CZEŚĆ ("Hello" in Polish)! It has been about a week since I arrived here in Kraków, Poland. Overall it has been great and I am glad that everything has pretty much ran smoothly - I moved into an apartment which I would call "Home" for the next one year, set up a bank account, bought a local SIM card, checked into the office - attended the general onboarding and met my new team, visited Old Town & Jewish Quarter, and went for my first piano lesson. All that in a week, is quite an accomplishment! However, I shall leave the details of my settling in for another post.
Today's focus will be on my recent business trip to Seoul, South Korea, where I managed to squeeze in some small bits of city exploration. I have not visited South Korea before but have heard aplenty from girlfriends who absolutely love this country. Hence, most of what I did on this 4D 3N trip were based on recommendations from a close girlfriend.
 |
| "Hanbok" (traditional Korean costume) experience is one not to be missed. |
I arrived in the late afternoon on Day 1 and decided do a little roaming around near the area where the hotel was located (Myeongdong) to check out the area and search for some snacks. O'sulloc (a girlfriend's highly raved recommendation) was round the corner from this area and so I decided to pop by for their Green Tea o Fredo (Matcha latte ice blended, topped with matcha ice cream), and a swiss roll. I would recommend this drink (image below) and their charcoal green tea swiss roll in their Myeongdong outlet! However according to a colleague, the Jeju version is apparently better. Perhaps because the green tea is sourced from Jeju!
 |
| O'sulloc - A must try for matcha lovers. |
A simple Korean dinner rounded up Day 1 where we randomly picked a restaurant along the busy Myeongdong streets. Roaming around Myeongdong, I could see why this was more a place for girls / women - with the streets lined full of cosmetic stores. Take this example as an analogy, you walk down the street, spot an Innisfree store, walk 5 stores down and will you see another Innisfree, another 5 stores down, you will see the Innisfree flagship store. This place is cosmetic shopping paradise!
 |
| The busy streets of Myeongdong |
Each store may offer a slightly different discount so buyers' beware. I recall the Innisfree flagship store offering a better discount if you paid by credit card, which may result in one ending up buying more than one normally would have - I, for one, fell victim to this marketing ploy. Other great shopping paradise destinations for skin care or cosmetics are Lotte Duty Free, Shinsaegae Duty Free and Olive Young. Do remember that free samples are also given for each purchase! I felt instantaneously educated and more knowledgeable on the subject of skincare post this trip.
Tourist tip: Shinsagae occassionally distributes 10,000 Korean Won vouchers for tourists, which you can use without any minimum spending!
Day 2 was mainly spent on business-related activities. We had a team dinner at a Korean BBQ restaurant which specialised in beef and pork. It is typical here that the service staff barbecue the beef, pork and vegetables on the charcoal grill for you, so that you can enjoy the food, see the freshness of the food, and continue to enjoy conversations with the people on your table.
 |
| Team dinner on Day 2 at a Korean BBQ spot. |
After dinner, we went for a really entertaining local show - Nanta. Set in a restaurant kitchen, it is a non-verbal comedy show which incorporates beats and rhythms from the beating of pots and pans, exuberating the high stress environment in a chef's kitchen.
Day 3 started with a great breakfast view of the city!
 |
| Lotte Hotel Seoul - Breakfast with a view! |
This day was mainly spent on a team-based event: an amazing race with the theme of exploring local cultures and sampling local foods. We were first led to a street market which specialises in raw octopus (no, we did not try that!), but we did manage to try some local snacks - Korean pancake, rice cakes (Tteokbokki), Korean sushi (baby gimbap) etc.
 |
| Korean Pancake. |
 |
| Korean rice cake. Korean sushi roll. "Ingots". |
Lunch was served at a Bibimbap specialty restaurant - Gogung. I would recommend a visit if you enjoy bibimbap! Post lunch was another series of street food hunts before we got a chance to experience the traditional "Hanbok" costume. As good round-off to a food coma - we ended the amazing race segment with some pretty legit Korean Fried Chicken and Beers along a street which only serves fried chicken.
 |
| Creative "rose" ice cream. |
 |
| Tallest ice cream (32cm) spotted! |
Ending the "work" element for this trip, we also managed to explore Namsan Seoul Tower. I would recommend a trip to this spot! We took the cable car up because this was situated atop a mountain and it would have been too cold during winter to trek up, although we did see some ambitious people embarking on treks!
 |
| Namsan Seoul Tower - Love locks that line the rails whilst walking a short distance to the peak. |
 |
| Namsan Seoul Tower - a nicely lit pavilion at the top. |
 |
| Namsan Seoul Tower |
On our final day, we visited a palace - Gyeongbokgung. This is the main royal palace during the Joseon Dynasty. As the palace was not well furnished with information narrating the various sectors in the palace, I would highly recommend tagging on to a local english guide (it is free anyway). The tour is about an hour long and will leave you much enriched compared to exploring the area yourself! In addition, Gyeongbokgung has a daily change of guards ceremony which you might not want to miss. Check online for the timeslots and make sure you get a good spot to view this ceremony.
 |
| Gyeongbokgung. |
Finally ending the trip with a nice hot pot of Korean Army Stew. Surprisingly, I was still not sick of Korean food at the end of this trip, even though it was largely centred on a "bean" paste marinade. Perhaps this was due to the variety of food that we had tried - Ginseng Chicken, Tofu Stew, Bibimbap, Army Stew, Korean Fried Chicken, you name it!
 |
| Budae Jigae (Korean Army Stew) - A hot pot of comfort food is the best during winter! |
This trip, albeit short, was a pretty amazing one. I can finally put a memory to this place which has been highly raved by quite a number of my girlfriends. Would I visit Korea again? I would! Though I would much love to venture out of Seoul and Myeongdong, to perhaps Jeju, Busan, and the very intriguing DMZ area.
xx,
L
0 comments