An Instagram Gallery Post
How can anyone pass up budget tickets to Seoul! I definitely couldn't! I think the tickets cost under S$300 for the peak December holidays when I booked a couple of months before departure (as usual). I'm not sure if I would snap them up if I knew how cold it could get...
In Dec 2011, I was unprepared for Taipei's winter (10+ Celsius), but I didn't learn my lesson in Dec 2012, when I headed to Japan (below 10+). When booking for air tickets for South Korea, I foolishly assumed that Seoul wouldn't be that much different from Japan. Because I swore I wouldn't put myself through the cold, rain and short days. Until the run-up to the trip did I realise that Korea is so cold it snows in December.
Nepal (yes, you heard it right, I also visited a Nepal in 2013) was great training for Seoul, though I must say Seoul is colder on average. And I encountered more snow in Korea! In fact, the most snow I've seen, and trudged through. It's white, it's romantic, but it's brrrr.. Cold. My pet peeve, frozen and numb fingers and toes. Thank goodness for down jackets, thermals and yak wool(cashmere just won't cut it).
It's actually my second trip to South Korea but my first free-and-easy one, so I either revisited places worth going, or new places (I.e. Jimjilbangs) that they won't bring you in a package tour. My trip in summary (Yeah, they are Instagram shots in my original caption, which may seem incoherent to most but I am retaining it for authenticity):
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| Machiam dandruff.. |
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| Slipped for this shot. |
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| Just.had.to.grab.some.strawberries. |
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| You really can't trust korean ahjumma's english. I meant 'saaalt barbeque' not 'sttttrong spicy' which really explains why im at gongcha hongik uni. With wifi and korean surround sound. |
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| Wonder what this can be? |
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| Greetings from 'the largest shopping complex in the world'. Pray tell me what I'm doing in the lobby leeching on wifi. |
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| On the subway. Hip! |
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| Why I love train rides. Snow ride for the first time ever! |
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| Snowed on the first day. And last night! Home bound. |
I know people will typically list food and shopping as highlights for their trip, especially to Seoul... But here are the highlights of my trip (with the original Instagram caption in parentheses):
5. GIMBAP
4. PANCAKE
3. DMZ/JSA DAY TRIP
2. GAMCHEON CULTURAL VILLAGE
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| 5. GIMBAP - Cheap and good (And now I'm hungry..) |
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| 4. This Pancake. (Day 3 and this is the ONLY thing I ever see Koreans queue for (apart for the subway). Cheap and oh-so-good.) |
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| 3. Get close to JSA (Nearest we get to the North without going there, at the JSA) |
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| And find out about the stories. (The setting sun marks the end of yet another peaceful day. Something we shouldn't take for granted.) |
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| 2. GAMCHEONG CULTURAL VILLAGE. (Prefer Kaoshiung to Taipei, Osaka to Tokyo and BUSAN to Seoul. The 5h delayed train ride was worth it!!) |
1. Without a doubt, JIMJILBANGS! There are no photos because... I'm too busy "chillaxing" to take photos.
Soak in the water, get a scrub by an ahjumma, and stay overnight
A quick review:
- Siloam (Seoul Station - best location and conducive for real sleep)
- Dragon Hill (Youngsan Station - most privacy for couples *wink wink*)
- Haeundae Spa in Busan (Haeundae Station - best sleep for Busan trip)
- Hongdae Happy Day Spa (Hongdae - this was the hardest to find, almost cried and gave up looking (2 hours?), until 2 Korean ladies finally understood what I was saying (most just wave you away) and searched on their phones to find that I had been walking up and down but kept missing it. It also gets very cramped and noisy on weekends as people stream in throughout the night after partying.)
I was expecting an orange signboard. But if you really insist on visiting Happy Days in Hongdae. Here's what you should look out for (Grr....)
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