# 86 | Seoul 2020

Every time I start typing something here,

I sidetrack.

I only typed the title for this post at 8:30PM and then, I went onto Netflix. 

It's 10:40PM now and I have typed nothing related to my trip...

I've been stuck at home for the past 1.5 weeks, complaining about the lack of things to do

and I'm still not done with this post. 

#goodjobme

When will I be done with this post 😭

Before I begin to talk about the trip, I just wanna say that, during my time there, I knew nothing about the COVID-19 outbreak in China/Wuhan until the last 2/3 days of my trip. I only found out after seeing China Chinese people bulk buying masks from the pharmacies. That was when I went online & found out about the virus... It was still called the Wuhan virus then.

My last 2 days in Seoul were filled with glares and side-eyes from the South Koreans. I remember this one time when I was wearing a mask, standing at the traffic light, waiting for it to turn green. This Korean lady saw me standing behind her and immediately pulled her & her friend further away from me  👀

To be honest, I don't blame her for doing that. Neither was I pissed off at her actions. I just found it funny 🤣 That lady really thought that pulling herself & her friend away 10 steps away from someone wearing a mask a.k.a me,  would prevent her from getting infected. 

^I honestly don't know why I even shared this for... 

S E O U L  2 0 2 0... 

^I was too focused on capturing the sceneries for my IG story that I didn't bother to take many actual photos...  

Who would have known that this would be my first & most probably last flight out of SG for 2020?

The COVID-19 situation around the world is pretty bad right now 😖The number of deaths and cases worldwide is just 😭 But, that's a post for another day (if I ever stop procrastinating). This post shall be a happy one, filled with positivity!

I flew over to Seoul a few days before Chinese New Year Eve and spent Chinese New Year there. Initially, I was a bit hesitant to fly there because I heard from others (who flew there during CNY) that most shops were closed during the first 2-3 days of CNY and there would be nothing much to do. 

So, I planned my trip in a way whereby I would land in Seoul days before CNY, shop & buy everything I wanted and then, during CNY, I would visit places like Han River/Parks (places that don't "close"). I followed exactly as I planned for the first 2-3 days. I went around Hongdae & Myeongdong to purchase most of the skincare related products and then went to Kakao Friends, Line Friends and SM TOWN Coex Atrium to take photos, buy more stuff. 

On the day of CNY, when I stepped out of the hotel, prepared to visit Han River and guess what? Every fucking store in Myeongdong was fucking open. I felt like an idiot. Every store on every street & corner of Myeongdong and Hongdae was open during Chinese New Year. For those who are thinking about whether it's a good idea to visit Seoul during CNY, 

YES, IT IS. 

Most, if not all the tourist attractions are open for business so don't worry too much (unless they changed a few months/years later? But I don't think that will happen).

But please ah, go AFTER it's safe. Safe meaning after this whole COVID-19 situation is under control. If you choose to travel during this period of time, come back with the virus, you're gonna end up paying FULL price for your medical bills #sggovsayalr

I like how I'm supposed to share about what I did in Seoul but I still managed to sidetrack again. 

Okay, I'm finally going to share about what I did there & where I went in Seoul.

Again, don't expect too much out of this post. I already messed up in the beginning by sidetracking 😒Like the Tokyo post, this isn't going to be a comprehensive Seoul Tour Guide. This post is for memories' sake, for me to look back on in the future whenever I miss the country. 

#1: Line Friends Korea

This branch at Hongda/Gangnam? (I can't remember ;-;) was the first Line Friends store I went to on the 2nd day of my trip. If I'm not wrong, this is actually the flagship store. It's 3 levels high - B1 Cafe, L1, and L2. (If I'm not wrong - Goldfish's memory here). If you're a huge fan of BTS/BT21 this store is definitely a MUST-GO for you. During my time there, BT21 just launched the laying pillows

^these ones

Mang was sold out at almost every single Line Friends store I went to. Eventually found him at Line Friends Namdaemun store. #thankgod. It was the last 1 in the store so I just grabbed it & paid without checking for defects... But it's all good. Mang is safe and sound on my bed in SG now.

#2: Kakao Friends Seoul

I think I've mentioned this in the Tokyo post - Whatever you saw on Kakao Friends/Apeach Japan Instagram, you most probably won't find it in the Seoul stores. 

I was so disappointed when I entered the stores (Myeongdong, Hongdae, Gangnam branch) because ALOT/90% of the Apeach merchandise was all sold out. The worst part? The stores didn't even have the cute Apeach merch unlike the one in Tokyo 😭I didn't buy much from Apeach during my trip. I guess it's mostly because I have already bought half a luggage full of Apeach merchandise from Tokyo and also because 90% of the Apeach merch was unavailable in stores? 

Compared to Tokyo, the Kakao Friends store in Seoul is really lacking? (Idk whats the right word to describe it). If you're a huge Apeach fan & if you've visited Tokyo's Apeach store, you will be very disappointed at the Seoul store.  This is also one of the reasons why I prefer Tokyo/Japan over Seoul/South Korea now... 👀

#3: SM TOWN COEX Atrium

For every of my trip to Seoul, I always make it a point to visit SM TOWN. Before my trip, I read reports that SM is planning to close down this building and my first thought was "can they close it AFTER I visit in Jan?" A lot seems has changed when I visited in January 2020 compared to my first visit 4.5 years ago... Partially because my fangirling has reduced 😖 

When I visited this year, I honestly wanted to buy some merchandise of the artists (esp NCT DREAM) but, SM didn't restock shit. Most of the sellable goods were all sold out and the leftover goods were mostly bromides & I have no use for it?? All I wanted was to get a keychain for my keys gdi SM. 

I walked past this shelf full of phone cases customized with the image of the artists' hand & some quotes printed on them and I so badly wanted to buy it so I searched for my phone model high and low on the shelves. NOTHING. The staff told me that for my phone model, I had to PREORDER and then they'll make it - This entire process takes days btw. 

Nope, I didn't have time for it because I was flying back in less than 4 days. So I politely thanked the staff and exited the store, defeated.  Took the escalator to the 3rd floor, wanting to buy NCT DREAM's/NCT's album and the versions I wanted were all sold out. SM, you piece of shit. Ended up exiting the building with only photographs.

on the bright side, I managed to spot some birthday ads for these 2 loveable humans at the subway station 🥺💚

#4: Han River

 ^I was too occupied with taking insta-worthy shots of myself that I didn't take many photos of the scenery.

Despite this being my third time in Seoul, it is actually my first time visiting Han River. When I first flew to Seoul, it was with a shitty tour group - Hong Thai? Can't remember the name, it was too shitty anyways. I even blogged about it. The tour guide changed 80% of the tour itinerary & brought us mostly to places where he could earn a commission from. (He would let us stay at those places longer and for places which he doesn't earn any commission from, he tells us to leave after an hour). Can you imagine staying at a market (to buy strawberries) for 1.5 hours but only staying at the Bear Museum for roughly 1 hour (and that's including the museum tour package we had) Anyways, the tour company didn't even arrange for us to visit the Han River, at all. 

My second trip to Seoul was mainly for me to buy my skincare products. So the trip revolved around Myeongdong, Hongdae & Gangnam. The shopping areas mostly & Namsan Tower. Nothing much to do with Scenery. After that trip, as I planned for the third one, I told myself that this time around, I would do more sightseeing rather than shopping since my drawer is still full (of skincare products I bought from my second trip) and I have nothing much to buy since I just came back from Tokyo. (I still bought 1 luggage full of skincare, snacks & kakao merchandise 😒 #loser

I highly recommend everyone to visit Han River, at least once if you're flying to Seoul especially during the winter period but make sure you dress warmly! otherwise, when the wind blows, you're gonna die of the coldness.

#5: Hongdae

Honestly speaking, Hongdae > Myeongdong. Yes, both are tourist spots but I feel that in Myeongdong, the street stalls often jack up their prices much higher than other places? and there are lesser tourists at Hongdae compared to Myeongdong. Hongdae is mostly filled with university students (no shit) and it is catered more for local youngsters/young adults? Meanwhile, Myeongdong is catered mainly for tourists, especially China tourists. Just walk down 1 street in Myeongdong and 8/10 people you bump into are china tourists. 

One good thing about Myeongdong is that the Koreans working there can speak chinese. Thank god the Singapore education system made it compulsory to learn 2 languages instead of just English. I had little issues communicating with the staff at the stores in Myeongdong. Getting what I wanted was easy :> 

Decided to explore Hongdae a little more compared to the previous trip and I managed to find a waffle stall that sells really crispy & delicious waffles. Not to mention, it's budget-friendly as well. These 2 waffles costs about 3000KRW+ (SGD3++) 

After enjoying the waffles, I continued exploring around and found this fried chicken restaurant and the fried chicken was just 

 You have no idea how happy I was to find the same exact fried chicken stall but at Myeongdong.

Sorry, I was too enjoying the fried chicken & cheese balls that I forgot to take photographs of the food. 

In case anybody wants the restaurant name, it's b.b.q chicken (I'm sure if you search up "b.b.q chieken seoul/myeongdong, you'll be able to find it) 

It was also shown in the Netflix series - Crash Landing on You 

The drama is going to break my heart. 

This pretty much sums up where I went (well, most of the places). There was actually 1 more restaurant which I ate at, that served pretty decent Jajangmyeong. I can't remember the exact restaurant name but it had "0410" in it & it's opened by a celebrity chef? 

 How I wished I could fly back there to eat these dishes again 😭Damn you COVID-19. 

What I actually wish for right now is for scientists/doctors (whoever) to find a cure for this virus so that everyone can go back to their normal lives.

It's my 3rd time there and I didn't even meet any K-pop idols/celebrities/actors in real life. I guess I'll settle for these birthday ads & advertorials for now 🥺

^Oh you know, just stopping randomly in the middle of the path to take photos. & block the people behind me

 

Next time, my 4th time in Seoul, maybe I'll meet at least 1 K-pop idol/celebrity 🤞🏻

🇰🇷Tips?

- Just read the previous Seoul travel posts for all the tips/advice! I have already typed most of the tips in that post & if I shared it, here again, I'm just repeating myself. 

This trip made me realize that I actually prefer Japan more than South Korea... I guess it's partially because I'm not a huge fangirl as I back then? And also, because Tokyo's Apeach store had so much more to offer? 🍑and that Japanese people are so much friendly than Koreans & the views/sceneries in Japan are to die for 😍

Would I visit Seoul again? Of course! But if I could choose where to go & my skincare drawer is still fucking full, I'll be flying over to Japan then! 

This wraps up the Seoul 2020 travel post 😌Took me 3 days but I'm done!! 😁Seeing these photos again really made me miss Seoul & traveling in general. When will be the next time I fly out of here? #soonhopefully

Anyways, the new semester is starting which means I'm going into my final year of poly life. Internship is in 5.5-6 months time from now??? I don't know how things will go now with the virus spreading around & the huge number of cases in SG. My friends who have all started internship had to take a. temporary break until who knows when... 

On the bright side, I've completed some of the dramas I've planned to watch at the beginning of my break. 

Updated list of dramas I've watched:

-Highlighted in yellow are NEW!
👀The Ghost Bride - 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻/5

👀Sound of Your Heart - 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻/5

👀Girl from Nowhere - 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻/5
👀Bad Genius - 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻/5
👀Busted S1 & S2 - 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻/5

👀Goblin - 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻/5
👀Hotel del Luna 👍🏻👍🏻/5
👀Meteor Garden 2018 Remake - 👍🏻👍🏻/5
👀2Wish (Thai Series) - 👍🏻👍🏻/5
👀Reminders (Thai Series) - 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻/5
👀Theory of Love (Thai Series) - 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻/5
👀Our Skyy (Thai Series) - 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻/5
👀Crash Landing On You (Not officially done but I'm getting there)- 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻/5

👀2gether The Series (Thai Series; airing every Friday) - 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻/5
-If you're planning to watch Meteor Garden, good luck with breaking up & patching back. 

List of dramas I'm planning to watch:

-Probably got no time to watch now since Year 3 is starting in 2 days.
👀Why R U?
👀Itaewon Class
👀Moment of Eighteen - Started on it but stopped. 
👀Her Private Life - Started on it but stopped. 

Side note: Please stay at home unless you really need to go out (to buy groceries or food) and even if you need to head out, just go alone & wear a mask (It's actually compulsory to wear a mask otherwise, you will get fined in SG). Just order food delivery & opt for contactless delivery. Get the person to hang your order at your door or something! Minimize contact as much as possible. That way, we can all reduce the spreading of virus around. 

Until the next blog post, 

please stay safe & take care of yourself.

-the bunny pal 🐰