First Time in Seoul (2015 Edition)

July in Korea seemed quite quiet, so there were promotions everywhere. I happened to find a package on Ctrip Special Sales starting with 1, flight + accommodation. 1740, China Eastern round trip, staying in Dongdaemun! Go go go!

Day 1: Airport - Dongdaemun Hotel - Myeongdong for currency exchange

Day 2: Myeongdong - Ewha Womans University - Hongdae - Lotte Mart

Day 3: Bukchon - Gyeongbokgung - Gwanghwamun - Cheonggyecheon - Myeongdong - Noryangjin 63 Building - Hyundai Department Store SBS - Dongdaemun

Day 4: Hyundai Department Store - Myeongdong - Sinsa-dong Garosu-gil - Konkuk University Container

Day 5: Airport

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Around 11 noon, I arrived at Pudong Airport. There were quite a lot of people on the weekend. After waiting in line for over twenty minutes, I got my boarding pass and then went inside to browse the duty-free shop. Because I had downloaded the Lotte app earlier and the points discount made the price too tempting, I only browsed the duty-free shop for a few minutes and left.

With an excited heart, the people around me were all Koreans heading back home. Listening to them speak felt so magical! It totally felt like a TV drama!!

Only the bread was tasty...

After arriving at the airport, I went to G25 to buy a T-money card with a LINE theme!

Although not many people were lining up to buy tickets at Seoul subway stations, it would be troublesome to have to buy a ticket every time I took the subway.

First top-up was 10,000 won, about 60 RMB! (It only lasted a day and a half!)

I took the airport train to Dongdaemun. I heard there's an express and a regular one. I took the regular one, hehe. The duty-free shop ads on the subway were all in Chinese - -

It took about an hour, with a transfer to another line in between, and then I arrived at Dongmyo station (my hotel was 100 meters from Dongmyo and 200 meters from Dongdaemun).

(The room was very small, with two single beds the size of dormitory beds. To organize things, I had to open the door to the hallway to spread out my suitcase. It had a TV, fridge, hairdryer, air conditioning, toothpaste, and shower gel. There was only one pair of slippers for shower use. No toiletries like toothbrush were provided, but it was very clean.)

A bit frustrating: we were shut out! The hotel guests enter with a code. There was a doorbell at the entrance, and we rang it for a long time before someone came to open the door, and it wasn't even the owner! The owner was nowhere to be found! I was really a bit angry! He didn't answer the phone either! But when the owner finally arrived, my anger disappeared instantly! He was chubby, with a Taiwanese accent! He said he originally wanted to pick us up because he was afraid we couldn't find the way, but Ctrip wouldn't give him our contact information, saying it was customer privacy, so he couldn't contact us, blah blah. Oh well~

Then we went to Myeongdong to exchange money! We even ran into KBS reporting a program there! Those anchors were absolutely stunning!

It happened to coincide with the sharp decline of the RMB. It had been rising almost to 190 for half the summer vacation, then suddenly dropped to 180. I exchanged 1000! Then we started eating and drinking!

On the first day, we just wandered around Myeongdong. I didn't dare buy too much at once because online guides said Myeongdong is the most stingy (later I found it's actually not that different; if you ask for samples when the store is less crowded, they give a lot!).

I ate a lot of street food. The spicy rice cakes were too spicy for someone who doesn't eat spicy food. The fish cake was okay, but just average.

PS: Regarding currency exchange, I really think you should check several stores. The first few we went to offered 180, so we just exchanged. Right after we finished, a small shop offered 181! The next day, that shop was still 1 higher than others!!! (But I had already exchanged all my money in the first two days. On the third day, the RMB rate came back to 184!! T T)

We went back when the shops were almost closing. It was past 11 p.m., and we wanted fried chicken. The owner helped us order! But the fried chicken shops near Dongdaemun all stop taking orders at 11 p.m. The owner even negotiated with them, but it was fruitless! However, I suddenly felt like the owner was very thoughtful!

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After waking up, we went to Myeongdong again because I heard the duty-free shops are less crowded in the morning!

Actually, we just went to buy some things that weren't available on the official website, and also to try lipstick colors! Some local brands required buying a whole board (like a sheet of products), which was dizzying. If you're not a daigou, you can't use that much!

We were starving and didn't know which restaurant was good. We saw Baekje Samgyetang and went straight in! Because we wanted to save room for other good food, we only ordered one serving for two people! Hmm... how to say... it might not suit people who are used to strong flavors. But that chicken was really tender! It was about 90 RMB per serving, with plenty of side dishes and ginseng liquor. But I'm not used to the taste of ginseng.

In the afternoon, we went to Ewha Womans University. The梨花墙 (Pear Blossom Wall) was really small!!

We wanted to walk to Hongdae, but we bought so many things at CLIO near Ewha! Too! Tired! From now on, shopping must be done in the evening! Buy and go straight back to the room to put things away!

CLIO is endorsed by Gong Yoo. The cushion foundation costs half the price of HERA! It adheres better than HERA! And it smells better than HERA!!!

They also gave a setting spray for free!!!!

After using HERA before, I was completely put off by cushion BB creams. I couldn't understand why so many people liked them. But when I tried CLIO's cushion, I fell in love instantly! 180 per set! Buy 2 get 1 free! = 120 per set!!!

There's also an eyebrow pencil. The smell is a bit like a marker, the color is light but super natural! Even though I bought the darkest shade, it didn't look like Shin-chan. The other end is an eyebrow mascara! And it came with 2 lip gloss samples!!!

Although the store decor wasn't impressive, I instantly fell in love with this brand!!

Then we went to Hongdae! As a fan of Running Man, I headed straight to Ha Ha's BBQ restaurant!!! (I heard that the day before I arrived in Korea, Ha Ha opened a new store in Dongdaemun! And Yoo Jae-suk and Ji Seok-jin were there! So jealous!) Ha Ha 401 BBQ restaurant, they claim to use black pork, and they swore they would jump into the Han River if it wasn't.

This was my first BBQ meal in Korea! I wasn't particularly interested in BBQ before. But how could it be this delicious! This samgyeopsal (pork belly) was incredible! So much so that I kept craving it in the following days!

It wasn't hard to find. Go towards the largest NB store, walk straight down a big road, then turn right at a place called something space, and you'll see it.

Remember to shake the lunchbox before eating!

After eating, we went to find 3CE. I didn't think it was far before, but maybe we took a big detour and walked for a super long time. Actually, it's not far from the subway station.

(This is Hongdae)

In the evening, we went to Lotte Mart at Seoul Station. There was an outlet next to it, and things were so cheap!

At the supermarket, MUJI was on sale. Clothes were all under 100 RMB! We bought a bunch of seaweed! The flavor! Absolutely amazing! The honey chips weren't as good as I imagined. The pudding was great! The banana milk was a bit sweet.

A bookstore we passed by.

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I originally wanted to go to Bukchon early to take nice photos, but I overslept! As expected, being late meant more people!

The slopes in Bukchon were really hard to walk! The residents living here must be very healthy! There were signs everywhere asking to keep quiet!

I wanted to go to Samcheong-dong, but I was too tired to walk. So we walked directly to Gwanghwamun. Entering leads to Gyeongbokgung, but just looking at the entrance felt enough, so we didn't go in. At Gwanghwamun, there was a changing of the guard every hour. It was very lively. After the changing, you can take photos with them, but remember not to grab them, as they are on duty.

Standing at the entrance, you can see the square! I forgot the name instantly!

In front of the square, there were memorials for the students who died in last year's ferry sinking. I felt that they really value their citizens.

A bit further ahead was Cheonggyecheon. Again, I saw reporters.

Initially, I just came to Cheonggyecheon with a "been there, done that" attitude, but unexpectedly, it became my favorite place of these few days.

Koreans and foreigners, old and young, were all sitting there, cooling off, soaking their feet, relaxing, and chatting. The atmosphere was so good.

Cheonggyecheon used to be a polluted stream that was renovated. Now it's crystal clear! It flows right through the city center.

Then, while walking, we somehow ended up in Myeongdong again. You can see how long we had been walking.

We found a Two Two Chicken place for fried chicken. The waiter could speak Chinese but didn't give us an introduction. We ordered original flavor, only to find out later that you can get a half-and-half mix. We ordered a bottle of beer, thinking it was draft beer, but it turned out to be a large bottle. Then we wanted to change it to a glass— and then the waiter scolded us - - saying, "Can you decide before ordering?" and so on. At that moment...

It was just because we were too tired that we sat there for a long time - -

Originally, I planned to go to Gwangjang Market, but since we had just eaten, I skipped it. N Seoul Tower is for couples, so I chose to go to 63 Building to see the night view!

Make sure to get off at Yeouido Ferry Terminal subway station!!! We got off at Noryangjin Station, and seeing the 63 Building directly opposite, we walked in that direction. We even passed by Noryangjin Market, thinking we could come back and eat there later!!! But then!!!

(Market) After exiting the market, it was just a highway!!!

We had no idea where to go!!!!!!!! The cars wouldn't stop!!! We even opened Uber!! But there were no cars nearby either!!!!!!

Then we met some Chinese people who also wanted to go to 63 but didn't know the way!! Like us, they naively got off the subway and walked toward the visible building!!! So, we embarked on a great feat! Walking along the highway!!!!

After walking for ten minutes, it felt wrong, like there was no end. But it was too frustrating to turn back!! So we kept walking!! It seemed to get farther and farther!!! Finally, we saw something like a factory on the side!! We asked the security uncle how to get off the highway. He told us to walk another ten minutes!!!!! Okay! Walk!!!! At last, we got down!! Then the four of us shared a taxi to 63 Building T T!!

The elevator ticket was about 60 per person. It could be booked in advance on Ctrip!

Because it was still daytime when we went up, we sat there for a long time waiting for darkness, also to reward our legs. The wishing wall was 30 per card. Since we were already here, we wrote one! May our wishes come true!

Many citizens were exercising here.

Then we headed to the subway station to go to SBS.

After getting off the subway, we were at Hyundai Department Store. The shopping bug bit me again. I bought a pair of Nike shoes and left. Opposite was SBS. But when I sat down, I noticed there was a problem with the shoes— the inside of the shoe was raised. I weakly ran back to exchange them, but the store was closed!! So I had to come back the next day.

Then we went to Dongdaemun.

Doosan Tower's items were indeed expensive. There were also some places similar to Hangzhou's Sijiqing Market where we walked around twice and left. Too tired to shop T T

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In the morning, after exchanging the shoes, I put them on directly! Much more comfortable!! Originally, I wore a pair of sandals from China that were very comfortable even after walking all day. But was the ground in Seoul harder?! Or were there too many stairs and slopes?! My feet gave out!! After changing into sneakers, I felt revived!!

We went to Sinsa-dong, which is said to be the rich people's street. It really has character, with various shops and storefronts.

Naengmyeon (cold noodles) was really amazing, with ice cubes inside. Much better than in China!! This meal was under 60 RMB, I think.

Often appears in Korean dramas. But the mango cup was a bit expensive, 100 per cup!

We passed by Gary's restaurant earlier. Originally, I planned to eat there at Konkuk University in the evening. Since we passed by here, we decided to eat here! It only opens at five! We waited!

We shopped at ALAND for a long time. The clothes were nice, but I couldn't bring myself to buy anything T T

Seaweed soup was complimentary, very good. They also gave autographs, hahaha, even though they were printed, it was satisfying. The seafood ramyeon was great, and the spicy stir-fried octopus!! They promised it wouldn't be too spicy, but!!! Although I can usually eat spicy food, this one! It was so spicy it felt like my stomach was exploding!!!! I wanted to cry!!! Only the rice ball on the side was acceptable!!!

Then we headed to Konkuk University. There were some small shops nearby, and the container area felt like a leisure zone. Many people came for street photography.

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Since I had bought a lot of things online, and wanted to shop seriously at the duty-free shop to restock, I set off early. I took the 6002 airport bus, and when I got off, I was right at the check-in counter.

But I could only get my boarding card three hours before departure. Frustrated. Because before, when I arrived at Incheon very early, it was fine T T So this time, I specially came early, but wasted a morning T T

The flight was at 4 p.m. I finally got my boarding card around 1 p.m. The security check also had a line. Once inside, I ran.

It was said that China Eastern, with an afternoon flight, should pick up Lotte items at counter 118, but it wasn't open. So I went downstairs to the Lotte counter first, then went back to 118 for Shilla. Because Shilla had fewer people. But that day, Lotte also had no line. Lucky.

Those bags were all plastic bags!!!!!

It took me over an hour to unpack the packaging!!! People looked at me and thought I was a daigou!!!!! So terrible.

Since I hadn't eaten all day, I ordered a bibimbap for 60 RMB, with many side dishes. The price didn't seem much higher than outside.

Super! Delicious!!

Then I wanted to browse the duty-free shop, but it was too late. I hastily bought a few lipsticks and left. Unexpectedly, the flight was delayed by half an hour.

But because China Eastern's boarding gate was at the very end, downstairs, I couldn't go back.

Airplane meal. Still, nothing was tasty except the bread. Going home.

Although I didn't experience wearing a hanbok or anything, most of the places I wanted to visit, I did. So I was fairly satisfied.

As for tax refund, I didn't do it because I had to pick up items. But even if I did, I would only get about 15 RMB back, because most of my purchases were made on the official website, which was much cheaper.

Then coming back, I was a bit worried about customs. Luckily, I was lucky.

Next time I come to Korea, I want to go to Busan, haha.

As for expenses, flight + hotel were 1700.

Excluding my own shopping, I only spent a little over 2000.