[Day 02 & 03] Super short trip to Seoul, Korea

The next morning, after a simple breakfast of Gimbap, we were ready to have a full day of activities as well as sightseeing. 

We were pretty lucky to come across the Royal Guard Changing Ceremony outside Deoksugung Palace. Although I could not understand a single command that was being said, the overall ceremony was pretty cool!

Our first sightseeing in Seoul was to visit a Korean palace as baby is a keen history buff and luckily enough, Deoksugung palace was right outside our hotel. How cool!

After visiting the palace, we walked over to Seoul Plaza which is literally opposite the Deoksugung Palace, as I spotted statues of Pinkfong and Baby Shark.

I took some photos random photos against the statues.

After that, we took the subway to Seoul's oldest, popular and traditional market - Gwangjang Market for lunch.

I love Bindaetteok – Mung Bean Pancake very much, and it is my MUST-EAT in Seoul. The pancake was extra crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I love the soy vinegar onion side sauce which enhanced the taste better for each bite of mung bean pancake. Although eating Bindaetteok is pretty greasy, it’s well worth trying when you’re at Gwangjang Market.

KongGuksu (Chilled Soy Milk Noodle Soup) is a refreshing noodle dish in which noodles are served in savory soy milk. Perfect for hot summer days!

If you love Korean food, do not miss Gwangjang Market in Seoul, as it is one of the ultimate places to experience traditional Korean street food and culture all under one delicious roof.

I took the bus from the market to DongDaeMun and alighted outside DongDaeMun Design Plaza (DDP), which was also directly connected with DongDaeMun History & Culture Park station.

It is the iconic landmark of the Korean design industry, which was opened in 2014. It is a museum, mall, park and a concert venue all in one.

I finally met up the BELLYGOM, the giant pink bear at DDP. I could not stop taking photos with the bear.

During our visit at DDP, we were so lucky to experience modern Mucha masterpieces at 'eMotion in Seoul'

The show made its second stop as well as it’s Asian debut, at the DongDaeMun Design Plaza (DDP).

We picked up 2 art posters from the event’s merchandise. We especially took the time to head to Daiso, which was also conveniently located just behind our hotel to pick up 2 poster frames to frame them up!

I had our simple Korean dinner in a family-run eatery place in DongDaeMun. It is run by an old couple. We enjoyed our dinner with soju!

We went back to MyeongDong for some ‘serious’ shopping! It is truly a shopping haven to get beauty products, as they are way cheaper in Korea compared to what you get in Singapore.

Oh yes, if you spend more than 30,000 won, you are entitled for an automatic tax refund on the spot. Just remember to show your passport to redeem the perks.

If you are hungry, they have lots of stalls selling street food at night in MyeongDong. We stopped by to purchase a Corn Dog and take-out a bag of Japchae to the hotel for our indulgence.

On the last day in Seoul, we had brunch at MyeongDong Kyoja along MyeongDong Shopping Street for handmade KalGuksu and Mandu. We were there pretty early, hence there was no line at all, but the whole eatery place was packed with diners.

The menu of this restaurant was very simple and everyone was practically having the same food. It was delicious though, and both Baby and I loved the Mandu very much.

We went to the 11 storey-Daiso for some final shopping on the last day. It was one of my favourite shops to explore in Korea. The Daiso in Korea is different from the Daiso in Japan and Singapore. They have an entire floor dedicated to Disney and Kakao Friends merchandise at a superbly low damage!

After a fruitful spree at the Daiso, we went to ‘A Twosome Place’ for dessert and tea! This place marked the last place we went before leaving Seoul. It is like the typical hipster café. We ordered the Corn Cake which featured the famous American comic strip 'Peanuts' and it looked pretty Instagram-worthy.

We received a small gift from the hotel upon checking-out of the premises. Thanks so much for the sweet gesture, and I will return back to this hotel when I visit Seoul again. 

As our flight was scheduled in the late afternoon at 6pm, we walked back to our hotel to pick up our luggage and headed to the airport for our departure from Korea via an airport limousine bus right outside the hotel which sent us to Incheon Airport in 1.5 hours.

We went for a simple dinner at the food court in the airport before heading to the departure hall.

After a 6+ hour flight and 3 movies later, I was back in hot and humid Singapore. Glad to be home! We enjoyed Seoul, and a few of Baby’s friends are checking with him about his trip, well I guess, we will be planning another trip with his friends to Seoul soon. Till we meet again, KOREA!