Where do I even begin??? SOUTH KOREA! I mean... what a dream trip this was! When I asked Natalie where she wanted to go for a big senior year trip, she immediately said South Korea. Duh! But knowing that Todd and Grant would literally hate us for the entire trip because of our obsession with K-Pop and K-Dramas, we decided to make it just a girls trip!
And this post has to be days 1 and 2 because it took us two days to get there! (Eye roll)
Our first flight was from Boston to Istanbul - and that was 8.5 hours. We did manage to sleep a bit. I think that was actually the most I had ever slept on a plane. It helped that I worked that day and I get up at 4:15 am to go to the office, so I was pretty tired!
We gave Turkish Airlines props for really decent food. We both agreed our favorite part was the beet hummus!! It was awesome!
Landing in Istanbul looked a lot like landing in Germany in May. Look at the yellow rapeseed plants blooming!
When in Rome...
Actually, we had to switch terminals and didn't have a lot of time, so we kind of grabbed something real quick. I really miss being able to have beer with my fast food - I miss Europe! (Also, my dad really liked this beer, which made me happy!)
We also had to brush our teeth and freshen up in the Istanbul airport before our next (really long) flight. We brought bottled water to use since you couldn't use the water in the sink - and we were grateful for that warning on the mirror!
Oh my goodness, are we really doing this???
Natalie is smiling here, but inside she is dying because she knows that we have ANOTHER 9 hour flight ahead of us.
I loved that Turkish Airlines had a Mecca direction sign that moved/changed as we traveled. So cool!
Before the sun set, I was able to get a few pictures of the Caucasus Mountains that are on the border of Russia and Georgia. So pretty!
There was a group of people who didn't really sleep on the flight to Seoul - they were clearly flying together because they were always up walking around and talking to each other. At one point, the chef (the CHEF?) came out and brought one of the women a cake! I was just floored that Turkish Airlines had Flying Chefs!
We managed to sleep a little bit on this flight too, so we weren't total junk when we landed in foggy Incheon. We laughed so hard at this- when we landed, we noticed that it appeared that this piece of the engine covering flew off (eeek!) but then it went back into place after landing. Oh, it was supposed to do that! But for a brief second, we definitely freaked out!
Welcome to Korea!
Don't forget to fill out your arrival card when you land! Keep a pen handy and fill it out while you wait in line - it saves time!
New Jeans welcomed us to South Korea in baggage claim! K-pop stars are EVERYWHERE in Seoul.
It's super easy to get a bus to the city at Incheon Airport. There is a ticket desk (or little machines) to purchase tickets and there are several options to choose from. I wanted bus 6703 because it would drop us off at our hotel but the lady at the counter insisted I needed the red 6103 bus which dropped us off near the Coex Mall and we had to walk! I think she was suggesting this because the 6103 bus comes more frequently (every half hour) than the 6703 bus which is every hour. Either way, it's a decently fast, cheap option to get into the city. And the buses are VERY comfortable!
We got to the hotel in about an hour and 20 minutes (traffic!) and dropped our bags off since we couldn't check in until 2 pm. So we walked over to the Coex Mall to see JIN on the big screen in K-Pop Square!
We were only slightly surprised when we also saw a cartoon drawing of a young J-Hope!
But then... there he was! Jin on the big screen announcing the release date of his new album, Echo!
Afterward, we headed to the Starfield Library, one of the most Instagrammable locations in Seoul! Each of these bookshelves are 13 meters tall.
As the afternoon progressed, we needed coffee. We found a cute little place called Anle, that had the BEST coffee and donuts at the Coex Mall.
After that, we roamed around the mall a bit and found Ryan (a lion from Kakao Friends who is like the mascot of Seoul). Along with K-Pop idols, you'll see Ryan all around the city.
And we found a convenience store that sold Jin Ramen!
They also sold Coke Zero with Lemon so you know I was in heaven!
We were finally able to go to the hotel and check in, but we knew we had to stay awake so we could get on a regular sleep schedule. So we went up to Myeongdong to grab something to eat at the night market. Managing the subway system in Seoul is pretty easy - although the circle line took some getting used to since it doesn't have an end stop location to tell you which direction you're going in. But we figured it out pretty quickly. Once up in Myeongdong, we went to various beauty stores and K-Pop stores - this one had a big picture of BTS on the cover of Rolling Stone!
Also- please note the trash in front of this poster (which is not ours, of course). It is VERY surprising how clean Seoul is given the fact that garbage cans are ridiculously hard to find.
Myeongdong is all lit up, like a mini Times Square.
You can get a variety of street foods at the night market from Oreo flavored churros to fried baby crabs to various meats on a stick.
My personal favorite was the POTATO TORNADO! They spiralize a potato, deep fry it and then throw some cheese powder on it and it's SO tasty. Plus, it was an acceptable dinner on Good Friday, when we couldn't eat meat.
Natalie really liked the toasted marshmallow covered brownie! Flame thrower not included!
And of COURSE, we had to hit up the Line Friends store. That's one big Kooky!
We have seen the bronzed handprints of BTS before (in Los Angeles) but it was really fun to see them in Seoul. I took a picture of Natalie with each of the members hands, but since we just saw J-Hope a month ago in Brooklyn, this is the one that gets featured in the blog!
You want Tteokbokki from one of the street vendors? No problem!
The Myeongdong area was very busy with both locals and tourists on a Friday evening.
Eeeek! Oh my goodness, it's Byeon Woo-seok from Lovely Runner! I JUST finished this show! I LOVE HIM!!!
Inquiring minds want to know... what was the previous awesome???
We saw Jin again as we walked back toward the Myeongdong subway station!
The Myeongdong Underground Shopping Center is ginormous and filled with places to get cheap K-Pop albums and memorabilia. Natalie couldn't believe how many places still had Iz*One stuff since they disbanded in 2021! (Hmmm, I also spy BTS in this photo!)
And hilariously, we saw some posters for the show we are currently watching- Hospital Playlist! It's not a current show (it aired in 2020-2021) but it is one of the highest rated shows ever in Korea. So good!
We headed back to the hotel after our shopping adventure and CRASHED. I mean, HARD. I was so tired, I fell asleep STANDING UP on the subway ride back to the hotel. I've never done that before. Jet lag is so real!
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