My favorite part of visiting Korea was the mix of beautiful royal palaces and temples, but also a very modern version of Korea built after their -technically not over- war with North Korea. Traditional and historical architecture deserves its own space, so let´s concentrate for a minute on the modern aspect and daily life.
This trip I decided not to be in a tour and use my time as I wanted.. to learn more it could have been useful but I appreciated the freedom of just walking, getting lost and finding my way all over again, old style! Watching people, mainly immersed in their own technology! -not particular to Korea, but very noticeable there-
The cosmopolitan city center says a lot about the country´s huge development after the war, and how much politics can influence generations for a lifetime.
These are some of my Seoul highlights excluding the impressive Imperial palaces!
K-POP craziness is true!
I had just landed in Seoul, taken a train to the city center and on my final transfer to the metro line to reach my hotel… I saw a big crowd of screaming teenagers.. obviously something was going on!
My tired but gossipy spirit needed to find out! A k-pop star whose name I could not figure out, was in one corner taking selfies with the audience. Girls were screaming all the time.. just the perfect “Welcome to Korea!” moment.
It could have happened anytime, but the fact that it happened to me on my first day was pretty cool! There are banners, huge advertisements, posters… whatever you can imagine all over the city with all the “idols” as they call them.
It´s the kind of thing you know already, but seeing it yourself is something else!! I almost wished I knew them all to enjoy it even more! At some I was cheering him, you know.. just to belong! While in Rome.. I mean Korea..
K-pop merchandising
Another known thing is not only the k-popularity but there are entire stores dedicated to the most famous idols where you can find literally everything! Clothes, board games, candy, notebooks, calendars, stickers, dolls, posters, photos and anything you can imagine.
Black Pink is one of the most famous groups worldwide, which I wasn´t so much aware until I was there 😉
HiKr Ground – Playground for visitors
I confess I had the most AWESOME time in this place. It is intended for visitors to learn about the country through it´s well know k-pop music and television. There is also a section with virtual reality and lots of games to get to know Korea!
My favorite part by far was the second floor where you can play with technology, multiple sets with different lights and music you can customize! All very high tech as you can imagine.
One of the sets or “studios” if I may, is this futuristic space ship or whatever this was ;D There were lots of animated backgrounds to choose from, and obviously a wide range of k-pop music.
Learn to dance K-pop!
Koreans classify their k-pop music and steps by generations, well that´s logical. They have this really nice game where you can choose the song based on the decade, have fun and try again and again all for free. In the beginning I felt silly just dancing there as I had no official company, but after some time I just losen myself and enjoyed it. I recorded only one of my attempt (I loved the.. missed! missed! missed! haha) but in others I got better!
Visual evidence of making a fool of myself! Ok, ok dancing is not NOT being fool at all, but in this context it was just fun to do the coreography with the local host!
Idea here is to show you what you can do for free, it´s very popular with locals too to learn the dances and record nice videos there since possibilities for backgrounds are fully customizable, and for the 100% time and still to my big suprise.. FREE!!!
The land of cute things!
K-pop is not such music or dramas, but everything Korea can be recognized for. For example the brand Kakao friends is everywhere! Selling things you did not even know you wanted! With more budget I would have bought many things.. but happy to do window shopping and take photos with their cute characters!
Apart from this iconic brand, having cute animals or nice looking designs for kids and adults is embedded everywhere. Some dummy examples like the transportation card, the Burger King wrap paper, the airport mascot and many stores have something you want to take a photo of!
Below a collection of other photos that simply put a smile on my face when walking around.
Seokchon Lake Park
Seokchon Lake Park is a recreational area highly valued by locals and tourists. The park is divided into West Lake and East Lake connected by a narrow passage under the road that “splits” the lake in 2 . It’s a popular spot for walking and jogging, with well-maintained tracks and rest areas for visitors to relax and enjoy a piece of nature in the city.
Walking around the lake is approximately 2.5 kilometers, perfect distance to explore the restaurants, festivals, art exhibitions and nature all year round. This is located very close to Jamsil metro station (line 2), making it an easy commute from the city center.
One particularity is Lotte World, an amusement park located in the west part of the lake. It´s a relatively small amusement park with a fairly tale castle offering different rides. You can see all the action and hear people´s screaming when passing by 😉
On the east side there are views to Lotte Mall and different skycraper buildings. The area offers a nice mix of modern architecture, high-end shopping opportunities and leisure. I was there definitely due to the cherry blossoms, so mainly my pictures were concentrating on that rather than visiting the mall or amusement park.
This area is popular all year round, but especially in spring and autumn it can get amazingly beautiful. Some other picks of the gorgeous views that made me travel there from the city center!
Nanta Show – Myeondowng
Have you ever watched Stomp? Well, I have not!
But.. rumor has it, this show has been inspired on that concept with a Korean touch and the creativity to perform pleasant drumming and “music” using kitchen utensils! Purely show business and FUN!
Naturally, I was not allowed to record it but… I found a show that was recorded in Washington as part of the Korean culture week, watching it I can confirm this is what I saw!
I was afraid it would be “too touristy”, and you can claim it is meant for tourists but it IS an amazing show with a proper theater. Body language is universal, and minor spoken things are in English / Korean but it does not really require any language to enjoy it and understand the story.
They make it look so easy andI bet it´s not! The fixed theater is located in Myeondowng neighborhood, normally a must-visit for tourists to buy k-beauty items and korean products, so it´s really easy to book online and get there!
Do I recommend it? Absolutely yes!
Gwangjang Food Market
There are many food markets in Seoul, one of the most popular being Gwangjang market. I must admit I was somewhat influenced by Netflix and some youtubers, as you can find a quite “famous” stand. Cho Yonsoon appears on Street Food Asia with her unique style of cutting noodles without looking at them.
The noodles and the dumpling are soooooo delicious I can see what the fuzz is about. It can get so popular sometimes you have to stand in line for a long time to get a seat with her. The best dumplings I’ve ever had 
I was lucky to sit just in front of her where she does her signature noodles!
On my first attempt I walked around all the market and I could not find her, luckily the second day I went there I found her almost by accident, with a nice spot just in front of her! So I could capture directly her signature move. But more than the “funny” moment every time, the taste of those noodles was something else!!! … and cheap!!
Starfield Library
This library is located inside the COEX shopping mall… in the context of Korean shopping culture, no big deal.. but the main attraction is a cute-looking library inside the mall!
Most of those books way out of reach are fake! . And thanks to a good selection and availability of ebooks and iPads, any book you can’t physically reach, you can pull up in digital form. So yeah, it´s more of a visual magnet and at least I am thankful for that. I totally loved the concept!
Last but not least, a 360 video 😉 This was my first trip trying it, decent considering that ;D
Dongdaemun Design Plaza
This was a WOW building! Ultra modern, futuristic and fun at the same time. It´s so huge you cannot get it fully photographed at least from the ground. When I visited it, got dark quickly and the illumination made it even more impressive!
DDP is a multi-cultural center opened only since 2014. It can host fashion shows, conferences, exhibitions, product launches and all sorts of high-end events.
During my visit, there wasn´t any big exhibit but you can still explore the facilities, the cafes and the design shop.
Last thoughts about modern Seoul..
There are a million things to do and experience in Seoul that I would never finish 😉
Public transportation is good and efficient, it is very easy to commute using the metro and buses. Even with some apps it can get a little intimidating but once you get used to it, it´s definitely doable! We just have to remember to stamp the card also when getting off the buses, it took me some time to get used to that.
With a few days these are nice things to do like having nice and authentic korean barbeque, visit different food markets, visit “aesthetic” cafes and shops, going to Gangnam district to see the up-town Korean life style (unfortunately I did not go there since I preferred to find cherry blossom parks!) but having one more day that´s something I would have visited.
This trip I did not have much chance to interact with many locals, in a more meaningful way of course. For sure I talked to locals but it was more in stores or touristy places. This topic was a bit difficult since the language is a barrier outside of people working in tourism. Even in my hotel I had a hard time interacting with the front desk ;D
Still, I got a good feeling about the city. As a quick visitor you cannot really see by yourself the culture of extreme competition and over-working culture. I think you would have to live there but at least those are things I know from the media and basic reads.
Great experience overall! Cheers,
Nat
