Seeing Seoul in 1 Day

We went to Korea for my birthday weekend cheap flights were available, and I loved the food the last time I was there for work 2 years ago. You can read about that trip here.

At first, it was only supposed to be me, Ady and Sof (my normal partners in crime for a weekend away) but we were able to convince Auntie Celita to join us, and so did the parents.

The Cebu Pacific flight time is quite convenient. It leave Manila at 3-4pm so you can still squeeze in school in the morning or a half days work. With no delays, it should arrive in Korea around 9pm (an hour time difference). Our flight was a bit delayed but nothing too annoying.

Cebu Pacific now has A330 planes, big enough for two aisles.
Sof is so used to flying she slept upon boarding, and immediately
put on her winter gear before we deplaned.

When we arrived, we immediately headed to the correct Airport Bus stop because I think the last trip is around 11pm. So if you're flight is delayed by a lot you need to take a cab instead.

We took the  bus going to Myeongdong Station, which stops directly
in front of the hotel.

We stayed at the Best Western Hotel Kukdo because of it's location.
It's 2 train stops away from Myeongdong and 10-15 mins on foot to Dongdaemun.

The Airport Bus takes roughly around an hour to get to the Myeongdong area, so it was around midnight when we finally settled down and went out to look for a late dinner. The immediate vicinity around the hotel was very quiet because it's the area with stores construction supplies during the day.

In Dongdaemun, we opted to go for the restaurant with Bibimbap
and a BBQ grill.

Sofia was happy to see Psy's face everywhere,
including on the water bottle.

We ordered conservatively because some said they were not hungry.
We had 2 orders of bulgogi.

1 order of bibimbap. Tip: The more red sauce you put, the better!

And Chapchae which was a bit on the bland side, but overflowing
with yummy veggies.

We clearly forecasted wrong because we ordered another additional
bibimbap and another bulgogi order.

This was after we had happy tummies!

After dinner, I brought Ady around the Dongdaemun area to show her the shops that stay open until 4am. Even the last time we were there, I didn't really buy much, so we didn't stay out too long.


Seoul Day 1
The next day, we tried to recover from the flight by letting everyone wake up at their own time, but I don't think they realized the plans I had in store for everyone since I wanted to free up Sunday to do a Skiing Trip.

Our first stop was Dongdaemun Toy Street!
OOTD includes my knee length 3 inch heeled boots.

The Dongdaemun Toy Street was such a find it deserves
a separate post. Needless to say we spent hours in this black hole!

After all that shopping (lolo is carrying Sofia's loot), we headed to
Insadong for a late lunch.

We were all starving, and by then, my feet were
killing me! 

Insadong is a shopping street in Seoul which has both expensive
artsy shops, as well as tacky souvenir stores.

I dragged the family here because this is where I
had my best meal 2 years ago.

I found the correct side street, but it was a bit challenging to look for the exact restaurant I ate in before (with only pictures to guide me).

Sofia and lolo have the same humor.

We ended up eating here, which may be a smaller
restaurant that the one I visited before.

However, the food was just as I remembered it.
Macarel for Auntie Celit and Papa. Bulgogi for the rest of us.

The soupy bulgogi, while served with more greens and less mushrooms,
tasted the same. It's really a steal for only 7,000won (Php290 or SG$8)!

Everyone enjoyed the hole in the wall restaurant.

I read somewhere that the side streets of Insadong are home to
traditional, inexpensive places, so check it out if you have time.

After lunch, I bid goodbye to my almost new
Charles & Keith SG$20 boots!  Good thing Auntie Celit
bought boots for skiing that she lent me.

After lunch, we just walked along the main shopping street to get a feel of the place.

They sell everything from traditional souvenirs to expensive ceramic jars.

We tried the free Roasted Green Tea.

And Sofia convinced Auntie Celita to buy her a splatty pig from the street.

We were so intrigued by the ice cream served in the weird shaped
cones, but we were too full to have some, and the line was too long.

I convinced everyone to try the yummy banana like pancake that
I liked so much 2 years ago.

On our way back to the train station,
the parents bought some giant chestnuts.

After Insadong, we went to the Hongdae (Hongik University Area) to visit the Trick Eye Museum, my only To Do List for Sofia to enjoy, before I added skiing to the list. I also read some where that Hongdae is a good shopping area, with a lot of inexpensive shops because it caters to Unieversity students.

Surprisingly, the Trick Eye Museum also comes with Free Entry
to the Ice Museum. We had so much fun it deserves a separate post.

It was close to dinner time when we finished at Hongdae, so we went directly to Myeongdong, the cosmetics heaven.

You can read about my previous post on Myeongdong
here.

After a lot of walking, we decided we were too tired to do any shopping, so we just settled on the first restaurant we saw that vaguely looked like it had Korean BBQ!

This pork belly & beef restaurant was a different BBQ style but it was also
good. The kimchi and bean sprouts are cooked with the meat on a slanted
grill, with a faucet like thing sucking up the smoke.
The price was also quite cheap at 33,000won (SG$40) for 4 of us.

This restaurant is located on the second floor in one of Myeongdong's side streets. They cook the kimchi and bean sprouts with the meat on a slanted grill, with a giant faucet-looking contraption to suck up the smoke. The price was also cheap at 33,000won (SG$40 or Php1,400) for four of us, because in other places, that would just be the price of 1 order of calbi (beef short ribs).

 

This time, I remembered to buy Chicken BBQ to take out for breakfast
before going home.

Seoul Day 2
The next day, we started bright and early with our tour guides from www.seoulnski.com picking us up at the Hotel lobby at 7:50am.

We enjoyed our attempt at skiing so much,
it deserves a separate blog post to follow.

The skiing tour ends at around 5:30pm and the tour guide can either drop you off at Myeongdong or Dongdaemun so you can do more shopping.

We opted to shop around Myeongdong, with more success this time.

Our only MUST STOP was Starbucks for the much needed caffeine.
Cherry Blossoms included. Hahaha.

For dinner, we finally found a restaurant with
Beef Calbi (Short Ribs).

We ordered an assortment of seasoned and unseasoned beef,
and yummy Pork Belly.

Ady's usual bibimbap and Auntie Celit's favorite Chapchae so I could
have some birthday noodles. This one was more flavorful.

I love, love, love, Korean BBQ!

Thank You Auntie Celita for my Advanced Birthday Dinner in Korea!

Seoul Day 3
The next day, we decided to take it really easy, and stay in the hotel until the noon check-out time. Breakfast was more of our favorite 7-11 finds and my take out Chicken BBQ.

Sofia loves the Banana Milk in a Fat Yakult Shaped Bottle!

My favorite find of this trip was the boiled eggs from 7-11 that tastes
just like the eggs that come with your Ramen.

For brunch, Auntie Celita brought us to this hidden restaurant in an alley right across our hotel. She said her Korean friend brought her there before because it used to be a famous restaurant.

This is the alley, and the restaurant entrance from the alley.

When you enter, there's a receiving area with a big mirror so I couldn't
resist a selfie and a group selfie. This was my last day,
I-might-freeze OOTD because I was sick of my marshmallow coat.

The restaurant was busy with locals inside. I guess you only come here
if you know it exists.

We ordered the beef rib soup, and walang kamatayang short ribs and
bibimbap (here served with no rice, so you add your own to taste).
Here they also serve it with salt instead of the salt solution.

They also have a bigger assortment of starters, and the meal comes with
 service tofu soup (that they said tastes like sinigang).

Sofia volunteered to take our group picture.

After lunch, we killed time by shopping at Lotte Department Store (in Myeongdong), finding auntie Celita a spa for a facial - we even found a Nose Job clinic at the mall! - message me for details if you're interested, and doing more walking around Myeongdong.

I dragged Ady to snack at Dunkin' Donuts with me since I loved it so much
2 years ago. My new flavors review: the red velvet is overrated, but the
capuccino chewisty is so good. Sofia finished the chocolate in no time.
You can read my other Dunkin' Donut post here.

We were able to get back to the hotel with enough time to change into warmer clothes, repack our shopping and catch the airport bus.

The Airport Bus stops right in front of the hotel, and comes by
every 15-20 minutes.

My last meal in Korea was more bulgogi. (yumm... yumm...).
I even finished my coins on a yogurt stick from Paris Baguette.

Sofia's last meal was Katsu and Rice but I had to hurry
her because it was boarding so I made her eat it
on the plane out of a Hello Kitty ziplock bag.

Korea birthday weekend was so much fun!!! 

Special thanks to Auntie Carol for Sofia's beanie that kept her warm the whole trip and Auntie Celita for my advanced birthday dinner and our super well located hotel, and to the entire family who just went with me to do what I wanted to do! Hope you had as much fun as I did. just saying.