All the work we had to do to get to Korea was all worth it because I'm having such a fun time here! Although I had to sit through a 10 hour plane flight, I had an enjoyable time talking to the person sitting next to me, who spoke Mandarin. I speak Cantonese, but I pulled out some of my elementary level Mandarin in an attempt to chat with her. It was a very interesting interaction with both of us communicating in broken English or Chinese, and it certainly made the time go by faster on the plane. Additionally, when I got picked up by the reserved taxi driver that I booked in advance on Trazy, he also spoke Mandarin too, and I had yet another interesting conversation with him using Chinese, English, and some Korean, assisted by the Papago translator app. Talking to them made me realize how bad my Mandarin is, but it also helped me enhance my language skills and I learned a lot about the lifestyles of these people through conversing with them.
I stayed at a goshiwon in Sinchon for the first two weeks before the Chung-Ang dorms opened up. My goshiwon, a cheap but small room, was booked through Airbnb, but I know a lot of other people use goshipages to reserve one. I went out most of the day so the tiny space didn't bother me too much, especially since the location of the goshiwon was in the middle of everything, making it super convenient for me to just walk to the places I needed to go. The ajumma who ran the goshiwon was also very kind and was always there to help me if I needed anything.
my tiny tiny goshiwon my fave! banana milk why are there UH shirts here lol
For the first day, I was mostly running around doing errands: getting my Chingu SIM card, buying necessities, and getting my PCR test, which is required upon arriving in Korea. On the second day, I went to AK & Hongdae with a group and shopped for a few things, and then we went to the Hongdae Shopping District afterward and bought a lot of cute and trendy clothes. Unfortunately, it started pouring late afternoon and we had to put our shopping to a halt. We later came back to Hongdae on the third day to buy more things and had some great food as well. Everything here is so cheap and cute, it's hard to resist buying everything once you lay your eyes upon it.
sunny day out store in ak & hongdae sweet strawberry treat ! hongdae shopping
We went to the famously instagrammable COEX Starfield Library Mall on our fourth day and took a lot of pics, had lunch there, then walked around the mall for a bit. There was a section with grocery items and a lot of pretty pastries and cakes that were displayed. We also went to shop at the Underground Goto Mall in Gangnam, which I bought the most clothes from. On our fifth day, we toured around Myeongdong for the entire day, visited the Stylenanda Flagship store, took a cable car to N Seoul Tower, and ate some of the street food at night! The day spent at Myeongdong was fun, however it was a bit underwhelming when it came to the shopping and street food since we did go there on a Monday, so it probably wasn't as busy and lively compared to the weekend.
My go-to place for food for this week is the Korean restaurant nearby my goshiwon. You can only order through a self-checkout machine in the front. Choose your food, insert your credit card, and receive a receipt paper with a number on it. You can also help yourself with unlimited banchan, in this place it was daikon and kimchee, and pour yourself a cup of water while you're at it. The food will be called out on a screen and you can pick it up at the counter. Once you're seated, the utensils and napkins are in a drawer on the side of the table you're sitting in. I didn't realize this at first and was quite confused when I couldn't find the utensils. I had tteokbokki the first time, cold noodles the second, and kimbap the third time. I liked how efficiently this system worked and how quickly the food arrived.
store front screen of order numbers 5,000 won tteokbokki 3,800 won kimbap daikon/kimchee banchan
Additionally, I went to a pasta restaurant in Hongdae and I was required to order by writing down the dish name on a small notebook, then I would give it to the cashier to process it. I find it quite intriguing that in Korea, the customers do some of the work that the servers would normally do and help themselves to water, banchan, etc. I think this system works very efficiently because we don't have to keep calling the server for small things such as filling up water or getting more utensils, and the customers can get what they want at their own pace. The rose steak pasta was delicious, by the way.
The next few days were filled with even more shopping, café hopping, and great food/drinks! Any cuisine you can think of, Seoul has it all. Korea's café game is crazy, with cafés at every street corner, uniquely themed and supplied with the most delicious and aesthetically looking food. Some of the best places that I found were not planned at all, but rather it was through me simply taking the inner pathways away from the main road that I stumbled upon so many hidden gems. I went to the Stylenanda Pink Pool Cafe and had a cookies and cream chiffon cake. We found this cute cafe with mini burgers of different colors with corresponding flavors and did a little taste test of each burger. I went to two animal cafes, Thanks Nature Cafe, where I got to pet two very soft and adorable sheep, and the Dog Cafe, where I got to play with dogs of all breeds. The entrance fee to these cafes is a purchase of something on their menu, and you could stay and play with the animals as long as you like.
It was completely humid when we went outside, and if it wasn't it would be pouring a lot. I would come back home every day drained from walking so much in Seoul and would wake up the next day and do it all again. It was my first time living by myself, and it felt nice having my own space. I really appreciated how everything was at a walkable distance, and how convenient the public transportation system was here. It made it very easy to discover all kinds of stores around Hongdae and Sinchon. The fact that I could go out by myself and have a nice self-care day filled with shopping and eating was a very healing and refreshing experience. I'll continue touring around next week as well until I start school on September 1st!
Things I've noticed so far + tips
A lot of food places don't open until 10 am or even as late as 1 pm for some cafes. There was only one Korean restaurant nearby me that was open at 8 am. It depends if it's a weekday or weekend, but some stores don't open till 1-2 pm as well. This was slightly bothersome at first when I had jetlag, as I would wake up at 4 am and would have to wait till 10 am if I wanted to eat at a café or restaurant. It's perfect for those who like to sleep in, as a lot of the stores and restaurants here start getting busy around afternoon and night.
If it says on Google Maps that the store/restaurant is open, it is sometimes incorrect or not updated. There were a few restaurants that I tried to go to that said it was open 24 hours, but it was closed when I went there. Some stores move their opening time to earlier or later, so just be aware of this.
Makeup/skincare/department clothing stores may or may not have passport discounts. Always make sure to ask!
I know it's tempting to buy everything at first glance, but a lot of the underground shops and small shops sell the same things, so one store may sell something cheaper compared to another store if you walk down further.
Don't worry if you don't know any Korean upon arriving here, English and some general Korean phrases can get you by around here just fine for the most part. Here are some words/phrases that I've picked up upon hearing them and using them often.
"igeo juseyo" - this one please : while pointing to a menu item
"yeogi" - here : after you order, they'll ask if you want it "take out" (romanized) or "yeogi" which means eat here in the restaurant
"igeo iss-eo?" - do you have this? : if you need to find something specific or ask if they still have something available
"eobs-eo" - not available : the store owner/employee will answer this when the store doesn't have something in stock or the restaurant doesn't serve that food item at that time
"eolmayeyo" - how much? : sometimes items don't have price tag or it's hard to find so i find myself asking for the price a lot
"gabang" - bag : after buying something, the store will ask if you need a bag; or some places will have designated areas for you to put your bags while you shop
"hana" - one : sometimes they'll ask this to confirm if you want one quantity of something
"hana deo" - one more : me when i ask for more banchan
"de" & "ani" - yes & no
"gamsahabnida" - thank you
"joesonghamnida" - i'm sorry/excuse me : i would hear people say this when someone was in their way and they had to walk pass them
"jamkkanman" - wait a minute/moment : i used this one a lot because i had a tote bag and would take forever to find my wallet or something in there and take it out lol. i also used this phrase to inform the shop owner that i was still shopping and was not ready to pay yet
words such as "card" (credit card), "passport", "size" are all romanized
Resources mentioned
Trazy - travel shop for Korea, I used it to reserve a day SIM card and to reserve a private taxi to take me to the goshiwon
Goshipages - helpful for finding a place to live if you're not dorming
Chingu SIM Card - highly recommend getting this SIM card, it's super cheap and works amazingly. Reserve a card prior to your trip and you can either pick it up at one of their branches or have it delivered to you in your living area.
Papago - app for translating, very helpful for menus and directions. The image option allows you to translate Korean words instantly by snapping a pic.
Google Maps - it doesn't guide you route by route exactly but you can see how far you progressed as you commute
Locations mentioned
Thanks Nature Cafe: 10 Hongik-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul
Dog Cafe: 21 Wausan-ro 27-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul
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