Hong Kong or bust: Heart and Seoul

Spent two jam-packed days in Seoul this week. Was a lovely city! Greatly exceeded my expectations. South Korea has developed tremendously, especially over the past five years, and now it is home to a growing middle class that enjoys nice restaurants, coffee shops, bars and stores. The city was extremely clean and everyone was friendly. Being a 3-hour flight north of Hong Kong, Seoul felt much more like fall - cool and crisp weather, and one of the best parts of fall - the leaves. There were all sorts of trees, including a number of ginkgo trees throughout areas of the city.

We arrived Wednesday night and took the airport train into Seoul Station. We jumped into a cab at the station to get to our hotel in Itaewon (a more international part of the city) only to find that the driver spoke no English, nor could he understand our English writing of Korean words. Thankfully we found someone to translate. Communication was one of the greatest challenges of being in Korea!

Upon arriving to our hotel, we met my friends Ed & Jenn (who have lived in Seoul for the past year) for a Korean BBQ dinner in the neighborhood. Ed ordered in Korean – though he claims to have only spoken a few basic words, he impressed us! Was a nice welcome to Korea.

The real sightseeing began the following day after our first stop for breakfast at The Flying Pan, popular brunch spot. We then moved on to Changdeokgung Palace, which had been built in 1405. The palace was built to blend into its surroundings, and has an extensive garden area that consists of a thick wooded area – which was especially beautiful given the falling leaves and fall colors.

The Korea crew

Changdeokgung Palace

Notice the monkey statues on the roof of Changdeokgung Palace. Also, the floors are raised because they heated the floors from below.

Changdeokgung Palace

Fall at Changdeokgung Palace

We walked from the palace to Bukchon Hanok Village, a nearby area consisting of traditional Korean houses, as well as a number of small shops. Next up was Insa-dong, which had been home to the aristocracy and public officials working for the king, but today is a fun area consisting of narrow streets full of shops, galleries and restaurants.

Bukchon Hanok Village

Lunch at Insa-dong

After eating a Korean lunch in Insa-dong, we continued to the Cheonggyecheon Stream, a 5.8 km stream which includes a nice walkway, always full of people, and 22 beautiful bridges. Currently Seoul is having a lantern festival in this area – was beautiful to see as it got dark outside.

Cheonggyecheon Stream

Cheonggyecheon Stream lantern

Cheonggyecheon Stream lantern festival

Myeong-dong

After the Cheonggyecheon Stream, it was off to Myeong-dong – a very busy shopping area, full of street vendors selling clothes, accessories, shoes, etc.

Dinner @ Han Jan Eh Choo Wok

For dinner we went to a very local, cheap and tasty fried chicken and beer joint that had come recommended by our Korean friend, who we met up with afterward at a Japanese restaurant/bar.

Soldiers at the War Museum

The next day – 11/11/11 – was Veteran’s Day. We went to the Korea War Museum where we saw soldiers commemorating the holiday through a sort of show. The museum was very interesting and a highlight of the trip.

B52 at the War Museum - note the size compared to the person

The women at Ewha Womens University

After the museum, we went to an area in the western part of the city around the Ewha Womens University, which had come recommended to us by a number of people. The university was gorgeous – felt like I was visiting a college in the Northeast U.S.! And the surrounding streets were busy and cute, like many university areas.

Ewha Womens University area

Waffle shop at Ewha Womens University - the Koreans love their waffles!

We moved hotels tonight, since our original hotel had been booked up. This gave us an opportunity to explore a new neighborhood – we chose to stay in the Gangnam area of Seoul, which is an extremely busy business area which is also full of hundreds of restaurants. We enjoyed one last meal of Korean BBQ, walked around a bit more, then went home for a bit of sleep before our early morning trip to the airport.