During the Travel Tour Expo held last February at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City, my family and I were able to score discounted plane tickets to Korea, which we've been eyeing as our next travel destination abroad (following last year's trip to Japan which you can read about here, here, here, here, and here).
Not too long afterwards, we booked our hotel through Agoda and arranged our tours and transportation with the help of Dreamline Travel & Tours. After months of planning, we were finally all set to go!
Day One
Our Asiana Airlines flight left Manila at 1:00 AM and touched down in Seoul at exactly 5:30 AM. We managed to clear immigration and claim our luggage just in time to catch this beautiful sunrise on our way to the city. I wasn't able to take any more photos along the way though since I kept dozing off. I barely got any sleep during the flight! Note to self: avoid red-eye short haul flights at all costs.
We had the entire morning to do some sightseeing around Seoul before we checked-in at our hotel at 2PM. Our first stop: the Bukchon Hanok village.
The well-preserved Bukchon Hanok village is a traditional village composed of various alleyways lined with traditional Korean houses (known as Hanok). Today it is a popular stop for tourists who want to get a feel of the "old Korea" without having to leave the city.
The area has become so popular, in fact, that there are now tarpaulins like this everywhere to remind tourists from China to keep their voices down as there have already been numerous complaints from residents who just want some peace and quiet at home.
At this point we were already hungry so our tour guide, Henry, brought us to the Samcheong-dong neighborhood for brunch for our first taste of local cuisine.
Our next stop after brunch was the Changdeokgung Palace, one of the "Five Grand Palaces" built between 1392-1897 during the Joseon Dynasty. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997.
Autumn is an amazing time to be in Korea. You can marvel at the beautiful trees changing colors everywhere you go--be it within Seoul or at the countryside!
Day Two
Our main destination for our second day in Korea was Namiseom, or more popularly known as Nami Island. It is a half-moon shaped island named after the young General Nami, who died at just 28 years old during the reign of King Sejo between 1455-1468. Fans of Korean dramas might know this place as one of the filming locations of one of the most popular TV shows, Winter Sonata. which first aired during the early 2000s.
Our first stop for the day was Petite France, a small cultural French village located outside Seoul which draws inspiration from the popular novel The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. It has also become a popular stop for tourists from China after scenes from another Korean drama (which became a huge hit there) were filmed here.
We had another opportunity to try Korean cuisine when our guide took us to a restaurant called Nami-Ok for lunch.
The restaurant was nearly empty (except for a young Indonesian couple) when we arrived, but as it turns out, the restaurant is a popular stopover for tourists heading to Nami Island. After just a few minutes, we were joined by a large group of Indonesian tourists, followed by another large group of Japanese tourists. I also found out that the restaurant is halal-certified, which makes it a popular stopover for tour groups from Muslim countries like Indonesia.
Dak galbi is a Korean dish made by stir-frying marinated chicken and different kinds of vegetables in a chili pepper sauce on a hot plate. This dish can be enjoyed on its own, with rice, or wrapped in lettuce leaves.
The food was good and it was definitely a good experience, though there was a slight misunderstanding regarding our bill. The cashier thought that our lunch was already pre-paid by the travel agency, so he only billed us for our drinks. By the time he realized this mistake, we were already a few minutes away from the restaurant. He managed to call our tour guide to inform him about this mistake, and we had no choice but to turn back! After settling our bill (which turned out to be be pricier--but still reasonably priced--than we originally thought), we were finally on our way to Nami Island!
The food was good and it was definitely a good experience, though there was a slight misunderstanding regarding our bill. The cashier thought that our lunch was already pre-paid by the travel agency, so he only billed us for our drinks. By the time he realized this mistake, we were already a few minutes away from the restaurant. He managed to call our tour guide to inform him about this mistake, and we had no choice but to turn back! After settling our bill (which turned out to be be pricier--but still reasonably priced--than we originally thought), we were finally on our way to Nami Island!
The more popular way to reach Nami Island is by ferry, and the ferry ride takes about 5-10 minutes. Another way to get to the island is by zipline (yes, you read that right) but this is much more expensive and I wouldn't recommend this if you're traveling on a budget. If you're adventurous and rich, then go for it!
As you can see, Nami Island is absolutely beautiful at this time of the year! The whole place was also (quite understandably) overrun by tourists, but there are still some nice quiet spots where you can just sit back and take in the sights around you or take some photos undisturbed.
Once we got back to Seoul (and our trip back on that Friday afternoon/evening wasn't exactly pleasant, mind you--traffic in Seoul is horrible!), we decided to explore the Myeongdong area, Seoul's popular shopping and entertainment district where our hotel is located.
We also did a bit of exploring on our first night but it was raining at the time and we were also just so tired from walking after our morning tour with very little sleep that all we wanted to do was go back to our hotel and rest. On our second night, we were finally able to see more and do more.
Aside from numerous global brands, Myeongdong is also home to several restaurants, local shops and street stalls selling all sorts of merchandise. The whole area is really lively at night, and there are also stalls that sell street food which we naturally had to try!
We ate so much street food that night (on top of the fastfood dinner we had before exploring Myeongdong) but we didn't care! We had some grilled squid, egg buns (buns with egg topped with peanuts and sunflower seeds) and friend bananas topped with chocolate syrup, nuts and sprinkles. I also got to try strawberries which were some of the best, freshest and juiciest ones I've ever had. Too bad I wasn't able to take a photo.
Stay tuned for the next part of our Korean adventure!
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