Livin La Vida Local

These are things that probably won't appear in a "What to Do on Your First Visit to Seoul" list, but if you're curious about what else is out there aside from the usual, read on.

Olympic Park and the Lonely Tree
424, Olympic-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul

We find a lot of inspiration and new things to try via instagram. One such discovery is the lonely tree. As the name suggests, the lonely tree is a tree that stands  alone in the middle of a grassy hill in the Mongchontoseong Fortress within the Olympic Park grounds. J found it on insta and so we searched online how to get there. It turns out, it has long been favorite spot for local lovers and couples taking wedding photos and is fast becoming a popular selfie destination for the younger ones. 

When we got there, it quickly dawned on us that we were utterly unprepared. Most of the people had tripods, props, balloons, the works! We only had our camera phone, so selfie it is!

The Olympic Park is huge and is divided into several zones: leisure sports, cultural arts, eco-park, and history experience. To get around, we rented a four-wheeled bike, which I definitely recommend. It was so nice to bike around and enjoy the cool breeze. You can go at your own pace and there is a clearly marked bike path so you don't have to worry about getting lost. 

In case you're wondering if you'll see the Bullet Men statues that gained popularity during the 2018 Winter Olympics, I'm sorry to say that you'd have to travel to Pyeongchang in Gangwon Province for that. This Olympic Park was built for the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics. 

YEOUIDO PARK
120, Yeouigongwon-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul

For my birthday a few years back, I had a few wishes: a picnic, bikes, and the Han River. 

We packed our picnic mat, ordered fried chicken, got some drinks+fruits+side dishes from a nearby mart, and took the train to Yeouido Park. We rented out bikes and made our way to Hanggang Park, which is basically the part of the park that is located along the Han river. My birthday fell on a Monday so it was pretty empty, it felt like we had the place all to ourselves. There was a small crew filming a sports commercial and that was fun to watch too. It was one of the most memorable birthdays I've had. 

Yeouido also has an annual Spring Flower Festival that happens around the time the cherry blossoms bloom so if you're going to Seoul around April, it might be worthwhile to check if your dates coincide with it. 

P.S.

I also "made" my own birthday cake! There are a number of cake decorating shops around Seoul and we went to 내가만든미케익 (Nae ga mandeun mi cake, 346-41 Mapo-gu, Seogyo-dong) in Hongdae because it was the nearest. Just pick out your base (sponge cake, cheesecake, chocolate, tiramisu), the color of your icing, and then your decorations. Mine was a traditional Saeng Cream cake, which is basically a sponge cake with fresh cream. I had so much fun working on it and it turned out pretty cute, I think. 

WATCH THE KOREAN STAGING OF A FAVORITE MUSICAL

I love musicals but I haven't really paid attention to productions in Seoul until I learned that one of my favorite actors, Joo Won (who played the lead role in the original South Korean series Good Doctor, now a hit ABC show), was starring in the Korean staging of the musical Ghost. The dates checked out with our travel dates and so I jumped the gun and bought tickets.

The entire show was in Korean, but the plot and music is based on the movie Ghost, so it wasn't so hard to follow. It was an engrossing production and we were so impressed with how they've incorporated technology so seamlessly into the set and story. 

On one New Year's Eve, we caught the Korean production of Les Miserables. It's one of J's favorite musicals but we've never managed to catch a run anywhere so it was doubly fun for us that we watched it for the first time in Korean.

 

WATCH A STRAIGHT PLAY

We were walking around in Myeong-dong and doing touristy things when we saw the poster for the Korean staging of Mike Bartlett's Love, Love, Love. My original oppa, Lee Sung Gyun was playing the lead role along with his real life wife! We went straight to the box office only to find out that the show was already sold out. We felt a bit deflated as we walked out the Myeong-dong Theater but I didn't want to give up so we went back to beg the lady to check again for any kind of ticket and after a few minutes of back and forth, she managed to find us two seats!

The show was all in Korean, but the actors were great and it was easy to follow. There really is something about art and human emotion that transcends language. It's possible that we would have loved it even more if we understood the play in the words as intended by the writer, but even if we didn't, it was good enough. It is an experience in itself and if you have the chance to do it, I'd say go for it.

 

visit UNIVERSITIES and do like the the college kids do

One of J's former students (now a dear friend) moved to Seoul to finish his college degree and whenever we are in Seoul, we try to meet up with him to catch up over some Korean BBQ. During one of our trips, their university festival was happening on the same week so he invited us over to check out the scene.  

He was attending Korea University, one of the country's most prestigious universities. We went on a quick tour of the campus and then headed over to the main activity area, where were food stalls, fair booths, games, and the concert stage.

By sheer luck, my favorite indie band Hyukoh was performing on stage. Free concert for the win! I couldn't be happier. Afterwards we went to this BBQ place near the university where we ate the best Samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly) I've ever had in my life. It's too bad that I don't remember the name, but I still remember how to get to it.

Another school you can check out is Ewha Womans University in Sinchon. It has a beautiful campus and is the largest female education institute in the world. If like me, you're wondering if "Womans" was a typo for "Women's", apparently it is not. They say that the early founders of the college thought that every woman should be respected and to promote this idea, they chose to go with "woman" to avoid lumping students together with the word "women". 

This area is one of the more popular shopping districts for women. The clothes are stylish and affordable at the same time. Aside from the main street, there are many alleyways filled with accessory shops, small clothing boutiques, shoe stores, cafes, and hair salons.

You will find many spicy chicken and fish cake stalls around Seoul, but our favorite is right here in Ewha. Tip: the chicken can get a bit too spicy so walk to the nearest convenience store (they are everywhere) and grab a milk carton. They come in different flavors but my favorite one is the strawberry milk.

 

WATCH A CONCERT

I love Korean music and I mostly only have Korean hiphop/rnb artists and indie groups saved on my phone. On a different New Year's Eve we spent in Seoul (are you sensing a pattern here?), we decided to catch a concert headlined by our favorite Korean rappers: Beenzino, Simon Dominic, and Gray. It was such a trip to see them perform our favorite songs live! 

 

EAT AND DRINK AT A POJANGMACHA

If you watch Korean dramas chances are you are already familiar with a pojangmacha. They are small tented stalls where you can eat street food and drink soju, often by the side of the road. Different stalls have different specialties, but the most common items are soondae (blood sausage), odeng (fish cake), tteokbokki (stir-fried rice cakes in spicy sauce), gimbap (rice roll), and an assortment of fried seafood and veggies.

We sat down in one of the pojangmachas near our Hongdae Airbnb to try it out and we had a grand time. We met 3 new friends who served us soju and shared their food with us. We honestly didn’t want to leave but the ahjumma and ajusshi had to close down for the night. In true K-drama fashion, we went home drunk and almost got lost on the way back to our Airbnb. One shot!

 

STAY WITH LOCALS AND MEET NEW FRIENDS

On our first few trips, we stayed in hotels because we thought it was the safest and most convenient. As we became more familiar with the neighborhoods, we've found that we like staying in Airbnbs better. Not only do we gain new friends through our hosts, coming back to our bnb after a long day feels like coming home to our own place. Most of the places we've stayed at are so cozy and you feel the effort and love that went through in decorating the space. We were so inspired by the places we've stayed at that we've even taken cues in decorating our own home from them.