8月12日--8月14日
Seoul, Days 2, 3, and 4.
As I largely spent my first couple days in Korea by myself with limited knowledge of the Korean language, I didn't do too much. On day 2, I walked around the surrounding Hongdae area and took some photos.
Seoul, Days 2, 3, and 4.
As I largely spent my first couple days in Korea by myself with limited knowledge of the Korean language, I didn't do too much. On day 2, I walked around the surrounding Hongdae area and took some photos.
On day 3, I visited Deoksugung Palace (덕수궁) and Gwanghwamun Square (광화문) near the City Hall region of Seoul. Deoksugung was really pretty, but it was drizzling on and off that day so the weather wasn't that great for visiting palaces and such. I did manage to grab a coffee and some wi-fi from their onsite cafe, so I'm not mad.
I would have stayed at Gwanhwamun longer but I was already tired from visiting Deoksugung and Gwanghwamun and its surrounding streets were super busy on account of preparations for the pope visiting South Korea. It was hectic and I was having absolutely none of it, so I got a snack at a convenience store and got back on the subway to Hongdae.
I noticed after using the Seoul Metro a little more that it's really not as bad as I mentioned before. It is still super confusing and super busy most of the time, but I am able to find my way around. I spent a good ten minutes trying to get my T-Money card to get on the damn subway to begin with because it wasn't taking my 5000 won bill. A couple of Koreans waiting behind me just left the line after I struggled to pay. I'm still mad about it.
Later that night I had jjajangmyeon (짜장면) (noodles in black bean sauce) and tangsuyuk (탕수육) (sweet and sour pork) with some hostel mates and my host. We also drank soju (one of the hostel mates is a practicing muslim, however, and opted for a local soda) so that was fun. It was fun getting the delivery and sharing a meal with my hostel mates in our living room. After that we watched and sang along to YouTube music videos. My hostel mates are from Paris and so we shared American, Korean, and French language artists that we knew. We especially bonded over the Belgian artist Stromae.
I noticed after using the Seoul Metro a little more that it's really not as bad as I mentioned before. It is still super confusing and super busy most of the time, but I am able to find my way around. I spent a good ten minutes trying to get my T-Money card to get on the damn subway to begin with because it wasn't taking my 5000 won bill. A couple of Koreans waiting behind me just left the line after I struggled to pay. I'm still mad about it.
Later that night I had jjajangmyeon (짜장면) (noodles in black bean sauce) and tangsuyuk (탕수육) (sweet and sour pork) with some hostel mates and my host. We also drank soju (one of the hostel mates is a practicing muslim, however, and opted for a local soda) so that was fun. It was fun getting the delivery and sharing a meal with my hostel mates in our living room. After that we watched and sang along to YouTube music videos. My hostel mates are from Paris and so we shared American, Korean, and French language artists that we knew. We especially bonded over the Belgian artist Stromae.
For day 4, I explored some more of the surrounding Hongdae area, this time with my new friends from Paris. We stopped at a cafe that sold the famous cronuts. I have no idea if they compare to the originals from New York, but they were pretty damn good. My Parisian friends thought so as well, so clearly it must be good. We then shopped around Hongdae, with me trying to find hats and sunglasses that fit my head (to no avail, all thanks to my giant freaking head).
My Parisian friends and I then got on the subway to Gangnam, where they were going to explore some more shops and I was to meet with some friends from SUA.
It was really fun getting to meet up with them again! I was so happy to see people I was close with and could speak fluent Korean (heuhehue). Since it was a little cool and rainy that evening, we opted to go to a restaurant selling budae jjigae (literally "army stew" containing SPAM, other meats, beans, kimchi, etc.) and we opted to have ours with ramyeon and other noodles like udon and macaroni. It sounds really weird, but it was really good. For round 2, we went to a local cafe for patbingsu and cookies and cream bingsu. After that, we went to a stick-pic place and hammed it up for the camera.
It was really fun getting to meet up with them again! I was so happy to see people I was close with and could speak fluent Korean (heuhehue). Since it was a little cool and rainy that evening, we opted to go to a restaurant selling budae jjigae (literally "army stew" containing SPAM, other meats, beans, kimchi, etc.) and we opted to have ours with ramyeon and other noodles like udon and macaroni. It sounds really weird, but it was really good. For round 2, we went to a local cafe for patbingsu and cookies and cream bingsu. After that, we went to a stick-pic place and hammed it up for the camera.
Earlier that day, I told my new Parisian friends that I had yet to go to a night club in Hongdae and they reacted as if I had committed sacrilege, which I pretty much did. Since Hongdae is the center for the young and trendy, it obviously has some of the best nightlife in Seoul. We then decided to go to a nightclub, called Club Buddha. Even though it was a Thursday night, we still expected people to be out simply because, well, it's Hongdae.
I have heard from some sources, however, that despite the ubiquitous nightlife options available in Seoul, that people rarely dance in the nightclubs here. If anything, they bop their heads or wave their hands a little bit, but very little dancing is to be witnessed.
My Parisian friends and I being quite the fans of hip hop, we decided that going to a hip hop centric club would be good to witness some people dancing. We got to the club somewhere between 11 and 12 midnight, and there was absolutely nobody there except for us, the workers, and a couple people ordering drinks at the bar. We were pretty upset, considering the set up was dope and the music was poppin, but nonetheless we made the best of a good time. We spotted a couple Koreans dancing a little bit, notably a couple of boys who looked like they might be involved in some b-boy scene here, and a couple of girls who looked like they were just having a good time. Though they danced, they danced very minimally and self-consciously, so we decided to try and get them out of their shells. With a few drinks in them and as the night progressed, we were able to get a cute little cypher going. A couple of the guys would dougie or bernie lean, and the girls would have a fun time copying whatever I and my Parisian friends were doing. We were certainly the life of the nightclub that night. A Parisian friend and I even managed to get some Korean girls to twerk with us when A$$ came on, so that was especially fun. One of the nightclub workers (who I affectionately called "nightclub bae") gave us some free shots, so I couldn't not take a photo with him.
I have heard from some sources, however, that despite the ubiquitous nightlife options available in Seoul, that people rarely dance in the nightclubs here. If anything, they bop their heads or wave their hands a little bit, but very little dancing is to be witnessed.
My Parisian friends and I being quite the fans of hip hop, we decided that going to a hip hop centric club would be good to witness some people dancing. We got to the club somewhere between 11 and 12 midnight, and there was absolutely nobody there except for us, the workers, and a couple people ordering drinks at the bar. We were pretty upset, considering the set up was dope and the music was poppin, but nonetheless we made the best of a good time. We spotted a couple Koreans dancing a little bit, notably a couple of boys who looked like they might be involved in some b-boy scene here, and a couple of girls who looked like they were just having a good time. Though they danced, they danced very minimally and self-consciously, so we decided to try and get them out of their shells. With a few drinks in them and as the night progressed, we were able to get a cute little cypher going. A couple of the guys would dougie or bernie lean, and the girls would have a fun time copying whatever I and my Parisian friends were doing. We were certainly the life of the nightclub that night. A Parisian friend and I even managed to get some Korean girls to twerk with us when A$$ came on, so that was especially fun. One of the nightclub workers (who I affectionately called "nightclub bae") gave us some free shots, so I couldn't not take a photo with him.
After we left the club sometime between 3 and 4am, a couple of the girls were hungry and were trying to find a cafe. I said I doubt there'd be a cafe open this late and that we'd probably have to settle for canned coffee from the convenience store, when some purple and pink lights shone in my direction like the lights from heaven.
It was a Korean Taco Bell. And it was open 24 hours.
I'd like to take this time to thank beysus christ for granting us such manna in the form of late night taco bell runs. A(wo)men.
I got bulgogi cheese fries and although there was minimal bulgogi, it tasted hella bomb. Maybe it was because it was 4 am.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
We then walked back to our hostel, I tried to walk into my dorm all quiet-like as to not disturb my dorm mates, and then I slept until 1:30 pm the next day.
We plan to go clubbing tonight (hopefully with more luck since it's Friday).
I have yet to visit Dongdaemun, a jjimjilbang, or a puppy cafe, but I still have a little bit of time before my flight leaves from Gimpo on Sunday so I'm planning on a semi-packed Saturday to get all of that out of the way.
But Hongdae has been good to me so far.
It was a Korean Taco Bell. And it was open 24 hours.
I'd like to take this time to thank beysus christ for granting us such manna in the form of late night taco bell runs. A(wo)men.
I got bulgogi cheese fries and although there was minimal bulgogi, it tasted hella bomb. Maybe it was because it was 4 am.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
We then walked back to our hostel, I tried to walk into my dorm all quiet-like as to not disturb my dorm mates, and then I slept until 1:30 pm the next day.
We plan to go clubbing tonight (hopefully with more luck since it's Friday).
I have yet to visit Dongdaemun, a jjimjilbang, or a puppy cafe, but I still have a little bit of time before my flight leaves from Gimpo on Sunday so I'm planning on a semi-packed Saturday to get all of that out of the way.
But Hongdae has been good to me so far.