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 associates! 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 after we obtained there, however ended up driving the wrestle bus after we got here house), and met up with some associates.

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 associates 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 women picked the areas for this journey, and I figured it could be one thing that I loved, however it wasn’t my first alternative for a trip. (I’d be pleased repeating least yr’s 5+ weeks in Spain journey.) I didn’t count on 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 nations… they felt like completely different worlds.

The folks in Seoul had been SO type and wonderful. The meals was unimaginable. It felt so very protected, and there was a lot to do. We may have doubled our time there and been pleased. The humorous factor is that we had the chance to be stationed in Korea a number of occasions throughout Tom’s army profession. All of our associates 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 ladies stayed wakeful 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 resort room is prepared, so if you happen to’re completely wrecked and want a nap, you’ll be able to. You don’t must wander round and wait till your room is prepared.

We knew that it could be a low-key day, so we checked into the resort and got down to discover. We stayed on the RYSE Autograph Assortment resort and I might 100% advocate it for the superb location, facilities, and eating choices. (I booked all the pieces utilizing our Amex platinum. My referral link is here!)

It was surrounded by nice eating places and outlets, and simple to get round.

I didn’t take a pic however the lavatory had an infinite waterfall bathe with nice water stress.

We had been shocked to see total streets stuffed with little kiosks and cute outlets only a block away from the resort.

We explored and met our new skincare bestie at TONYMOLY and P was exhausted, to we went again to the resort whereas Tom and Liv grabbed dinner. All of us slept by way of the night time and had been absolutely set the following day!

We did quite a bit whereas we had been in Seoul, however listed here are among 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 couple of sights appear to be hidden, however there was a lot to do. It additionally blew my thoughts that obtained 4 tickets with 3 skip the road passes for every of us and the entire was $200. (I used Journey.com to guide.)

I didn’t take a pic of the surface however image a citadel, varied curler coasters, a drop journey, and plenty of outlets and meals stands.

We did the entire finest rides – they’ve a mixture of rides for youthful kiddos and extra thrilling rides and coasters for older youngsters and adults – and spent the whole day there. Journey to Atlantis was AMAZING; positively one among my prime theme park rides.

Baseball recreation 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 recreation.

Baseball is HUGE in Seoul and a real cultural expertise. Every hitter has their very own chant and cheer, and the whole area is dancing and cheering. The baseball meals is subsequent stage, too. They bought beers with an the other way up baseball cap that was stuffed with shrimp – it appeared SO good- along with tteokbokki, cheese and meat skewers, tons of actual meals choices. You may as well 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 will probably be receiving its personal submit, however it was a spotlight of the journey! Whereas I used to be having probably the greatest 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:

Procuring at Olive Younger

In the event you go to Seoul, procuring at Olive Younger is a should. You possibly can fill up on the entire finest Okay magnificence merchandise at superb costs. It’s like an infinite Sephora with rows of skincare and cosmetics… all the very best stuff. I used to be frightened we wouldn’t discover an Olive Younger or it could be arduous to get to, however they’re all over the place. We had three areas proper by our resort.

Gluten-free eating in Seoul

On this journey, I attempted my finest to eat gluten-free as intently as doable, however understood that it may be very troublesome – not all the pieces 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 wish to be troublesome 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 yr. (She was pink on her IgG check and he or she used to have unhealthy abdomen ache and joint ache, which has resolved since we lower it out.) I informed her we’d simply do our greatest as a result of fortunately we’re not allergic to gluten, however we’d in all probability 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 day by day. 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 probably the greatest gf pizzas I’ve had in my life (#1 is Italy, #2 is that this one, and #3 is NYC).

I knew that I might eat completely different meals whereas we had been in Korea and Japan and the whole time we had been gone, I felt superb. 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 resort 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.

Suggestions for visiting and issues we seen:

– Undoubtedly be taught a handful of phrases however Google translate could be a useful gizmo. I used to be stunned to seek out that fairly a couple of folks spoke English, and when ordering at kiosks, it’s straightforward to change the language to English. The women know so many Korean phrases in order 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 inexpensive to get round than it’s within the states. We favored Uber as an alternative of conventional taxis as a result of you’ll be able to enter the placement – no language obstacles this manner – and you’ll see the precise fare.

You may as well get a Local weather Card or T Cash card for limitless passes for transportation if you happen to resolve to make use of public transport.

– Carry a bit trash bag with you. Public trash cans will not be all over the place, so you might have to hold trash with you till you will discover 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 if you happen to get a meal or snack, simply cease and luxuriate in it earlier than persevering with on. I charge like this can be a higher technique 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 need to get these on public alerts whilst you’re there, however it’s good to confirm earlier than hopping on public transit.

– Tipping isn’t a factor in Seoul, however you’ll be able to add compliments in Uber.

– Name your telephone supplier earlier than leaving to arrange a world 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 and so they provide offers; Liv’s telephone 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 resort room. Often they’ll have little slides by the door which you could put on.

– Go away your shampoo and conditioner at house. Pack LIGHTLY on the toiletries as a result of you’ll discover higher stuff there and the shampoo and conditioner within the resort will probably be superb high quality.

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

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

Gina