Seoul recap, what we did, and what we ate

Sharing a recap of what we did in Seoul, the place we stayed, and my ideas on the entire expertise. The nutshell model: I CAN’T WAIT to return.

Hello buddies! How are you? I hope you had a tremendous weekend! We simply caught up with home stuff right here, lastly recovered from jet lag (I used to be barely jet lagged once we received there, however ended up driving the battle bus once we got here house), and met up with some buddies.

I’m so excited to share some recap posts on our journeys with you!

Right here’s a listing of what I’ve deliberate in order that after they go stay, I can add the hyperlinks to this submit.

Seoul recap, what we did and what we ate (this submit)

Tokyo and Kyoto itinerary and suggestions for journey

What we ate in Japan

My Korean Head Spa expertise

Seoul recap, what we did, and what we ate

Earlier than I get began, I needed to start with an apology.

To my buddies in South Korea and Japan, I used to be ignorant, and now I do know. I had NO CLUE how a lot I’d been lacking out. The women picked the places for this journey, and I figured it could be one thing that I loved, but it surely wasn’t my first selection for a trip. (I’d be completely happy repeating least 12 months’s 5+ weeks in Spain journey.) I didn’t count on to fall in love with these locations, however I completely did. This journey completely modified my life. I’ll share extra in my Japan submit, however these locations didn’t really feel like totally different international locations… they felt like totally different worlds.

The individuals in Seoul had been SO variety and wonderful. The meals was unbelievable. It felt so very secure, and there was a lot to do. We might have doubled our time there and been completely happy. The humorous factor is that we had the chance to be stationed in Korea a number of instances throughout Tom’s army profession. All of our buddies who lived there beloved it, and now I perceive why.

We flew from Phoenix to San Francisco, after which direct from SFO to Seoul. The flight was lengthy – about 12 1/2 hours – however I managed to nap on and off (the women stayed conscious the entire time) and we landed at about 3pm. I feel that is the right time to land in a brand new nation as a result of your lodge room is prepared, so if you happen to’re completely wrecked and wish a nap, you possibly can. You don’t need to wander round and wait till your room is prepared.

We knew that it could be a low-key day, so we checked into the lodge and got down to discover. We stayed on the RYSE Autograph Assortment lodge and I might 100% suggest it for the wonderful location, facilities, and eating choices. (I booked every part utilizing our Amex platinum. My referral link is here!)

It was surrounded by nice eating places and retailers, and simple to get round.

I didn’t take a pic however the rest room had an unlimited waterfall bathe with nice water stress.

We had been shocked to see total streets stuffed with little kiosks and cute retailers only a block away from the lodge.

We explored and met our new skincare bestie at TONYMOLY and P was exhausted, to we went again to the lodge whereas Tom and Liv grabbed dinner. All of us slept by the evening and had been absolutely set the subsequent day!

We did rather a lot whereas we had been in Seoul, however listed below are a number of the highlights.

Lotte World

Lotte World is a gigantic indoor and out of doors theme park. Liv recommended this one – she added her concepts to our journey planning spreadsheet – and we had a blast. We joked that it was like a speakeasy. It’s many ranges and fairly a number of points of interest appear to be hidden, however there was a lot to do. It additionally blew my thoughts that received 4 tickets with 3 skip the road passes for every of us and the entire was $200. (I used Journey.com to e-book.)

I didn’t take a pic of the skin however image a fort, numerous curler coasters, a drop trip, and many retailers and meals stands.

We did the entire finest rides – they’ve a mixture of rides for youthful kiddos and extra thrilling rides and coasters for older youngsters and adults – and spent the whole day there. Journey to Atlantis was AMAZING; undoubtedly one in all my prime theme park rides.

Baseball recreation and Korean BBQ

We spent a complete day procuring and exploring, and that night, we went on a tour with an English talking information to Korean BBQ

and a Dusan Bears baseball recreation.

Baseball is HUGE in Seoul and a real cultural expertise. Every hitter has their very own chant and cheer, and the whole area is dancing and cheering. The baseball meals is subsequent degree, too. They offered beers with an the other way up baseball cap that was stuffed with shrimp – it appeared SO good- along with tteokbokki, cheese and meat skewers, tons of actual meals choices. You can too herald your personal meals and drinks; so totally different from the States the place they pressure to you go inside to purchase $8 bottles of water.

Head spa and petting zoo

The top spa can be receiving its personal submit, but it surely was a spotlight of the journey! Whereas I used to be having among the finest spa experiences of my life, the Pilot and the kiddos went to a petting zoo the place they had been capable of maintain raccoons and pet meerkats.

Residing the dream:

Buying at Olive Younger

In the event you go to Seoul, procuring at Olive Younger is a should. You may fill up on the entire finest Ok magnificence merchandise at wonderful costs. It’s like an unlimited Sephora with rows of skincare and cosmetics… all the perfect stuff. I used to be nervous we wouldn’t discover an Olive Younger or it could be exhausting to get to, however they’re all over the place. We had three places proper by our lodge.

Gluten-free eating in Seoul

On this journey, I attempted my finest to eat gluten-free as intently as potential, however understood that it may be very troublesome – not every part is labeled – and accepted that there could be some wheat in sauces and condiments. Additionally as a result of I don’t communicate the language, I didn’t wish to be troublesome to attempt to modify the meals.

I’ve been strict gluten-free for 3 years for the autoimmune stuff and it’s made an amazing distinction for me, and P has been gluten-free for the previous 12 months. (She was purple on her IgG take a look at and he or she used to have dangerous abdomen ache and joint ache, which has resolved since we reduce it out.) I instructed her we’d simply do our greatest as a result of fortunately we’re not allergic to gluten, however we’d most likely have some in sauces, and so on.

We had been capable of eat at two 100% gluten-free eating places in Seoul: Sunnyhouse and Monli2. Each had been A+ experiences.. higher than any of the gluten-free choices I’ve had in Tucson.

Sunnyhouse gluten-free restaurant in Seoul, Korea

Sunnyhouse has breakfast all day, sandwiches, platters and desserts. It’s type of a hidden location however is extraordinarily cute inside.

P had a fluffy nutella waffle, a grilled cheese,

and I had the Mediterranean plate. I might eat this day by day. The bread was SO gentle and fluffy. Why do US eating places have such a tough time making good gluten-free bread???

Monli2 gluten-free restaurant in Seoul, Korea

Monli2 has CHURROS, pizza, sandwiches, and baked goodies. I ordered a pesto pizza and it severely among the finest gf pizzas I’ve had in my life (#1 is Italy, #2 is that this one, and #3 is NYC).

I knew that I might eat totally different meals whereas we had been in Korea and Japan and the whole time we had been gone, I felt wonderful. My vitality was nice, I didn’t get a abdomen ache from something, and the meals had been all so extremely recent and scrumptious.

Our lodge had an enormous breakfast buffet every day and you can get American breakfast staples (like fruits, pastries, eggs, potatoes, bacon and juice) in addition to custom Korean objects, like kimchi, beef bulgogi, fried rice, pickled veggies, and so on.

Ideas for visiting and issues we seen:

– Undoubtedly be taught a handful of phrases however Google translate is usually a useful gizmo. I used to be stunned to seek out that fairly a number of individuals spoke English, and when ordering at kiosks, it’s straightforward to modify the language to English. The women know so many Korean phrases so that they had been capable of assist us out.

– The bus and subways are very clear and environment friendly, however we ended up utilizing Uber to get round. It was far inexpensive to get round than it’s within the states. We appreciated Uber as a substitute of conventional taxis as a result of you possibly can enter the situation – no language boundaries this fashion – and you may see the precise fare.

You can too get a Local weather Card or T Cash card for limitless passes for transportation if you happen to resolve to make use of public transport.

– Carry a little bit trash bag with you. Public trash cans will not be all over the place, so you could have to hold trash with you till you could find a trash can. Don’t assume that each one trash cans are public; it could be owned by a retailer.

– Don’t stroll and eat. It’s dangerous manners, so if you happen to get a meal or snack, simply cease and luxuriate in it earlier than persevering with on. I price like this can be a higher technique to eat anyway! In case your nervous system is calm, you’ll have a greater time digesting your meals.

– Google maps doesn’t work. We used Naver as a substitute to get round. Google transit points earlier than utilizing Naver for public transportation. You need to get these on public alerts whilst you’re there, but it surely’s good to confirm earlier than hopping on public transit.

– Tipping shouldn’t be a factor in Seoul, however you possibly can add compliments in Uber.

– Name your cellphone supplier earlier than leaving to arrange a world plan. We often do that earlier than we journey in order that we are able to have voice and information. We use AT&T and it mechanically prompts as soon as it detects that we’re in a special nation they usually supply offers; Liv’s cellphone was half off whereas we had been there.

– Korean Air! That is what we used to get to Tokyo, and it was an elite expertise. Ticket costs had been very cheap,

– Take your footwear off in your lodge room. Often they’ll have little slides by the door you can put on.

– Depart your shampoo and conditioner at house. Pack LIGHTLY on the toiletries as a result of one can find higher stuff there and the shampoo and conditioner within the lodge can be wonderful high quality.

– Korea makes use of European retailers. I’ve had these converters for years and introduced them on this journey. They work for laptops and telephones however don’t plug your hair dryer or styling software into these! The very best guess is to purchase a hair software there, go to go spa or get a blow out someplace (!), or let it air dry and do some sock curls.

– You may’t convey CBD to Korea. I’m glad I researched this beforehand and left my beloved gummies at house. I introduced melatonin however didn’t find yourself needing it. There are additionally some drugs which can be prescribed right here that aren’t allowed in Korea, so verify the rules earlier than you go.

In the event you’re headed to Seoul anytime quickly, you’re in for a deal with 🙂 I’m right here if I may also help with any questions and I’ll be again with my head spa recap tomorrow!
xo

Gina