Our final days in the Philippines were fairly uneventful as I (Clint) recovered from our motorcycle crash, but fortunately we arrived in Korea healed up and ready to explore. Our first port-of-call was the Itaewon neighborhood in Seoul, a very vibrant and popular neighborhood (among the many many within Seoul itself) so we didn’t need to go far to find activity!
First on our list was finding some authentic Korean food, which was quite easy – several great options were within a 5-minute walk from our place. We settled on a highly-rated choice and enjoyed some bibimbap and bulgogi:
Next up we took a quick ride on the metro across the river to explore the Starfield Library at COEX Mall. This was something Kaitlin found via internet recommendations, and we’d hoped to maybe find some English books to browse. No luck there, but the surroundings definitely didn’t disappoint. Starfield is a 2-story complex stacked floor to ceiling with books of all (Korean-language) varieties. We spent some time wandering through and admiring, before grabbing some coffee and exploring some of the rest of the mall.
After deciding against the COEX Mall’s aquarium (too much for the budget and seemed a bit like it was for kids) we headed back to explore Itaewon a bit more. We arrived near the area’s famous “Antique Furniture Street” and spent some time browsing the various shops. This street initially became popular in the 1960s, when US soldiers stationed in Korea would put out their furniture to sell on the street before returning to the states. Nowadays, the entire area is full of antique furniture dealers. We didn’t buy anything, but it would have been dangerous if we weren’t here backpacking!
At this point we were starting to drag, so we began searching for coffee. As our luck would have it, we stumbled across a DOG CAFE! Animal cafes are popular throughout Korea – you can find dog, cat, and even meerkat cafes here! – but we weren’t specifically searching for one at the moment. Our decision was made instantly, however, and we went inside for some coffee and dogs:
Next on the agenda was some grooming. Korea is well known for its beauty industry, with everything from spa treatments, skincare, and (relevant to this evening) haircare. After a bit of searching we found a salon that wasn’t booked up, and Kaitlin got a haircut. We’ll make special mention here of Sue, the owner, who was incredibly friendly – she talked with us the whole time, taught us some Korean phrases to use, and gave us some local recommendations!
Next up was dinner – again very easy to find in this neighborhood packed with restaurants. We were still in the mood for authentic Korean, so decided to hit a Korean BBQ restaurant. These restaurants actually have the grill/cooktop at your table – the meat comes raw, and after some initial help by the restaurant staff you finish by cooking it to your liking yourself!
We ordered some pork ribs, pork belly, and a kimchi stew. All were A++
It’d been a busy day, so we decided to go back to our hotel. A few doors down we passed a bowling alley:
We waffled a bit and actually got back to the elevator in our hotel before deciding we weren’t all the way ready for bed just yet, so we went back and got a lane. We bowled a few rounds (and had a few more beers) before calling it a night:
All in all this was a great way to start off our Korean adventures with a bang!
