October 14, 2024

Monday

One of the things that I have found the most interesting as I have begun to explore South Korea is the number of solo travelers there are. These are my people-their openness to new experiences, their love of life and travel, their eagerness to connect with others. On an earlier adventure I met Miriam. She has lived in Seoul for a few years. We agreed to go to the National Folk Museum today.

I really loved the lamp posts here, as you can tell from the mulitple pictures of them. Although I really liked the insight the traditional hanok home gave me into traditional Korean life, I loved the 1970s-1980s mock street the best. Note how similar it was to American life-the classroom, the general store, the barber shop. I took a video of the coffee shop because what is South Korea without a coffee shop?

After the museum, Miriam and I stumbled across a Michelin restaurant right across the street. How often will you be able to eat at a Michelin star restaurant for about $8? Of course we ate there. It was a good bowl of ramen, but Michelin star worthy…I don’t know. It was cool watching the guy make dumplings right there in the middle of the restaurant. He was such a pro. He had probably done it a few times before. ;-)

The last picture is one I snapped as I was riding home in the taxi. It never ceases to amaze me how there are these buildings that are hundreds of years old right there in the shadow of the most modern buildings in the world. Fascinating.

October 13-14, 2024

Sunday-Monday

So this is my fall break. It was pretty wild packing a suitcase to go on “vacation” while actually on vacation, well sorta.

There were several factors that influenced the final place I chose to stay at during my break.

Factor #1: It seems that when packing up my belongings to come to Korea, I only packed small crossbody purses, like for running errands, or laptop bags. I didn’t have a medium-sized purse. Well, not being one to really need any reason to buy a new purse (It is one of my guilty pleasures, although it is much more under control than it once was.), I started the hunt. This led me to quite a few revelations. They do not have any TJ Maxx-esque stores here. Additionally, my back up purse source is eBay, (Your girl has champagne taste on a beer budget, so our sourcing options are limited.) will not ship here, at least most sellers. So I told myself that I would just go to the mall and hope for the best. Well, let me just say, I spent more on a purse than I ever have. It is fabulous, but the budget required me to change my vacation plans-stay one less day, plus lower the nightly rate of my accommodation.

While scrolling through Instagram, an ad popped up for a greatly reduced accommodation called the DAAM Hotel. Hmmmmm…Big Brother is watching (listening).

Factor #2: The accommodation was advertised as a hanok (traditional Korean house) hostel. Well, that seems like a cool, new experience-a traditional Korean-style home.

Factor #3: Upon further research, the hotel is really a hostel. A hostel? I am not so sure about that. I am not a 22 year old backpacking through Europe to find herself. I have a firm understanding of who I am, and sharing a room with someone I don’t know is squarely off my list of acceptable situations. I mean, I can get myself into some rather interesting situations just by the variety of things I am willing to try, but to go into that level of question marks is off the table at this stage of my life.

Factor #4: They had capsule rooms. OK, I am back on board, particularly considering it would be about $65 a night. I will share common areas with others, if I can have my own sleeping space. I have never stayed at a capsule hotel. This could be fun.

Factor #5: It was just across the street from Changdeokgung Palace in the Jongno District. This was the area I was exploring over my break, so its central location to everything was perfect.

I can’t begin to gush enough about this hotel/hostel. I did not have a clear picture as to what it was at first, so let me explain. This is a new building (or renovated) that is decorated in the hanok style. However, the facilities themselves are all new.

As I came up the sidewalk someone met me about half-way down, rolling my luggage inside so I could check in. Of course, at check-in, the attendant needed my passport, as is required by law. From that point on, every time the front desk addressed me, it was by my first name-every time. I was so impressed.

Remember that I had come directly from the 3.5 hour wait because of the marathon. I was so tired already. They upgraded my room to have a little more space, then took my luggage to my room, showing me where my room was located. There were different floors for the men and women rooms, which are accessed by one’s key card. I found that reassuring.

After a few minutes, I went to explore. These facilities were so nice. Everything was so fresh, clean, and new.

While exploring I came across the bathroom. Ya’ll I had my first experience using a bidet. I can tell you right now, the next place I settle down at will have a bidet. This is non-negotiable.

There are options for larger rooms, but I can only speak to the capsule rooms. The bed was easy to get into and incredibly comfortable. There was basically everything one would need if she just had to suddenly stay overnight (had to work late and was too tired to go home, just forgot something, had too much fun to go home early and the subway/buses stopped running).

I explored the little garden a bit later-after dark. There are nice places to sit to look at the bamboo garden entrance. I wished there was a little bench in the garden, though. It was too lovely to just walk to, then leave. That was about all one could do, though.

The next morning I went down for my free breakfast before setting off to adventure. I could not believe the full meal that was there. There were people actively cooking breakfast when I got there. Let me tell you, this is not your American carbo-loading breakfast, either. Look at those pictures. I was just so impressed.

As you can tell, I will highly recommend this accommodation. However, I must tell the truth about one thing. I left at 8:30 pm the second night I was to stay there. It was so extremely HOT! I did not have my own thermostat. The front desk controlled it. I asked them several times to turn it down. They graciously complied. However, someone else kept asking them to make it warmer because she was cold. Before I went to my room that night, the front desk attendant told me she would set it at 27 degrees Celsius. Ya’ll, that is 81 degrees Fahrenheit! OH. MY. WORD! That is close to what the high for the day was earlier. I tried to stick it out, but after taking off everything I could legitimately take off, yet still being too hot to hardly breathe, I packed up and went home. I would stay here again, but I will bring a fan when I do.

October 13, 2024

Sunday

10:30 am

Have you ever heard the saying, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go asunder.”? Well, that is how my fall break started-my plan going asunder.

I had done extensive research into the palaces, temples, museums, must-see-sites, coffee shops, and restaurants I wanted to explore in different areas, grouping them by how close they were to each other. I had a firm, well researched, completely thought-out plan. *sigh* Then life happened.

So, the taxi was to pick me up from my home, taking me to the hotel, where I would drop off my two bags, then take me on to the first palace, Changyeongung. Well, a few blocks south of my hotel and the palaces is a main road that runs east to west. There was a marathon today that completely cut the taxi off from going any further north. I couldn’t even walk the few blocks north to cross the street then get a taxi on the other side because of the marathon.

 The taxi driver dropped me off in Myondong, at a hotel, where he said I could find a coffee shop to wait out the marathon. Needless to say, there was no coffee shop. I was getting frustrated and overwhelmed. Remember, I am in an unfamiliar area, I can’t read the signs, I can’t speak the language, I walk with a cane (for the moment), which means I only have one arm to manage things, and my well-thought out plan that everything depends on just fell apart.

I usually can take things in stride, but there were more obstacles than I could manage at one time. I got a little teary-eyed. I found a quiet spot out of the way, did some deep breathing, put on my big girl britches and set out to find a place to sit for a while…all the while telling myself to keep it together for now. I would call my son when I got settled. He is a great listener and entertainer (My daughter had already told me she was busy during this time period, or I would have called her to make me laugh. She is the funniest individual I know.).

After talking to Jackson and Mama, eating something, journaling, and working on this blog in the café (a very Korean thing to do), the time passed quickly.

I move through much of my life trusting that things happen for a reason. However, from time to time, I get overwhelmed. This required me to recalibrate. I will put a few coping mechanisms here for future Renée and maybe you, too.

1.  Take time to step away from the situation, even if it is for a few minutes.

2.  Deep breath-Google “Square breathing”

3.  Find a place of respite

4.  Connect with your support network

5.  Journal

6.  Find something fun to do to take your mind off of things. Times flies when having fun.

I had literally been in this café for 3 hours, but no one seemed concerned. Working in a café for hours is very Korean. I told myself I would never do this. Historically, the idea of packing up all my stuff just to go work somewhere other than home seems inefficient to me. Frankly, though, I kind of liked it. But note, these were extreme circumstances. I just happened to have my computer and a lot of unplanned down time. Would I ever intentionally pack my stuff up to go work in a café? Probably not. It’s just not my style. I am, however, checking one more thing off my authentic Korean experience list.

…later that day

Remember me saying that I believe things happen for a reason? Well, when I got to my hotel to check my bag before setting off to adventure, at 1:45 pm, not 9:45 am, the management upgraded me to a nicer room for no additional charge. Hmmmm. I wonder if my room, which there are a limited number of, would have been available to me if I had shown up at 9:45 am. I just don’t know. I am going to take the win and be thankful. By the way, the hotel will be a separate post all to itself later.

I then headed to Changyeongung Palace. On the way to the palace, I came across this interesting scene of an ancient structure meets modern technology, so I took a picture of it. This scene is actually not that unfamiliar in Seoul. There are roads and skyscrappers at many intersections around Seoul that are in the shadow of ancient gates, walls, and buildings.

Because I got to the palace so late in the day, all the tickets for the Secret Garden were gone. I will just circle back later in the month. Here is a little blurb (verbatim) about the significance of this palace:

  • It was built as an igung (a temporary palace that was used in case the official royal palace cannot be used due to wars or disasters).

  • It became a central place during the Joseon Dynasty as many kings conducted their governance of the dynasty when they stayed at this palace.

  • It boasts its natural beauty as its buildings were arranged in harmony with the natural topology. Note from Renée: In the first image of the palace, notice the mountain in the background. It is actually part of a mountain range. The palace was built running in parallel to the mountain range.

  • During the 15th century, it often served as residential quarters for queens and concubines.

  • It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage in 1997.

 SOURCES:

https://english.seoul.go.kr/service/amusement/traditional-culture/2-five-palaces/

https://english.visitkorea.or.kr

In case you have not picked up on the fact, I will crystalize the obvious: I find architecture fascinating. It is the most amazing fusion of art and application. Also, I like trees. Although pine trees are not my favorite, they are Mama’s favorite. Since she cannot be here to see them, I will always post pictures of the pine trees for her to see (Mama, if the images of trees are not big enough for you to see well, click the three dots in the upper right-hand corner. When the drop-down menu pops up, scroll down to the Zoom function and make it as big as you want it. XOXO).

Special thanks goes out to my daughter, who took a photography class in college a few years ago. She instructed me well as she explained the processes and techniques she used while taking her pictures. I used several of the tips she shared while taking these photos.

After exploring the palace and its grounds, I set out to find sustenance. I didn’t have to go far-only about 50 yards passed my hotel. The name of the place was Dante’s. As a rule, I avoid places that have chosen to name themselves any derivative of Satan (It kinda creeps me out.), but I didn’t notice the name of the establishment at the time, as one has to be on the other side of this tight alley to see it. It was aesthetically pleasing, jazz music was floating out of the open door, and it had Italian food-oh, yeah, and I was starving. It was about 6 pm and I hadn’t eaten since the cafe adventure about 10 am.

The food was pretty good. I am not sure if they were trying to make it a Korean-Italian fusion pasta dish, but it was. It was so very spicey. The sauce was too thin to stay on the noodles, so it formed a soup base at the bottom of the bowl. It was a little sweet. It struck me as Italian ramen. It was good, don’t get me wrong, but it was not traditional Italian food as I know it. I would definitely go back.

It turned out to be a really good day, even though the beginning was a bit rocky. That’s the thing about life-it changes ever so quickly.

 

October 9, 2024

Wednesday

There is one thing I am sure of, there are a lot of light displays in Seoul.

This past Wednesday I went to my first ever drone show. I am quite comfortable going to events by myself, but with this many individuals in one place, I just thought it would be safer if I had my own pack. I would hate to end up on the news as having been trampled. Plus, it would be more fun with a group.

I was told about an app that connects solo travelers who want to get together to go to events, learn a new skill, and/or connect with other solo travelers. I met two more solo travelers at the show. Although it was only 15 minutes long, it was fascinating to watch. One of the things you can’t tell from the pictures is how it sounded. I got the overwhelming sense that I was in the middle of a bee hive. It was slightly unnerving, but the visuals were worth the fight-or-flight response that momentarily arose.

The next three pictures are of the park just before it got dark and the 7-eleven floating cafe. We didn’t eat there after the show, but I am going back to the drone show with other friends at the end of the month. Eating here is on my list to do.

I had an unfortunate situation with food when I first arrived in Seoul, having eaten something I am not used to, even though I was assured it was kosher. Since then, I have not eaten any Korean food at a restaurant because Koreans love their pork and shellfish. Since I do not eat these, and they are in so many dishes covertly, such as sauces, I have just not been brave enough to maneuver through the Korean menu. I have had Italian food, Mexican food, and fast food. Finally, emboldened by the presence of others, I chose authentic Korean food-gimbap and ttoekbokki. We all made several choices and tried each other’s dishes. These are my kind of people. It was fabulous!

I would say that I am settling in quite nicely now. It only took me about 7 weeks. :-/