July Seoul Weekend
We can't believe it's already the middle of July! We have had such a great month of exploring Korea and working with the kids. It is flying by.
We wanted to share with you guys some photos from our past weekend in Seoul. This was our third time going, but we feel like we are still only scratching the surface of this huge city.
We arrived in Seoul via KTX train around 12:30pm. Like the past two trips, we walked from the train station to Namdaemun market, an open air market filled with clothing, food, and accessories. We scoped out prices and products, semi-preparing for our September trip to Seoul when we finalize our souvenir purchases (:
After walking around for a few hours we headed to our hotel to drop things off. Staying in Myeongdong (neighborhood near city hall) is really convenient for subway access as well as being just a fun, bustling part of the city. And the best part of our hotel? Air conditioning. Guys I don't think you understand. I'm writing this post in the morning, the temperature says 87 but with humidity the real feel is 101. The air conditioning situation in our apartment in Sejong is such that there is restricted usage throughout the day and it is expensiveeee. So yeah, we were pumped for air con.
We chilled in the ice box for a while before heading to Itaewon for some brews and dinner. We loved going to Itaewon the last time we were in Seoul because we stumbled on this amazing spot with decently priced craft beers, Namsan Chemistry. Similar prices to America, like $6-10 dollars per beer.
Our IPA/sour beer craving satisfied, we headed to a place called Linus' BBQ, a 'Bama style bbq place about 10 minutes walk from Namsan Chemistry, still in Itaewon. This place was awesome. There was a crowd outside, waiting, but when we walked up to it they told us we could sit outside without waiting. I was confused because the "indoor" seating that everyone seemed to be waiting for was fully open to the outdoors. But whatever, we instantly got a table which was great. The menu itself was pretty hilarious. Our favorite line was in the description for a vegetarian option, "Are you lost, child? How did your meat-hating facehole wind up here?" haha.
Sam got a smoked brisket sandwich and I went for the pulled pork, "pulled to order." And we split a side of fries (which came with this sour cream and onion dip on the side which was so good). I think we will be back here in September before we leave. It was just so good.
I can't emphasize enough how amazing air conditioning is. Anyway we headed to Insadong in the morning. It was recommended to us for good souvenir shopping.. but it sort of felt like a tourist hot spot. I don't think there were very many locals there, but we saw school groups and a lot of foreigners. Stalls and shops along the road filled with hand fans, silk bags, custom stamps, ceramic tea sets....etc. Not exactly what we were looking for, but it was fun people watching.
Next we returned to the hotel; heat of the day is just too much. We looked up some different dinner options and found out about a semi-secret shopping spot that is a local favorite: Goto Mall. It's the largest underground shopping mall in Seoul with over 600 shops. Most of it is women's fashion and accessories but there is also a fair amount of home goods, beauty stores, and food concessions. The best part is everything is priced around 10,000-15,000 KRW (~$9-14). With accessories, hairbands, and socks for as little as 1,000 KRW each (< $1).
After indulging in some great fashions and accessory shopping, we went to Gangnam for NYC style brick oven pizza. It was great! We wish we could have explored Gangnam more but we had to head back after dinner.
Anyway, we had a great time in Seoul. It felt like with this trip we dug a little deeper into the city, but there is still so much left to see. We hope we will be able to go deeper in September (:
Thanks for reading. BTW we have about 6 weeks to go. We are so excited to be home! ♥
We wanted to share with you guys some photos from our past weekend in Seoul. This was our third time going, but we feel like we are still only scratching the surface of this huge city.
Saturday
Waiting for the train
After walking around for a few hours we headed to our hotel to drop things off. Staying in Myeongdong (neighborhood near city hall) is really convenient for subway access as well as being just a fun, bustling part of the city. And the best part of our hotel? Air conditioning. Guys I don't think you understand. I'm writing this post in the morning, the temperature says 87 but with humidity the real feel is 101. The air conditioning situation in our apartment in Sejong is such that there is restricted usage throughout the day and it is expensiveeee. So yeah, we were pumped for air con.
We chilled in the ice box for a while before heading to Itaewon for some brews and dinner. We loved going to Itaewon the last time we were in Seoul because we stumbled on this amazing spot with decently priced craft beers, Namsan Chemistry. Similar prices to America, like $6-10 dollars per beer.
☺
Walking around Itaewon
Our IPA/sour beer craving satisfied, we headed to a place called Linus' BBQ, a 'Bama style bbq place about 10 minutes walk from Namsan Chemistry, still in Itaewon. This place was awesome. There was a crowd outside, waiting, but when we walked up to it they told us we could sit outside without waiting. I was confused because the "indoor" seating that everyone seemed to be waiting for was fully open to the outdoors. But whatever, we instantly got a table which was great. The menu itself was pretty hilarious. Our favorite line was in the description for a vegetarian option, "Are you lost, child? How did your meat-hating facehole wind up here?" haha.
Sam got a smoked brisket sandwich and I went for the pulled pork, "pulled to order." And we split a side of fries (which came with this sour cream and onion dip on the side which was so good). I think we will be back here in September before we leave. It was just so good.
Sunday
Keeping to the shady spots to beat the heat
♥
Ssamziegil shopping complex
Street vendor selling cocktails ☺
Chicken street food with fried potato wedges from Simplot (we saw the box behind the stall haha)
Poop-shaped waffle filled with red bean
Next we returned to the hotel; heat of the day is just too much. We looked up some different dinner options and found out about a semi-secret shopping spot that is a local favorite: Goto Mall. It's the largest underground shopping mall in Seoul with over 600 shops. Most of it is women's fashion and accessories but there is also a fair amount of home goods, beauty stores, and food concessions. The best part is everything is priced around 10,000-15,000 KRW (~$9-14). With accessories, hairbands, and socks for as little as 1,000 KRW each (< $1).
Seoul metro area is home to roughly half the population of Korea (~25.6 million people)
After indulging in some great fashions and accessory shopping, we went to Gangnam for NYC style brick oven pizza. It was great! We wish we could have explored Gangnam more but we had to head back after dinner.
Anyway, we had a great time in Seoul. It felt like with this trip we dug a little deeper into the city, but there is still so much left to see. We hope we will be able to go deeper in September (:
Thanks for reading. BTW we have about 6 weeks to go. We are so excited to be home! ♥
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