Seoul: Catchups, Hanboks, Food!

For those who know me, you’d know I love all things Korean. 

The culture, the food, the music, the language, the country. 

So when I flew over to Japan, I knew I had to stop by Korea before I headed back to Ireland. 

It was too close to pass up.

So I spent only less than three days in Korea (in contrast to my two previous visits which both lasted a month each). 

But this time, it was more to catch up with friends who I haven’t seen awhile, get to practice my Korean, and mainly to have a great time.

So first up, I met Hee Hyang, who used to live with me in Dublin in 2014. 

It’s interesting to see how we both met when we were 20 and how much we have both changed yet stayed the same over the years.

And of course when in Korea, indulging in food is a necessity.

First up was spicy steamed seafood – haemuljjim 해물찜

Then some nice warm teas and coffees to catchup.

And if that wasn’t enough, we bought back an assortment of dumplings – mandu 만두 filled with kimchi, prawn, peppers, pork, beef. 

This was washed down with one of my favourite alcohols – the local rice wine – makgeolli 막걸리.

Hee Hyang decided to treat me by booking a lovely traditional Hanok house for the both of us to stay for the night.

It was complete with futon beds and heated floors.

A shared eating space.

And it was in the heart of the traditional Bukchon Hanok Village 북천한옥마을 with its beautiful architecture and history.

To fully embrace the traditional village, we both rented the traditional Korean dress – hanbok 한복 to stroll around like princesses. 

It cost ₩20000 (€15) to rent it for four hours. 

This came complete with the handbag, hair styling, and accessories!

What was funny though was we got pretty hungry after dressing up so we went to eat some spicy octopus – jjukkumi 쭈꾸미 being extremely cautious as to not spill anything on the clothes.

Then it was continuous photos for the afternoon.

We were blessed with the great weather as the sun made it not as chilly to walk around with lace sleeves.

Another great part to wearing the hanbok was that it gave you free admission to all the palaces in Seoul! I guess it adds to the tourism product as some other travellers asked if they could take photographs with us.

Just before we went our separate ways, we ate some amazing street food to make it slightly sweeter.

spicy rice cakes ddeokbokki 떡볶이 

and 

deep fried squid ojingaw twigim 오징어튀김!

As I didn’t have much time in Korea, I had to try and jam pack my schedule with back-to-back meetups with friends. 

So next up was – Sepyo! 

We funnily met in Trinity in 2016 when I decided to take adult swimming lessons. 

He was there too learning, so we ended up becoming friends over the course of 12 weeks!

So we caught up in Hongdae 홍대 over the famous Korean chicken and beer combo, also known as chimaek 치맥.

chi as in chicken

maek as in maekju which is beer in Korean.

Personally, I way prefer drinking somaek over just plain beer. 

Makes it taste a little sweeter and stronger.

This was accompanied with local grilled fish for snacks! Neverending eating of course.

Then after he headed back, I went out exploring HongDae’s never ending night life which led me to the same event I went to two years ago – The International Party at Playground. 

I got in for ₩10000 (€7.50) which also gave me two gin and tonics. 

Then the night was spent mingling with both locals and foreigners. 

We decided to spend the night hopping around to bars, clubs, and pubs. 

We even rented our own karaoke booth at the local noraebang 노래방. 

It was so hilarious that I ended up partying till 6:30 in the morning with complete strangers. Absolutely mind-blowing.

After getting about two hours of sleep into me, I woke up, had a shower, and went straight to Gangnam 강남 to meet up with more friends! 

Min Ha 민하, Jin Wook 진욱, Jae Jun 재준, and Keon Hoi 건회.

Funnily enough, three of these guys slept over in my living room two years ago because they were travelling to Dublin to visit Min Ha who I was friends with. Since his house didn’t have space for them, I offered my living room and here we are, all reunited again.

They brought me to a really interesting experience in Gangnam to try out puffer fish – bogeo 보거.

It came in a big bowl of soup and it was such a comfort dish to recover from the night before.

It was absolutely delicious, with all the other side dishes provided as well to make it such a hearty meal!

They then decided we should go to a nearby Escape Room! 

Unfortunately as there was only one room left available, we were forced to join the Horror-themed room which left the four of us in bits at the end of it. 

It involved screaming, horror music, blood, creepy dolls, corpses falling from the ceiling, and coffins.

Let’s just say I could hardly breathe without screaming for the full hour.

We managed to escape with only a minute and a bit left on the clock.

They definitely succeeded in giving me lasting memories of Korea.

And last but not least, I met up with Chae Ha 채하, who I lived with for awhile in Dublin as well. She and her friend treated me to delicious grilled intestines as well as tea and cake as my very last meal in Korea. It was great to have girly talk and to just have a lovely ranting session before going.

And unfortunately, my ten day solo journey had to come to an end.

Tokyo, Kyoto, Seoul.

I learnt alot.

I experienced alot.

I met people that I missed.

I met new people that I won’t forget.

I discovered more about the world.

I discovered more about myself.

Thank you to everyone who made my experience such a memorable one.

And this is why I love travel.