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Korea Diary | Teary Goodbyes (Day 50)

Highs are typically followed by lows. Good things usually come to an inevitable end. Despite having the photos for this final post in draft for a month (if not more), I couldn't find the words to say goodbye to that chapter of my life (even though I am 2 years late at it already). To say I am not good with goodbyes is a terrible understatement. Whether it was 2 years ago in the lobby of SK Global House with newfound friends or currently at home with this blog post, my emotions run high.

Seoul, Korea - Summer Study Abroad 2014 - SK Global House packing time and final hangout all-nighter

There was not a moment to waste after my friends and I got back to the dorms after our Korean spa visit. We had to have our bags packed and rooms cleaned by morning so that we could have the required check-out inspection done in time.

I was surprised that I was able to fit all my beauty purchases into the biggest 29" suitcase that I had brought. Shoes, schoolbooks, and miscellaneous items fit a carry-on 21" sized suitcase perfectly. While all the clothes I had filled a medium sized Nike duffel to the brim. Getting all my belongings to fit was one problem solved. The next hurdles were to figure out whether or not any were overweight and how I would navigate around with 3 bags as opposed to the original 2.

Seoul, Korea - Summer Study Abroad 2014 - Surprise birthday celebration

Seoul, Korea - Summer Study Abroad 2014 - Surprise birthday celebration Paris Baguette cake

In the midst of tidying, everyone ignored all rules (i.e. no boys after night) and gathered in the lounge. Routine hall inspections by security meant hiding out in dorm rooms for a bit. But what was the risk, we would get kicked out...on the last day?

Anyways, there was a good reason to the behavior. Remember the birthday event that we had planed? Sometime between 3AM and 7AM all of us gathered in one dorm suite to surprise our friend with a cake.

It was a much welcomed tidying break. Before the event, I think it was safe to say that a lot of us were pretty burnt out from just trying to make some sense of our luggage situation. Afterwards, I felt like I had newfound energy to finish clearing my room. Bestie C and I took our linens downstairs to the laundry room around mid-morning. The pile mountain of bed sheets, blankets, and pillows was unreal! But of course we should have gotten a hint judging by the flood of garbage and unwanted clothing in the lounge.

Seoul, Korea - Summer Study Abroad 2014 - SK Global House cleared dorm

Returning the linens meant we were ready for inspection. For us it was a quick and painless process; in, out, and OKed. Then it was goodbye to our dorm room forever.

Seoul, Korea - Summer Study Abroad 2014 - Final goodbyes

The SK Global House lobby was hectic as everyone cleared their own rooms and met their friends to say goodbye. Even though I spent my entire night with all our friends perfectly fine and cheery, I was a hot mess the moment my brain finally took in the fact that we were all separating. I have always been the more emotional one so it wasn't a complete surprise that I ended up bawling. Social media and the internet may keep us connected but it wouldn't be the same as seeing everyone day in and day out.

Bestie C and I were the only ones in our group to immediately fly back home that night. The others were staying behind for an extra week or two to do some more exploring. Some were meeting up with family members who were flying in. Somehow it just worked out that most of our friends ended up staying in Korea and even the same guesthouse together for the rest of their summer. (I had tried to extend my stay as well but flights back to NYC were apparently packed until September!)

Seoul, Korea - Summer Study Abroad 2014 - Taxi ride to Incheon International Airport

Bestie C and I chose to leave on a night flight in order to make the most of our stay in Korea. When time came to it, we didn't end up doing much the last few hours anyways. I was an emotional mess, the weather was rainy, and we were both pretty tired. Things just didn't work out the way we imagined.

We helped the big group of friends load up their luggages and sent them off with hugs and byes. A few hours of recouping later, Bestie C and I grabbed a taxi and headed towards Incheon Airport ourselves. The potential headache of fitting our luggages into the sedan taxis thankfully never came. This particular taxi driver was super patient and nice. He somehow found a way to fit 5 suitcases, 1 duffel, 2 personal bags, and 2 passengers into the vehicle with him. Just like that we were on our way home.

Seoul, Korea - Summer Study Abroad 2014 - Rainbow spotting and a delayed flight

The last anticipated hurdle I had to face was the weight of my suitcases. Despite the 29" suitcase still having free space, it was way over the maximum weight with all the Korean beauty goods that I amassed over the past 50 days. There was no reshuffling things between bags or tossing things out. At that point there was nothing I could do but pay the overage fee. On the positive note, at least I had the option to pay a fee instead of being told it was completely too heavy to fly.

Seoul, Korea - Summer Study Abroad 2014 - Brightness after a storm

Who knew we would be faced with more issues once after that?

Due to some miscommunications, I ended up passing through security before Bestie C thinking that she was already inside. I actually somehow got permission from the security personnel to let me backtrack to the check-in area when I couldn't find her. They even gave me special permission to return via the faster "TSA Pre-check" equivalent lane once I located Bestie C.

We were both at the airport well before our scheduled departure time yet mother nature had other plans. The rain storm was heavy and relentless that day. It was inevitable that our flight ended up being delayed a bit. Luckily it wasn't by much and I think we even arrived back home around the expected time.

Seoul, Korea - Summer Study Abroad 2014 - Brightness after a storm

The homebound flight was a little easier than the Korea-bound one. No more worrying about being in a new place and being on such a long flight for the first time. I really wasn't homesick while studying abroad but I was definitely thinking about the comforts of home awaiting me after the flight.

Who knows when I would get to fly internationally or even get to go to Korea again, but whenever that would be, the experience would definitely not be the same as what those past 50 days were.

Korea Diary | Seoul Adventure Begins (Day 1)

After gathering our luggages, we had to wait 3 hours at the airport so Bestie C could pick up the SIM card she pre-ordered at "K Books" bookstore. Nothing too exciting but we were both ecstatic to just be there.

South Korea ICN airport bus South Korea ICN airport bus to Hongdae

Once everything was sorted out, we were ready to finally leave the airport. The both of us discussed our airport departure plan a few days prior. Although the normal all-stop train at ICN would have been the cheaper option, we ended up deciding to take the bus due to the big suitcase factor (mainly my ginormous luggage). The airport bus ticket was ~ ₩10,000. I'm glad with our choice now! After experiencing the subway all summer, it would have been a pain to drag just the number of suitcases we had 'round and 'bout the public transport.

Our destination was to Hongdae since the AirBnB place we booked was closest to that area. Once we got off the bus the next big challenge was finding our way to the provided address. Our host, Euna, had sent us lovely picture directions and suggestions, one of which was to take a taxi from Hongdae to her studio/apartment.

It wasn't hard to find a taxi in Hongdae. It was difficult trying to tell the driver where we wanted to be. We had the address in Korean and English, but he still had a hard time finding the place. When the taxi driver got frustrated with us, in part because we were foreigners. He got even more agitated when he told us to call Euna but we couldn't.

Our host did say her building was really new and not all the GPS had it in their systems. But the driver insisted we didn't even show him the Korean address. We were ultimately able to find the place after he called Euna for us, but...it was not a pretty conversation. I don't remember the exact words, nor did I understand most of the conversation at the time, but judging by his tonality and the few words I could make out things were getting heated.

When we finally met Euna in person, I was so afraid that she would have a bad impression of us due to the "argument" with the taxi driver. She was everything but! Euna was so nice and even said that he was completely not understanding. She thought we were overcharged and even said she would call the taxi company later on.

We were guided into her building and shown our room for the next 3 days and 2 nights. Even though she wasn't finished with cleaning the room from the previous guest, she allowed us to "check-in" early and leave our things there in order to explore a bit. (I had asked beforehand for an earlier check-in and she was very accommodating!) But oh her poor husband had to lug our suitcases up to the 3rd floor since they did not have an elevator - forever grateful! (I had a difficult time trying to get everything down the stairs when we left, forget about up!)

Seoul South Korea T Money Card Seoul South Korea Paris Baguette Caramel Macchiato Seoul South Korea Paris Baguette Red Bean Streusal Bread
T Money Card - Paris Baguette Iced Caramel Macchiato - Paris Baguette Red Bean Streusel Bread

Euna even showed us around her area a bit and helped us purchase & load our T Money card for using public transportation. (Our card was ₩3,000 but according to Bestie C, typical T Money cards cost about ~₩2,500. The card we got came with a coupon book to various things in Seoul/Korea.) Euna asked us where we were interested in visiting and even pointed us in the direction for transportation.

We were suggested to take a nearby bus route to Hongdae, but neither of us felt confident enough then to take on that adventure. Since we already passed through Hongdae earlier and saw the route the taxi driver took to the studio/apartment, the two of us walked back to the main Hongdae streets for our first mini-adventure. Along the way we stopped by one of the many Paris Baguettes to grab breakfast and tried our best to figure out the SIM card situation, which we still couldn't resolve then.

Seoul South Korea Hongdae Trick Eye Museum Entrance Seoul South Korea Hongdae Trick Eye Museum

First major tourist stop ~ Trick Eye Museum in Hongdae
I don't remember if we had directions or not before hand, but we did ultimately have to ask the person at the Tourist Information booth for help because the museum was actually located on a small side street.

Seoul South Korea Hongdae Trick Eye Museum Seoul South Korea Hongdae Trick Eye Museum
Seoul South Korea Hongdae Trick Eye Museum Ticket Seoul South Korea Hongdae Trick Eye Museum Souvenir

The Trick Eye Museum ticket was ₩15,000 . It was really fun trying to get the pictures just right in order to capture the optical illusions and seeing how the optical illusions worked. But be forewarned, the museum is a tourist (especially group tourists) hotspot! Prepare to "fight" to get your shot amongst all the others. May not be everyone's cup-a-tea, probably applies more for the perfectionists out there.

An unlikely 1st souvenir from a little boutique shop at the museum but how could I resist?
The things there didn't have much (if anything) to do with the Trick Eye museum, but there were tons of just cute bits and bobs & the typical souvenir-fare items.

Seoul South Korea Hongdae Trick Eye Museum Ice Museum Seoul South Korea Hongdae Trick Eye Museum Ice Museum

The Trick Eye Museum ticket that we purchased also allowed admittance into the Ice Museum. It felt great to go in given how hot and stuffy it felt in the Trick Eye portion of the building (hot day + tons of people = no bueno.) This section in comparison was much smaller but given that it is really just a walk-in freezer, it probably isn't wise to spend too much time in the ice box anyways. The little cold-protectant pull-over did help a little, but it was still a "run in, snap photo, and get out" kind of situation. Nonetheless, there was a really cool ice slide for those who aren't afraid of getting their tushies a bit nippy ^^

Playground Park
Seoul South Korea Hongdae Playground Park

Maybe around noon-ish we were finished with the museum and wandered Hongdae a bit. Familiarized ourselves with the streets, stores, and came across the Hongdae Playground Park. Since it was the middle of the day there wasn't much going on when we were there.

Seoul South Korea Hongdae ABC Mart promoting

Promoters/Performers for the grand-opening of ABC Mart (shoe shop) in Hongdae
Nice to see marketing stuff in a foreign country!
All decked out in their store uniform (I am assuming) cheering and dancing all coordinated.

Seoul South Korea Hongdae AirBnB Sweet Seoul Residence 303 Seoul South Korea Hongdae AirBnB Sweet Seoul Residence 303
Seoul South Korea Hongdae AirBnB Sweet Seoul Residence 303 Seoul South Korea Hongdae AirBnB Sweet Seoul Residence 303

Around 2-3PM we headed back to our home for the time being, hoping to cool off from the heat and most of all to drop off our bags full of electronics and such. Luckily Euna was able to finish tidying up while we were gone and we were able to finally relax a bit. There was a little trouble trying to figure out the Wi-Fi password for the room. When we got some sort of service we were able to resolve the situation with a quick message to Euna.

Euna calls her building the "Sweet Seoul Residence" and our room in particular was ~USD$55 per night. She has other rooms available as well that are in the same figure range. For the price, the place was nicer than you'd think! It was like a pretty typical Korean studio one would expect after seeing dramas. Of course it isn't as big but the amenities were all relatively the same: washing machine only, a small stove-top (ours electric though, not gas), low-height furniture, and shower stall-less/tub-less bathroom. The bed was more than enough for the two of us and having a TV with cable channels was the icing on the cake.

We tried and was finally successful at figuring out the whole SIM card scenario. Otherwise we would have had to plan a trip to their store/office location. Despite the lengthy instructions that came with the SIM and on the website, it apparently seemed to have automatically started after either the card was placed in or the first run-through of the manual.

Seoul South Korea Cheonggyecheon Seoul South Korea Cheonggyecheon

Seoul South Korea Cheonggyecheon

Once those little things were settled we devised our route to Namdaemun Market. Along the way we passed by the City Hall - Cheonggyecheon area. There was a memorial site of sorts for the Sewol victims, as well as an international student/foreigners type of gathering event. Unfortunately we weren't able to go down to the stream itself but it was pretty nonetheless.

My only goal the first day in Korea was to get prescription sunglasses to use for the rest of my trip in sunny Asia. I read that Namdaemun Market was apparently THE hub for glasses wholesalers in Seoul and prices are pretty much cheapest there.

Seoul South Korea Namdaemun Sungnyemun Seoul South Korea Namdaemun Sungnyemun
Seoul South Korea Namdaemun Sungnyemun Seoul South Korea Namdaemun Sungnyemun

While on the look-out for the market, we came across the Namedaemun/Sungnyemun (Great South Gate). One of the multiple fortress walls that use to enclose Seoul. The one we saw was sadly not the original though because (if I remember correctly) the gate was recently burned due to arson. I love that another one was built to at least symbolically represent the past history of the gate. I also really like the juxtaposition of "old" and new. The gate is literally in the middle of a bunch of tall buildings and seemingly very out of place.

When we finally found an entrance into the market, dark clouds were rolling in and vendors all seemed to be covering up for the day and/or due to the impending weather condition. Even though I was really set on getting my sunglasses, it wouldn't have been nice to get rained on. Plus there really was an overwhelming number of optical stores in every corner of the market. I was honestly a little intimidated to walk into any one store to just browse and gauge prices on my first very day in Korea.

Seoul South Korea Namdaemun Market Wang Hot Bar Odeng Eomok Seoul South Korea Namdaemun Market Wang Hot Bar Modeum Odeng Eomok

Bestie C and I were both pretty hungry when we got to the market so we grabbed some Odeng 오뎅 or Eomok 어묵 (fish cake) for ₩3,000 before heading back home. Luckily they had a Modeum 모든 (everything) version that had a piece of all the flavors available on one skewer.

Seoul South Korea Hongdae Byulchonji Seollontang Mool Naengmyun Seoul South Korea Hongdae Byulchonji Seollontang Mandoo
Our night ended with eating take-out Mool Naengmyun 물 냉면 and Mandu 만두 (from Byulcheonji Seollongtang 별천지설농탕) while enjoying the cable TV service at our "home" ~ a familar activity in a foreign place.

Exploring Namdaemun Market was destined to be for another day...