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 mates! 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 bought there, however ended up driving the battle bus once we got here dwelling), and met up with some mates.

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

Right here’s an inventory of what I’ve deliberate in order that once they go dwell, I can add the hyperlinks to this submit.

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

Tokyo and Kyoto itinerary and ideas 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 wished to start with an apology.

To my mates 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 ladies picked the places for this journey, and I figured it might be one thing that I loved, but it surely wasn’t my first selection for a trip. (I’d be blissful repeating least 12 months’s 5+ weeks in Spain journey.) I didn’t anticipate 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 completely different international locations… they felt like completely different worlds.

The folks in Seoul had been SO sort and wonderful. The meals was unbelievable. It felt so very secure, and there was a lot to do. We may have doubled our time there and been blissful. The humorous factor is that we had the chance to be stationed in Korea a number of occasions throughout Tom’s navy profession. All of our mates 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 proper time to land in a brand new nation as a result of your lodge room is prepared, so should you’re completely wrecked and want a nap, you may. You don’t should wander round and wait till your room is prepared.

We knew that it might 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’d 100% suggest it for the wonderful location, facilities, and eating choices. (I booked all the things 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 strain.

We had been shocked to see total streets crammed 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 means of the evening and had been totally set the following day!

We did quite a bit whereas we had been in Seoul, however listed here are a few of the highlights.

Lotte World

Lotte World is a gigantic indoor and outside theme park. Liv prompt 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 sights appear to be hidden, however there was a lot to do. It additionally blew my thoughts that bought 4 tickets with 3 skip the road passes for every of us and the overall was $200. (I used Journey.com to ebook.)

I didn’t take a pic of the surface however image a citadel, numerous curler coasters, a drop experience, and many retailers and meals stands.

We did the entire greatest rides – they’ve a mixture of rides for youthful kiddos and extra thrilling rides and coasters for older children and adults – and spent your entire day there. Journey to Atlantis was AMAZING; undoubtedly considered one of my high theme park rides.

Baseball sport and Korean BBQ

We spent a whole 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 sport.

Baseball is HUGE in Seoul and a real cultural expertise. Every hitter has their very own chant and cheer, and your entire 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 crammed with shrimp – it appeared SO good- along with tteokbokki, cheese and meat skewers, tons of actual meals choices. You can even usher in your individual meals and drinks; so completely different from the States the place they drive to you go inside to purchase $8 bottles of water.

Head spa and petting zoo

The top spa might be receiving its personal submit, but it surely was a spotlight of the journey! Whereas I used to be having top-of-the-line 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.

Dwelling the dream:

Buying at Olive Younger

In the event you go to Seoul, procuring at Olive Younger is a should. You’ll be able to refill on the entire greatest Okay 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 might be laborious 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 greatest to eat gluten-free as intently as attainable, however understood that it may be very tough – not all the things 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 need to be tough to attempt to modify the meals.

I’ve been strict gluten-free for 3 years for the autoimmune stuff and it’s made an incredible distinction for me, and P has been gluten-free for the previous 12 months. (She was pink on her IgG check and she or he used to have unhealthy abdomen ache and joint ache, which has resolved since we lower it out.) I advised 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 forth.

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 sort 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 may eat this on daily basis. The bread was SO comfortable 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 top-of-the-line gf pizzas I’ve had in my life (#1 is Italy, #2 is that this one, and #3 is NYC).

I knew that I’d eat completely different meals whereas we had been in Korea and Japan and your entire 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 contemporary and scrumptious.

Our lodge had an enormous breakfast buffet every day and you may 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 forth.

Ideas for visiting and issues we observed:

– Undoubtedly study a handful of phrases however Google translate generally is a useful gizmo. I used to be shocked to search out that fairly a number of folks spoke English, and when ordering at kiosks, it’s straightforward to modify the language to English. The ladies 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 cheaper to get round than it’s within the states. We appreciated Uber as an alternative of conventional taxis as a result of you may enter the situation – no language limitations this manner – and you may see the precise fare.

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

– Carry a bit of trash bag with you. Public trash cans usually are not 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 unhealthy manners, so should you get a meal or snack, simply cease and revel in it earlier than persevering with on. I charge like this can be a higher option 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 an alternative to get round. Google transit points earlier than utilizing Naver for public transportation. You must get these on public alerts whilst you’re there, but it surely’s good to confirm earlier than hopping on public transit.

– Tipping just isn’t a factor in Seoul, however you may add compliments in Uber.

– Name your cellphone supplier earlier than leaving to arrange a global plan. We normally do that earlier than we journey in order that we are able to have voice and knowledge. We use AT&T and it robotically prompts as soon as it detects that we’re in a unique 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 affordable,

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

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

– Korea makes use of European shops. 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 instrument into these! The perfect wager is to purchase a hair instrument there, go to go spa or get a blow out someplace (!), or let it air dry and do some sock curls.

– You’ll be able to’t convey CBD to Korea. I’m glad I researched this beforehand and left my beloved gummies at dwelling. I introduced melatonin however didn’t find yourself needing it. There are additionally some drugs which are prescribed right here that aren’t allowed in Korea, so test 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 might help with any questions and I’ll be again with my head spa recap tomorrow!
xo

Gina