SOUTH KOREA DAY 1

After a catching up on some sleep, I was energized and ready for the day. Korea is a day ahead of Hawaii. So when it is 10 am in Hawaii it is 5 am in Korea. So my sleep schedule was rather off to say the least. So I got up at 6am and got ready for the day. Seoul is a night city. What I mean by that is the city doesn't wake up until 10 am and is up until at least 1 am. Something that is interesting that you would never see in the US is that some Starbucks stores are closed until 10am. I mean wow.

So around 8 am my mom and I ventured around our hotel, which was located in Namdaemun. We stayed at Ramada Hotel, which was a great choice. The rooms were reasonably priced and a decent size. The shuttle from the airport is around an hour and cost about $16 and takes you right to the hotel. The hotel also offers a free shuttle to popular parts of the city. So this was super convenient.

My mom and I ate a light breakfast at Paris Baguette. Coffee and pastry shops are very popular in Seoul. There is a coffee shop on every corner. We tried the Paris Baguette and it was adorable. There was an array of warm pastries to choose from, coffee and cute milk cartons (random I know). I got the milk pastry, which was a warm roll filled with a milky glaze. My mom got a breakfast sandwich with egg whites, ham on a toasted english muffin. She got a latte and I got a chocolate milk.

Next, we caught a cab to Gyeonbokgung Palace. Taxi fares are rather cheap .. Our fares ranged from $3-$5max. The palace costs about $3 for admissions.

The palace was a very peaceful and educational.

We saw everything from places of worship to spiritual ponds. It was a nice peaceful time to walk and cleanse your mind actually.

The property also had a children's museum. But it isn't just for kids. The museum shared information such as the different types of kimchi, what houses were traditionally made, what traditional clothes were worn to a certain occasion, etc. It was a great learning experience about the Korean culture.

After the palace we took a short 10 minute walk to a city called Insadong. This is a long street filled with stores, eateries and traditional street food. My favorite thing to see was the different tea shops filled with green tea, ginseng tea, etc. I am obsessed with tea so this was very neat and educational.

We also stopped for some horn ice cream. I had a friend who did a study abroad in Korea so she was helpful in pointing out the must try places when we were in Korea (this being one of them). Horn ice cream is a normal cone (like the one you get at mcd) but it is about a foot long. It is shaped like a horn in the sense that it is a straight line then hooks at the bottom. I found that this makes it easier to eat because it doesn't drip. I got the vanilla and chocolate mix. There are other flavors such as mango, strawberry, etc. Yummy!

While in Insadong we went to Galbijim Restaurant, which came highly recommended. This meal was big enough for two people so my mom and I shared. It was a short rib that was braised in soy. It was soft and falling off the bone. This came with two bowls of rice, a warm seaweed soup and 4 different kinds of kimchi. I take after my Papa Jim and love love love kimchi. It wasn't to spicy, which was good. I am not traditional Korean so I can't handle the big boy stuff. But this meal was probably our best.

After our long day, my mom went to the Cheonggyecheon River. Believe it or not this river was located right in the middle of a hugely populated city. It is basically the central park of Korea. It was a nice, peaceful walk and a good outlet from city life.

After this walk, we went to the Lotte Department store. This is the place to be .. trust me. There is so many cute Korean shops, face stores, eateries, etc. It was my shopping heaven. My mom and I ate here after our long day. We got a pork cutlet curry, udon and green tea mochi. After out big lunch, we just wanted something small to share.

Bed time until tomorrows fun filled day.

xo. Laur