Seoul Travel Diary: Vol. 3

I'm drawing near to the end of this sorry attempt at a travel diary. I used to be better than this, I think.

These are some photos taken during our second day which was also the last full day we had as a family in Seoul. As I may have vented previously, I had created a pretty comprehensive itinerary that ticked all the common tourist boxes: sightseeing at historical spots, exploring one of the more local Korean villages, eating local food and of course, shopping at Duty Free. We ticked all the right boxes (at least those that made sense to our family's consensus) and ended the day where we started it the day before: Myeongdong. Will I want to shop at Lotte Duty Free again? Perhaps not, especially since I don't think a few thousand Won are worth enduring the circus that place is (I hate shopping at crowded places) but I did leave with a haul enough to feed my vanity for another few months so all is right in the world after all.

In this post you're seeing photos of:

• Seoul Metro-- do purchase the city pass if you've got an ambitious day of commuting ahead of you. 
• Gyeongbokgung Palace-- and how lucky were we despite leaving the hotel 2 hours behind schedule to have witnessed a traditional ceremony!
• Our underage tour guides who gave their all feeding us the tour of the palace in English. I don't think they noticed how everyone was already won over by their cuteness without their commentary!
• CRAZY HAIR
• Samgyetang--ginseng-flavored chicken, served whole and stuffed with rice, dates, garlic and ginseng--one of the dishes highly recommended. We had it at Tosokchon, dubbed as one of the best places in Seoul for it. I think it was another one of those tourist traps. It may be my salt-dipped Filipino tongue but I had to help myself with heaps of kimchi to satiate my hunger. But we had some chijimi and unlimited kimchi so in the end, both my thumbs were up and my belly dragging down! Winning.

I had the serious case of Monday-itis today. I had feelings drown me in bed until 10am. Maybe it's the fact that December has come again, no?

Fall Edit

Further adding to my never-ending wishlist. I love working downtown, smack in the middle of the Nagoya shopping district. It's the easiest way to be inspired, or dangerously, be envious. I wanted to grab something from Bagel & Bagel for dinner tonight but then I saw this very Parisian chic Japanese girl and then my body's reflection right after. Then I thought, maybe next time.

Blood Type Diet

I feel... feels. I'm still at work but with the sometimes utilitarian habit that I have of going on the Internet and Googling so much that I should be making a living off of it, I've just realised how wrong I am.

I had a conversation with my diet whisperer/best friend on Whatsapp last night on how I might shed 2 kilograms before the coming holidaze. She suggested that I look into the Blood Type Diet seeing as it's working well enough for her. And so I did about 5 minutes ago and as of this writing, I'm feeling shattered.

This chart tells me I should avoid foods and drinks like cabbage, apple juice, cashew nuts, whole bran, avocados and pork because they act as POISON in a Type O body. I eat a bowl of whole bran for breakfast and fresh cabbage for lunch everyday on weekdays. I thought I was well into incorporating a relatively balanced diet into my life. I feel cheated but worse, I feel lost because it also categorizes peanut butter as deleterious to my body! I'd never even considered ever coming across that word in my life before!

But I do have a penchant for drama and I shouldn't get ahead of myself because like many other diets, this one has its base of critics. Though it's been 20 minutes since the big revelation and my emotions have not improved.

The only thing I'm glad about is that I can still drink my soy milk and not poison myself.

Feet Favourite

I still get conflicted between using 'fall' or 'autumn'. I remember having a conversation with one of my previous workmates about it going something along the lines of "Americans are too lazy with their speech hence using 'fall'". He's Australian. It may very well be a similar to-may-toe | to-mah-toh case but I digress.

Whoever said that writing the desires of your heart holds power is right. I've been quite lucky in the shopping forefront recently with the streak beginning from the white sneakers I got from Ralph Lauren, THE Breton top from Muji and the latest acquisition to join my shoe family, these Chelsea boots from United Arrows. United Arrows has got to be one of my favourite specialty stores in Japan. They carry different international brands as well as their own labels like Odette e Odile, Green Label and BEAUTY&YOUTH. They are a bit on the expensive side but only parallel to the quality they promise. If I could marry myself and get a wedding registry, it would be there.

I got the boots as a gift from me to me (among a few other things) with zero hesitation after almost a month of cyber and in-store stalking. They're gonna take some more breaking into but with the amount of walking that I do and the warm leathery comfort that they give, consider it handled (as Olivia Pope would say).

Quality shoes are always worth the splurge but thank goodness the whole birthday frenzy in my head has died down. Time to double up on the savings because I hear sleigh bells ringing whenever I walk around Sakae and whenever I see Takashimaya adorned with faux poinsettias and bright yellow fairy lights.

Seoul Travel Diary: Vol. 2

When we first went to Myeongdong, whatever sense of calm, zen and "chill" I had ever known was washed out of me. Big groups of locals marched in their choice sneakers, couples locked arms and the more-than-occasional lips at dodgy corners, "ommas" and "oppas" would yell at you to stop lurking if you aren't buying, and there was absolutely no escaping the thick smoke from every BBQ place. It was all around chaos.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy bits and parts of it. I loved how cheap the shopping and the food were. On top of that, I enjoyed feasting on my observations of how despite geographically close Japan and Korea are, the people are completely different (Korean guys and their beautiful heads of hair and sockless feet). The crowds (and frequent shoving) are something that will take a lot of patience and may even be just an acquired taste but it's every bit of the reason why thousands rush in rain or shine. It would be my literal example of a tourist trap but it's definitely a place where I got to get a good feel of what South Koreans are like. If ever I'm lucky enough to make a return trip, I think I'd probably skip it but it's one of the places you just have to check out at least once because when in Korea..

Birthday Wishlist

Unlike last year where I spent my birthday dough on travel, I think I haven't really thought (the irony) about how I'm going to spend turning a year older (aside from working on the day). However, there have been some things I have whispered to the wind and what better way than to put it out there for everyone to see (Hi, Mom if you're reading this)! 

Diptyque candle in Baies
peonies preferably in pink and white
Chelsea boots in black
Jennifer Zeuner ring and bracelet in silver
leather rucksack in black
a glass teapot
Repetto ballet flats in black

Seoul Travel Diary: Vol. 1

Hello. Only dusting off my blogging chops before I vanish into my autumn cocoon, my true niche, my natural habitat.

It's already been a few weeks since the weekend holiday my family spent in Seoul. I hadn't traveled with more than one person in a long while so if I'm being completely honest, planning for 3 days, reading maps, constantly checking my Seoul Subway app and making sure that we don't fall behind our itinerary (we did and horribly) almost drove me a little crazy. Thank goodness it was in a city with panic-inducing shopping, strangely energy-sustaining soju and of course, unlimited kimchi. And having my family thrown in that already amazing mix, it was a pretty tops weekend. And so begins my diary in instalments I dub as travel volumes.

Having landed and all checked in our hotel well in the afternoon, there wasn't much time left to dillydally. I had to put my foot down and yell at everyone to freshen up quickly and assemble in the lobby in 30 minutes. Aren't I the BEST TRAVEL PARTNER you can ask for? In my defence, I had to go all time-Nazi if we were going to catch the sunset. We stayed at a hotel in the Myeongdong area (hidden behind a dodgy arcade from another side) where catching the metro or the bus were painless. We successfully ticked off our first order of business for Day 1: Namsan Seoul Tower. And after we got our more than fair share of photos, we quickly bolted for some Korean BBQ realness.

The hike up to the deck was like a symphony of whining and heavy breathing among us which paid off once we got our point and shoot on. You might be wondering why there aren't any sunset photos, I am, too. We were robbed of clear skies and were under heavy clouds instead but everything made sense at the end when we got to the viewing deck. Seoul came so alive with all its modern skyscrapers lit up. I have a soft, warm and melty spot for killer views.

I had intended to write about the trip in a more comprehensive and detailed way in the most random chance that someone might look to me for tips on traveling to Seoul but I've put off posting this for so long that my memory escapes me. However I will share a few things that impressed on the first day:

• The Incheon Airport lives up to its title of being the best airport in the world for 7 years now. You'd be in and out in 20 minutes. I also reckon taking the airport limousines to your hotels to be the best mode of transportation especially if you're lugging large bags with you. Just make sure you look up the nearest bus stop from your destination and that will tell you which bus you should get on.
• Everything's in at least 4 languages: Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese. So there's less worry of literally getting lost in translation.
• Transport is relatively cheap. As in terms against the Yen, everything was half the price. The metro and the buses had a flat rate of 1,150 won (I think). Very clean, too!
• Seoul is couples central! There is great reason now for me to believe that the infamous Couple Shirts' conception was there. Such a refreshing (for lack of a better word) sight for someone who lives in Japan where holding hands is looked upon as PDA. For hard evidence, don't miss the Love Locks at Namsan.
• Drinking soju with beer is a great side dish. It's cheap, it's cheerful, it's a dream.

I'm trying to be stingy for words and details but I will sign off by saying that the first day made me extra, extra keen to wake up for Day 2.