hweiming's blog: Seoul Trip 2015 Day 1

Saturday 13 June 2015

Seoul Trip 2015 Day 1

Juliane and I are off to Seoul for our holiday. We arrived at the airport just past 11pm, Friday night, 12 June 2015. There were very few people at the Asiana check-in counter. It could be we were checking in 2.5 hours earlier or people are really avoiding Korea because of the MERS outbreak.

Guess who photobombed our photo?! Lol

We boarded the plane at 1am, Saturday morning, 13 June 2015. Half the plane was occupied and more than half of the passengers are Koreans. However due to heavy air traffic, our 1:30am flight only managed to take off at 2:20am. :( I managed to watch only one movie, Seventh Son before succumbing to sleep. Despite the delay, we arrived in Seoul only 30 minutes behind the schedule arrival time of 9:05am at 9:35am. :) At the immigration, almost all who wore a mask were foreigners! Haha. :P Once we collected out luggage, we went to purchase our Seoul City Pass Plus transport cards. We made it just in time for the 10:36am 6011 airport limousine bus to our rental apartment at Insadong.

We are finally in the air! Bye, Singapore

My diabetic breakfast - scrambled egg white with vegetables

Juliane's child meal - french toast

We see Korea!

A plane taking off while our plane was taxiing to the terminal

Our landlady, Sunny was waiting for us when we arrived at the Anguk Station bus-stop which was outside the apartment. After showing us how to work the electrical appliances in the apartment and pointing out the attractions nearby on the map, we were left to rest which we did for slightly more than an hour before leaving at 1pm to meet up with my colleague, Liyana and her sister. :)

Kitchen two steps away from the door

The studio beyond the kitchen

Bathroom, on the left, opposite the kitchen

Shower and washing machine

The sofa and the beds (someone already relaxing on it)

Studio apartment but has everything! :)

We arranged to meet at Hongik University station so that we could go to the Hongdae Free Market together. It was a scary and exhausting experience trying to navigate the subway, having to pay lots of attention lol. :P But I think after this first time, it should be a lot easier.
I always enjoy browsing at craft markets, so it is no exception at Hongdae Free Market. So colourful, so lively, so fun! :)

Juliane started to feel peckish and we set about looking for food. We found this cafe by chance! I was really excited because Hello Kitty is a treasured childhood memory for me. :) We ordered food and drinks and took plenty of photos lol. :)

We saw various Street food

One of many dessert places

Sulbing, a Korean dessert cafe

HELLO, Hello Kitty Cafe!

Goodness, cuteness overload! :P

Even the food looks cute

Juliane's Hotdog set with Ice tea lemon

My ham and cheese toast with Mint Citron Ade

Who would bear to sleep on the Hello Kitty bed?

Hello Kitty everywhere! :)

Even the toilet is full of Hello Kitty

Thank you, Hello Kitty for a dream fulfilled :)

After our Hello Kitty time-out, we went back to Hogdae Free Market and continued with our shopping lol. We parted ways with Liyana and her sister after 6pm. Juliane and I went to Lotte Mart to scout around. Heard from Liyana that many tourists love to buy food stuff from Lotte Mart. We decided to browse around and make a mental note of what to buy for our next trip to Lotte Mart. We did buy some stuff such as seaweed snack which my mother wanted, honey butter potato chips (2 packs to try), and citron tea. :P Don't worry, we arrived in Seoul with only 16.8kg even though we are allowed 20kg each person. I have a spare bag in my luggage so we can fill that one up with all the food stuff and clothes that we are going to buy. :)
We arrived back at our apartment about 7pm and we both had a nap due to jetlag. :P Even though we were more tired than hungry, we went out to grab a light bite at 9:45pm. Unfortunately, most restaurants are closed so we bought stuff from 7-11! :P