My wanderlust self was aching for a vacation so I looked up the cheapest direct flight that I could find and voila, I got us cheap tickets from Jejuair to KBBQ town!! ❤ Here’s a video of all the places that we visited and all the food we ate!

It was already our second time in Seoul so we were kinda done visiting the touristy spots. We basically just went there to eat and to go to the places that we weren’t able to go the last time. We also squeezed in a mini pre-wedding photoshoot at an abandoned amusement park, just cause. lol

Arrival at the Airport

I think our plane tickets were cheap because it was a red eye flight. lol We arrived at 7:00 in the morning and we went straight to our hotel. I booked KAL Limousine Bus tickets online from Klook beforehand and it was very convenient.

We just collected our tickets from the KAL Limousine Service Center at the arrival area and we went straight outside to board the bus. The bus was very spacious and we felt like we were at a business class seat on an airplane. There were only three passengers in our bus for the whole 90 minute trip so we were able to sleep soundly. We got dropped off at Plaza Hotel which was a walking distance to where we were staying.

I would definitely recommend taking this bus from the airport to the city especially if you have a lot of luggage. It’s again very convenient and you’re sure to have a good rest and you won’t experience dragging your luggage from one train station to another if you’re taking the train. It’s a bit pricey than taking the train and I think it takes longer to reach the city but it’s well worth it, I promise.

Where We Stayed

The last time we were in Seoul, we stayed at Gangnam and although it’s also a nice neighbourhood to stay at, we wanted to be near the action so we stayed at Hotel Thomas Myeongdong. It’s about a two block walk from Myeongdong Shopping Street. Our room looked modern and new, it’s centrally located, and the price was just right.

I specifically booked this hotel because I needed a full length mirror and I saw in one of their tripadvisor reviews that they have a full length mirror. lol It sounds so shallow but it’s just so difficult to not have a full length mirror when travelling. I need to see my whole self before touring and taking lots of pics or myself. lol

They also provided all the essentials, from slippers, to bath robes, to toiletries.

We also had bottles of water replenished everyday at our mini refrigerator.

I also love that they make sure the toilet was properly sanitized when we arrived.

They also have a gym but we were either super tired from all the walking or super full from all the food that we ate so we never used the gym. lol Overall, we had a great stay!

How We Went Around

Google maps is not very reliable in Seoul so we used the Naver App to navigate around the city. We went around through the subway so we got ourselves a T-money card from one of the vending machines for KRW 3,000. We just reload our card every time we run out of credits. It was very convenient because it can be used for buses and taxis as well. I think you may also purchase a T-money card from Klook before your trip for added convenience.

What We Did

Since again this is already our second time in Seoul, we decided to skip all the touristy spots that we’ve already visited before (including Seoul Tower, Nami Island, Petit France, Garden of the Morning Calm, DMZ, Everland and Lotte World lol) and we just focused on going the spots that we haven’t been to. Here are the spots that we visited, not including the food places:

1| Myeongdong

The last time we visited Seoul, our time at Myeongdong was limited because we were there together with a group and we had a schedule. I remember just eating street food and not really going through the stores. This time, we made sure to roam around the whole place. I had a super fun time going around Myeongdong because there’s skin care everywhere. lol Here I am in Myeongdong, while waiting for our check-in time. Haven’t showered and changed my clothes yet from our red eye flight. lol

We usually either go to Myeongdong only to eat or to shop so I don’t have a lot of photos of myself there. You can easily spend a whole day here by just eating and shopping. Carts selling street food and cheap stuff will set up their carts at night and it’s especially busy during that time.

Here’s me in the streets of Myeongdong with my favorite Korean food – chapchae lol

2| Stylepink Nanda

We rested for a little bit after checking in at our hotel and then we went back to Myeongdong at night to grab dinner and visit Stylepink Nanda! I’ve seen so many pretty pics of this place in instagram and its interiors were indeed super cute and instagrammable. I mean, they have an entire floor that looks like a laundromat, another floor has a tub full of flowers, they have neon signs, orange colored stairs, and super cool fitting rooms. This was definitely my kind of place.

They also serve food but we were still full when we visited so we just roamed around the whole place, sampling their products and taking pictures. lol

3| Yongma Land

We dedicated the second day of our trip to do a short pre-wedding shoot at Yongma Land. I didn’t want to shoot in a public place so we did the shoot at an abandoned amusement park which was really left on its own for photo and video shoots. There was even a whole set there filming a Koreanovela when we arrived. Yongma Land charges a KRW 10,000 entrance fee. It was quite far from the city but it had a lot of backdrops to offer all in one place so it was worth it for us.

We chose this place also because Vim & I love amusement parks. In fact, we have actually already visited all the current Universal Studios parks in the world, plus I’m an ex and loyal Universal studios employee. lol

The park really looked abandoned but I was quite happy that there weren’t a lot of people there especially after the Koreanovela set was done filming.

Here are some of our favorite photos from the shoot. I can’t really share a lot because Vim wants to show these only on our wedding day but I feel like it’s to pretty to not be shared. lol

We’re super thankful that we got Yourim as our Sweet Escape photographer. Not only did she take such amazing photos, she was also very patient with us and she even extended our time for a little bit. Plus, we got our photos within a few days after the shoot. I will definitely book a Sweet Escape photographer in our future trips if our budget permits. lol

4| Common Ground

After our photoshoot at Yongma Land, we made a pit stop at Common Ground. It’s actually out of the way of our planned itinerary on the upcoming days so we made sure to pass by here before going back to our hotel. There were quite a few food places and clothing shops there.

This place is an instagrammer’s dream come true. It has lots of spots where you can take photos for the gram. It’s deff a must visit.

5| Nanta Cooking Show

This show was super funny and very entertaining. I first knew about this show when I was scrolling through Klook. You may purchase tickets beforehand here.

We weren’t sure when we will have the time to watch the show so we just booked our tickets on our first night there and watched the show on our third day in Seoul. It was very convenient to buy the tickets there and we were also able to choose our seats ourselves.

We woke up late on the day that we watched the show so we weren’t able to eat proper breakfast. We just bought food from the Nanta Cafe. Unfortunately, food was not allowed while watching the show so we had to hurriedly finish our food before the show started. If you have free time in Myeongdong, I would definitely recommend you to check out this show. It’s in the center of Myeongdong and they also have a theatre at Hongdae.

6| Hongdae

Before our trip, I was looking at youtube videos for places to go in Seoul and Hongdae was one of the places that was mentioned repeatedly. We got curious that’s why we included it in our itinerary. We went there on a Saturday so there were a gazillion people there, mostly youngsters.

There were a lot of local and international clothing stores, milk tea and dessert shops, coffee shops, street food and restaurants, and their mini plaza were filled of young performers entertaining the crowd. I feel like this is where the young locals spend their weekends at.

I think apart from Myeongdong, everyone should visit Hongdae for at least a day. It’s full of things to do, food to eat and stores to shop in. I also read somewhere that they have a KBBQ alley full of Korean BBQ restaurants but we weren’t able to go there. Maybe next time.

7| King’s Cross

One of the reasons why we went to Hongdae was also to visit the King’s Cross Cafe. I freaked when I knew that they had a Harry Potter inspired cafe in Seoul. lol We just had out photo taken outside and we didn’t bother to go inside but I wish I did!

Me at Platform 9 3/4. lol

8| Real Escape Challenge

Because we had a whole day in Hongdae, we had time to visit an escape room called Real Escape Challenge. I wasn’t able to book a room ahead of time so we ended up with their most difficult room. lol We weren’t able to escape but we were so close. We spent an hour trying to escape and when we ran out of clues, we had to dance in exchange for another clue. lol

We had super fun trying to escape but I would go with a group next time so that more minds can help. We felt really stupid at some point because we didn’t know what to do next.  lol

9|Cheonggyecheon River

On our fourth day in Seoul, we walked from Myeongdong to visit the Bukchon Hanok Village. The weather was perfect. Along the way, we passed by the Cheonggyecheon River. This is a nice place to stroll around and make tambay when the weather is good. I still dream of the day when the Philippines will have these kinds of tambay places but one can only dream. 🙂

10| Bukchon Hanok Village

On our previous visit to Seoul, we were able to visit Gyeongbokgung Palace but not the Bukchon Hanok Village. It’s actually just a short walk away from each other. Bukchon Hanok Village is a traditional Korean village which is preserved to look like ancient Korea.

This is one of the places where tourists can rent a traditional Korean dress called Hanbok. We went there on a Sunday and there were Korean kids holding signs to inform tourists to keep quiet. This is because it’s actually a residential area and there are people living inside these houses.

This place should be in everyone’s itinerary when visiting Seoul. It’s nice to see how the ancient people in Seoul lived and I really love that they preserved a part of their history despite the modernization of the city. Beware though, this place can get crowded with tour groups during the day.

11| Dongdaemun Design Plaza

We have 10,000 rosese in Mactan but I have never been there because it’s too far from where I live here in Cebu. lol Instead, we visited the original LED Rose Garden in Dongdaemun. It wasn’t dark yet when we went there so that roses were not lighted yet. The structure of the DDP itself looks amazing and I’m not sure why I didn’t have my photo taken with it. lol

Within Dongdaemun, there are a lot of stores and restaurants as well where these photos below were taken. lol

There is also a museum inside DDP but we just went there for the flowers and to roam around so we skipped it. We had a great time going through the stores. There was even a whole floor full of skin care and cosmetics that I forgot to take a photo of. lol

After our short visit to Dongdaemun, we went back to Myeongdong to do some last minute shopping. We flew back to the Cebu the next day after having brunch at the Food Court of the Lotte Department Store, which I loveee. I’ll make a separate post about all the delicious food we ate in this trip since this post is quite long now. In the meantime, you may check how we applied for a Korean Tourist Visa by clicking here! ❤