[Seoul Vacation] Day 01: Exploring around the city

After a successful trip last year to Hong Kong, Baby decided to arrange another vacation with his friends to Seoul. We met up with our squad at the airport at Terminal 3, where Asiana flies off from. We took a photo inside the plane before taking off.

We took a midnight flight with Asiana Airlines as our flight was scheduled at 2250hrs. I got myself a serving of bibimbap during my flight, and I had a pleasant 6-hour+ flight to Incheon. We arrived in Seoul around 6am local time. (Do note that Korea is an hour ahead of us.)

After clearing the customs at the airport, we made our exit, and bought bus/limousine tickets which took us straight to our hotel! After about an hour's drive, we finally reached the very posh THE PLAZA Seoul, Autograph Collection. It is located within the City Hall Subway Station.

After leaving my luggage with the hotel concierge, we walked to Myeongdong which was about a 15mins walk from the hotel in order to get some breakfast.

However, first things first! I went to the e-mart to get my favorite strawberry milk by Binggrae as a priority drink!

We waited for about 25mins for our orders from Issac Toast. (Myeong-dong Cathedral Branch.) Do note that, they only offer take-out as there is no sitting area at this outlet. We needed to find a place to sit to have our toast.

It is literally the perfect breakfast toast with a variety of toppings. The butter-toasted bread enhanced the overall flavors. The guys felt like that they could eat it almost everyday in Korea!

After our breakfast, we walked around Myeongdong. We first went to the 12 storey-Daiso for some shopping after finishing our toast! It was one of my favorite 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/Sanrio and Care Bears merchandise at a superbly low damage! I also bought many beauty products from Olive Young.

We went for lunch at MyeongDong Kyoja along MyeongDong Shopping Street for handmade KalGuksu and Mandu. We were pretty lucky, we waited less than 5mins for our table. Upon entering the eatery place, it was filled with diners.

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

We walked back to our hotel to do our check-in around 3pm. The room was pretty decent. 

We took a six-stop train ride from City Hall to Hapjeong. We headed over for a supermarket shopping spree upon exiting the station! Homeplus is one of the biggest supermarkets in Seoul, and this supermarket is more geared towards the locals as compared to LotteMart. We bought all sorts of Korean local specialties, and they even offer beauty products as well as household items at an affordable price too.

After we had done our purchases from the supermarket, we went to Krispy Kreme as they were having a collaboration event with Pokémon to celebrate Pokemon's 25th anniversary! The Pokémon Donut Set included Pikachu, Ditto, Psyduck, Jigglypuff and Diglett! This outlet is located at the Mecenatpolis Mall which is also located near to Hapjeong Station.

In despite of our heavy loots from the supermarket, the guys insisted not to waste time to offload our things at the hotel, so we proceed to Hongdae Shopping Street. It is a vibrant, busy spot in Seoul. It is a haven for shoppers and bar goers!

We went for Chimaek (Chicken and beer) which is a common dining phenomenon in Korea’s drinking culture!

We ordered 2 set of Boneless Seasoned Chicken which was oozing with Garlic Soy Sauce and Galbi Sauce. It was very juicy inside and crispy outside. It was super addictive, Jinjja Mashisoyo!

Feeling unsatisfied, the guys ordered another plate of Hot Golden Olive Chicken with Spicy Chilli Powder. Naturally, we did not forget to pair the yummy chicken with Korean Terra Beer and Soju. Chimaek cheers!

We made our way back to our hotel after some street shopping, as we were quite tired. We needed to charge up our energy levels in order to explore Seoul the very next day!