Last updated on January 14, 2024
While I was planning this trip, I got a message from a friend in Canada, D, asking about my travel plans in December. I’d planned to come to Seoul for a few days earlier in the trip and to stop in Bangkok after Vietnam, but I modified the plan so that we could travel together to South Korea and Australia.
I flew from Narita to Incheon on a Monday afternoon after saying goodbye to M and O in Ginza. I’d booked a reward flight using Delta miles and the only availability was in business class about 5pm.
I waited in the business class lounge at Narita for a couple of hours. There were cup noodles, croissants and other packaged snacks, and drinks. As I was about to head to my gate, a receptionist ran after me to let me know my flight was delayed. The flight was delayed almost an hour.
The seat was spacious. I didn’t take any photos but I had bibimbap for dinner. It was quite good.
We landed at Incheon around 8pm. By the time I went through customs and took the train to Juan station, where we’d rented an Airbnb, it was after 9pm. The apartment was very close to the station, like 60m but the instructions said a 5-min walk. Plus, Google does not work for walking directions in South Korea (I learned to use Naver). Once I found the apartment building, I managed to get into the elevator that only goes to even-numbered floors, when I needed 7. It took me almost 30 minutes to figure out where to go.
Exploring Seoul
We chose to stay in Incheon because we found an Airbnb in the building where D lived about 15 years ago while teaching English in Korea! It was about 1 hour from there to Seoul on Line 1, so a fairly easy trip.
I went to Seoul three times. The first time, we walked on Seoul 1770 near Seoul station and to Namdaemun market for sightseeing. We also stopped in to see the Unfold X art exhibit. It was a nice walk on Seoul 1770 with views of parts of the city. I also like when spaces are repurposed into walkable areas.
From Namdaemun, we went to the Hyundai department store in Apgujeong. Our sole purpose was to visit the food hall, which I also love doing in Japan. I heard Tim Ferris mention it on a recent episode and knew I would indulge my love of food courts there.
Our visit to Apgujeong was cut short because we needed to meet a friend in Gagnam, L. She brought us to a Korean restaurant and for bingsoo at Sulbing. She made the call that we should all share, but everyone agreed with my choice of black sesame. It was delicious!
After spending several hours together, we parted at the train station and headed back to Incheon.
The next day, we went back to Seoul in the afternoon. This time, we took the hop-on hop-off bus without stopping. After the bus tour, we went to Insadong. However, we discovered that it’s busier during the day and quiet at night. Regardless, we walked around for a while and ate a dinner of chicken soup (samgyetang) there before heading back.
My third day in Seoul started with a signature spa treatment at Sulwhasoo spa in Lotte Hotel. It was a decadent treatment with a foot wash, followed by a back, leg, and arm massage, and a facial. It was a very relaxing experience but I realized that I don’t like facials without extractions.
There are cosmetics for use when you are finished with your treatments. Of course, there was no powder for my complexion but I did try some lipstick.
From the Lotte hotel, I went to Meongdong for shopping and sightseeing, and to have lunch. For lunch, I had soy marinaded crabs. The flavor was flavorful but I am not a big fan of the texture. The side dishes were delicious though.
I bought some face masks, earrings and candy for myself and as gifts.
From lunch, I went to visit the cathedral but there were people inside busy preparing for an event.
For dinner, I met a friend teaching at one of the international schools in Seoul. She didn’t realize I was no longer vegetarian so we went to Plant. The food was delicious – fuul medamas and macaroni and cheese with fried cauliflower.
Afterward, I walked around the Cheonggyecheon stream at night. It used to be a highway that has been revitalized into a stream.
Exploring Incheon
D still has a lot of friends in Incheon and so I got to experience Korea with some Korean people. One evening, we visited a family and got to make bibimpap, eat japchae and sol galbi and play a with the children. On a visit to another family, we had delicious fried chicken and I had jjangmyeon noodles with tangsuyuk (crispy fried pork) that I’d seen in a Korean drama. It was delicious. (I’m solidly on the dip side of the controversy about how to eat the pork.)
On another occasion, we met one of D’s friends for samgyupseol and a sightseeing walk around Chinatown.
I loved my visit to South Korea. Everything that I ate was delicious and I was eyes wide taking in everything! I’m not sure why I waited so long to visit South Korea!
One last thing, at the airport we realized that each parking spot has a red or green light. It seems like a great system for facilitating parking.
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