SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

In my senior year, my military family had to move away from Texas to Seoul, South Korea. I had very mixed feelings about this: I was heartbroken to leave my home of bluebonnets and brisket, but I was excited to live in Asia and get to know a culture I knew relatively little about. South Korea is the cultural ~it girl~ right now, and for good reason: K-Pop, Squid Game, Snowpiercer, Parasite, Korean BBQ and ramyun are very much in the spotlight of American interest.  If you’ve ever been curious to see Asia and you can stand the 15 hour flight, I would highly recommend visiting Seoul, the capital city of South Korea.

• Not as expensive as Japan. Korea and Japan are kind of like America and Canada (or, more historically, America and England). There’s a long history of Japanese imperialism in Korea that gets pretty nasty at times (but I’ll leave you to learn about that on the GetYourGuide tour you’ll hopefully book). Because their countries are so close together, it’s easy for Westerners to look at Korean culture and say “Hey! This reminds me of this thing I know from Japanese culture!” but if you do that in Seoul, you’ll be met with “UGH HOW DARE YOU” kind of like how we jokingly react to being compared to Canadians. That being said, if you want to visit Tokyo, Kyoto, or Osaka but you’re not trying to pay that Tokyo money, Seoul is a slightly less expensive option (for now).
• Very safe. Anyone who’s ever lived on a military base knows there’s a road leading to post that’s low-key shady. There’s like… two barber shops, a dry cleaning place, a grill shop, and several hole-in-the-wall restaurants that serve the cheapest food that locals swear by with exaggerated zealotry. It’s Fort Hood Street, it’s Rucker Boulevard, it’s Jordan Lane. When we lived in Texas, my dad wouldn’t let me walk two feet outside of the military base, but when we lived in Seoul, we were free to roam all over the 200 square miles of the city. I’m not saying that major crimes don’t happen in Seoul, they do, but you won’t see them. The crimes that you do see are, without sounding patronizing, kind of cute. Like, a man will be selling pirated DVDs for $3 underneath a sign that says “NO SELLING PIRATED MERCHANDISE” or something. The driving is absolutely crazy. There will be four painted lines of traffic and five rows of cars; honestly it might be worse than Paris. There’s a red light district, but it’s not like Amsterdam, it’s like… girls wearing bikinis and very long skirts sitting serenely on little benches in windows. Nobody’s gonna mug you in Seoul, and it’s very safe to walk around at night. The public transportation (subway) is also very safe and pretty easy to navigate.
• The people are very friendly, especially to Americans. American presence in the Korean War made a big impact on the Boomer Generation in Korea. If you talk to anyone around in the 1950s, they’ll tell you about how appreciative they were of American soldiers. The younger generations are also really friendly to Americans. South Koreans are very welcoming; generosity is a part of their culture.

Now I had to go on the wildest of goose chases to find my old digital camera pictures from Korea, which are 15 years old, so I’ve got some nice grainy pictures and stock photos for y’all to enjoy today.

WHAT I SAW

Shopping districts: Dongdaemun/Namdaemun, Myeongdong, and Itaewon. Normally I wouldn’t recommend spending a lot of time shopping in any place you visit, but Seoul is famous for its shopping districts. Each of these three neighborhoods have their own distinct flavor. 

Dongdaemun hosts several “malls” (not like the mall in your hometown that’s probably getting torn down; think Macy’s department store in New York City) and is known for wholesale and international stores. Close by is Namdaemun, very similar. In Namdaemun, for example, there’s a whole floor of a mall dedicated to wholesale flowers, and there’s another floor for fabrics, and another for cheap kitchen stuff. Also in Namdaemun is Shinsegae Department Store, which is like the NYC 42nd St. Macy’s of South Korea, and Lotte Department Store (more on Lotte in a second). These department stores are worth seeing on your visit because of their sheer magnitude and the little treats they offer. Definitely get a hot Roti Boy bun from the Lotte Department Store.

Myeongdong shopping district is where you’re going to find all those good Korean products, in particular the famous Korean beauty and skin care. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE KOREAN SKIN CARE; IT IS NEXT LEVEL. Unless you have a very fair complexion, good luck finding a foundation that accurately matches your skin tone, but everything else is so, so good: face masks (best of anywhere in the world), moisturizer, hair care, nail polish, etc. etc. These are your stocking stuffers! (At least, this is what you tell yourself as you pile the products on the checkout counter, knowing full well you’re going to take all of it home and keep it in your bathroom so your skin can be dewy and glowing like the end scene in Hercules). Don’t forget to hit up a photobooth studio (usually in the basement level) which, like the skincare, is next level. Imagine if SnapChat was a physical photobooth, and you could take photos with filters, text, stickers… it’s very cutesy kawaii (in Korean: aegyo), but I still have my photos 15 years later, and you will too.

Itaewon is next to the former military base of Yongsan, where I used to live. Itaewon is… hilarious. That’s the first word that comes to mind. It’s very much a shopping district set up with American families in mind, and this is where you’re going to find the best knockoffs money can buy. Bootleg DVDs, Gucci purses with a backward G on the inside label, Burberry scarves with a tag that says “Burrberries”, a pack of 12 socks with Mario characters on them for like $3, and a crop top that just says “BEANS.” The restaurants in Itaewon are legit, and this is also where you’ll find a lot of American restaurants: Outback, KFC, TGI Fridays… but don’t go in. Why are you hitting up a TGI Fridays in Korea? Go down to the basement level and you’ll get the best bulgogi you’ve ever had. Also, if you go one parallel street over from the main road (Itaewon-Ro), you’ll find some great non-Korean restaurants (Thai, French, Mediterranean, burgers) and cozy cafes.

Lotte World. How to describe Lotte Corporation… Lotte is like Wal-Mart, Amazon, Kraft Foods, and Procter & Gamble combined into one gigantic conglomeration. They make everything, so they’re a very, very rich company. So of course they would also make a bootleg version of Disney World. Lotte World is a theme park within the city, so it’s an easy half-day excursion. It’s also an excellent way to spend your day if it’s raining, since so many of Seoul’s main attractions are outdoors, because the park is mostly indoors. Here you’ll find a knockoff Cinderella Castle, a Pirates of the Caribbean knockoff called Sinbad’s Adventure, and a ton of thematically-dubious roller coasters like French Revolution (the best), Desperados, Wild Wing, and Pharaoh’s Fury.

Lotte World Tower. I told you they own everything! Not to be confused with Lotte Department Store in Namdaemun, Lotte World Tower is in the same area as Lotte World and Lotte Aquarium. With 123 stories, it is the 6th tallest building in the world. 123F, the restaurant at the top, is definitely worth the $20 cover charge for a romantic sunset dinner with a 360 degree view of the city. You can also go to Seoul Sky, the glass bottom observation deck, the third highest in the world. 

Gyeongbokgung Palace. If you’re tired of shopping and looking for some history, check out the medieval royal palace of Gyeongbokgung. The architecture and detail of the pagoda is staggering; the wood is ornately carved and brightly painted. If you wear hanbok (traditional Korean clothing which you can rent), you get into all the palaces for free!

Cheonggyecheon Stream. This is kind of like San Antonio’s riverwalk. There are restaurants and shops to visit as you stroll by the stream, and at night there are water and light shows. The stream is too shallow for water sports, but there are plenty of water/boating activities to do on the Han River, which winds through the whole capitol.

Jogyesa Temple. 30% of South Korea identifies as Christian, whereas a quarter of the population identifies as Buddhist. If you’ve never seen a Buddhist temple, Jogyesa is a good place to start. It’s beautiful, colorful, and very serene. Is it on the same level as the temples in Thailand, India, and Vietnam? No. Is there a chibi anime statue of Buddha? Yes.

Day Trips. If you’re staying for 5 days or more, you definitely have time for a day trip or two. Don’t miss the opportunity to visit the DMZ (demilitarized zone) and take a peek into North Korea. There’s a building where you can step across the border and officially say you’ve been to one of the last totalitarian dictatorships on the planet. The DMZ is worth any guided tours you can pay for on GetYourGuide.

If you’re into hiking, there are plenty of mountain trails and parks in Seoul (about five major parks, the best is Bukhansan National Park), but I would also recommend a side trip to Jeju Island, even though it is a bit of a drive, clocking in at six hours. If you’re spending a week in South Korea, a two-to-three day side trip is doable. You can also go to Busan, a seaside spa city also at the south end of the country’s peninsula.

WHERE I ATE

Whether you’re an adventurous eater like me or a big ol’ chicken conservative nibbler, Seoul is a foodie’s paradise. Since my knowledge is 15 years old and since you really can’t go wrong at any restaurant in Seoul, I’m going to focus less on where to go and more on what to eat.

Bulgogi. If your hometown is cool (or if you live in a town with a military base nearby), I’m sure you’ve had Korean BBQ, but it is nothing compared to the delectable offerings in Seoul. If you’ve never had bulgogi before, allow me to explain: imagine going to a restaurant with a tiny hibachi grill at each booth. You are given really good cuts of meat to grill yourself, as well as a myriad of side dishes: different types of kimchi (pickled or fermented vegetables: the most popular is spicy cabbage), rice, spicy bean paste (gochujang), and sesame leaves. Plop all of those ingredients together and roll yourself a delicious bulgogi burrito.

Hotpot (jeongol). In certain bulgogi restaurants, you can do a hotpot instead of a grill. Jeongol starts with a delicious broth. Then you place your ingredients (thin-sliced beef, skinny white mushrooms, julienned veggies, etc.) into the pot, let it simmer, and do you.

Bibimbap. This is my second-favorite Korean dish, and the one I will order first at any American Korean restaurant. Bibimbap is cooked rice served in a hot stone bowl, so that it gets crispy. On top of that you put bulgogi, julienned veggies, kimchi, gochujang, mushrooms (all the stuff from the previous two dishes) and an over-easy egg on top. Mix it up with your chopsticks and you have chicken-fried-rice’s sexy cousin from across the Yellow Sea, spicy-beef-and-veggie-rice. I really don’t know anyone who doesn’t like these three dishes after trying them.

Kalbi (LA Style) ribs. In the States, you can find these at legit Korean restaurants as Kalbi or Galbi ribs. In Seoul, for some reason, they’re sometimes called “LA Style”. I had Korean people ask me “oh, you lived in California, this is LA style, right?” and I was like “no??????” I’m guessing “LA style” refers to LA’s prominent Koreatown neighborhood, which is the best place to get any of these dishes in America. Kalbi ribs are simply beef short ribs that are sliced perpendicularly to the bone. You pick up the rib with your chopsticks and nibble the beef off the bone in the middle. Personally, I prefer a Memphis-style-fall-off-the-bone-rib-from-Central-BBQ, but the umami flavor of Kalbi ribs is pretty impeccable.

Ramen. I know this recommendation seems pretty basic, and I know some of you are like “oh, my hometown has a ramen restaurant!” But trust me. Seoul will change the way you see ramen. You know that GOOD good instant ramen, Shin Ramyun, that’s in the black and red packaging and is that perfect level of spicy? That’s Korean, baby. If you can pack it carefully enough in your suitcase, pick up some instant ramyun (there are so, so many flavors beyond the usual American offerings of chicken, shrimp, and spicy) packets, as many flavors as you can find. 

Rice cakes (tteok). If you live in a city that is lucky enough to have an H-Mart, you’ve probably seen little marshmallow-looking dough balls packed together, kind of like petit fours. These are tteok, Korean rice cakes. If you can find a way to see tteok being made on the street, it’s worth it. Two ajumma (little old ladies) will swing this gigantic SuperSmashBros hammer onto a large mortar filled with rice until it is a fine flour. Then this flour will be mixed into a dough and steamed to create doughy little dumpling balls. These are faintly sweet and are usually filled with sweet bean curd. I gained 10 pounds in the first month of living in Seoul on tteok alone. Try them and you’ll never want a marshmallow ever again.

Street food. As discussed in my first post, Rule #1 of traveling well is Eat Local and Be Adventurous. There’s no better place to be adventurous than strolling by Cheonggyecheon stream and munching on various street eats. Obviously you’re going to want to try any mandu (pot-stickers) you can get your hands on, as well as dakkochi, a chicken kebab. You’ll also want to try haemul pajeon (an eggy seafood pancake), even if you’re not a seafood person. Koreans swear by tteokbokki, which is kind of like spicy Chef Boyardee, or spicy chicken and dumplings, minus the chicken. If you’ve ever had dim sum, then you know the king of kings is the steamed bun. You can find a pork or bean curd steamed bun easily on the street; the sweet option is jjinppang. And while I never saw it on the street, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention dalgona, the honeycomb toffee made popular in Squid Game.

Korean pizza. This one is at the bottom of the list because you don’t have to try it, all of the above dishes are superior, but it’s wacky enough to give a go. Koreans put all kinds of crazy stuff on their pizza, most notably sweet potatoes and corn, but it’s not unusual to see shrimp, wasabi ranch sauce, escargots, pumpkin, or anything that Westerners swear should never be on a pizza as toppings. But… I mean… pizza is pizza, right?

HOW I PACKED

Seoul is a fashionable city. Much like Paris, people dress to impress. I just have this memory of waiflike young women in flirty, flowy, flowery dresses, darting across subway grates in delicate kitten heels, while I galumphed around in my Converse. If you are anything above a size small, you will not be able to find anything your size to wear in Seoul. When I lived there, I was a size 4 and I could barely fit into what they consider an extra-large, so the idea of trying anything on in Myeongdong at my current weight makes me laugh and cry. All I’m saying is… pack something nice and make sure you have enough in your carryon to get you through, because you sure as shinsegae aren’t gonna find anything in Korea.

For more pictures of South Korea and travel inspo, follow me on Instagram at instagram.com/rebeccamcqueenwrites!