On a whim of wanting to do something different, and having finished a stress run at school I decided to treat myself to a last minute weekend getaway to Korea. Never been, always wanted to go and I heard the food and shopping were amazing. Yes to both ^^. Sadly, I wish I could have stayed longer
Weekend Getaway to Seoul
Usually I try to plan everything in advance, with back up plans for precautions…this is probably the first time I didn’t prep anything except my suitcase. I was quite glad to have my friend there with me, as she planned our day and translated everything for me – personal tour guide, o ya! Without her, I know I would have gotten lost many times.
Weekend Getaway to Seoul
Seoul Tower & Love Locks
First stop, Seoul Tower . Along the base of the tower was a look out dock with walls covered and decorated with love locks. These love locks had messages written on them, then lovers would lock them together and toss the key as a symbol to never break up.
Love Locks
However, there are signs asking people not to toss their keys into the forest below. As for couples who have broken up…looking over the railing we could spot many locks that were chucked overboard and landed on the roof tops of these large metal storage compartments.
Sigh…where’s mine, again?
Daegong Palace
I love history, especially castles and traditional architecture. Due to weather conditions our plans to move about outdoors were limited. We managed to visit Deoksugung, a palace that belonged to the Prince in the 1400’s.
It was really nice, we walked around a bit and then sat on one of the stone steps in front of a corridor. We spent about almost half an hour chit-chatting and listening to the sound of raindrops run off the roof. This was probably the first time I’ve been genuinely relaxed on a trip. Usually I’m more time-based, always hurrying to visit the next place due to the limit of my stay, unsure of when I’ll be back again. But I will be back again, considering that Korea is so close.
Around Deoksugung Palace
Outside the Deoksugung Palace walls is a lovely brick walk way. This is also where City Hall is located. During the evening this is said to be very romantic for couples as the brick wall and street is lit by ground lighting.
Bricked walkway outside Deoksugung palace.
Food in Seoul
I wish the weather was a little better. Before leaving the forecast was sun with slight cloud, then the day I left and arrived my friend told me that it would be raining all weekend. And man did it rain! Darn. Saving my plans for outdoor markets and stall foods for a day I’m not grasping tightly to the umbrella to become the next Mary Poppins. But at least there’s still a lot of good food to be found!
Bulgogi Beef – Popular Korean dish. This one was heated like hot pot, and the broth was really flavorful. Never tasted it in this style before ^^. Wrap it up in gim (seaweed) with rice and kimchi… ^^.
Bulgogi Beef set.
Cold Noodle Soup – A popular seasonal dish for summer. Sadly the weather this weekend was rainy, but it was still refreshing. The cooled broth is from beef bones. Add in the sauces, mix it, then eat it in combination with the Bulgogi beef. It’s so flavorful! And don’t be shy about drinking the noodle broth – yum! Yum!
Misutgaru Latte – grain latte, recommended by a friend to try. The texture is similar to a matcha latte, just a touch more grainy depending on how many different grains is included. I found a “12 Grain Latte”. Taste is light, with a hint of a sweet corn flavor. It’s really good, and feels healthy.
Sweet Potato Latte – Like Taro bubble tea :). It’s much sweeter than Misutgaru, only slightly not as grainy in texture.
Shopping In Seoul
I’m horrible at bargaining. I always feel bad like I’m cheating someone, but in reality they’re really cheating me. In the end, sellers will take care of themselves as they’ll make sure they’ll always come out on top…but I still feel bad. This was probably one of the funniest moments of my trip, and what’s a trip without memories:
Walking down an aisle I came across this nice green bag. Had it been real there’s no doubt it would have been expensive, but Korea has top-notch “Super AAA” knockoffs – other countries can’t compare with their “Grade C & D” replications. Anyway, the seller saw me and told me to try the bag on in front of the mirror.
“I’ll offer it to you for ($80)” he said. It was cute, but I didn’t really need it, nor was I looking for a bag. My main priority was clothes.
“Oh, no thank you”, as I quickly handed it back to him.
“EH!” his expression was priceless. While I was trying to say I don’t want/need it, he took it as: it’s too expensive, so no!
“Okay, how about ($75)?” he offered.
“…No…”
“What? Okay, how about ($70)?”
“…No, thanks…”
“What? You know this bag is usually worth over ($128)…if you go around here and find the same bag, no one can give you a better price than me.”
“…No…”
“Okay, okay you drive a hard bargain Miss…name your price. How much do you want to pay?”
Hmm…now I wonder how low could have I really gone?…
BC Roll in Japan 
