Suyuil-tong, South Korea Travel Journals & Blogs

Rita Yee To the East
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- May 3, 2023, 9:49pm
- ☁️ 16 °C
- Altitude: 164 m
- South Korea Seoul Suyuil-tong 37.6294, 127.006737°37’46” N 127°0’24” E
Day 2
Hello Seoul
May 3, 2023 in South Korea ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
Losing a day with the time change, I'll recap my flight experience. Initially lucking out with an empty middle seat, an older Korean couple asked the lady on the aisle to switch seats, there beginning a little game of musical seats. The husband would end up in that aisle seat and his wife in the one in front of him.

He was a funny sweet grandpa who insisted I use sesame oil and gochujang (chili paste) on my bibimbap. After declining politely, I finally gave in and added a little bit. Well, it made him proud and guess what, not as spicy as I imagined. If anything, the food needed it. Later on, he would be call me out to wipe/clean my hands before our second meal.

The middle seat didn't stay empty for long though. His wife came to join our row as he moved over. Reason? Turns out she needed to massage his legs and feet for circulation. Propped on the pull down table, it was a weird sight, but sweet the same time. Ah love.

With our second meal, they also got me an additional tube of gochujang from the flight attendants for me to take home. I tried to decline and ended up packing it. It looks like a tube of toothpaste but I have a funny feeling I probably will use it when I get home.Read more
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Rita Yee To the East
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- May 4, 2023, 9:00am
- ☁️ 18 °C
- Altitude: 164 m
- South Korea Seoul Suyuil-tong 37.6294, 127.006737°37’46” N 127°0’24” E
Day 3
A Tourist in Seoul
May 4, 2023 in South Korea ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
My first day on my own and I'm going to play tourist. After lining up for a scrumptious breakfast at Isaac Toast, it was off to Gyeongbokgung, Seoul's main palace. I'd chosen to come on a week day hoping for a smaller crowd, but it was still a decent size. (When I left, it was even crazier, so go early).

Numerous folks were dressed in hanboks and traditional costumes. A few guys even wore hanboks, but hey, it's 2023. A part of me was tempted to rent one, but alas, they look beautiful in photos and when you're on your own, most of the photos you'll take are selfies, unless you use a timer.

The palace was fairly large but easy to roam around and check out the various buildings for a glimpse of my first Korean palace. A walk around and then catching the tail end of the changing of the guard, before hitting up my second spot of the day: Bukchon Hanok Village.

Bukchon Hanok Village is a cute area where people still live in traditional houses. Some of the streets are picturesque and you've seen these on Instagram. It's important to keep your voices low though to respect the residents. There's a couple of shops near the entrance to the village, but the beauty is exploring a piece of architectural history.

From there a quick jaunt to Cafe Onion where a line up awaited me. Seems I will have to get used to lines in Seoul as this was my 2nd of the day already with breakfast being the 1st. This particular location of Cafe Onion is set in a hanok, not far from hanok village. It has a beautiful selection of baked goods both savory and sweet and I would've loved to try more than 1 item, but alas, one of the downsides to solo travel, you are unfortunately limited to the size of 1 stomach when it comes to ordering variety.

Despite the rest at the cafe, my feet have still yet to get into vacation mode. I love walking but it was getting tiring. Hopping on my 1st bus, I made my way to Ihwa Mural Village. (Thank you Naver for giving me the confidence to take a local bus with limited English signage). The number of murals in Ihwa are dwindling as local residents have been unhappy with it given the number of visitors they draw. It's another area to be respectful and keep voices down.

One of the reasons for the murals was to brighten up the neighbourhood and bring back life to it, but alas it sounds like the government is still planning to tear it down and rebuild. It's disappointing but most of the residents have either moved away or are elderly. None of the young people want to live there as it's also quick a trek from public transportation instead.

Nearby, I head to Dongdaemun to meet up with my night walking tour that I found on AirB&B. They take you walking along the fortress walls, have a drink overlooking the city and then to Korean BBQ, which really is great for the solo traveller since you can't really BBQ on your own. The walk was split into 2 before and after the cafe drink. It was a dream come true as we sat down in a cafe I'd noticed earlier while in Ihwa. Why? The view looked amazing but I'm sure I wouldn't have come on my own after dark.

The BBQ was great fun as well, though it turns out they cook the meat for you. Definitely a group experience and I'm glad I joined in as it rounded out a pretty full day.Read more
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Rita Yee To the East
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- May 5, 2023, 9:00am
- Altitude: 164 m
- South Korea Seoul Suyuil-tong 37.6294, 127.006737°37’46” N 127°0’24” E
Day 4
Catching up
May 5, 2023 in South Korea
Rain. The weather was not ideal for exploring, but when you're catching up with an old friend, we just have to work with what Mother Nature decided to send our way. Started today off with a japchae hotteok (pancake) from Namdaemun market and oh WOW it was SO delicious! I only ordered one, but really you want more than one.

After that, it was onto a bus bound for Yeoido Station to meet my friend Stephanie from my accounting program. She moved back to Seoul a few years ago with her parents and has been here since. Our initial plan was going to be outdoors, but with the weather warnings, we played in safe by going to the mall.

The mall you ask? Well, it's a pretty cool one, The Hyundai Seoul. Touted as one of the hottest and hippest places for locals. The 1st floor is a food floor that you'll probably spend the most of your time and the restaurant floor on level 6. It was nice to just walk and talk in between taking in a delicious lunch and dessert x2. Lunch was an abalone and meat set while dessert featured ice cream and then cakes from Layered Cafe, carrying out my cafe spree.

Seoul has a huge themed cafe presence, from Cafe Onion yesterday to Layered today, that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Instagram. As the trip goes on, they're a daily fixture on my itinerary - though it was challenging to keep up in Jeju.

After desserts, we headed over to COEX, another mall locals frequest. This one is known for the beautiful Starfield Library that also graces Instagram. It has it's own cafe as well, and the library is full of visitors taking in the place. For a split second I wonder whether it's a bookstore or a library. I don't quite see a check out desk but I suppose it's an honor system. Silent though, it was not, with the number of people milling about.

A break in the rain, it was off to round 3 of dessert - gotta have Bingsu! Shaved Korean ice milk fyi. We headed to a place called Sulbing and ordered a mango pineapple shaved ice to share. I kid you not, pretty much everything here seems meant to be shared. Luckily we agreed on a flavor as it really would be too much for 1 person otherwise.

One more stop on the itinerary - Bonguensa Temple. I read it's best to visit after sunset as all of its numerous lanterns would be lit. What they fail to say is that the lanterns are not lit when weather warnings are issued - at least that's what I'm going with since the lanterns were not lit. The temple was still beautiful, but I imagine would've been stunning with lit lanterns.Read more
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Rita Yee To the East
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- May 6, 2023, 11:24am
- 🌧 12 °C
- Altitude: 164 m
- South Korea Seoul Suyuil-tong 37.6294, 127.006737°37’46” N 127°0’24” E
Day 5
Stormy Seoul
May 6, 2023 in South Korea ⋅ 🌧 12 °C
Wind. Rain. Repeat. Keep. That was certainly the morning routine. I hid out in my hotel room for most of the morning as I listened and watched the rain blow sideways. But I knew I couldn't spend the day hiding away. My sister sent me a Michelin star restaurant nearby so I popped out to grab some bibimbap, and seafood pancake. Once again, too much food for 1 person but when I saw a lady at the table next to me doing the same and packing part of the pancake, I did the same - yes this would become breakfast the next day.

After lunch, and some suggestions from my sister, it was time to seize the day and make the best of it. First stop, the DDP near Dongaemun, a design plaza. I wandered around but the exhibits and changed inside. I didn't spend too much time outdoors with the rain so I may need to make a return trip.

Stop 2 - Hikr Ground, now this is a neat free space showcasing modern Korean culture. The floor the most fun was definitely the K pop video stages where you can either take photos or dance your heart out like your K pop idol would. A few floors up, there's also an interactive exhibit where you can drag your hands on the walls to make fireworks and fireflies dance as the projected video shows you certain festivals in Seoul.

Stop 3 - the rain slows and the streets dry out. I headed to Insadong, initially for another mall-like place, but instead found myself strolling the pedestrian only street. It was nice to see the craft shops and other shopping stores.

From there a jaunt out to Ttukseom Hangang Park, the location of an evening drone show as part of a week long festival. Quite the experience sitting with the locals as we eagerly waited for the show to start. I haven't seen this much people in one place since before Covid (ok, and the malls were quite busy yesterday as well), but everyone was in good spirits.

The show didn't start on time, but I knew it was still on. I'm not sure if the delay might've been to the winds still blowing in the area, and the announcements were in Korean. Since no one left, I stayed put as well and was not disappointed. The show was short, but still fun.Read more
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