on the side. We had to go to the famous Sinseon Seolnongtang which is popular among Japanese people. By the time we finished our meal, there was a huge line of people waiting to get seated. Luckily we arrived extra early so we didn’t have to wait long! They also have bins of kimchi and kimchi daikon that you can cut up and serve yourself. Our Korea trip was off to a great start! Since Myeongdong was so empty, we decided to head to Hongdae to hang around the area near our airbnb. We stopped for some delimanjoo in the station before catching the train.

Exhausted from carrying our backpacks, and less than two hours of sleep, we decided to stay at a coffee shop, connect to wifi, and relax. Plus, the coffee helped to keep us awake for the rest of the day. The shops in Seoul didn’t open until around 10~11 AM, so we took our time to sit until the shops opened. Hongdae is filled with cute cafes, fashion boutiques, eateries, and more. We had to stop at the Style Nanda Cafe which is located on top of the shop. You can easily sneak in and take pictures of the space without ordering food. We were going to order a cake, but they have a 1 drink + 1 dessert minimum PER person, and the cakes were about $10. We decided to skip this, since we already got cute pics of the space. We spent the rest of the morning popping into the different shops around the area. Unlike the past, the clothes seemed a lot more expensive than I remembered. Everything so cute, but was around $40 for a top or skirt.

We stopped for lunch to get some korean fried chicken on the main street. I don’t remember the name, but the shop had a Gordon Ramsey photo on the window. We decided to try it since we were 1. starving, and 2. tired of walking. Korean portions are suited more for larger groups. We got one plate of chicken topped with crispy chips. It came with a side of pickled daikon, and luckily nothing else! The plate was huge, and we definitely had trouble finishing between the two of us. Nevertheless, the chicken was really good and had a nice, mild shoyu glaze. After lunch, we got cake at a sunglass shop + cafe, Carin. I would recommend this cafe to cake lovers and those who love aesthetic cafes! It’s definitely an “insta” spot worthy of your money. Like most of the cafes we went to, this one required you to order one drink + one dessert. But luckily we could split between the two of us. We got their pink lego cake which was filled with a raspberry filling. It was one of the most aesthetic and delicious cakes I’ve ever tasted. Despite the price tag (I think it was around $8,) I’d go back for another! After what seemed like all day, we made our way to our airbnb to drop off our bags and relax for a bit. Our airbnb was cute, modern, and only a short walk from the main Hongdae area.

We carried our backpacks all day, so we had to take a long break at the airbnb to settle in. We honestly really wanted to nap, but we decided to push through the pain and make the most of our day. We went back to the main area to do more shopping. Along the way, we tried some sugar coated strawberries, walked into a bunch of boutiques, and made our way to a kbbq shop! We had to wait around 20 min, but the staff gave us blankets to keep warm while outside. After getting seated, they actually had Japanese speaking staff, so we ordered a plate of pork belly, spicy marinated pork, and pork skin (which I though was sausage, until it came…)They also gave sides and you could grab as much lettuce, onions, garlic, and peppers from the shelf in the store! Finally, to end the night, we went to Cafe de Paris, which is famous for their fruit “bon bons”. Sadly, you also need to order at least one item per person here too, so we split a strawberry bon bon and a hot tea. The bon bon was HUGE and topped with a good amount of strawberries. But the flavor wasn’t amazing, and it was about $10 ~ 15. It was a full day of snacking, eating, and shopping.

Day 2:

The next day, we basically had another full day in Seoul, so we decided to make the most of it. Our flight was at 10:45 PM, which gave us all day to roam around the city, shop, and buy some last minute gifts. For breakfast, we found a dumpling restaurant nearby the airbnb, Mapo Dumpling Restaurant. Everything here was so cheap…it was about $5 each, and we got a plate of kimpab, toppoki (spicy rice cakes), and a plate of fresh gyoza. It definitely satisfied our korean cravings!!! After breakfast, we walked a bit more to a nearby tiramisu shop. They sell these cute tiramisu cakes in cups. The classic comes topped with a strawberry. But you can also get other flavors ~ I tried the earl grey one. Definitely would recommend the classic, if you’re planning to stop by!

As a recommendation from my friend Vichida, we decided to go shopping in Garosugil after breakfast. This area is close to Gangnam and has many higher-end stores and brands like Gentle Monster, Maison Kisune, etc. On my list was the store, Tamburins, which is a korean beauty brand that sells serum and lotion. The store is literally set up as an art gallery. The workers there were really nice, and honestly did not try to sell you the product that much, which I really appreciated. We roamed around and enjoyed their beautiful set up. In addition, Garosugil has many other cute boutiques you should look at!

To end the day, we made our way to Myeongdong to do some cosmetic shopping and eat street food. We stopped at Myeongdong kyoja, which is a restaurant known for gyoza. We split the gyoza noodles which came topped with some ground beef as well. SO GOOD! After that, the streets of Myeongdong truly came alive. There were street food vendors that lined the street with so many great food options. We had to try everything! I was on the hunt for fried mandoo, one of my favorite korean dishes. We also tried the big potato stick, pan fried mochi and cheese, and some other snacks along the way. We also stopped in many of the skincare shops, one of the biggest called Olive Young, carries a bunch of well known brands. Since we only brought carry on backpacks, we had to limit what we bought to fit the carry on limit though. Our two-day adventure finally came to an end as we made our way to the airport. But of course, we had to make one last stop to get some deli manjoo for the ride back :)

*After arriving back at Haneda, we landed around 1 AM, so we missed the last train. We caught Peach Airlines, which is a budget Japanese airlines. But they do have some flights that land at odd times. Luckily, Mitsuki’s parents picked us up and dropped me off at home! But if you’re ever catching a budget airlines, be careful of the times! Last trains in Japan run until around 12 AM!

I also picked up these products to try ~

Oozoo Face Mask: They were having a 2 for one sale on the injection masks. So I picked a few up as gifts, and to try some!

Cosrx Snail 96 Essence: Cosrx is a cult classic and is known for their products to treat acne and skin. Since I was running out of essence, I picked this up to try! And luckily it was just under the carry on liquid amount.

Neogen Bio Peel Pads: Although they do sell this in Sephora in the US, it was on sale for $12, so I had to get it! This is an exfoliating pad which you use on a clean face. I’ve tried the lemon one before, but read that the green tea ones help with hydration as well!