South Korea Trip

After Sarah's graduation, I decided to visit South Korea again with Sarah, and this time we added Jeju Island and Busan to the trip. Without the Seoul attractions to visit, we spent time shopping and eating and had Korean hair and scalp treatments. The weather was warm but not too hot, and there was no rain. We visited Lotte Tower, the aquarium, and Lotte Mall. We stayed in Hongdae 홍대, where young people hang out, shop, and eat. The L7 Hongdae by Lotte Hotel was very nice and centrally located, where we could observe people walking around 24/7 from our floor-to-ceiling windows.

Persimmon Bingsu 빙수

We arrived in Seoul around 4am and took a car service right to the hotel to drop off our luggage. Stores in the area opened around 10am; we had coffee at the coffee shop in the hotel that opened at 8am. We went to walk around the neighborhood until the stores started to open. We took pictures at the NYC subway-themed photo booth place. We checked in at the hotel around 4pm and went out for our first meal, Korean BBQ, where we had to grill the meat by ourselves, which was not my specialty.

On day 2 in Seoul, I went out for a run along the Han River in the morning, and later we went to Myongdong and had salted bread at Fresh Bread Factory; they were hot out of the oven, crispy buttery skin with a soft, layered texture inside. I found this salt bread recipe online and will try to make it. Then we went to Insta-dong to Beautiful Tea Museum (아름다운 차박물관) to have some tea. We had Korean fried chicken at BBQ for dinner. Sarah got fried chicken-shaped ice cream that is trending on TikTok and sold at Goldbelly for a lot of money.

On day 3 in Seoul, we visited the Lotte World Tower, Seoul Sky, and Lotte World aquarium.

We got hair and scalp treatments at Ecojardin in Lotte World Mall for 18-step Herbal Hair Treatment. Sarah got some Pokemon merchandise from Dunkin Donuts.We didn't have lunch but had pastries instead. We saw impressive fish tanks at the aquarium. I did feel bad for a beluga whale in such a small tank. Sarah saw her favorite animals, otters. Then we took an elevator up to Seoul Sky on top of the Lotte World Tower to observe a 360-degree view of Seoul. Luckily it was a clear, sunny day that allowed us to see the Han River surrounding the center of Seoul.We ended our day with Army Stew, or Budae-jjigae (부대찌개), a korean hot pot.

We left Seoul for Jeju Island on day 4; the flight took an hour to get there. We met Seunghwan (my online Korean tutor) at Jeju airport. It was also his first time visiting Jeju. He rented a car and took us around the island. We couldn't have visited so many amazing places and tried so many delicious Korean foods without him. We stayed at the Grand Hyatt Jeju, which had a comfortable-sized room and view of the city.

Day 1 in Jeju, East Jeju

We went to an exhibition for a lighting show. at the theater called "Nohyung Supermarket" 노형슈퍼마켓

We went to Aewol-ri (애월리), which is famous for street cafes, and we had meat noodles, Gogi-guksu (고기국수), at Handamguksu (한담국수 곽지애월점.)

We ate the end-of-the-season sweet and juicy tangerines, walked around the coastline in Aewol-ri, and stopped for coffee and cake at Cheongsudang Cafe 청수당 애월

At Marno Blanc 마르노 블랑 Hydrangea Garden

We visited the Cheonjeyeon Waterfall “천제연 폭포“, E-Mart, and had mackerel at Jungmun restaurant (중문고등어쌈밥)

At the end of day 1 in Jeju, we went to see the sunset at Gunsan Oreum “군산오름“. The single-lane road going up the mountain was nerve-racking; we just hoped that no car was coming down.

Day 2 in Jeju, West Jeju and Udo Island

We went to Bijarim Forest “비자림,” a thousand-year-old forest, and had sashimi lunch at Seongsanposuhyeom 성산포수협 성산포지점. Seunghwan picked a very large flatfish from the tank, and we tried it, but the texture was too chewy for us, so we sent some back to be cooked in the kitchen. They made the most delicious fried fish I've ever had.

After lunch we took a 15-minute ferry ride to Udo Island, from “성산포항종합여객터미널” to “하우목동포구.” We rented e-bikes and rode around the island. It was a cloudy day, but the weather was beautiful. When we got back to Jeju, we walked around Seopjikoji (섭지코지)

Day 3 in Jeju, Hallasan Mountain Hike

In Hallasan National Park, Hallasan Mountain is the highest mountain in South Korea, and this hike was one of Seunghwan's plans to do while we were visiting Jeju. So we said, Why not?. We started the day early, picked up freshly made kimbap, and went to rent hiking gear. By the time we got to the mountain, it was already 7:30am. Seungwan picked the harder hike to start, Gwaneumsa Trail 한라산 관음사탐방로, with an estimated 4-5 hours of hiking. While we were going up, many groups of people were passing us. I felt, Wow, I'm really out of shape. With an almost 10 lb backpack (or what felt like it) on my back, the hike up was not as easy as I thought. The never-ending stairs that kept going and going made me feel like I was in a nightmare loop and there was no light at the end of the tunnel. We stopped a quarter of the way up at a big rest stop with no water except for what we brought ourselves. We had ramen and kimbap and rested for a while. Then we continued the hike for about 1.5 hours more until we reached the top. The water in the little lake below was low from lack of rain. The sun was strong, and Sarah got a sunburn. Many people were waiting to take pictures with a standing stone to prove that they reached the top of this mountain. It was a hot afternoon. We rested 30 minutes more, basking in the hot sun. We should have put sunscreen on. We came down on the other side of the mountain through Seongpanak Trail 성판악탐방로, which was supposed to be the easier way, but we found it was long and treacherous. Big, rough volcanic rocks were everywhere. There were a few younger hikers who came down, passing us up, skipping from rock to rock like ninjas, and I was thinking, "Why do these people look so energetic? What showoffs!" By the time we got down, it was already 5pm. While we were coming down, the sun was setting, and the shrubs were moving. Then we saw a sign that said, Beware of wild boars. I was very slow coming down with a fear of twisting my ankles; my knees were hurting, and the hike down felt long. There were more people behind us, but I felt like we were the last group. After it was done, Sarah vowed to never go hiking again. For me, I want to do it again if I have a chance to visit Jeju. It was like finishing running a marathon, while doing it, you think, Why am I doing this? But after a few days I missed it and wanted to do it again. I already thought of new strategies for this hike and will definitely make better time next time around.

Rest stop, had kimbap and ramen

This part of the hike was stunning and relaxing. Sarah had enough of this hike.

Day 4 in Jeju, roaming around at a slow pace after that treacherous hike.

We went to London Bagel Museum 런던베이글뮤지엄 and waited for an hour before we got to order the bagels that were very good but did not taste like real bagels—more like soft, chewy rolls with little holes in the middle. We waited in the cafe next door (owned by the same people) and bought some souvenirs and had some cake and pastries. Then we went to a beach area nearby and had some sweet drinks at Cafe Delmoondo 델문도. at

Hamdeok Beach 함덕해수욕장.

Sarah wanted to go to Snoopy Garden in Jeju. Luckily, the rain had stopped, and the weather was comfortable. After that, we went to Jeju Rail Bike 제주레일바이크. We finished the last day in Jeju at a Korean BBQ restaurant, Hanrachuksan 한라축산정육식당.

Busan

At Momos Roastery and Bar 모모스 로스터리&바

Haedong Yonggung Temple 해동용궁사

Sarah and Seunghwan went for a ride at Skyline Luge Busan 스카이라인루지 부산

At Gamcheon Culture Village 감천문화마을

We got here very late in the day and the rain just stopped, not many people around and all the shops were already closed.

We stopped by Lotte Mall in Busan before visiting the temple and got some savory and sweet snacks. We had lunch at a restaurant called Kkomak 꼬막한상, "Kkomak" (꼬막) refers to cockles, a type of small shellfish often enjoyed in Korean cuisine. There was a robot serving food and drinks; we tried Korean lime-flavored Pepsi. We finished the day with dinner at Haemok restaurant (Seaweed) 해목, one of the Michelin Guide restaurants that specialized in eel.

We only stayed in Busan for one night. It was pouring the next morning, so we didn't get to walk around the beach. We flew back to Seoul and spent our last night in Myongdong.

This trip was so amazing, and I got to spend time with Sarah. Big thanks to Seunghwan, who made our trip action-packed and more memorable than we expected. Farewell, South Korea; we hope to be back in a year or two. What a fun country to visit!